Finding a Balanced Approach to Choosing Literature for Children

Susan R

As Christians who endeavor to apply biblical principles to every facet of life, I think we sometimes err greatly when it comes to choosing literature on page and screen for our children:

  1. We view every instance of sinful behavior as an objectionable element and dismiss the entire story on that basis.
  2. We Christianize the characters, themes, and plot lines to “redeem” the story, regardless of authorial intent.
  3. We assume “classic literature” means “wholesome literature.”
  4. We leave teaching literature to the “experts.”

None of these approaches are accurate or useful. They represent faulty methods of literary criticism—permissivism, exclusivism, pragmatism, naïveté, and the postmodernist tendency to declare everything relative. Worst of all, they represent a lost opportunity to parent.

Discussion

The Legacy of One-Point Calvinism

Ron Bean

I had the opportunity of growing up in a fundamental Baptist church with sound teaching. I never missed a service from the time I was pre-school until I was out of high school. It was then that I started living a godless life while holding on to a childhood profession of faith.

Discussion

A Report on the Ark Encounter (Part 2)

Paul J. Scharf

From Dispensational Publishing House; used by permission. Read Part 1.

Answers in Genesis is billing the Ark Encounter as being, “Bigger Than Imagination.”

At 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet high, this slogan is no exaggeration. Of course, most people who visit the Ark will hope to see more than just a sizable structure. What will they find if they come?

Discussion

A Report on the Ark Encounter (Part 1)

Paul J. Scharf

From Dispensational Publishing House; used by permission.

July 5, 2016

Greetings from the Ark Encounter—Answers in Genesis’ life-size reconstruction of Noah’s ark.

In this first report following a very big day at the Ark, I want to emphasize a few simple points.

Just getting to the Ark proved to be quite a challenge this morning. My wife Lynnette and I thought that we were leaving early, but we ended up trying to take an alternate route when we saw traffic headed to the Ark on Interstate 75 at a near standstill. We entered the parking lot before 10 a.m., then stood in line until finally getting on a bus that was bound for the Ark and the ribbon cutting ceremony around 11:35. (The ceremony began at 11.) All this to say—the crowd was immense.

There were people everywhere—going in every direction—but especially going to see the Ark and desiring to be part of this historic event. According to a report from Answers in Genesis, the crowd numbered more than 7,000 people.

Discussion

Review - Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ (Part 1)

Dan Miller

Amazon Affiliate Link

The goal of this book is “to put conscience back on your daily radar, to show from Scripture what God intended and did not intend [the] conscience to do, and to explain how your conscience works, how to care for it, and how not to damage it.”1

Definition & Understanding

As their titles suggest, the first two chapters deal with defining the conscience. Chapter 1 defines the conscience as “your consciousness of what you believe is right and wrong.” Chapter 2 examines how the New Testament writers taught about conscience and develops a biblical understanding of the conscience from these data. Included in this is a definition of the “weak conscience”: an “uninformed moral consciousness.”2 As we’ll see later, this is the first of two definitions given in this book, and this presents a dilemma.

Chapter 3 answers, “What Should You Do When Your Conscience Condemns You?” The answer is the gospel, for nothing but the grace of God in the atoning work of Jesus can free us from guilt. This applies to the lost man approaching the cross with his guilt and the long-time believer who must again and again return to God in confession and seek forgiveness. We must never allow our guilt to become a tool for the accuser to bring us to despair.

Discussion