All Christian parents are called to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). In Deuteronomy 6:4–9, the Lord commands his covenant people,

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

It is non-negotiable for covenant families to raise their children according to the Lord’s commands. However, this education may take different forms amidst different circumstances.

In this episode, Erica Bucey, Director of Development at Westlake Christian Academy in Grayslake, Illinois, speaks about various trends in Christian education given the COVID-19 pandemic, which has uprooted education in America. Families have been influenced to think about education in ways that they have not before.

We speak about different approaches to education, the trade-offs involved in each form, as well as current legislation in Illinois that encourages a form of progressive indoctrination in public schools. We conclude by discussing ways in which churches can support families by talking about these matters and educating them.

Links to Resources

• Cornelius Van Til, “What Shall We Feed Our Children?” The Presbyterian Guardian, Vol. 3 No. 2 (October 1936), 23–24.
• Cornelius Van Til, Foundations of Christian Education
• Cornelius Van Til, Essays on Christian Education
• Doug Wilson, The Case for Classical Christian Education
• David Engelsma, Reformed Education: The Christian School as Demand of the Covenant
• Stanley Kurtz speaking with Mark Bauerlein on the First Things podcast
• George F. Will, “The Worst-Governed State Now Turns to Indoctrination”

Participants: Camden Bucey, Erica Bucey

Camden and Erica Bucey discuss several helpful books for parents as they disciple their children and women in a variety of study group settings. They offer brief notices of several recent books.

• Chap Bettis, The Disciple-Making Parent (Diamond Hill Publishing)
• Jason Helopolous, Let the Children Worship (Christian Focus)
• Keri Folmar, The Doctrine of Scripture for Every Woman [The Good Portion Series] (Christian Focus)
• Melissa Kruger, Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood (WaterBrook Press)
• Nancy Guthrie, The Promised One [Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament] (Crossway)
• Knowing the Bible Series (Crossway)
• Jen Wilkin, The Sermon on the Mount (LifeWay Press)

Participants: Camden Bucey, Erica Bucey

Camden Bucey and Erica Bucey discuss The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New, an illustrated systematic theology for children. Written by experienced children’s author Marty Machowski, The Ology is an excellent resource for families. The book is targeted toward 6–12 year olds and includes Scripture memory passages and study questions. The examples and analogies, along with thoughtful illustrations, make complex theological concepts accessible to even very young children. This book will help children understand more about God and how they relate to God, while always pointing them to Scripture.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Erica Bucey

Erica Bucey reviews God Made All of Me: A Book to Help Children Protect Their Bodies written by Justin Holcomb and Lindsey Holcomb and illustrated by Trish Mahoney. This book helps families to speak about sensitive issues related to bodies as a defense against sexual abuse.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Erica Bucey

Erica Bucey reviews The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden written by Kevin DeYoung and illustrated by Don Clark. This book is unique in that it is an illustrated biblical theology for children.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Erica Bucey

In this episode, we recap our time at the Gospel Coalition 2015 National Conference. The conference was titled Coming Home: New Heaven and New Earth, and the sessions focused on eschatology. To start off, Erica Bucey speaks about several sessions and related books dealing with women’s ministry including Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin and the forthcoming Word-Filled Women’s Ministry edited by Gloria Furman and Kathleen B. Nielson. Jared Oliphint then details one of the conference sessions, which was convened by Westminster Theological Seminary. The session, hosted by RTS Chancellor J. Ligon Duncan, featured Lane Tipton, Greg Beale, and Jeff Jue. In this riveting session, the panelists discussed different facets of Reformed eschatology. While the session should eventually be available through The Gospel Coalition, we thought we’d share some related content. Dr. Jeffrey K. Jue currently serves as Provost of Westminster Theological Seminary and is the Stephen Tong Associate Professor of Reformed Theology at Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Jue joined us on Christ the Center episode 31 to speak about the eschatological views of the Westminster divines. We include a segment from that interview as it touches upon the subject matter of his panel discussion at #TGC15.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Erica Bucey, Jared Oliphint, Jeff Jue

Links

• Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology 2010

Participants: Bill Snodgrass, Camden Bucey, Erica Bucey