After skipping a week, we are resuming this great series RaisingGenNext from Elihu at Elihu’s Corner. Blessings and enjoy!
(This article is part of the series “Building GenNext.” You can read the previous post by clicking here.)
“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.
~ Deuteronomy 6.4-8, ESV
The ancient Israelites showcase the rewards of following God and the pitfalls of apathy. We would do well to learn from their mistakes. The above passage from Deuteronomy, while addressed to the Israelites, holds a very important principle for parents and teachers alike: actively teach your children about the Lord and His commands.
Commit this verse to your memory and to your heart. Write it down and then put it into action—today.
In this series on training GenNext Christians, we have covered two of our 6 E’s—Engage and Exemplify. This next string of posts will cover E number three: Equip: Teach and Train. As this is the more technical part of the 6 E’s, I will have to break this up into several posts.
Teaching begins with example.
The passage above begins with “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your should and with all your might.” As noted in the “example” segment of this series, it all begins with your example. If you do not love God completely and your children observe that failing, they will be less likely to follow the Lord. Conversely, if your love for God pours into your speech and actions, they will know how to emulate that in their own life.
Commit the Word to Your Heart.
Immediately after the aforementioned sentence, Moses says, “these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” Are you committing the Bible to your own heart? Do you know what it actually says? If you aren’t taking the time to learn the word, how on earth can you teach it to your children?
When I was a junior in high school, I took an Honors Precalculus class. It was horrendous, and not because of the math. Our teacher was the basketball coach, but had a minor in math. As always, I never judge a teacher until he/she proves capability or incapability. Within the first class period, my classmates and I concluded that the man had a very thin grasp of precalculus.. He would start to “help” us with a problem and inevitably get stuck himself. At first, I thought it was a teaching method (I gave him the benefit of the doubt), but I quickly surmised that he just didn’t know precalculus very well. My fellow students and I had to teach ourselves throughout the course of the year. We relied heavily on each other. If we hadn’t been motivated by grades we probably wouldn’t have learned the subject at all.
The point is this: if you expect your kids’ schoolteachers to have a working knowledge of the secular subjects they are teaching, don’t you think it’s fair to say we need to have a growing knowledge of the Bible in order to teach our own children? Consider regular bible study as “continuing education,” much in the same way Doctors, accountants and nurses take “continuing education units.”…..read the rest of the post here: Equipping our Children: Raising #GenNext Christians
Truth in Palmyra 
August 21, 2016 at 03:31
Having grown up in NYC, I’ve had many Jewish friends over the years. Deut. 6: 4-9 (“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord…”) and Deut. 11: 13-21 (“And it shall be if you earnestly obey My commandments…then I will give you the rain for your land…”) are the verses devout Jews traditionally have inscribed on the mezuzah at their entryway.
The fact Christians have laid claim to the definitional verse for which countless Jews have died (i.e. Deut. 6: 4) is offensive to some Jews.
We are told as Christians always to be prepared to give the reasons for our faith (1 Peter 3: 15). You might think that witnessing to Jews is easy. But Jews have for centuries been persecuted, and put to death by so called Christians. The topic can, therefore, by highly charged even if initiated by a friend.
Many Jews have, in addition, been taught in synagogue that the references Christians view as to the Messiah in the beautiful Book of Isaiah are really references to Israel as a nation. Of course, the Jews of Jesus’ day expected the Messiah to be an earthly ruler who would free them from the yoke of Rome.
The biggest obstacle is that Jews view Christians either as believing in “another” god or as polytheists believing in three separate gods. Jesus is not understood to be Yahweh, and not understood to be one w/ the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Admittedly, the Trinity is a difficult concept, even for believing Christians.
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August 21, 2016 at 04:24
Yeah, no kidding the Trinity is hard to get!
You know, it would really intimidate me to witness to a Jew. And that would be a religious Jew or a secular one either way. I have knew very few Jews in my life to be honest. Actually, I have probably only been “friends” with one, and that was a guy when I was in the Army, one of my fellow officers. Other than that…none. As far as I know, there are no Jewish Families in our community, or the small town nearby.
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August 21, 2016 at 18:09
Whether w/ Jews or non-Jews, I never feel “comfortable” witnessing when I think of it in those terms. It is much easier for me to speak from the heart about why I believe in the Lord, and what He has done in my life. Remember that I was for years an atheist…at least that’s what I told God, at the time. I admit that the superior attitude some atheists take can get under my skin. For the most part though I am overcome by pity for them. Many people, however, are just searching. Too often, their only experience of Christianity (or what purported to be Christianity) was harsh and judgmental. As has been said by others, Christians have both bread and light to offer the world. By that I mean, Scripture (light) and a loving hand for those in need (bread). Many people in search of God have rarely experienced simple kindness. Sorry for going on and on like this, Wally. Just one of my many character flaws (LOL).
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August 21, 2016 at 18:16
Well..you are a lawyer right? Think about what a witness is. We tell what we saw, heard, and experienced right?
Your witness is perfect, as we are witnesses for Jesus, not lawyers. We don’t need to be theologians to share the Gospel. You keep doing what you are doing and hearts will be touched.
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