Great Resources for Parents, Part 2

What do you get when you cross a first-rate theologian with a concerned father? You get a fantastic book for teaching theology to kids. It is true that we don't usually think about "kids" and "theology" in the same sentence--tragic but true. It is tragic because I believe we sell our kids short in what they are able to understand. By theology, I simply mean the truths we believe about God: that is, who He is, what He's said, and what He's done. Kids can grasp these truths about God, and you can teach them without using the big words that most adults, let alone kids,understand. One reason we don't talk to our kids about theology is that most of us feel like we don't know where to start or what to say.

Fortunately, Big Truths for Young Hearts gives us a place to start and plenty to say. Bruce Ware, professor of Christian theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and sitting president of the Evangelical Theological Society is a seasoned scholar. He's also the father of two adult daughters. Through the poignant foreword, Dr. Ware's girls share how their dad taught them about the greatest of God on their own level as they grew. In Big Truths, Ware presents 10 classic doctrines through 6 lessons for each which parents can use with their kids.

Big Truths is written in such a manner that a parent could read the lessons directly to their kids. I don't recommend this approach for elementary age kids. Though Ware does an excellent job of taking the big truths and making them manageable the lessons may still stretch the limits of endurance for most kids. Instead, the resource is perfect for a parent to read and them boil down into a 5 minute talk for elementary-aged kids. If your kids are older, it would make a great book to read and discuss together with them.

The book includes discussion questions at the end of each chapter and memory verses as well. I'm always looking for "handles" to give parents to hold on too to disciple their kids. I wish Dr. Ware had given more instruction on just how intended for us to use the book, but if you are ready to dig in with your kids and learn theology together, Big Truths is worth a look.

Great Resources for Parents, Part 1

This summer, our family has been using The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones (Zonderkidz, 2007) for our nightly devotional times. I have a 7 year-old and a 10 year-old. The subtitle of the book is "Every story whispers his name." That's a little misleading. In fact, every story SHOUTS his name. Lloyd-Jones does a masterful job of weaving the Gospel (God's Secret Rescue Plan, as she calls it) into every Bible story in a way that kids (and their parents) can easily see how the whole of the Bible tells the story of Christ.

Of course, as the title states, this is a storybook Bible. In other words, the stories are selective and paraphrased. Lloyd-Jones does no violence to the original meaning of the text, nor does she impose fictional thoughts into the essence of the Bible story. Rather, she is faithful to the message of God's Word and even is able to color many of the stories with humor and joy --the story of the Tower of Babel had my kids rolling! The illustrations by Jago are bright and engaging for the kids, too.

The stories are short. Most nights, the kids have begged me to read two. Although my 5th grader has enjoyed this storybook Bible, he's probably a little older than the intended audience. It's perfect for my second grader. If you have late preschoolers through elementary-age kids and you want them to have a grasp of centrality of Christ in Scripture, you need this book!