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Timothy Peden The world is in very interesting times. We are so blessed to know God and see that His plans for His creation have been planned before the foundation of the world. We can trust that not only God is in control, but He calls us His children and his desire is that we all enter an eternal relationship with Him. Sometimes He places things in our lives that throw us and put us in a position where we have to re-think about our lives and what we see as important and try new things. This huge upheaval in our society is causing so many people to panic and live in fear. I encourage you, instead, to trust God that He is control and His plans will happen. In Colossians 1:16 we read, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him."
Now our schools are closing down and we have been given the responsibility for the next few months of having our children home full time, it is a good time to re-think what our role is as Christian families. What does it mean to be Christian parents and what role does education play in our children’s lives? There is a huge change in our Christian community as we have wrestled with the responsibility of raising children in the way God is calling us to. James 1:22 says “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says”. So what are the key things the Bible is saying that can guide parents on how they are to raise their children?
The biggest concern that we should have as parents is the way education is sold in our western world. The lie we are told is that if we have a good education we will be successful in life. If we believe this then we see that education is the thing that will bring success to our children. In 1 John 5:21 we are told “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” God is calling us to go to Him for success and to trust Him with our lives. Our prayer is that God uses education as one of the tools He uses to equip and grow us, but the success of our children in life is not based on their education. Success both now and eternally come through a relationship with Jesus and then through learning our identity in Him.
I want to explore a number of key ideas on the role of parents and how we can intentionally grow our children to be successful in life:
Growing them in a relationship with Jesus. As parents, we guide them as we grow in our relationship with Jesus. This involves prayer, discussion of important topics to you and them and sharing your relationship with God and guiding them as they grow in their relationship with God. In their relationship with Jesus, we reveal their identity, which is what God says about us.
To understand God’s message to us through the Bible. It is vital that children know the whole story of the Bible. God’s metanarrative or big story is amazing. By knowing the big story and then they can understand the context of different Bible verses and how it relates to this big story. They can see then how they fit into this big metanarrative.
Teaching a biblical world view - When children know the big story they can then start seeing the world from God’s perspective. When you encounter millions of years ideas, hate, fear, rebellion you can then point it back to how it fits into the story of the Bible. They can learn to be critical thinkers and evaluate everything in light of what the Bible says which is the truth.
Growing our children as trees of righteousness. I love Jeremiah 17:5-8. In Verses 7 and 8 we read
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
God is calling us to grow our children through hard times so their roots are deep to access the Word and the Spirit of God and they have their foundations in Jesus. When they do this, no matter what is happening around them they will be able to have green leaves to shade and protect others and bear fruit to feed those who are hungry around them.
Equipping them for the “Good Works” God has made them for. Ephesians 2:10 is one of my favourite verses. The version from The Passion Translation is excellent:
We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfil the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfil it!
God has made us for a relationship with Him and through that relationship, He is in the process of preparing us for the good works He has made us do with Him. We are made to fit into His creation to cause His world to function as He has made it to.
As we understand our role as parents, we see the importance of being intentional in raising our children. In Romans 8:19 we read “ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” God is calling us to be intentional in the way we raise our children. Satan is wanting to rob, kill and destroy (John 10:10) but as we rise to the challenge of what it means to be Christian parents, we will see a new generation of young people rise and fulfil their destiny in Christ and cause our country and world to function as God has intended. A world where Jesus rules and functions as He has made it to.
This is a very brief overview of what God is calling us to do in raising our children. With the shut down of our schools, it is a good time to look at the different types of schooling available in Australia at the moment.
Models for education:
Day school - public education
Day school - private education with the emphasis on a good education
Day school - private education with an emphasis on a good education which does include Christian education.
Day School - private education which is a partnership with parents and the school to help raise your children together.
Distance Education School - run by the government. Totally secular.
Distance Education - Christian school that gives a curriculum package to families depending on which grade they are in. Children work independently on their work at the grade level they are at. Work is set and marked by the school.
Distance Education - Families and school work in partnership to raise the children. Parents are the home educators who are supported by the school. The curriculum is written for each individual family to help achieve the goals of the family under the umbrella of the National Curriculum. The program is written to have the families work together as much as possible. The emphasis is supporting Christian parents in raising their children.
Instead of looking at this time as being bad, seek God in what He is saying to you in this time. Ask Him how He is calling you to raise our children to know Him and to know their identity in God and discover the good works God has made them for. As you do this, ask Him to show you if education has been an idol in your family and what you can do to raise your children with great purpose so they are able to be trees of righteousness and not only weather any storm that they encounter in life but bear fruit and fulfil the destiny God has made them for, which is both here on earth and for eternity.
Since you will be trying some form of home schooling for your children you can have a greater say in what they are learning and how they are developing as people!
Our children are the greatest weapon that God is using to bring about victory on earth and through Godly parents, He is raising a mighty army. Let’s do this together!3 Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court. (Psalm 127:3-5)
Timothy Peden Tim is a teacher of 30 years and currently works at a distance education school in Queensland. (Faith Christian School Distance Education) PO Box 524 Toowoomba Qld 4350 PH: 0407671508 tlepeden@gmail.com https://tlepeden.wixsite.com/website
PS. Of course most tertiary education institutions have been using distance education for some time.
Home Church. No photo description available. Found circulating the world on Facebook!
What does COVID-19 mean for the church, when it has been called to be a community?
Rosie Kendall, CEO, Christians Against Poverty, Australia
Humans are fundamentally relational beings, dependent and incomplete by design; no one can be who they truly are in isolation. But Australia is a socially fragmented society. The average Aussie moves every 6 years, 40 percent of marriages end in divorce and busyness is a virtue. As the pandemic forces everything to a halt and contains us to our geographic locations, the Church is faced with an opportunity to help change the fabric of our society.
But for the first time in living memory, churches are being forced to close their doors. It’s a challenge that many pastors likely didn’t think their congregations would have to face, but for the foreseeable future, all regular gathering has come to a halt. The Church is also called to serve the poor and protect the vulnerable, to etch out a place for them.
Psalm 82:2-3 “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
"Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes
So how does the Church help restore community and provide for the vulnerable without a physical place to do so? Some of Christians Against Poverty’s (CAP) partner churches are already providing stunning examples of what this could look like.
The Grainery in the NSW Hunter Region Hunis one such church. Calling their community to step up and be the church, the young adults pastor wrote to the church’s young adults last week saying:
As young adults, most of us are the healthiest, more able and mobile in our community at this time. In contrast we have many people in our church who are vulnerable, isolated and need extra support over the coming weeks. With many ministries and events altered or postponed, many of us who normally serve at church, are now available to help in other ways.
The church is encouraging healthy members to get creative in how they reach out an help their community with things such as; creating care packages and kids craft packs and delivering them, cooking meals for the regular attendees of Grainery Care (community outreach program), making check-in phone calls, taking time to visit, play games or lead a fun activity for isolated families and children, setting up technology for older people so they don’t miss out on church over live-stream.
Of course, all these activities will have to consider healthy and safe precautions. But these are merely logistics to be overcome, the church is pulling out all stops to ensure no one is left isolated!
Already, stories are emerging of CAP clients struggling through the crisis. It’s heartbreaking. However equally, there are stories of how churches are continuing to support them through the CAP Debt Centres and CAP Money courses.
One family, a mum, dad and 4 kids aged 1 through to 9 have lost their income due to the crisis. They reached out to their case worker who was able to but their debt repayments on a hold. The client was full of relief and reflected:
“It is such a blessing that we did reach out when we did. If we didn’t have you now, it would be devastating”
What a gift it is to be able to provide for people in their season of need. Even as advice and measures keep changing, there are ways you as a church can help people practically. As individuals scattered around towns and cities, together you can reach many people by encouraging and arranging for members to:
Go the local shops for those who can’t or are scared to Pray for neighbours (leave a note in their letterbox telling them you are a Christian and offer to pray) Donate money and items to foodbanks and charities caring for the vulnerable. By giving instead of hoarding, we demonstrate that it is God who we trust. Regularly check-in with isolated people over the phone Keep giving blood, as the need will increase and potential donors decrease Display gratitude to service workers (mail carrier, supermarket assistant) they are likely feeling overrun and encounter a lot of stressed out people Offer to help single parents with childcare needs; drop off a meal, a box of diapers or puzzles for the kids Buy a gift card from a local small business to redeem at a later date (stock up some for Christmas presents) Send an encouraging text message to any of your friends who are medical professionals, and offer to help their partner or family PRAY
These are some practical ways as Christians to show love to our communities. But the reality is many Australians are going to face economic crisis. CAP is here to equip the local church with practical tools for helping people through financial crisis and give them the tools to achieve financial well being. Our communities need the hope of Jesus more than ever and now is a time for the church to step out to reach people that are feeling hopeless
As A. W. Tozer put it, “A frightened world needs a fearless church.” And as Jesus said the world would know his disciples by their love. As a church, how will you respond to COVID-19 for your community? Join CAP in giving that life-changing hope Jesus’ light abundantly brings.
Rosie is the CEO of CAP Australia and has been working for CAP both here and in the UK for 10 years. She loves the church and seeing the bride of Christ respond to Jesus’ call to serve the poor and save the lost. She is passionate about equipping others to flourish in all that God has created them to be. Rosie’s husband Dave also works at CAP and they have three beautiful daughters, Esther, Lydia and the most recent addition, Maeve. Find out more about what you and your church can do to help: https://www.capaust.org/Get-Involved
Covid-19 Calculator
Are we flattening the curve? So far Australia has 3181 cases
With this projected time span of 20 days with an estimated rate of daily growth 17%, the projected number of cases will be 73,499.
Hospitalisations will be 15,214 ICU admissions: 3,601 -exceeds regular capacity by 1372 beds with 1,323 deaths. Australia has around 94,000 hospital beds and 2,229 ICU beds
Hospitalisation and death rates use latest low-end estimates from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of March 24. 20.7% for hospitalisation, 4.9% for ICU and 1.8% fatality.
Death rates are likely to increase if ICU capacity is exceeded. Deaths from other causes will also increase if ICU are blocked by COVID-19 cases. Australia hospital capacity as of 2018 sourced from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Launching John Anderson Direct: Featuring Douglas Murray.
As the world goes into lock down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are pleased to bring you a new series of interviews, John Anderson Direct.
Recorded live via online streaming, we are able to bring you the views of commentators and experts direct from around the world.
In this first episode John speaks to author and journalist Douglas Murray from his home in England. Since they last spoke in January the whole world has been turned upside down by COVID-19. Douglas gives us the view from Europe and they consider the impact and possible future consequences of this unfolding crisis.
View here 71 minute interview. European Union no longer a nation state! Globalisation faltering as nations close their borders. China's influence also faltering. Passing our BIG spending onto our grand children...
‘God… We Trust You In These Times’: Pop Star Justin Bieber Invites 130 Million Instagram Followers to Online Church Service.
Eager to engage with the faith community online during this challenging time, the “Changes” singer decided to extend a church invitation to his 130 million Instagram followers...
Please remember the 1900 hours prayer time daily until the crisis has been declared over. All Christians Australia-wide are asked to pray for our nation in response to the crisis. (The 1900 hours is simply an effective reminder and connection). Churches are asked to include prayer for the crisis in their Sunday services each week as well as encourage prayer in their other meetings throughout the week.
Further info at https://christiansunited.online/
This Sunday 29 March is set aside as a National Day of Prayer & Fasting by Churches across Australia for the Coronavirus.
Please remember the 1900 hours prayer time daily until the crisis has been declared over. All Christians Australia-wide are asked to pray for our nation in response to the crisis. (The 1900 hours is simply an effective reminder and connection). Churches are asked to include prayer for the crisis in their Sunday services each week as well as encourage prayer in their other meetings throughout the week.
Further info at https://christiansunited.online/
This Sunday 29 March is set aside as a National Day of Prayer & Fasting by Churches across Australia for the Coronavirus.
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