I am compelled to draw the following conclusion: "Less" is not "more" when it comes to worldly perspectives on time. More is more. Things valued are given "more" time and things of less value are given "less" time. Things valued are given "more" resources, and things of less value are given "less" resources. We have higher expectations, higher involvement, and higher attachment to that which we value "more" than that which we value "less".

Many will call the instructions and expectations for behavior written in 1 Timothy 2 “sexist”. But the labels of the ignorant or the apostate ought not to dissuade us from faithfulness to the Lord. Christ was Himself accused of all sorts of things, labeled and named a great many untrue things by the standards of His day. His family thought He was insane (Mark 3:21). The Jewish religious teachers claimed Jesus was possessed (Mark 3:30). Jesus taught that His people were blessed when “people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:11). When on trial Jesus was accused of a great many things, although none of the accusations proved true (Matthew 26:59-60). By whose standard will we live? The ever-changing and swirling standard of contemporary finite culture, or the never-changing, ever-true standard of the living God?

Recently, this question was asked. “It seems in some ways Elijah was a type of Christ. In 1 Kings 17, he multiplied food and raised from the dead the son of a widow. Jesus feeds the five thousand and raises the son of a widow in Luke 7. Are there any other parallels, or possibly scripture that talks about this relationship more explicitly than Hebrews teaching on the types and shadows? And then do you have any resources that teach on the topic of Elijah being a type of Christ?” Read on to see Jacob’s answer.

The family is continually under assault in today's contemporary Western society. Even defining a family can be tricky today with as many "blended", "mixed", "multi-layered" and "modern" family units and styles as there are. We all know that "Yo Mama" jokes are a great way to alienate. But nowadays culture considers any sort of defined role within a family unit or structure as offensive, abusive, and evil, it's tough to put any concrete reason as to why "Yo Mama" jokes are offensive. If there are no mothers or fathers and we're supposedly all fluid anyway, these joke would not be offensive. When the most basic unit of the human experience is cast away, the society doing the casting is not long for this world.

I’m stoked to be studying 1st Timothy, and myself having old sin, old idols, and old pride taken down and out. I’m looking forward to how the Lord will humble me, grow my loyalty to Him, and find enlivened trust in God’s Word. Let me encourage you today to take your excitement, and read 1st Timothy. May you be informed, instructed, and inspired as you read and submit to God’s Word. 

The compulsory attendance law was enacted in the 1850s due to the immigration of Irish and other European groups. Many east coast cities were full of children and families that needed something to do. This was not for the education of the children, but was to teach discipline and obedience to make these children into good factory workers and citizens. In order to do that, children had to be separated from their parents. They had to be forced to learn, or be indoctrinated with the ideals of someone else.

Homeschooling has become a hot topic in recent years. Many parents have chosen to remove their children from public school settings after the interruptions in schooling due to covid. This influx of children daily in the home, has greatly changed the education landscape of our country. For many of these parents, this was the first time they had an experience with teaching their children at home. The idea of teaching children at home is not novel, although have been accustomed to think its new. In fact, throughout history teaching your children at home was the norm. Homeschooling has been around for a lot longer than we think.

Our frustration of frequency, our exasperation of exhaustion, our wrath against repetition is experienced when we are sick of having to repeat something. We’ve said something before, and now the nuisance of stating the same thing again has driven us slightly (maybe more than slightly) bonkers. Maybe it was somewhere between the 70th and 470th time the question was asked, it’s hard to tell exactly, but somewhere, at some time, we snapped and decided “this is the last time I’m going to say this” and issued the warning “don’t make me say it again”. 

The Terra Prime Adventure Series is a good clean space story for kids and families. The first story sets the scene of a tween boy who awakens on the starship to find that his sleeping pod was opened while everyone else's stayed closed. Zack must solve the problem on the spaceship of an un-identified intruder, with only the help from the on board computer.

When we think of the gospel going out into the world there are a great many things that come to mind. Missions efforts, evangelistic crusades, interpersonal conversations about Jesus, baptisms, testimonies, transformed lives, church plants, sermons, bible translation, and more. Often when we think of the gospel spreading, we think in the present sense. We consider the present global spiritual landscape and then carry on with that in mind. This is a good thing and is in no way worthy of critique. The apostles were dedicated in their lives (during what was their time in the “present”) to the spread of the gospel widely. They traveled afar, and had gospel conversations with people from dozens of cultures, lands, and languages. 

Hospitality today is delegated as something that women do. It is often conceptualized as a noun. A thing that only certain people should do because they are good at it. That is not how the Bible speaks about hospitality. Hospitality is not a gift some of us have, it is a command for all of God’s People.

Many children in our western culture have been told they can’t sit in worship. They have been led to believe that the Bible is too difficult for them to understand. That there are only certain stories worth learning about. Why these stories? Because some believe kids can only learn the “fun stories of scripture." Children are taught about Jericho falling down, but are they taught about Joshua, Rahab, or Moses? Are they taught why the walls of Jericho needed to fall down? Are they taught of the victory of God in fulfilling His great promises to His people? Are they taught how destructive and devastating sin is? Are they exposed to the ultimate reality of God’s wrath against His enemies? Are they told of the grace of God in Christ? Are they taught about the significance of the return of Christ?

Hospitality is something every Christian should be doing, but what exactly is hospitality? Hospitality can mean different things based on your culture, and upbringing. Do some hospitality is what you receive when you stay in a hotel. Its a clean bed, space to be alone, a lavish breakfast and the ability to have your needs meet 24 hours day. For others, hospitality is someone opening their home for you to stay. Instead of a lavish breakfast, room to yourself, and your needs met 24 hours, you are invited into a home to help prepare the meals and to share rooms with others.

14 books to get your family reading aloud together this summer. A great family tradition to get started with wonderful books.

Jacob and Amy often receive questions about matters pertaining to family, children and the church. One such question was how to train our children to love instruction and to love God’s Law. This week we briefly touch on 5 tips to help you teach your children to love Instruction and His law.

Jacob recently received this questions about the contemporary Christian Music Movement within churches today. We know that many people are struggling with what music should be sung in worship, versus the home. We hope that this answer encourages you to think about the “Christian” music you listen to and the music that is sung at your worship service on Sundays.

My wife and I have always taught our children about death. This means, as Christian parents, we have also taught our children about the hope of the resurrection. It can be difficult to have conversations with little ones, and that’s a truism that has been proven time and time again as we raise our four living children. Conversations can sometimes be difficult because of the tragic, gut-wrenching, soul-disturbing reality of the curse of death.

Today we will share a few quotes to think about and chew on. Many of these will read as quite offensive in the current climate in the secular west that is so utterly hostile to the Lord and his instructions.

The past few months have been filled with prayer, work, excitement and anticipation. We are so blessed in where God has called our family. We look forward to sharing with you more about how God has been working in our lives in hopes to encourage you in yours. Check out what’s new with our family!