Guest Contributor: Kenneth Kang-Hui
If you ask the average Christian to cite the main differences between Baptists and Reformed Christians, the first thing that would come to mind is probably baptism, its mode and its recipients. Specifically, while there may be mild disagreements over the use of immersion or sprinkling as the mode by which the water is applied, of much greater contention is the issue of who exactly should be baptized. Is baptism only for those who have professed personal faith in the work and death of Jesus Christ or is it to be applied to the children of believers as well? Are the children of believers full members of the covenant community or are they technically outsiders who enjoy certain benefits by virtue of being raised in a Christian family but not because they are members of the Visible Church?
For those of us who adhere to the Reformed Confessions, the answers to those questions are clear and should shape our view of children in the church and what it means to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. However, it seems that more often than not, the way children are raised in Reformed Churches is no different than what could be found in typical Baptist or evangelical churches that do not subscribe to paedo-baptism. Children are dropped off, prior to the Sunday worship service, with the child care ministry where they are taught Bible lessons, given arts and crafts activities, or participate in children’s church. Read the rest of this entry »
Darryl G. Hart and Camden Bucey converse about family and Sabbath through the writings of Wendell Berry.
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I’m actually speaking of literal food this time. Inka Leoni at My Modern Metropolis has written a post which includes some very interesting photos of what families throughout the world eat in a typical week. When your week’s food is piled up in one place, it makes you wonder how well you consider the health of your family. Let me humbly recommend Food, Inc. before you buy next week’s groceries. Read the rest of this entry »
The New York Times reports on an experiment in Vail, AZ in which the school district has outfitted a school bus with a mobile WiFi router. Interestingly, disciplinary problems have all but disappeared. But one has to ask, is this really a productivity booster or are we further capitulating to the entertainment “needs” of today’s students?
Robert Rector comments on a new report demonstrating the success of abstinence education programs in the face of the failures of so called “safe-sex” and comprehensive sex-ed programs. What is most interesting is the response from the New York Times which capitulated to the study with the excuse that these successful abstinence education programs were “freed from the moralistic overtones and ideological restrictions.” Rector goes on to list three violated non-negotiables that lead to this sort of reaction.
The Kaiser Family Foundation has released their study of the use of media among 8 to 18 year olds. The figures are simply astounding. Just to highlight a few of the key findings, overall media use was up to – on average – 7 hours and 38 minutes per day while total media exposure was at 10 hours 45 minutes per day. Many media categories saw increases in use, but music/audio was the biggest category gainer over the 2004-2009 time period. One of the most interesting findings of the study was that more than one media is often being consumed at any given time. Kids are listening to music, streaming Internet video and watching television at the same time. As you might guess, the foundation reports an inverse relationship between media use and academic performance. Read the report and adjust your understanding of today’s reality.
photo from rashdan
Thabiti Anyabwile has shared a few thoughts for parents who don’t go about the whole Santa thing. You might also want to read Sinclair Ferguson’s article on Christ and Santa.
Speaking to your children about sex certainly isn’t on your list of most anticipated things to do. But certainly it’s something that should not be avoided. This was the subject of a recent Albert Mohler Radio Program.
