“My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge.”
Hosea 4:6
Although these words described God’s attitude toward the Israelites in the 7th century B.C., they also describe most Christians today, especially our children and youth. Biblical ignorance is at an all-time high, and parallel to that report is the rise in the disintegration of the family, drug use and alcohol addiction, gender and sexual dysphoria, and the acceptance of a host of societal sins. Our children and youth are destroying themselves because of their lack of knowledge of God’s Word.
Christians who lack biblical knowledge are products of churches that have marginalized biblical preaching and teaching. Over the last half-century, the American Church has focused on numerical rather than spiritual growth, even adjusting the gospel message to meet the needs of the lost rather than equipping the saved. Age-group ministers were tasked with providing entertainment to keep the children busy rather than teaching them to understand the Bible.
While the Church must recover the centrality and urgency of biblical preaching and teaching, the recovery must start at the home. Parents are their children’s first and most important educators, and that includes their knowledge of God’s Word. Of course, a parent’s main priority is to lead their children to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they should not franchise that responsibility to anyone else. (See Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
Of course, the Church should do everything it can to support, strengthen, and encourage the children and youth in their pursuit of the knowledge of God, especially in view of what they are facing today. This is why we have doubled our efforts at Heritage to equip all of the adults with the sufficient knowledge of the Scriptures, so they can “train their children in the way they should go.”
Beloved, we will not believe more than we know or live any higher than our beliefs. As you can see from this brochure, the opportunities for personal spiritual growth are here for you. Will the secular storms ahead destroy you or your children because of your lack of knowledge? Make your homes a lighthouse for your children, fueled by your powerful knowledge of the Word of God. PW
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