Volume 3, Issue 8

March 25, 2025

I recently sat behind a family with a young child during the worship service at church, and I was impressed with what the parents did to keep their daughter engaged. 

 

One of the hardest decisions for parents of young children when it comes to church is whether or not to keep them in the service. While this is a moot point in some cases because the church they attend doesn’t give them an option, in many churches, there are classes available for children (or at least a nursery) during the sermon portion of the worship service. 

 

If parents choose to keep their family together during worship, then the issue becomes keeping the children engaged and quiet so the children can learn, the parents can participate, and other church members can pay attention. So let me get back to what this young mother did that impressed me so much.

 

Each week, our church sends out an email that includes the text to be discussed on Sunday. This mom had prepared ahead of time, and she had copied the passage of Scripture in clear, legible handwriting. During the service, the young girl, who is learning to write, spent the time copying the passage. How brilliant is that! This allowed the girl to practice her handwriting while hearing a sermon about what she was copying. It also kept her focused so she wasn’t a distraction to her parents or to those around her. 

 

This situation reminded me of a blog post I wrote several years ago listing tips to help your children behave during “big church.” If you would like to read it, click the button below.

At the beginning of the book of Joshua, the Israelites are poised to enter and claim the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for their descendants. God made the covenant, and God keeps His covenant.

 

As you are reading through the book, you may find yourself wondering how a loving God could ask His people to destroy so many cities along with their inhabitants. The Israelites were instructed to destroy everyone, and God had very specific reasons. I won’t go into detail about the perverted practices of the Cannanites, but God had warned the Israelites about taking part in Canaanite practices.

 

One thing to remember is that everyone living in the land of Canaan knew about God and could repent–––Rahab is evidence of that truth–––yet they chose not to follow Him. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had lived in the land before his family went to Egypt during the famine. God gave the Canaanites 400+ years to repent, yet they chose, in spite of everything they had heard and learned about the God of the Israelites, to turn their backs on Him. Keep this in mind as you read through the battles, the victories, and the failures of the Israelites as they went into the land.

One of the most difficult concepts for me as I read Old Testament prophecy is that God ordains that foreign nations attack, oppress, and take captive the nation of Israel, but when their judgment is over, He punishes those nations for their treatment of His people. I have been attending a Sunday school class where we learned about the providence of God. Through that discussion, I learned about a concept known as concurrence.

 

There are many definitions I have found for this term:

While God is sovereign (in control) over everything, His intent is never evil. However, He works through the evil intents of others to fulfill His good intent.

 

Take the favorite example of Job. Satan’s intent was to disprove Job’s faithfulness. God’s intent was to prove Job’s faithfulness. The Chaldeans and Sabeans' intent was to get rich. All of it worked together to fulfill God’s good intent.

 

There are many, many more examples in Scripture of this idea. Joseph particularly comes to mind. God orchestrated all of it so that Joseph could be where he needed to be to save the nation of Israel and put them in a position to flourish, but his brothers intended to simply get rid of him, and slave traders wanted to make money off of him.

 

When it comes to the nation of Israel being captive to a foreign nation, it is also important to understand that the foreign nation could have repented as they heard of the God of Israel. The book of Daniel spends some time on this idea.

 

It is a complicated topic because His thoughts are not our thoughts, but it helps us find hope in a time of trouble, holding fast to the fact that God is truly working it all for His good intent.

In April, we will be treasure-hunting in the book of Colossians. If there is a book you would like to study, please reply to this email and let me know. Whether you study along with me or do your own study, God will grow you through your time in His Word.

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