Welcome to the Entrusting the Faith podcast! I'm your host, Eric Rutherford. In this episode, we delve into the importance of utilizing resources to equip children with biblical knowledge and worldview. Specifically, we focus on the power of biographies and historical narratives in shaping a child's understanding of faith and history.
YWAM Publishing offers a range of biographies on notable figures such as Lottie Moon, Amy Carmichael, William Carey, and Gladys Aylward. These biographies provide insight into the lives of missionaries and their journeys of faith.
The biographies are recommended for children at a fourth to sixth-grade reading level, making them accessible for young readers.
Reading these biographies can inspire children to see the impact of faith in action and encourage them to be brave in their own walk with Christ.
https://www.ywampublishing.com/
The Puritan Heroes and Reformation Heroes series, authored by Glinda Faye Mathis, Joel Beeke, and Diana Klein, offer mini-biographies of key figures from these historical periods.
These books provide a deeper understanding of the Puritans and Reformers, their beliefs, and their contributions to the Christian faith.
By exploring the lives of individuals like John Calvin, William Tyndale, and Jonathan Edwards, children can gain insights into the history of the church and its impact on the world.
Understanding the context of historical events and figures is crucial in shaping a comprehensive worldview.
These resources offer a window into the movement of God throughout history, showcasing His faithfulness and the impact of past believers on the present.
By studying the lives of those who came before us, we are reminded of the legacy we are a part of and the responsibility to pass on the faith to future generations.
As parents and educators, our role is to raise adults who are grounded in their faith and equipped to impact the world.
Utilizing biographies and historical resources can enrich family devotional times and provide valuable lessons for both children and adults.
I encourage you to explore these resources, engage in meaningful discussions with your children, and continue the important work of nurturing faith in the next generation.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Entrusting the Faith podcast. I'm your host, Eric Rutherford, and today is the third in a series on resources that you can use in your family, you can use them at your church, really to help your children gain both biblical knowledge, biblical worldview, and to really just equip and train them to walk with Christ throughout life. So this week we are going to touch on some histories, specifically some biographies, and I want to point you to I want you to tear through resources that I think are really good. So first, YWAM Publishing has just some wonderful biographies. Here are a few. If you're watching on camera, these are what they look like. You know, things like Lottie Moon, Amy Carmichael, William Carey, Gladys Alward. Um, all of those are really good. I've read each of those and read a few others, all of them through YWAM publishing, and they have dozens that are available. What I like about them is they, they tell this person's story, right? And their experience and their life really, how, how the Lord moved in them, what led them to the mission field, what was their experience like, where did they go? And these are, I wanna say maybe fourth to sixth grade reading level. I've read them with my children, just sat down and do a chapter or two a night. And what it does is it gives a, It gives a vision for what God can do in the hearts of believers. And it tells people, you know, it helps them see even not only what is possible, but somehow to become braver. You know, I love in S.D. Smith's Green Ember series. It's a fiction series. It's wonderful. Okay, this is a side note, but if you haven't read it, it's delightful. You know, there is this interchange between a father and a daughter. And the father says, hey, you want me to read a story? And the daughter says, yes. And she says, tell me something true. And the father pauses and thinks about that because he realizes the weightiness of what true means. And so he goes and tells a story and that's much the same way here. So these tell true stories. They give you and your children a vision for a bigger world and also a window into God's heart. And so it's a movement, and it gives you some historical context and gives you some geography. They're just fascinating, fascinating readings here. Let me, I'm going to share this screen so you can see what the website looks like. All right, so here are, you know, they have just different series here. Their website is ywampublishing.com. They also have just a ton of other material that I highly recommend. definitely a good resource, especially even if, and they also have audio books, which is great. So if you have children who are not readers, but they were willing to listen, man, that's a great way to get them involved in the same material. So I highly recommend those, encourage you to check those out. The second resource I have, I stumbled across these about three or four years ago. And it's a series by, this one's written by Glinda Faye Mathis and Joel Beakey. This one's written by Diana Klein with Joel Beakey. And one of them is the Puritan Heroes and the other is the Reformation Heroes. Now what these are, these are like mini-biographies, like many m-a-n-y, many m-i-n-i biographies, and they go through and they talk, as you can hear me flipping the pages to the table of contents, you know, the Puritans, who are the Puritans, and then it goes through and talks and has 21 different chapters, and it talks about the history, the background of different Puritans and their life and their work, you know, from Richard Greenham, William Ames, Richard Sibbes, John Elliott and Brand Street, Richard Baxter, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, just a ton of these. I've read these with my children, you know, when they were in their late elementary to middle school, and it gives a great context. It gives a lot of history and a lot of perspective on, you know, in terms of the Puritans, who they were, what they believed, and how it impacts us today. And this other one is the same style, same format. It is the Reformation heroes. And let me get the, you get the, the timeline in the front of the book and then you get to the table of contents and again it has you know 30 through 35 basically like 32 to 34 different not only individuals who were in the Reformation, from John Whitcliffe, Anne of Bohemia, Ulrich Zwingli, William Tyndale. Then you also have the Heidelberg Catechism, how it came about. You've got John Calvin, Queen Marguerite of Navarre, You've got a little bit on the Anabaptists. So you just have a wealth of information here as well. And again, it talks through and goes through the historical context, the historical movement that occurred, and just all of the details around that. So it gives you some church history, but it gives you some world history, and it gives you some faith history of the way people have really have served the Lord. Here, I'll share the website with you as well. On this one, it's under Reformation Heritage Books, and you can find them here. Reformation Heritage Books has a ton of good material as well. So this is what it looks like. You can see they have, you can get a little bit of inside view. you know, of the pages. They have a few illustrations and so forth. So all that to say, these are two groups of resources that I highly recommend to anyone and everyone out there, whether they are at home, for use at home, whether it's for use in your church in terms of discipling children. And here's the big reason why. First, we need context. If my children are listening to this, they will laugh. Among many of the things I've said, they've heard time and again, and context is probably the one I preach most. And that is understanding what's going on within the context of the broader picture. And so what these do is they give you some history to go with to go with names that you've heard of and to see how the Lord has moved through history. The second thing it does is it gives you a view into the movement of God throughout history. and how he continues to move today. The fact that we are believers today is solely the fruit of the faithfulness of those who came before us. That's it, right? And so what we are doing today will have an effect on those who come after us 50 years from now, 100 years from now, 150 years from now. And it's for good or for ill, but that's what our influence will be. And so reading these and going through this information is a reminder of the cloud of witnesses that we are a part of. And to remember that we are not alone. And so I live here in Tennessee, here in the U.S. There are believers all around the world. And so it is a reminder that it's a big world, and the Lord has been at work, not only since creation, but he continues to work today. So again, encourage you to pick those up. You can use them as part of a Bible time, as part of a devotional time with your kids. You will get a lot from them yourself. So I would encourage you to check those out. All right, that's it for this week. Definitely sign up for the email list, links in the show notes. We'd love to make sure you're, you know, be in contact with you, touch with you, praying that the Lord continues to bless you and encourage you as you do the hard work. of training and raising up adults, because that's our job, right? As parents, our job is not to raise children, but to raise adults. And so I pray that the Lord would give you the grace that you need this week to do just that. Talk to you soon.