In a post earlier this week, a schedule for family Bible study focused on maintaining a consistent family Bible reading plan along with topical based teaching to learn key doctrines.  This article drills down deeper on the third component of the Biblical teaching framework by suggesting ways to develop a Christian worldview for kids through applying their Bible study to real life situations.  This application should be extended to all facets of life including literature, media and news, so that kids know how to think about the world through a Biblical lens and respond to differing ideas and difficult challenges based on Biblical teaching.  Here are three activities that can be integrated into your family schedule to promote discussion with your kids and application of what they’re learning from their Bible study.

• Reading Christian stories
  • Set aside time daily or weekly to read out loud to your family.  Select books that are age appropriate such as auto/biographies, Christian fiction and classic fiction
  • Auto/biographies provide examples of how saints of the past dealt with difficult circumstances.  Sometimes this resulted in death and children need to understand that their lives might be the price required to honor God.  Autobiographies also paint a picture of what life is like in other countries and was like at other time periods in history, so we can be grateful for the blessings God has given us now (e.g., medicine, clean water)
  • Christian fiction such as Lewis’ Narnia series or Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress present a Christian message in a veiled way, which makes us think about elements of the Biblical story or the Christian life differently.  Fiction can often deliver message that non-fiction can’t by stimulating the imagination and surprising us with the truth about ourselves (think of Nathan’s story when he confronted David about his sin)
  • Classic fiction generally lives on because it deals with pivotal themes of life (e.g., love, suffering, technology) and handles them in a unique way that spawns discussion.  Scores of classics are now free in eBook format, which makes this category all the easier to explore
• Family movie night
  •  Family movie night is like the reading time described above.  Make it a fun, bonding time, but also don’t pass on the opportunity to teach critical thinking skills.  Movies worth seeing has some ideas for films to watch together
  • After the movie or at the next time when the family is together such a dinner or a car ride, ask the children if they noticed anything in the movie contradicted the Bible and how the event was portrayed.  For example, if someone stole something in the movie was it laughed off or condemned by the characters?  We’re parents respected or mocked?  Was the science portrayed as certain while religion was laughed off as ungrounded faith?
  • Movies can be split into Christian, classics and current films.  The Christian films such as End of the Spear can be treated much like the biographies and Christian fiction above where the learning is about history and the lives of other Christians.  The classic films capture sweeping issues much the same as classic novels, but in a more dramatic way.
• News of the week/month
  • As kids mature they need to be exposed to the world around them – the good and the bad.   This aids in their understanding of God’s creation, sin and need for redemption.  It also fosters a desire for heaven where disease, war and death will no longer plague us
  • World Magazine is a good resource for news from a Christian perspective. World also publishes God’s World News which has several magazines for children that communicate current events and world facts at age appropriate levels.  Newsletters from missionary organizations such as Voice of the Martyrs and World Vision can expand kids understanding of the needs and challenges of the world
  • Several secular news magazines including MSNBC, Time and The Boston Globe publish pictures of the week that capture visually what’s happening in the world.  Flipping through some of the snapshots and explaining the plight of others can begin to teach kids empathy.  Take care though; some of the pictures are graphic