We finished reading through Revelation, wow what a time that was! We read about the end of the world and the salvation of God’s children. We read how Jesus will come again to bring an end to suffering and pain. We even took a look around in the heavenly courts and saw some strange creatures. Each night we reviewed the major points we found along the way, an example is the 7 churches. We would name them and a word about what was written to them. If you think of Revelation as a painting, the first three chapters create a great background for the rest of the book.
After we finished Revelation we went into Mark. So far in the past years, we’ve gone through Acts exploring the power we’ve been given, Revelation for the victory, Proverbs (which we are still in) for the Wisdom, and now Mark for Jesus. Honestly, there’s no rhyme or reason to the order that I know of, but I do know paths converged for a moment when about halfway through Acts, Pastor Kevin from my church began taking us through it on Sundays. That was cool. Then Bill Johnson, another leader I respect, mentioned wisdom and power being for the believer when we were in both Proverbs and Acts. Both emboldened me for our Spirit Fires and what I wanted for my kids.
The intro for Mark is easy.
Leader: “Who wants Jesus to be in their treasure room?”
All: “Meeeee!!! I dooooo!!!”
Leader: “Good, I have a book here called _____”
Kids: “Mark!”
Leader: “Written by _____”
Kids: “Mark!!”
Leader: “To teach us about ______”
Kids: “Jesus!!!”
We review by calling out one thing that we’ve already read, we’re at the end of chapter 4, and by each of us naming one of the disciples. Then I read all their names from Mark 3:16-19.
We are still making our way through the book of Proverbs on the alternate nights. We’ve added a few more things to the intro as we’ve come across new types of Proverbs, two of which are the “Coin” and the “This and more” proverbs. My kids’ favorite is the “Coin” proverb. We call them “Coin” because they have two sides saying the same thing but from different viewpoints often in reference to comparing the wicked and the righteous. My kids like the word that reveals the other side, “but”.
So we say:
Me: “Some proverbs are like a _____.” And then I hold my hand out flat.
Kids: “Coin!”
Me: “One side talks about the _______.”
Kids: “Righteous!”
Me: “The other side talks about the _______.”
Kids: “Wicked!”
Me: “And what word flips it?”
Kids: “But!” Their favorite part. Then I flip my hand over making a spank sound to emphasize it.
For example:
15:29 “The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”.
The LORD’s proximity toward the wicked means the same thing as His toward the righteous. For one side to go up, like a teeter-totter, the other has to come down. If God is near one then that means He is far from the other. He isn’t near them both in regards to His favor.
Another type of Proverb is “This and more”. Basically, this type of Proverb adds to its point by increasing it, not contrasting it like the “coin”; hence the different conjunctions “but” vs. “and”.
For this one we say:
Me: “Other proverbs are a ‘This and ____.”
Kids: “More!”
For example:
14:26 “He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.”
The “this” is “He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress”. A quick explanation of this is that we who fear the LORD obey Him, and we who obey Him receive strength and power to accomplish what He is calling us to do. Side note: This reminds me of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:24-27. The “and more” is the second half of the proverb furthering the original point to providing for the children. So basically our “fear” of God is not just for us, but it’s for those under our care, namely, our kids. My children liked hearing the good things that are coming their way, especially when I explain refuge means a huge castle.
I try to make the names for the proverbs easy so we can grasp the form which lends itself to opening the door to explore the meaning. So that’s why she swallowed the fly. 🙂
-Brian