Establishing a Firm Foundation

A few years ago my children and I read God’s Smuggler by John and Elizabeth Sherrill. It’s the story of a Dutchman, Brother Andrew, who smuggled bibles into Eastern European communist countries and eventually founded Open Doors International - a ministry to persecuted Christians all around the world.

It was such an inspiring story and we were challenged in our faith so many times whilst reading it. What struck me most about this book was the subtle similarities in how the communist regime infiltrated the church and what I see happening today all over the world, including Australia.

In Australia, there is no real overt violence against Christians. We have the freedom to worship openly. However, our core beliefs based on biblical truths are being threatened and as bible believing Christians we are being pushed into a corner and starting to feel the pressure.

The subtle threats of -  "if you don’t go along with us, then we will….." are starting to appear. The number of Christians (& even non-Christians) being brought before courts or tribunals for their Genesis 1 beliefs has risen in recent years.

In Australia we have seen so many laws pushed through state and federal parliaments that make common Christian practices illegal, and most recently, laws that pose a serious threat to our freedom of speech. Australia's public schools (& some private ones) are riddled with ideologies that are contrary to God's Word.

So whilst we may not face physical persecution here, we may well face social and economic persecution with the subtle infiltration of government policies slowly bubbling away.

In the end though, we have a choice.

We can do one of two things.

We can bend, conform, give in and compromise our beliefs, as so many people and churches felt pressured to do in the Soviet communist era, or, we can stand firmly on God’s word knowing that it stands for genuine truth and hope.

We know that Jesus will come back one day, he has promised us that. 

So we have the joy and privilege of resting in God’s sovereignty and not worrying about what the future holds.

As parents of the next generation, who may well face much more pressure than we did, we can pray for them, we can give them a strong biblical foundation, we can give them examples that combat evolution and worldly ideologies and we can help prepare them to give a defence of their faith.

We can teach our children that this earth, and all that is in it, is not their hope, nor their home. We can teach them that whatever happens here, if they follow Jesus, committing their life to him, they will have hope of eternal life at home with their heavenly Father. That is great rest for the soul!

I created Drawing Creation with this in mind. To give our children concrete examples of creation so that they would know that God is the creator of the universe, that He is their Creator and that their identity is found in Christ and not in the world. I pray it is useful to you in helping to build their faith so that they are standing on the rock.

Cassie xx