Do you have a desire to implement family ministry practices in your church? Are you looking to be trained in the ways of family ministry? Do you have two days to spare? Join me in January on the tree-lined campus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY for a training event which will […]
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Apologetics: Was Scripture Modified to Oppose Women and Jews?
According to Dr. Bart Ehrman, in his book Misquoting Jesus, there exists a category of New Testament alterations which includes changes that occurred because copyists “who were not altogether satisfied with what the New Testament books said modified their words to make them … more vigorously oppose heretics, women, Jews, and pagans.” Yet he fails to come […]
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Family Ministry: The Grover Principle
“Sunny days, sweepin’ the clouds away. On my way to where the air is sweet. Can you tell me how to get, how to get to . . . ?” If that couplet strikes a chord in your memories of childhood, you were probably an avid viewer of the American PBS program known as […]
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Family Ministry: Have You Taken the TIE Test?
Are you effectively training, involving, and equipping the parents in your ministry to be the main faith influencers for their children? Consider how your family ministry events might be more effective using this TIE Test, which simply asks, “How could this activity Train, Involve, or Equip parents as primary faith influencers? How could it Train, […]
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Family Ministry: Family, the Original Small Group Ministry
Parents are the primary teachers in their children’s lives, even if they don’t know it. Some parents are better teachers than others, but every parent is a teacher when it comes to the children with whom he or she shares a home. Even after decades of family fragmentation, the most significant influence on children’s spiritual […]
[Read More...]Family Ministry: Stumbling Through Family Faith Talks…for the Glory of God
Sankie Lynch, Pastor of Families at New Beginnings Church in Bixby, Oklahoma asks: Do you ever start out with good intentions with your family and end up frustrated and breathing heavily? What correlations does parenting have with high blood pressure and barely missed strokes? What used to be relaxing, calm vacations have now turned into “Survivor: […]
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Family Ministry: Doing Less So That Parents Can Do More
Most parents in churches do believe, at least on the surface, that their children’s existence will persist past this life. The problem is that this tenet of faith doesn’t always make its way into their daily practices of prioritizing household commitments. Parents mentally accept the fact that their children will exist forever, but they do […]
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Family Ministry: Pornography and the Hijacking of the Male Brain
Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, makes this point regarding the phenomenon of nearly-infinite and instantly-accessible pornography: To no one’s surprise, the vast majority of those who consume pornography are males. It is no trade secret that males are highly stimulated by visual images, whether still or video. That […]
[Read More...]Family Ministry: Why Not Reward Spiritual Activities?
In a recent blog post Coleman Ford, PhD student at Southern Seminary, asks the question, “Should we reward children and youth for spiritual activities?” He says, Spiritual activities such as reading and memorizing Scripture, prayer, worship and evangelism are the duty (yes, duty) of all followers of Jesus Christ. These activities do not accumulate merit, […]
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Family Ministry: Why Retention Rates Can’t Determine a Ministry’s Effectiveness
If you’ve spent much time in youth ministry, you’ve probably heard the claim at least a few times: “Nine out of ten youth walk away from the church after high school!” But, as I’ve pointed out elsewhere, there’s good reason to doubt this claim. The infamous nine-out-of-ten dropout statistic was always a false alarm. Most […]
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Family Ministry: Ten Tips for Discipling Your Children
Justin Buzzard, author of Date Your Wife and lead pastor of Garden City Church in Silicon Valley, recently wrote: “Jesus gave his church one mission: make disciples. As a church planter I’m consumed all day with the work of disciple making, but the most important disciple making in my life happens with my three sons. The mission Jesus […]
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Family Ministry: Are You Engaging in the Cosmic Battle for Your Child’s Soul?
Cosmic combat occurs most Friday mornings at a coffee shop a few blocks from my home. If you happen to be ordering your mocha latte during this episode of intergalactic warfare, you might not even notice. Neither arms nor armor can be seen at the epicenter of this celestial struggle. No lightsabers are visible, and […]
[Read More...]Leadership: What You Probably Don’t Know About the Families in Your Church
A while back, I wrote an article for D6 Family entitled “It’s Time to Engage!: Three Facts You Need to Know to Launch an Incredible Family Ministry.” Here’s an excerpt from the article: The animated feature The Incredibles is a favorite movie in our household—and one of our favorite scenes is the family meal early […]
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Family Ministry: A Blessed Necessity for Christian Marriages
Are children necessary in a Christian family? In a recent article Dr. David Schrock, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Seymour, Indiana says, “In truth, the Great Commission must begin with our own families. In Christ, be fruitful and multiply takes on greater significance—we are to make disciples of those outside our families and we are to have […]
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Family Ministry: Adoption–Living in a Story That’s Bigger Than You
In a recent Desiring God blog post, Dan Cruver writes these words: “The eternal Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — existed forever in the communion of love before time began. But when the three Persons of the Trinity created the heavens and the earth, the story of the Trinity broke into human history […]
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Family Ministry: Do You See Who Your Children Really Are?
Believe it or not, your children’s first and foremost identity is not to be your children. Your children were created for a far greater identity—an identity that will last into eternity. Inasmuch as they embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, your children were created to be your brothers and sisters. And so, every child in […]
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Family Ministry: Teaching Your Children the Big Story of God
I have a long list of books that I recommend on a broad range of subjects—apologetics, family ministry, church history, and so on. But there’s a much briefer list on which it’s far more difficult to gain a spot: books I use with my own children. This new book by Jim Hamilton, The Bible’s Big […]
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Family Ministry: “As it Were a Little Church,” The Puritan Model for Family Discipleship
Even in the latest models of family ministry, there are components that can be traced back centuries before the recent surge of family ministry books and conferences. Among the Puritan heirs of the Reformation, there was a clear model for family discipleship that could be learned and transferred from one context to another. Brief, daily times […]
[Read More...]Proclamation: “Don’t Worry. I Read the Book. He Doesn’t Stay Dead.”
One rule in our household is that, if a book is turned into a movie, everyone must read the book before watching the movie. Our oldest daughter was eight years old when C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was turned into a feature film. In the weeks leading up to the movie’s […]
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Apologetics: What Are the Chances That Jesus’ Body Was Left On the Cross?
:: The Obscenity of the Cross in the Ancient World :: With few exceptions, even the most skeptical scholars admit that Jesus was crucified—and with good reason. Not only Christian authors but also the Roman historian Tacitus mention the crucifixion of Jesus. It’s highly unlikely that first-century Christians would have fabricated such a shameful fate […]
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