The first family ministry book I ever read was Family-Based Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries. My first response was to reject family ministry as a preposterous idea in my particular context. It took two years for the struggles of ministry and the work of the Holy Spirit to change my mind.
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Family Ministry: Remembering Who Your Children Really Are
Childhood identity theft. It’s a real thing. Thieves steal children’s Social Security numbers and then appropriate their financial identities for personal profit. “Children represent an emerging market for identity thieves who steal their Social Security numbers because they offer clean slates that can be used to commit fraud for years without detection,” one CPA has […]
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Family Ministry: How a Parent’s Role Changes through the Stages of a Child’s Life
If you’re a parent, what’s your goal for parenting? My parenting purpose statement is simply this: Our purpose is to leverage our children’s lives so that people in every nation will receive multiplied opportunities to respond in faith to the rightful King of kings.
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Family Ministry: A Better Story for Your Parenting
Data and arguments aren’t the strategies that do the best job of convincing people to change their lives. What convinces people best is the promise of a better story than the one they’re presently living. That’s why every leader should be—in the words of R. Albert Mohler—a steward-in-chief of [the organization’s] story. … Leadership comes down […]
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Family Ministry: How a Biblical Worldview Shapes the Way We Teach Our Children
To have a biblical worldview is to interpret every aspect of our lives—including our relationships with children—within the framework of God’s story. At the center of God’s story stands this singular act: In Jesus Christ, God personally intersected human history and redeemed humanity at a particular time in a particular place. Yet this central act […]
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Family Ministry: Three Motivations to Avoid
Jason K. Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has written recently on various facets of parenting. He encourages parents to avoid three specific motivations: ambition, fear and pride. He concludes: Parenting is the most enjoyable and exhilarating responsibility I know. I feel as though I am getting to create, invest, sculpt, build, and nurture […]
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