Category Archives: family discipleship

A Sneak Peek at God’s Big Adventure 2

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In God’s Big Adventure Volume 1, we dove into the big story of the Bible, a story about a King who’s on a mission to save the world. This King wants to be our Dad in Heaven, and He invites us to join the adventure too!  God’s Big Adventure Volume 1 told the story of creation through the birth of Moses.

But, of course, the story doesn’t end there!

Today, my publisher gave me my first sneak peek at the next installment in the God’s Big Adventure series, which picks up where the first book left off.

God’s Big Adventure Volume 2 goes from desert to desert.  The book begins with Moses encountering God in the desert with the burning bush and ends with Jesus facing off in the desert against the temptations of the enemy.

In Volume 2 we see how God rescued his people from slavery, gave them a land of their own and eventually came to earth in a manger in Bethlehem.  Along the way we’ll meet characters like Moses, David, Daniel & Esther, Mary and Jesus Himself.

The release date is still to be announced, but you can be the first to find out the details by signing up for the God’s Big Adventure mailing list here.

In the mean time check out these fun sneak peeks from God’s Big Adventure Volume 2!

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Guarding Our Kids’ Hearts

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enemiesIt’s amazing the lengths we will go to protect our kids.  We strap them into car seats to protect their bodies, give them bike helmets to protect their heads and slather them up with sunscreen to protect their skin.  We shop for organic food and check ingredient lists. We tell them to look both ways before they cross the street, don’t run with scissors and never ever take candy from strangers.

All good things.

The Bible, however, says that when it comes to protection, our number one concern should be our hearts.  Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (NIV).  Above all else.   

Why above all else?  Because the heart is the wellspring of our lives.  Everything flows out of that.  As the New Living Translation put it, “it determines the course of your life.”  If we want our kids to have lives that honor God and bring them joy, we need to teach them to pay attention to what’s going on inside.

Of course this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t protect our kids physically, but it does remind us that we should be teaching them to guarding their hearts with at least as much effort as we teach them to wear a helmet or buckle up.

In his book called Enemies of the Heart, Andy Stanley says, “One of the best ways to train our children to guard their hearts is by asking questions.”

According to Stanley our questions not only show our kids that the condition of their heart matters, but it shows them how to examine their own hearts to see if there are issues they need to deal with.

In the book Andy talks about a bedtime routine he established with his kids and some of the questions he used with them to begin training them to think about matters of the heart.  Here are some of the questions he lists:

  • “Is everything okay in your heart?”
  • “Are you mad at anybody?”
  • “Did anybody hurt your feelings today?”
  • “Did anybody break a promise to you today?”
  • “Is there anything you need to tell me?”
  • “Are you worried about anything?”

You can imagine how over time, asking questions like these would spark conversations that can help us get our kids thinking about the condition of their hearts and the work God wants to do there to center their lives on Him.

So give them a shot.  Try one of Andy’s questions or some of your own at bedtime tonight and see where it leads.

 

 

How to Help Your Kids Discover God’s Mission

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Have you ever had to miss the end of an awesome movie?  It’s frustrating, isn’t it?  You’re into the plot, invested in the characters and can’t wait to see what happens next.  Then something unexpected interrupts you and pulls you out of the story, leaving everything unresolved.

No one wants to miss the end of a great story.  

Unfortunately, this is one of the biggest challenges in the church today.  Too many kids are only experiencing half of the story.  In our eagerness to introduce our children to a relationship with God, we teach them all about God’s love story.  And that’s a good thing. God’s story, however, isn’t just a love story.  It’s an adventure story too.

God’s on an adventure, a mission to restore this broken planet and redeem all that He made.  He’s bringing heaven to earth, and when we become a part of His family, we are invited, expected even, to join the family business.

Our kids desperately need to understand that the Bible is a story of relationship AND responsibility.  It’s not an either/or.  It’s a cause and effect.  Because of our relationship with God, we get to live out the responsibility of building God’s kingdom.

There’s a classic photograph from American history that drives this point home for me. It’s picture taken in 1963 of President Kennedy working at his desk while his son plays at his feet.  From the top up, it’s a perfectly ordinary presidential photograph, JFK hard at work in the Oval Office, but the bottom half of the photo tells another story. Two-year-old, John, Jr, is peeking out of a secret door in his father’s desk.  Because he is the son of the American President, he gets to play at the feet of the most powerful man in the world.   Continue reading →