Comments on: Equipping Parents – the timing factor http://www.ginamcclain.com/2010/02/26/equipping-parents-the-timing-factor/ Generational ministry revisited. Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:19:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: New Ideas for Children's Ministry 3/3/2010 http://www.ginamcclain.com/2010/02/26/equipping-parents-the-timing-factor/comment-page-1/#comment-1717 New Ideas for Children's Ministry 3/3/2010 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:59:16 +0000 http://www.ginamcclain.com/?p=3474#comment-1717 [...] Why timing matters in Equipping Parents [...] [...] Why timing matters in Equipping Parents [...]

]]> By: The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol (February 2010) « Dad in the Middle http://www.ginamcclain.com/2010/02/26/equipping-parents-the-timing-factor/comment-page-1/#comment-1714 The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol (February 2010) « Dad in the Middle Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:46:21 +0000 http://www.ginamcclain.com/?p=3474#comment-1714 [...] Equipping Parents – The Timing Factor [...] [...] Equipping Parents – The Timing Factor [...]

]]> By: Wayne Stocks http://www.ginamcclain.com/2010/02/26/equipping-parents-the-timing-factor/comment-page-1/#comment-1709 Wayne Stocks Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:52:36 +0000 http://www.ginamcclain.com/?p=3474#comment-1709 That is a great question, and I hope you get tons of suggestions and ideas, because I can't wait to see them. The first thing that came to mind for me when I started think about this question was, what do parents already do with their kids that can be redeemed once they accept Christ. I think many parents read to their kids. Why not offer them something they can read to their kids that the kids will like and the parents can learn from. I think the Jesus Storybook Bible would be great for this. I wrote about it in my list of top ten books for Christian kids: http://waynestocks.com/2009/10/22/2-the-jesus-storybook-bible-top-ten-christian-books-for-kids/ With a tool like that, parents can lead their kids spiritually and pick of the meta-narrative of the Bible at the same time. I also think it overcomes some of the fear that new Christians might have along the lines of "How can I teach my kids about Christ when I know so little myself?" Secondly, by accepting Christ, parents are already in a position to share the most important thing about Christ with their kids - the gospel message. I think we can help in that by giving them kid friendly words and ways to share that message. Gina, I think the link you shared several months ago from lifechurch of the little video that clearly presented the gospel in a kid friendly way would be a great resource. I keep trying to find it on youtube or somewhere else that I can embed it into a blog post to share with other people. Finally, I think just letting parents know that we are there to support them and help them will be a comfort to them. We need to find ways to answer any questions they might have show them that teaching their kids about Christ isn't just one more thing to add to the list of things they HAVE TO DO to be good parents. Raising kids to know Christ actually provides structure and guidance to parenting whereas raising kids apart from Christ is more of a crap shoot based on ever-changing culture norms and repeating failed patterns from prior generations. That is a great question, and I hope you get tons of suggestions and ideas, because I can’t wait to see them. The first thing that came to mind for me when I started think about this question was, what do parents already do with their kids that can be redeemed once they accept Christ.

I think many parents read to their kids. Why not offer them something they can read to their kids that the kids will like and the parents can learn from. I think the Jesus Storybook Bible would be great for this. I wrote about it in my list of top ten books for Christian kids:

http://waynestocks.com/2009/10/22/2-the-jesus-storybook-bible-top-ten-christian-books-for-kids/

With a tool like that, parents can lead their kids spiritually and pick of the meta-narrative of the Bible at the same time. I also think it overcomes some of the fear that new Christians might have along the lines of “How can I teach my kids about Christ when I know so little myself?”

Secondly, by accepting Christ, parents are already in a position to share the most important thing about Christ with their kids – the gospel message. I think we can help in that by giving them kid friendly words and ways to share that message. Gina, I think the link you shared several months ago from lifechurch of the little video that clearly presented the gospel in a kid friendly way would be a great resource. I keep trying to find it on youtube or somewhere else that I can embed it into a blog post to share with other people.

Finally, I think just letting parents know that we are there to support them and help them will be a comfort to them. We need to find ways to answer any questions they might have show them that teaching their kids about Christ isn’t just one more thing to add to the list of things they HAVE TO DO to be good parents. Raising kids to know Christ actually provides structure and guidance to parenting whereas raising kids apart from Christ is more of a crap shoot based on ever-changing culture norms and repeating failed patterns from prior generations.

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