Family Friday Links 7.17.15

Jonathan Mansure for The Gospel Coalition wrote about 4 Types of Parent Involvement in Student Ministry.  This is written on context of Student Ministry but can be applied to children ministry as well. Jonathan writes, "Equipped parents are the goal, but not the end. We must equip parents for the sake of teenagers today, but also for the future of the church. Equipped parents produce equipped teenagers who will eventually parent in a similar fashion. Multi-generational discipleship until Christ returns—that’s the end."

Tim Challies shared about how his family does family devotions. Challies writes, "Through many years of success and failure Aileen and I have realized that there is no good way to measure the success of family devotions except by this: Did we do it? The thing is, we are building for the long-term here, not the short-term. A single episode of family devotions can so easily seem like a complete waste. But I am confident that when we measure by the hundreds spread over the 20 years the children are in our care, we will see that God worked powerfully in the hearts of our children and their parents. And I am confident we will see that he worked through the commitment we made to such a simple, wonderful tradition." 

I came across this blog from Ed Stetzer about Making Sure Children Actually Hear the Gospel and Not Just a Bunch of Bible Stories. Stetzer writes, "Children were designed to hear about the things of God and have faith in them with few hurdles. So let’s be honest with them about the Gospel. It will make more sense if it is delivered holistically, and it will have a greater effect in their lives." How are you doing at teaching your kids the gospel? 

I (Jeff) really enjoy Keith and Kristyn Getty. They tweeted out about Music for Children and it piqued my interest. It is only a few paragraphs, but this one of the things they say about parents shaping their kids love for music and art, "By contrast, much of today's "art" does not approach our children as people to be invested in and educated, but rather as consumers to be marketed to, or at best merely entertained. So, what's a parent to do? For us, whether it's in the carpool for school, traveling on summer holiday, or gathering around the kitchen at mealtime, we must remain mindful of the parental responsibility to point our children to a high view of art, to a desire for artistic communication, and to an infectious and childlike love for all things that are good, true, and beautiful."

What have you been reading that would be helpful to others?