Family Driven Faith

I have just completed reading Voddie Baucham’s book “Family Driven Faith.” It is truly a cultural reformation being proclaimed by many who are being transformed by the Word of God. Its not just a book that people are following or a movement but a reformation. The modern day emerging church movement has packaged and sold the gospel to consumers. Its focus is based on number and numbers alone. Growth is the backbone for this movement.

Where I have failed as an elder is to properly equip men to disciple their children. I was brought up under the idea that the more programs you had to offer in church the more spiritual you were. Little did I realize that I was promoting God’s blessing upon the number of people I could get into church on any given Sunday. Oh how I was wrong!

I have prayed for forgiveness and have earnesly sought the Lord on how to correct my misgivings. I have come to understand that ministry is not about numbers but about the doctrines of the Bible both in the family and in evangelism. To promote a program driven, activity laden ministry does not affirm the New Testament model.

Many churches have replaced the family discipleship with programs. God has burdened me to start with my own family. Somehow we have taken the Bible and only applied it to Sunday’s. The rest of the week we have let the world determine our philosophy. With TV and other means of entertainment we have let these mediums take the place and the role of family worship. Why have we let the world determine our mission? Why is it that we let God in our homes only on Sundays?

The family driven faith does two things. First, it builds the family up and centers in on who in the foundational hope of the family and that is God. Second, it creates household evangelism by letting the world know how a Christian family functions. Too many believes have let the world influence their way of life.

In the coming days I want to share with you some steps to instilling a family worship lifestyle. Please note that this does not take the place of meeting together to worship God in a corporate form. However, it creates the atmosphere of God being the center of the home and begins to develop multi-generational faithfulness.

Home Education

Whenever people hear the word “home-school” they immediately draw a conclusion in their minds as to what that family is like. Its generally an unfair application but we all do it. For instance, someone born and raised in the south, when he hears the words “New York” he almost always thinks of New York City. However, New York is filled with vast acres of farmland and dairy farms. Thus, the implication applies to the words “home-school.”

We do home-school our three children but its more than just an educational process. For instance today (January 14) I have the day off of work and will be finishing tile in our bathroom. We are observing a “day off” from the educational portion of home-schooling to take this opportunity to “home-educate.” My two oldest girls will be helping me and my wife getting the house ready to sell. One will help me with the tile, doing the grout, bringing pieces of tile and observing the process. I am not teaching them to be a tile layer in their profession but I want the to have some life skills, this is what I mean by home education. It is not limited to home-schooled children, anyone can and should be a home educator.

What I hope to do in the life of my precious girls is teach them life skills. To me this is one of the greatest responsibilities that I have as a father. College cannot prepare them for what can be taught in everyday life by parents. Here are just a few things I involve my children in.

• How to check the oil, water, tire pressure and what gauges mean inside
• Cutting the grass
• Cleaning gutter
• Managing maintenance on a pool i.e. chemicals, vacuum etc.
• Painting and basic house maintenance skills

I believe its important to teach our children basic life skills that is going to help them in this world. These are things they will not learn on TV. Yes, these are important but as you spend time with your children its a great opportunity to share God’s word in daily duties that have to be done.

Psalms 144:12 “That our sons [may be] as plants grown up in their youth; [that] our daughters [may be] as corner stones, polished [after] the similitude of a palace.”

Dinner & Movie

This past Saturday, my daughter and I made a Rachel Ray 30 minute meal together. After the dinner we had family movie night at our house. The only problem with movie night is that we generally have some difficulty finding a movie that does not have innuendos in it. Even “Disney” movies promote boyfriend/girlfriend relationships at the early teenager stages. We avoid at all costs movies that promote things that differ with the spiritual values we are trying to teach our children.
However, we value the time we are able to spend together doing fun things. The world does not have to be the only place that kids can have fun. Establishing the environment right there in your own home is a great resource. The kids had wanted to watch Spider Man 3. We have briefly seen the others in passing on TV and the action interested me. One of the best resources that I have found to review movies in detail about their content is Plugged In Online. After further review I found that Spider Man 3 had several kissing scenes in provocative positions, omg used many times and even curse words along with other scenes I deemed inappropriate. We rejected that movie and I explained to the children the reasons why. I always use the Bible to back up my reasons. That does seem to help. We ended up renting Mr Bean’s Holiday which was rated G. It was a bit goofy of a movie but I believe they all enjoined it.
This Saturday is Madison’s 12th birthday so family night will be expanded to friends and other family members. The joy of my family is beyond description.

New Biblical Manhood Blog

Hopefully we will be up to date soon. We are looking forward to promoting the nobility of Biblical Manhood. God Bless