Last Tuesday, I posted a brief overview of Michelle Anthony’s new book, Spiritual Parenting. Anthony encourages parents with the following words, “The joy of parenting can be spent on cultivating environments for our children’s faith to grow, teaching them to cultivate a love relationship with Jesus as we cultivate our own, living our lives authentically in front of them so that they become eyewitnesses to our own transformation” (25). What a great perspective on parents’ nurturing and teaching role! Here is a brief review of her ten environments: Continue Reading…
Tag Archive - Michelle Anthony
Spiritual Parenting Book Blog Tour
It has been said that the work of orthodox teaching is not only to present the same old truths without compromise but to present them more beautifully and believably than they were considered before the teaching began. There is really nothing new to say about Jesus (or parenting for that matter), but there are worthy things to say, and they should be said well.
Old Things Said Well
In chapter 4 of his book, Raising Children To Adore God, Patrick Kavanaugh explored the idea of making both church and home into environments that will instill in our children a life-long passion to worship the one true God. Kavanaugh unpacked five principles that should characterize the “home environment”–unconditional love, impartial justice, wisdom, stability, and the centrality of Jesus. That chapter is one that I’ve returned to again and again when reflecting on parenting, and I was reminded of it’s simplicity again and again while reading Michelle Anthony’s book, Spiritual Parenting. Anthony never quotes Kavanaugh, but they see the same themes in the Scriptures. And she does a good job of re-telling the same old truths, and telling them well.
Beyond Behavior Modification
Like Kavanaugh, Anthony recognizes that it is not the job of the parent to “merely control my child’s behavior and by doing so somehow create a spiritual life for him or her” (15). Rather, the goal is to pass on a “vibrant and transforming faith,” the kind of faith in which children “know and hear God’s voice,” “desire to obey Him,” and will to obey him “not in their own power, but in the power of the Holy Spirit” (16). Continue Reading…
The Art of Storytelling, Part 3
Stories Of Change from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.
The art of storytelling gives children a basic framework for understanding truth as well as the courage to live and tell about it. This week, I’m posting six important things to know about great stories! Here is #5 and #6:
5. Stories inspire hope by giving us a “peek” at the end. Despair is not just a sin theologically—because it assumes that the grand story is about us. It’s also a mistake because it assumes we know the end of the story. Michelle Anthony has recently written, “We often don’t tell our kids about the end of the story… Maybe we think it’s too bloody or too intense, or maybe we don’t understand it all, but in reality it makes Jesus the kind of hero worth living and dying for. Knowing that Christ is the ultimate victor gives each one of us [kids included] the courage to walk with Him on the journey.” For kids, knowledge of darkness is sometimes intuitive, but they need to be told that darkness can be defeated. Perhaps, G.K. Chesterton said it best: “Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.” When we are reading Revelation and we see the king and the white horse and the dragon thrown into the pit, we can step lighter and smile wider. Peeking at the end makes us optimistic. As the old hymn says, “Though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.” Continue Reading…