This weekend, I read Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions by renowned researcher George Barna. My desire is to see my precious daughter Emma run hard after Christ for her entire life and to lead others to do the same. I have a similar desire for all the students I get to serve day in and day out as the principal at North Cobb Christian School. As a result of this vision, I realize that I need to constantly keep this goal in front of me and look for ways to grow in my knowledge and understanding of how to reach kids for Christ and how to train them in the knowledge of His truth.
This book is a great read and has reignited my passion for making the most of everyday with my daughter and the students I serve. Here are some thoughts I highlighted while reading…
- Ministry will always be a difficult and sacrificial journey, but placing children in a more appropriate place in the landscape makes the journey more comprehensible and hopeful.
- Our children will define the future, which makes them our most significant and enduring legacy.
- Four dimensions of our children’s well-being: Educational achievement and intellectual development; Health and physical development; Economic state; and Emotional and behavioral development
- Much of the emotional stability and maturity of children stems from their relationship with their family.
- The value of research is that it allows you to form a portrait of reality, with each statistic representing another brushstroke in the picture. Armed with a clearer view of reality, you are prepared to respond more efficiently and meaningfully.
- The route to significance and success demands that we develop the moral and spiritual foundations that permit us to lead holy and servantlike lifestyles.
- We can strive to give our youngsters all the advantages the world has to offer, and motivate them to make the most of available opportunities and resources; but unless their spiritual life is prioritized and nurtured, they will miss out on much of the meaning, purpose and joy of life.
- Every choice we make is ultimately a spiritual decision.
- During their formative years, children develop their decision-making perspectives and patterns. Helping them i that process is one of the most important responsibilities we have as humans; engage them at a young age is a critical strategic choice.
- The chances of seeing the world views of young people change to be more reflective of biblical truths are slim.
- Children receive a relatively minor share of the church’s ministry dollars. If the popular adage that one’s checkbook identifies one’s priorities is correct, then children are clearly a secondary concern for most churches.
- If you want to have a lasting influence upon the world, you must infest in people’s lives; and if you want to maximize that investment, then you must invest in those people while they are young.
- God does not just want people to be saved from eternal damnation; He wants them to be transformed in every dimension of their earthly existence by the miracle of His grace.
- Can we afford to let the moral and spiritual dimension of our future leaders be shaped by default?
- What we create in a young person’s life determines that person’s behavior as an adult.
- If you want to win a war, you must control the battlefront.
- If we do a great job of training childcare to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul, then we will no longer have to invest time battling over moral and spiritual issues such as abortion, homosexuality, gambling and pornography.
- Please know that the foundation of the war for people’s souls, minds and hearts is waged against our children. If they can be persuaded when they are young, then it is incredibly difficult to change their allegiance as they age. And you, as a parent or spiritual leader, bear the primary responsibility for how that battle turns out.
- Kids need our help with 4 P’s
* Purpose-identifying their purpose in life
* Perspective-clarifying their core life perspectives
* Provision-providing basic conditions and benefits they need to grow in a healthy manner.
* Performance-describing the performance of specific activities that enable them to lead productive and meaningful lives - God’s plan is for families to lead in the provision of spiritual development for their children. Churches certainly have a viable role in that process but it is parents who will be held accountable by God for the spiritual growth of their offspring.
- One of the lessons that wiser parents than I have learned is to remember that God cares a lot less about what we achieve that draw applause from the world-how many consecutive profitable quarters we led the corporation to amass, how clean and organized we kept our home or how many educational degrees we piled up-than how we raise our children.
- I was the epitome of the productive executive who claimed his kids were a top priority but whose carefully defined daily agenda made no mention of desired outcomes related to his children.
- When your children look past your assigned role to ponder your spiritual integrity, what do they see?
- Effective ministries insist on the regular participation of parents.
- Evaluation may seem rather businesslike, but consider this: God will evaluate how we lived, Jesus encouraged His followers to examine their hearts, and the Holy Spirit has been entrusted to us to enable us to live beyond the mundane.