Melinda Means of "Coming Clean"
It’s shocking.
In the average Christian home, only five hours a week are spent on spiritual training, while a whopping 80 hours a week are spent taking in influences from other sources.
Is it any wonder that so many of our young people walk away from their faith after graduating from high school?
In their new book, Disciple Like Jesus for Parents, authors Alan Melton and Paul Dean cite this statistic and take on the very daunting and vital task of helping parents beat the odds.
The book focuses on using the model of how Jesus discipled and applying it to our parenting.
First, the authors clearly and effectively lay out the battle parents are up against and the urgency of taking action:
“The hearts and minds of your children are being shaped by what they take in on a regular basis. If you are not filling their minds with a biblical worldview they are by necessity being molded into the world’s way of thinking.”
“Your children have been given to you by God for a very short season and one day you will present them to God as your primary fruit.”
Melton and Dean lay out the principles that Jesus used with his disciples, including quantity time, teaching Scripture, combating peer influences, asking questions and modeling an intimate relationship with the Father.
They then give practical ways for living this out with your children on a daily basis in a world full of cultural influences and distractions.
I found this book to be a powerful reminder that as a parent, I will one day be held accountable for how I teach and raise my children. Since reading it, I have found myself being much more intentional about weaving my faith into everyday conversations with my kids.
Although I don’t homeschool, as Melton does with his children, I have been spurred to cut out certain influences and set aside more one-on-one time with each of my children. It hasn’t been easy. My teenager especially fought it. But I’ve already seen attitude changes and good spiritual conversations as a result.
Melinda Means, Christian Blogger, Coming Clean
