“Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”

Wear your faith wherever you go. You have been called to be a Godly man not just at church and at home but everywhere you go. You are called to be a Godly man at work by working as if you are working for the Lord. You are called to be a Godly driver on the interstate when someone cuts you off. You are called to be a Godly man in your basketball or hockey league as well as whenever no one is looking. Remember…WWJHYD! What would Jesus have you do? Christianity is not something you simply turn on and off. You are called to be like Christ in all you do.
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Faith Begins at Home Dad by Mark Holmen

]]> http://www.faithathome.com/2010/08/28/how-to-be-a-faithhome-dad-8-wear-it-well/feed/ 0 http://www.faithathome.com/2010/08/21/faith-begins-at-home-prayer-insight-7/ http://www.faithathome.com/2010/08/21/faith-begins-at-home-prayer-insight-7/#comments Sat, 21 Aug 2010 19:04:49 +0000 Pastor Mark http://www.faithathome.com/?p=1251

With busy schedules, it is hard to find a time when everyone can gather for prayer. However, wait and make the time for this. Don’t fall for the trap of, “Let’s just do it without him or her. It’s easier that way.” Just because it may be easier doesn’t mean its best. In fact, often the easier path is usually not the right path. Encourage everyone to participate even if it is via phone, Internet, or silently standing with you.

Now Available! Order Today Faith Begins at Home Prayer

I am a life-long Chicago Cubs, Bears, and Bulls fan. I have all the paraphernalia to prove it and I will never root for another team ahead of my beloved Bulls, Bears, and Cubs. I have lived in Minnesota Vikings country and I didn’t care. I wore my Bears jersey proudly. I now live in Los Angeles Dodger country yet I still put on my Cubs uniform and go cheer my Cubbies on whenever they come to play the Dodgers. Do I take a lot of grief and ridicule, especially when the Dodgers take the Cubs out in the playoffs, which just about killed me? Absolutely! But do I care? Not a bit. I am committed to my teams.

Can you be as committed to loving and serving the one true God as you are to your favorite sports team? Can you stay committed to following God even when you get ridiculed for it? You clearly have the ability to commit yourself to something. Will you commit yourself to God?

Now Available! Order Today Faith Begins at Home Dad

Faith Begins at Home Dad by Mark Holmen

]]> http://www.faithathome.com/2010/08/20/how-to-be-a-faithhome-dad-6-commit/feed/ 0 http://www.faithathome.com/2010/08/18/faith-begins-at-home-devotions-insight-6/ http://www.faithathome.com/2010/08/18/faith-begins-at-home-devotions-insight-6/#comments Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:01:33 +0000 Pastor Mark http://www.faithathome.com/?p=1242

Your devotional life begins with you being in a devoted relationship with Jesus Christ. Your kids will be devoted to who and what you are devoted to. Please understand that when you are in a 24/7 devoted relationship with God you will then look for Him and see Him twenty four hours a day seven days a week. Teachable moments will surround you all the time because God is in all things. Yet if you are only partially devoted to God then you will only partially see Him. That’s why this verse says, Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your strength. So what’s the best thing you can do to increase your devotional life as a family? It’s about you increasing your devotion to Jesus Christ.
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Everyone has made bad choices at some points in life, choices you wish you could make over again. The choice you make whether to live your life God’s way or not is going to be the biggest choice you will ever make. You do not want to know the number of parents I have had in my office over the years saying, “I wish I could go back and do it over again.” Many of them live with the costly consequences of those choices still today. I do not want that for you or for your child. That is why I’m not watering this message down or holding back.

I do not want you in some pastor’s office years from now saying, “I wish I could go back and do it over again.” You have a huge opportunity in front of you right now, and it all comes down to a choice. “Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me, and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Now Available! Order Today Faith Begins at Home Dad

Faith Begins at Home Dad by Mark Holmen

]]> http://www.faithathome.com/2010/08/16/how-to-be-a-faithhome-dad-5-choose-wisely/feed/ 0 http://www.faithathome.com/2010/08/14/faith-begins-at-home-devotions-insight-5/ http://www.faithathome.com/2010/08/14/faith-begins-at-home-devotions-insight-5/#comments Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:59:45 +0000 Pastor Mark http://www.faithathome.com/?p=1239

Probably the number one reason why most parents do not engage in leading family devotions is the fear that their child will ask a question that they don’t know how to answer. Well let me handle this as gently as I can. Get over it and get used to it! Was that gentle enough? Seriously, are you kidding me? I’m a pastor who has had years of seminary training and I get asked questions by my daughter all the time that I can’t answer. In fact, those are some of our best devotional times. Times when we have to wrestle with something we don’t understand about God or how He works or something scripture says. I hope I’m not the first to tell you this but as a Christian, here on earth; you are never going to have all the answers. For me, family devotions are not as much about getting answers as they are about creating an environment where you can ask and wrestle with the questions that life challenges us with.
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Move gradually forward in your prayer life, expecting people to grow. Appreciate progress and anticipate change. I don’t pray the same way today I did ten years ago. I’m sure I won’t be praying the same way ten years from now. Prayer is a way to grow closer to God and to others. As you grow, you change. Unfortunately, everyone changes and grows at different paces, and you need to realize that your family prayer life will always be a growing and changing thing. Celebrate change, and support one another.

Now Available! Order Today Faith Begins at Home Prayer

The only time many men talk about God is at church. That simply cannot be the case. You must follow the instruction of Moses and talk about faith with your children in the home. It has to be a part of your everyday vocabulary. Unfortunately, statistics show that when it comes to impressing faith on children through faith talk we have some serious work to do.

George Barna confirmed this reality in the research for his book Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions. “We discovered that in a typical week, fewer than 10 percent of parents who regularly attend church with their kids read the Bible together, pray together (other than at meal times) or participate in an act of service as a family unit. Even fewer families-1 out of ever 20-have any type of worship experience together with their kids, other than while they are at church during a typical month.”

Dads need to be talking about and living out faith with their children. If you remember nothing else from this book, please remember this: Faith is not something that can be taught, faith is something that must be caught.

Now Available! Order Today Faith Begins at Home Dad

Faith Begins at Home Dad by Mark Holmen

]]> http://www.faithathome.com/2010/08/12/how-to-be-a-faithhome-dad-4-talk/feed/ 0 http://www.faithathome.com/2010/06/16/whowhen-for-sr-pastors-network/ http://www.faithathome.com/2010/06/16/whowhen-for-sr-pastors-network/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:18:15 +0000 Pastor Mark http://www.faithathome.com/?p=1143

The Sr. Pastors coaching webcast will always take place at 9:00am PST. The following is our schedule of dates, topics and guest practitioners.

Sr. Pastor Coaching Topics & Guests (9:00 am PST Thursdays)

• Sept. 23 – Staffing for F@H – Dave Teixeira, Sr. Pastor, Ventura Missionary Church
• Oct. 21 – Launching F@H – Randy Remington, Sr. Pastor, Beaverton Foursquare, OR
• Nov. 18 – Preaching F@H– Steve Stroope, Sr. Pastor, Lakepointe Community Church
• Dec. 16 – Innovations & Alliances – Kurt Bruner, Strong Families Innovation Alliance
• Jan. 20 – Authentic Leadership – Arthur Jenkins, Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC
• Feb. 17 – Wins We can Anticipate – Ryan Rush, Sr. Pastor, Bannockburn Baptist, TX
• March 17 – Confident Humility – Steve Dornbusch, Sr. Pastor, Calvary Lutheran, Golden Valley, MN
• April 21 – A Catholic Perspective – Father Steve Davorens, Our Lady of the Assumption, CA
• May 19 – Managing Resistance – Andrew Turkstra, Sr. Pastor, Canada

As you are probably aware the Faith@Home movement is an international movement that God is leading through the church to reestablish the home as the primary place where faith is lived, expressed and nurtured.  This movement is spreading across Canada, the US as well as Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands as thousands of church leaders are examining how they can lead their ministry in a more faith@home focused manner.  Since this is a new, ever evolving and fast growing movement many church leaders today are seeking ways to connect and learn from one another.  That’s why we are offering online, Faith@Home coaching networks.  Through these networks church leaders from across the world will have an opportunity to participate in a webcast to gain fresh insights and learn from other like minded leaders who are working to make their ministry more Faith@Home focused.  In addition to this we also wanted to create a place where you can learn from some leading practitioners who have developed successful approaches that we run across in our travels for the Faith@Home movement.

The final reason why we are offering online coaching is to help you keep the momentum going after you have heard a message or attended a conference that has positively challenged you to be a more faith@home focused leader/church.  Becoming a faith@home focused church is going to take time and we wanted to be there, through coaching, to help you build a strong and lasting faith@home strategy into your church ministry structure.  Through online coaching you will now have an opportunity to get fresh, new faith@home insights and support each month without having to leave your office or home!

Learn more and register today!