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In many ways devotions are like this. Many of us are at a teetering point in our relationship with and understanding of God. Our relationship with God can either get better or worse. You need to decide. Are you going to do some of the things you need to do so you can know and understand God and His ways better?
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Are you still asking the question, “Why pray?” You can choose not to pray in your home and then when trouble hits you won’t have it as a resource to draw upon to help you through. Or you can make prayer a part of your family life today which will help you weather the storms by keeping lines of communication open between family members and God. Wherever you are in your prayer experience in your home, you can benefit from learning to keep prayer fresh and alive. God wants you and your family to enjoy long, everlasting life. Let’s start praying.
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A friend of mine is a children’s pastor in Portland and he has two grown daughters who are both strong Christians today. Recently he was intrigued to find out why his daughters remained strong Christians instead of turning away from Christianity as many young adults do. He went to both of them separately and asked them a simply question; “Could you tell me why you are a Christian today? What were some things that helped you become the Christian that you are today?” His daughters were two years apart and they were very different from one another yet he was stunned when both of them gave the very same answer. He said, “This may have been the first time they ever agreed on something and maybe that’s because they didn’t even know they were saying the same thing because I asked them separately.” What was the reason? “Dad, I can tell you why I’m a Christian. Every day when I would come to breakfast I always knew that you would be there at the kitchen table reading the Bible. You never wavered from your faith and commitment to God and that’s why I never have or will either.”
There you have it, Dad. Your child is going to love who you love. If you are not in love with Jesus, and living in a manner that reflects you are in love with Jesus, meaning you are spending time with Him, your child in all likelihood will not be in love with Jesus. And remember, it’s a loving relationship with Jesus Christ that leads you, your children and your grandchildren into enjoying long, eternal life.
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Faith Begins at Home Dad by Mark Holmen
Maybe a starting point for our family devotions is to remember who God is and what God has done for us. Devotions are not about what we do, they are about remembering who God is and what God has done for us. Devotions are not something we have to do because they aren’t about us. Devotions are something we get to do because they provide us an opportunity to get closer to God. Would you like to know God better? Would you like to know God’s plan and purposes for your life? Would you like to be able to hear God’s voice better? We have a big God who knows, sees and understands things that we can’t know, see or understand on our own. I don’t know about you but I would like to know God better. And we have been given an opportunity to do so. That’s not something I have to do, that’s something I want to do.
Now Available! Order Today Faith Begins at Home Devotions
Prayer is at the very core of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Why? Prayer is conversation with God. How can you maintain a relationship with someone you never talk to? Yet many people misunderstand prayer. When they think of prayer, they think of a pastor praying a lengthy, well-worded, well-organized prayer that seems to be more of a mini-sermon than simple dialogue with another Person.
Some people are intimidated by prayer and are afraid to pray out loud or with others. This uncomfortable feeling directly affects whether they pray at home with their family. It affects how they pray and how often they pray at home.
Now Available! Order Today Faith Begins at Home Prayer
I don’t think we have bad parents today. In fact, I think we have parents today who are desperately committed to being better parents and raising their kids in better families than the homes they grew up in. Yet, when it comes to knowing how to be a Faith@Home focused person or parent many simply do not know what this means. The Faith@Home movement is about helping people be the people God intended us to be 24/7 at home. The Faith@Home movement starts by assuming that you don’t know how to do it and we provide basic, simple and easy to implement faith skills to bring back into your life at home. By becoming a more Faith@Home focused individual and parent you will begin to see the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control grow in your personal life as well as in your home. Faith@Home is not a plug and play program but it is a way of life that will bring you hope and great joy. I’m sorry if up to this point Christianity has been seen as something you do at church. That’s not it. It’s so much more than that and has much more to offer you than that. So come and join the movement to become a Faith@Home focused person/parent partnering with Faith@Home focused churches who will come alongside you for the journey.
One of the things I saw as a Youth Pastor was the way parents would search for the best church or youth program for their kids. These well intentioned parents wanted their kids to have faith and yet the only way they knew how to instill that was by dropping them into a good youth program that would do the job for them. And if their kid wasn’t displaying the type of faith behavior they wanted these parents would then either blame the church or they would leave in search of a better church or youth program with a cooler youth pastor.
I wish I could guarantee that if you become a Faith@Home focused parent that this means your kids will stay with their faith forever. The chances of this happening increases greatly yet there is still a likelihood that they may walk away for at least some period of time. Yet what is critical, during this time of straying, is what YOU do. Will you stay or will you stray? Faith@Home focused individuals and parents STAY even when things get tough because they realize that living our lives fully devoted to God is a non negotiable no matter what happens in our lives. And what I can tell you is that for those parents who stayed living a Faith@Home lifestyle, many of them saw their children come back to them and the faith after they strayed. And why did they come back? Because they knew where they would find their parents! They never strayed…they stayed.
I’ll never forget the time I was asked to co-lead a workshop for parents of teenagers with Dr. David Anderson of the Youth & Family Institute. After I got things started I turned it over to David who began by asking a simple question. “How many of you here wish your teenager had a stronger faith?” Almost every hand in the room went up. Then he said something next that I will never forget. “Realize, that in all likelihood, what you see in your teenagers faith is a mirror image of your faith.” At that point I wanted to get off the stage before the tomatoes started flying but then I looked at the audience and instead of being angry they were all nodding in agreement. We need to realize that when it comes to spiritual development, our kids follow in our footsteps. If you want your kids to pray more…then you pray more! If you want your kids to serve others…then you serve others! If you want your kids to read the Bible and live according to its ways…then you read the Bible and live according to its ways! If you choose to be a one hour, hypocritical Christian that will have multigenerational impact that will lead, in all likelihood, to your children one day walking away from the faith. Yet if you choose to be a 24/7, Faith@Home focused individual/parent that will lead, in all likelihood to your kids and grandkids being 24/7, Faith@Home focused individuals.
I think many people have the wrong impression of Christianity. Deuteronomy 6: 1-2 it says, These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe… so that you may enjoy long life. (NIV) Did you know that God wants you and your family to enjoy long, meaning everlasting life? In fact, that’s what God wants most for you and your children. Therefore, following God and doing life God’s way is the pathway for you, your children and grandchildren to enjoy long, everlasting life! Do you want to enjoy long everlasting life? Do you want that for your children and grandchildren? Then be a Faith@Home focused individual/parent.
Did you know that 60-90% of current Christian children enrolled in church programs today are going to walk away from the faith when they are young adults? Why? The primary reason cited by young adults today is hypocrisy. They believe Christianity is a bunch of hypocrisy because they were raised in an environment where Christianity was something you did at church and not at home. The home is the place where the rubber hits the road when it comes to our spiritual walk and if we are not Christians where we live, work and play then we are representing Christianity as hypocritical lifestyle. If we want our kids to become AND REMAIN Christians then we must live as Christ followers 24/7 at home.
The LeaderMark Holmen |
The Wife/BooksMaria Holmen |
The CanadianBrian Siewert |
The Parent CoachTim Smith |
The TechieAndrew VanConas |
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