I mentioned previously that I have been taking my daughter Abby to the nursing home. This has turned out to be a spectacular success. She not only looks forward to these visits but also stays on the lookout for helping…
FAITHSHAPERS: Family ministry
In my last article I suggested visiting nursing homes with children as a teaching method. There are many other forms of service ministry that children can participate in and learn from. Two major problems often keep us from giving our…
FAITHSHAPERS: Making good choices
In my last article I gave some examples regarding efforts to teach positive behaviors to children. We can’t focus all of our energy on preventing “bad” behavior and forget to nurture the good. Have you thought about the things you…
FAITH SHAPERS: Teaching positive behaviors
Welcome back from our trip to Bizarro World. Hopefully our tongue-in-cheek discussion of Bizarro parenting helped us all to see the unintended consequences of many parenting decisions. Now I’d like for us to return our focus to building virtues. Don’t…
FAITH SHAPERS: Parenting in Bizarro World
Our question of the day: “How can I make sure my children don’t make good behavior a habit?” I am so glad you brought this up. So often, parents get excited about good choices and good behavior and make such…
FAITHSHAPERS: Parenting in Bizarro World
Keep those questions coming, Bizarro parents. Our topic for today is, “How can I set up my children to fail?” Every parent in Bizarro world dreams of watching their children crash and burn repeatedly, but we can’t just sit back…
FAITHSHAPERS: Being tough on kids
Sometimes I’m tough on my kids. Once my daughter was lined up to spend the night with her grandparents, but she disobeyed her teacher at school that day and I made her stay home. She missed out on a great…
FAITHSHAPERS: Teaching baptism (2)
So what is baptism really? Because of its importance in Baptist life, I fear that we sometimes overemphasize the role of baptism. Children tend to see things in somewhat mystical ways by their very nature, and symbolic rituals with deep,…
FAITHSHAPERS: Teaching baptism
Because of its symbolic nature, baptism is very hard to explain to children. They often see baptism as some sort of magical event that draws their attention and activates their powerful need for inclusion. It is the duty of the…