Parenting Seminars
July 23, 2009
Covenant Life church, the flagship church in the Sovereign Grace family of churches (CJ Mahaney and company), recently hosted various parenting seminars. I’m expecting them to be excellent. Here they are:
Parenting Ages Infant to 5 (by Brian Chesemore)
Parenting Ages 6 to 10 (by Kenneth Maresco)
Overall Outline (PDF)
Additional Resources:
- “Sowing Plan” (PDF)
- Plan to Overcome Complaining (PDF)
Parenting Ages 11 to 14 (by Greg Somerville)
Overall Outline (PDF)
Parenting Ages 15 to 18 (by Kenneth Maresco)
Overall Outline (PDF)
Parenting Ages 19 to 22 (by Bob Kauflin)
Overall Outline (PDF)
~ Donovan
HT: Justin Taylor
A smorgasboard from around the web
June 26, 2009
It’s been a busy week, and I haven’t had a chance to post anything. I have come across several good posts on-line though, and since I don’t know which to link to, here’s a smorgasboard of good stuff from around the web (as usual, I found most of this stuff thanks to Tim Challies and Justin Taylor!):
- John Piper wrote a thought-provoking post entitled, “Why I Don’t Have a Television and Rarely Go to Movies” . This post also includes a wonderful example of humbly confessing sin.
- Keith and Kristen Getty have released a new album of modern, celtic-style hymns. Their lyrics are saturated with Scripture and their music is beautiful! You can listen to samples and/or order the CD here.
- Sovereign Grace Music has released another children’s album entitled, To Be Like Jesus. Read about it here.
- Tim Challies asked John Bell, pastor of New City Baptist Church in Toronto, to share about his experience sharing the gospel with the gay community in his city. It is well worth reading - to help us think biblically about homosexuality, and to help us in God-honoring evangelism and church life. There is also some very interesting discussion in the comments, especially involving a number of men who struggle with homosexuality but turn from it because of their commitment to Christ. Read this post here.
- If you’re compiling a summer reading list, you might find these 2 posts from David Powlison to be of interest. Powlison is a bilical counselor, professor, and author, and he spent some time this week discussing some of his favorite literature with CJ Mahaney. You can read part 1 here, and part 2 here.
- What does Kurt Warner, a Christian who plays quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, like most about being a professional football player? His very encouraging answer is here.
Blessings…
~Donovan
Purposeful parenting over the summer…
June 16, 2009
“A teenager I happen to know quite well (seeing that he lives in my house) announced last week that summer is time off for his brain. Well, nothing fires up the parental learning plans like a teenager who announces his plans to learn as little as possible over the summer. Suffice it to say that the young man has a wonderfully enriching summer on his way. And — I promise you this — he will enjoy it. Like I say, I know the kid.”
This article is full of good ideas for maximizing parenting over the summer. The principles presented are excellent and apply year round… Read it here.
~Donovan
HT: Tim Challies
World Magazine on “Up”
June 2, 2009
I haven’t seen “Up“ yet, but I look forward to doing so.
“In the first 10 minutes of its latest release, Up, Pixar demonstrates why it has gained a reputation as a studio of unequalled integrity and originality. In that short span, the audience is treated to the meeting, marriage, and parting of Carl and Ellie Fredricksen, a pair of wide-eyed kids who trade the fantasy of life in the jungle for a more domestic, but no less interesting dream. With minimal dialogue, Carl (Ed Asner) and Ellie make us laugh and break our hearts at their experiences of love and loss.
From this montage, Up picks up with the rest of Carl’s story. Left without his lifelong partner, Carl grows more cantankerous and more isolated until the day he decides to chuck civilization entirely and pursue the adventure he and Ellie once envisioned as kids. He soon finds, though, thanks to a young stowaway named Russell (Jordan Nagai), that civilization still has need of him, and he has the opportunity to fulfill more than one of Ellie’s dreams.
One of the boldest aspects of Up, besides featuring a 78-year-old main character, is the lovely portrayal it offers of marriage. Countless animated films include a bride being caught up by a handsome prince, but few portray an ongoing commitment and love that deepens over years.
Heavy stuff for a kids’ flick? Perhaps, but writer/director Pete Docter fills it with such hilarious characters and breathtaking artwork, the kids won’t even notice. What parents will notice is that as funny as Up is—and it is often uproariously funny—its laughs flow from the interactions of the characters, not from adult-oriented, tacked-in jokes.
Without cynicism, without the hottest stars (unless you consider Ed Asner and Christopher Plummer hot stars), and without snarky, inappropriate humor, Up entertains kids and pulls on grownup heartstrings.”
Read the rest of the article here.
You can watch the trailer here.
~ Donovan
HT: Tim Challies
Sparking Substantive Conversations with your Spouse
May 29, 2009
Simple, very practical and profound counsel from David Powlison. Read it here.
~Donovan
New Children’s Book by Noel Piper
May 25, 2009
Noel Piper has written a new book for children entitled, “Do you want a friend?”
“Written for kids ages 3-7, it shows that there are potential friends all around us, but leads to the truth that Jesus is the best friend we could ever have…
You can browse the book online for free.”
Thabiti Anyabwile recently blogged about few things he really appreciates about this book. Read them here.
~Donovan
HT: Justin Taylor
Adopted For Life Book Review
May 11, 2009
Russel Moore’s much anticipated and widely endorsed book, “Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches“, has just been released.
It might be easy to write off a book like this one, assuming that it only has relevance to families who are actually considering adopting a child. But Moore’s ambition goes beyond asking young families to adopt orphaned children. “In this book I want to call us all to consider how encouraging adoption—whether we adopt or whether we help others adopt—can help us peer into the ancient mystery of our faith in Christ and can help us restore the fracturing unity and the atrophied mission of our congregation.” As Moore explains, “The gospel of Jesus Christ means our families and churches ought to be at the forefront of the adoption of orphans close to home and around the world.” It is the gospel that calls us to adopt but it is also the gospel that teaches us how to understand adoption. In fact, “as we become more adoption-friendly, we’ll be better able to understand the gospel.” And so this book is for anyone and everyone.
Read Tim Challies’ full review here.
I’ve ordered a copy and look forward to reading it.
~Donovan
Jelly Telly
April 28, 2009
“Phil Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales, has a new web-based ministry for children. It is called Jelly Telly. The essence of the website is to provide a safe-haven for children to “surf” the web. There is a daily “television” show with puppets, computer animated characters, and live actors teaching a God-centered lesson… Ultimately, this is a resource worth checking into for your children in your home as well as an aid in your children’s ministry.”
You can read their whole post about Jelly Telly here.
The video below will give you a glimpse into what is offered by the Jelly Telly website:
~Donovan
Seeds Family Worship
April 26, 2009
“Seeds Family Worship was planted when worship leader, Jason Houser, was asked to write some songs to help kids remember the verses from his church’s summer Bible school. Jason began writing songs and singing them for the kids and families at church. The songs were well-crafted, catchy, and taken straight from scripture. Families liked them… a lot. From just a handful of songs, Seeds Family Worship was planted – providing God’s Word set to music for thousands of families all over the world. We are gladdened by stories of worship times at home, scripture memorized, and object lessons taught using Seeds songs. The fifth Seeds Family Worship album – The Power of Encouragement – has just released. In total, Seeds has grown to 58 portions of scripture set to music!”
A Seeds song, from Psalm 55:22:
~Donovan
HT: Tim Challies
Big Truths for Young Hearts
April 24, 2009
Justin Taylor recently interviewed Bruce Ware about his new book, “Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God“. It looks excellent! Read the interview here.
~Donovan
