EpicParent.tv – Honest • On the Edge • Creative Parenting

Last year I had the awesome opportunity to be a part of the D6 Family Ministry Conference and I was absolutely blown away.  The speakers, leaders, staff, volunteers, breakout communicators as well as vendors eat, drink and sleep empowering parents and churches.

So here is the deal!  You need to be at D6 2012.  The location is Big D (Dallas) and the dates are September 26 – 28…and you can find out more info HERE. 

This is a conference that every Pastor, Parent, Youth guy/gal and volunteer MUST attend!

You will laugh, cry, experience Jesus, make friends, hear life changing communicators and your family as well as your church will be changed.

Want to know more?  Here is a “best of” video from 2011.

I will be at D6 2012 leading a couple of breakout sessions called “Workaholics In The Name Of Jesus” and “Lust, Sex & Triple X”.  I would love to connect with you while I am in Big D so give me a heads up if your headed that way.

If your planning to attend D6, leave a comment and let me know!

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Mom and Dad…

I just gotta ask you 1 question.

This will be one of those rhetorical, listen to what I’m really saying, trying to make a strong point, get a clue kind of a question.

Do you have any  idea how much your (kids ministry/student ministry/family ministry pastor) cares, loves, weeps, prays for, thinks about and sacrifices for your kids!!?! (more…)

Thanks to my friend Sam Luce for passing this info. along!!  The pic was taken from a book called Gospel Powered Parenting by William Farley.

Interesting stats…would love to have you leave a comment and share your thoughts.

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As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I had the amazing privilege of interviewing some of the greatest parenting and family leaders in our country.  One of the men that I interviewed was Dr. Garnett Reid.  Dr. Reid is the Old Testament Hebrew Scholar and Theology Professor at Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville, TN.

As Dr. Reid and I spoke, I felt like I was trying to drink from a fire hydrant.  He truly was a deep well of wisdom.  So as we were talking, we began conversing about parents that are involved in ministry.  I believe his quote went something like this… (more…)

I am in Dallas, TX  for the next few days where I will be a live blogger for the D6 Family Conference.  If you are in Dallas for D6 I would love to meet you, so be sure to come by the Live Blogger Section and say hello.  If you are not able to be here in person, you can still catch all the details, by clicking on EpicParent, starting tomorrow, Thursday, September 22 and going through Friday, September 23.

Catch great parenting tips from leaders like…

1. Steven Curtis Chapman:  SC will share his story and on overcoming every parents worst nightmare.
2. David Platt:  DP will be challenging us to think critically about our worldview and the true Gospel of Jesus
3. Doug Fields:  DF will reveal the 3 stages of the leadership bait and switch and what I consider to be the 3 stages of bait and switch that parents go through and what we can do to help them best navigate what’s NEXT for their family.
4. Dannah Gresh:  Keeping The “Good” In Our Boys and The “Little” In Our Girls.
5. Voddie Baucham:  VB will hit The Real Culture War:  And How It Impacts Our Families.

And these are to just name a few.  You can go to D6 to get the full conference schedule.

You can join me live at 8:30 AM starting tomorrow morning!

And don’t forget to subscribe to @epicparent via email!!  You can get it sent directly to your inbox, for more info on how…

Would you like to receive EpicParent’s newest posts by email?  If so, click HERE or to add it to your reader click HERE.

I want to challenge all parents, leaders, ministers and volunteers  to join me at the D6 conference this year!

So what exactly is the D6 Conference? (more…)

Now that I have your attention, lets dive into today’s post…

A couple of weeks ago my oldest son, Cole, woke up on a Sunday morning and proceeded to tell me that he had no interest in going to church that weekend.  Cole is a respectful kid so he wasn’t being rude, however he was seeing how far he could push the subject.  He continued to tell me that he was tired, had been busy all weekend and just wanted to relax and have some much needed “Cole” time.

This brings up a very controversial subject where there a thousand different opinions.

So here is the question of the day…

SHOULD PARENTS FORCE THEIR KIDS TO GO TO CHURCH?

Some parents and church leaders on internet message boards have said:

• “No”
• “My parents forced me, that’s why I steer clear of them today”
• “Church and youth group are non-negotiables as far as I am concerned”
• “I made my kids go to church until they were 16 or so”
• “I make my kids go to youth group but not church”
• “We are the church, families don’t have to go to church”

I don’t think there are any easy answers to this question, but here are some thoughts that all parents should consider…

• AVOID HYPOCRISY: Parents, you should consider a heart check.  Are there inconsistencies in what you “preach” and the way you live?  If so, why should your kids desire to walk in the front doors of a church.
• ARE YOU CONTAGIOUS: If your relationship with Jesus is vibrant, thriving and contagious this could create a spiritual hunger in your kids.
• IT’S NOT ABOUT CHURCH  – IT’S ABOUT JESUS: Don’t make church attendance the issue, make Jesus the issue.
• FIRST CHURCH OF THE DEAD: If you are attending a lifeless, boring and methodical church where tradition trumps “life change”, you might consider a church change.  I have several parents that have left a church they loved for a church their kids’ loved.
• PARTNER WITH THE CHURCH: Most parents leave their kids “spiritual formation” to the church and ministry staff.  I believe that parents must focus less on being entertainment directors and focus more on the intentional spiritual formation of their kids.  If you need help and are looking for resources, talk to your local kids pastor and they would love to resource you.
• GIVE IN: When Cole told me that he didn’t want to go to church, I simply gave in.  At times it is more important for parents to give in and speak life to their kids’ hearts than force an issue.

Do you think that kids should be forced to go to church?

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