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- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Zondervan (March 6, 2018)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0310347777
- ISBN-13: 978-0310347774
About the Book:
For Christian parents, there is no greater joy than seeing their children learn to walk with the Lord. And there is no greater fear than that their children will walk away from God.
After serving together in pastoral ministry for forty years, Phil and Diane Comer know those hopes and fears well. Thirty-seven years ago, they became parents themselves. And like all new parents, they were intimidated and unsure about how to take on the task of spiritually training their young children.
Now, with all four of their children grown and establishing their own households of faith, Phil and Diane have embarked on a quest to help the next generation of parents raise passionate Jesus followers. Drawing on years of pastoral counseling, teaching, leading, and decades of watching families from the perspective of pastors and leaders in ministry, Phil and Diane instruct, guide, encourage, and offer hope and practical help to Christian parents.
Raising Passionate Jesus Followersis a manual full of practical, biblically based guidelines that parents will be able to turn to again and again through each stage of their children’s development. Starting at birth, into grade school, through the daunting teenage years, to launching them into college, and finally letting go, this book contains the why’s and the how’s parents need. This book will serve as an invaluable resource for any parent whose greatest longing is to shepherd their children into a vibrant faith in God.
My Thoughts:
To be honest, I'm not sure why I wanted to read this book. My children are all grown on on their own. My years of raising them are, for the most part, over. Our oldest has five children of her own, but she's not a reader, and our other two married daughters are still waiting for God to bless them with babies of their own.
"Raising Passionate Jesus Followers" sounds like an impossible dream. Young people are leaving the church as soon as they gain their independence, and it doesn't matter which denomination they were raised in--it's happening. It can feel discouraging if we allow it to color our faith.
But after reading Phil and Diane Comer's book, I can see the areas where we did our best and the areas in which we could have done more. This book gave me hope for future generations of young families and young Christians.
The Comer's follow the Biblical model of the family, with the father being the head and the wife submitting to the husband's leadership. That might leave a sour taste in the mouths of some, but after reading this book you can see that it WORKS! Diane is no wimpy wallflower of a woman. She is strong, intelligent, and has her own thoughts and opinions. She CHOOSES to submit because she believes in God's Word and trusts that God knows best.
That one decision makes a tremendous difference in how the Comers raised their children. A huge difference. What follows is a roadmap of success and failure and what the Comers learned about raising children passionate about Jesus--not the church, or their doctrine, or even God's Word. Passionate about JESUS.
(And yes, I know Jesus is The Word--but you get my drift I hope!)
Phil and Diane Comer don't hide their mistakes. Rather, they share areas they believe could have been handled in a more Biblical manner, and their counsel is applicable and realistic. It would be easy to read their book and feel you are/were a poor parent--don't allow the enemy to do that to you! We all are imperfect, but we love The Perfect One, and He can take our flubs and make them fabulous learning experiences.
My thanks to the publisher for my copy of "Raising Passionate Jesus Followers", with no services promised in return. I'm giving this book four out of five stars.
Until the next page turns,
Deena
