Book Review: Impress Faith on Your Kids
I finished Mark Holmen's new book, Impress Faith on Your Kids on Thursday. In the book, Holmen walks through Deuteronomy 6 and its implications for parents. This is a good book to put into the hands of new parents as they seek how to pass on faith to their children. Holmen does a great job of looking to specific verses from Deuteronomy 6 and making them practical in our day to day lives. At the end of each chapter, Holmen writes a letter to a friend summarizing the content of the chapter. At first, I thought this was redundant, but then I understood Holmen's heart for the friend to whom these letters were written. He explains how these letters were specifically written to someone who probably would never pick up his book. Holmen also includes questions for small group discussion at the end of each chapter.
The specific chapters focus on different aspects of parenting. He starts with the goal of parenting which by the way is not good kids, smart kids, artistic kids, or athletic kids. He writes, "A good parent is one who leads his/her children into life not death." He then focuses on having a family mission statement. He continues by clearly showing the importance of living faith at home and not outsourcing the faith of our children to the church. His next chapter focuses on true love. He asks this question, "As a parent who is trying to lead your children to know, love, and follow Christ, it comes down to do you know, love, and follow Christ?"
Holmen then makes the 10 Commandments personal to his life and for his family. This is a great chapter as he makes clear the importance of following the commandments not out of ritual, but instead out of relationship. He ends the book by specifically looking at how we talk about faith and walk the walk in the home. This is extremely practical as he gives specific examples of how to "talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." He reminds us as parents to make clear who we worship and follow. Holmen shares his own reminder, "WWJHMD". I recommend you pick up the book and find out what this acronym means as well as other great information that will help as you pass on your faith at home.
The specific chapters focus on different aspects of parenting. He starts with the goal of parenting which by the way is not good kids, smart kids, artistic kids, or athletic kids. He writes, "A good parent is one who leads his/her children into life not death." He then focuses on having a family mission statement. He continues by clearly showing the importance of living faith at home and not outsourcing the faith of our children to the church. His next chapter focuses on true love. He asks this question, "As a parent who is trying to lead your children to know, love, and follow Christ, it comes down to do you know, love, and follow Christ?"
Holmen then makes the 10 Commandments personal to his life and for his family. This is a great chapter as he makes clear the importance of following the commandments not out of ritual, but instead out of relationship. He ends the book by specifically looking at how we talk about faith and walk the walk in the home. This is extremely practical as he gives specific examples of how to "talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." He reminds us as parents to make clear who we worship and follow. Holmen shares his own reminder, "WWJHMD". I recommend you pick up the book and find out what this acronym means as well as other great information that will help as you pass on your faith at home.
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