How much time do you allow your children to watch TV? Are there certain channels that are blocked? What about cable TV shows? Do you allow TV’s in bedrooms?
What about movies? Do you follow the national ratings system? Do you have to have watch the movie first? Do you allow your kids to make their own TV & movie watching decisions?
Join the discussion and write your comments here for others to read.
Another great parenting special on The Albert Mohler radio program. This time the topic is spying on your kid’s internet activity.
How do you monitor your child’s activity online? Do you know their MySpace and Facebook passwords? Do you know what chatrooms they are in? Do you know what kind of predators are lurking behind the cover of the internet? Is there a computer in their bedroom? Are you talking about what really is out there?
From pornography, to child predators, to inappropriate behavior and online beheadings, you need to know exactly where your child is going online. But how? This program sheds some light on the subject.
Click here to listen or download: http://www.albertmohler.com/radio_show.php?cdate=2008-03-28
You can also subscribe to Dr. Mohler’s program on iTunes.
Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 1:00 PM - Great Escape Theaters, Wilder, KYMain Street families are invited to an opening weekend showing of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
Theater: Great Escape in Wilder, KY.
Showtime: 1:00 PM.
dult matinee price: $6.75. Child price: $6.25
This is part two in the Chronicles of Narnia movie triology by Walden Media. If you loved the first one, the second is supposed to be better.
The rating has not come out yet, but when it does, I will post that information. From the trailer, some scenes may not be suitable for younger children. But I believe it is going to receive a PG rating.
We would love for your family to plan to be with us Saturday, May 17.
What love language do you speak to your husband, wife, or children? Dr. Gary Chapman, Christian counselor, author, and national speaker, invented the Five Love Languages concept. He states that most people give and receive love in one of five ways.
1. Quality Time
2. Words of Affirmation
3. Physical Touch
4. Acts of Service
5. Giving Gifts
Most couples do not speak the same love language. In my house, I am a gift giver who loves to buy things for my wife and children. My wife, on the other hand, speaks the love language of physical touch. She would much rather get a hug or a back rub than a new outfit.
When couples speak two different love languages, they can become frustrated or feel unloved by their mate. It is like one spouse is speaking Spanish and the other German. The communication of love needs HELP and an interpreter!
But don’t fear, you just have to find out what your spouse’s language is and then learn to speak it. If they speak acts of service, then you must show them acts of service. If they speak words of affirmation, they need you to speak words of affirmation to them. If my wife wants to show me love, she buys me something or sends me a card.
If you want to know your love language, you can take a quick 30 second evaluation at: http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/30sec.html#love
We also have some of the DVD curriculum and books available here in the church office. If your marriage and family would benefit in the area of communicating love, come get these resources.
Many Christian parents struggle with when their child is truly saved and ready for believer’s baptism. It can be difficult to accurately discern if the child is truly repentant and accepting of Christ by faith or if they are just trying to impress their moms and dads.
I heard Dr. James Dobson give his testimony once on Focus on the Family. He shared that he was saved at age 3 in a revival meeting that his father was preaching as an evangelist. I thought, “Boy, three years old is really young. How much sin does a 3 year old need to confess?”
I can just hear Dr. Dobson saying, “God forgive me for eating too many cookies and saying the word doo doo.”
But in reality, children can come to faith early in their lives. Especially, if parents have been faithful to teach them the message of God’s love, people’s sinfulness, and the hope found only in Jesus. The Gospel makes a lot of sense to children who already have child-like faith.
I believe Dr. Dobson is saved, don’t you? I believe him when he says he prayed to receive Christ as a 3 year old. If the fruit of repentance is there, can we judge that young heart?
But baptism is a different story. Baptism is the public symbol of the private decision. Baptism is a physical representation of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus in the heart of the believer (Romans 6). Baptism is something which I believe can be delayed.
No where in Scripture does it proclaim baptism as being necessary for salvation. While some denominations would disagree with that statement, it is hard to prove biblically. Baptism should be encourage and taught to children; but not forced as a means to “complete” their salvation. Delaying baptism until the children really understands what they are doing is definitely a good thing.
But don’t push children away from doing what they believe God wants them to do. We all must heed Jesus’ rebuke of the disciples.
“But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.’” (Mark 10:14, ESV)
The next 1 Kids Ave discussion forum is all about discipline. How do you discipline your child? I promise no one will judge you on your methods. We are all in this together, trying to learn from each other.
Do you use time-outs? Do you take away priviledges or give more chores? Do you use corporal punishment or like my Dad called it “The Board of Education.” What are some creative discipline techniques you have used that really work?
Dr. Dobson made his children do exercises when they watched too much TV. I thought that was hilarious.
Just hit comment and offer your discipline solutions. I know everyone will enjoy reading the results.
For children who accept Christ as Lord and Savior, parents should immediately begin looking for signs of spiritual giftedness. While many adults take a Spiritual Gift Inventory or study particular passages related to the gifts of the Spirit, we might forget that children also exhibit these gifts from early in their conversion.
Here is a rough list of spiritual gifts and Bible passages that discuss them:
1. Gifts Connected with the Ministry of the Word
(1) Apostleship - Going to another ethnic group to preach the Gospel
(2) Prophecy/Preaching
(3) Discernment
(4) Teaching
(5) Knowledge
(6) Wisdom
(7) Tongues/Dialects - ability to speak foreign dialects
2. Gifts Connected with the Ministry of Practical Service
(1) Service
(2) Healing
(3) Leadership
(4) Helps/Mercy
(5) Giving
(6) Pastoring/Shepherding
(Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians12:4-11, 1 Corinthians 12:28-30; Ephesians 4:7-12)
Be looking for these gifts in your believing children. And if your child is yet to believe, be praying for their salvation and that they would use their spiritual gifts in God’s service.
A TV in a child’s bedroom has proven to be a leading cause of smoking, pornography addiction, poor grades in school, and childhood obesity. Children with bedroom TV’s watch nearly 30 hours of television per week. The exposure to cable shows with sexual content, violence, language, and the celebrity pop culture are negatively impacting our children.
I highly encourage you to listen to the following radio program from Dr. Albert Mohler. You can select this link: http://www.albertmohler.com/radio_show.php?cdate=2008-03-14
The show is about 45 minutes long without commericals. Dr. Mohler is the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. He is a leading Christian theologian and cultral commentator. Dr. Mohler unpacks the bedroom TV debate and offers solid reasons to pull those TV’s out of the bedroom and leave them in a public place..
You can also read the original New York Times article by Tara Parker-Pope. Yet this is not from a Christian worldview: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/04well.html
If you have teenagers in the home, you definitely need to read this article by Rick Chromey. Dr. Chromey is a professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Kentucky Christian University.
The article describes how parents need to navigate through the mixed messages children and teens face in this media-saturated culture. The article was written in 2006 so there are some dated references, but the content is very valuable. As parents, we have to be aware of what our kids are watching on TV, seeing on the internet, listening to on their Ipods, games they are playing on the Xbox and words they are hearing on the playground.
You can click this link: http://www.childrensministry.com/article.asp?ID=1211
or download the pdf here, mixed-messages-rick-chromey.pdf
Thanks to Jan Martin for finding this article.
