The ultimate blueprint for passing your faith on to your children
New
book invites parents to change the
trajectory of their family’s spiritual
legacy forever
Research
and experience both support the truth that parents are the single most important
factor in determining a child’s view of God and whether or not faith will
become a cornerstone of his or her adult life. Although it is a great
responsibility, moms and dads need not panic at the daunting thought. In Pass It On:
Building a Legacy of Faith for Your Children through Practical and Memorable
Experiences (David C Cook/ September 1, 2015/ISBN: 978-1434709073/$15.99), HomeWord president Jim Burns and ParentMinistry.net founder Jeremy Lee give parents a year-by-year
plan for sharing rites of passage that will set the foundation for their
child’s faith.
Pass
It On draws
its inspiration from Deuteronomy chapter 6:4-9. “Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These
commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about
them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down
and when you get up” (verses 5-7, NIV). This short passage provides God’s
blueprint for the successful transmission of faith from one generation to the
next. Encouraging parents to step boldly into their roles as the spiritual leaders
in their home, Pass it On shows them
how to invite their children with them on a journey of discovering their faith.
Clearly outlining annual,
experiential, age-specific rites of passage,
this book makes it easy to reinforce the values that will form the
foundation of a young person’s spiritual life. And it’s never too soon or too late
to begin. Whether it’s the generosity rite in kindergarten, where youngsters
participate in a service project, or the manhood/womanhood ceremony for high
school seniors, Pass it On is filled
with practical ideas for parents. It includes specific information to share at
each event, gifts or contracts to present, questions to ask and stories of
others’ experiences for inspiration.
Asking moms and dads to think
generationally, Burns and Lee remind readers the work they’re doing isn’t just
for their own children, but for their grandchildren, great-grandchildren and
beyond.
“The Bible teaches that we inherit
consequences — good and bad — from previous generations of our families, even
to the third and fourth generations,” Burns points out. “The choices,
traditions and teachings we offer our children will affect not only them but
also their children. The spiritual riches we might pass on far outweigh the
value of any earthly inheritance — spiritual legacies remain for generations.”
Ultimately, Pass it On calls parents to the bold act of changing the trajectory
of their family’s faith legacy for generations to come.
For more information about Jim Burns, visit
www.homeword.com or follow him on Facebook (Homeword) or Twitter (@drjimburns). To keep up with Jeremy Lee, visit his website or follow him on Facebook (yojeremylee) or Twitter (@yojeremylee).
Advance Praise
“I’m so excited for Pass
It On. Parents must understand that if we want our kids to keep their
faith, we need to have more faith conversations during their growing years. I’m
excited to endorse something that is more than a book — it’s a movement of
God.”
~ Doug Fields, executive director of HomeWord’s Center for Youth/
Family at Azusa Pacific University
“This book celebrates the
role of family and community, and helps parents lead their kids to realize
their place as adopted children of God. As Jim and Jeremy say, ‘Reading this
book is meant to be a life-changing experience.’”
~ Chap Clark, author and professor of Youth, Family, and Culture at
Fuller Theological Seminary
Jim Burns is a renowned
youth and family expert, acclaimed author and founder of the HomeWord radio
program that reaches more than 1 million people across the country every day.
He is president of HomeWord and executive director of the HomeWord Center for
Youth and Family at Azusa Pacific University, a research and training institute
offering biblically based resources for parents and youth. Under Burns, the
center has become the largest provider of Christian parenting and youth
seminars in the United States.
Burns speaks to thousands annually at
leadership, marriage and parenting events around the world. He has more than
1.5 million resources in print in more than 25 languages. Burns is a three-time
Gold Medallion Award-winning author and has written books for parents, youth
workers and students, including: Faith Conversations for Families, Teenology:
The Art of Raising Great Teenagers, Closer: 52 Devotions to Draw Couples
Together, Confident Parenting, The Purity Code and Creating
an Intimate Marriage. Most recently, he co-authored a premarital resource
with Doug Fields called Getting Ready for Marriage: A Practical Roadmap for
Your Journey Together that has an accompanying workbook and online app.
Burns, his wife, Cathy, and their
three daughters, Christy, Rebecca and Heidi, live in southern California.
Connect
with Jim Burns at www.homeword.com, or follow him on Facebook (Homeword) or Twitter (@drjimburns).
Jeremy
Lee
is the founder of ParentMinistry.net, a subscription-based service for children
and youth ministry workers. He was on the writing team for the Simple Truth
Bible from Group Publishing and the Ignite Study Bible from Thomas
Nelson Publishers. Jeremy lives in Nashville with his wife and children.
To keep up with Jeremy Lee, visit his website or follow him on Facebook (yojeremylee) or Twitter (@yojeremylee).
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