Shepherding a Child's Heart

There are a couple of Shepherding a Child's Heart seminars coming in September. They will be held at two different locations:

September 5-6
Peoria, IL
Bethany Baptist Church
Contact: Daniel Bennett 309.692.1755
Web: bethanycentral.org

September 19-20
Seattle, WA
Mars Hill Church
Contact: Kyle Firstenberg 206.816.3500
Web: http://www.marshillchurch.org/

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Dr. Tedd Tripp has been such a wonderful and real resource for me as I seek to train my children to love the Lord with all their heart, mind, and strength. It is a reminder that "good behavior" is not my goal in training them, it is seeing beyond their behavior and seeing their heart. It is turning that heart toward the Lord so that they see what He requires of them and they desire to obey.

Dr. Tripp has written a book with his wife Margy entitled, Instructing a Child's Heart. It follows in the footsteps of Shepherding a Child's Heart as being a great place to get the foundation of our training right, so that what we build with our children will last...even into eternity!

Here is a taste of Instructing a Child's Heart taken from pages 101-104 ...

The Heart of the Gospel Is the Glory of God

You and your children are invited to the spiritual delicacies that God offers. Drink deeply from his river of delights. Immerse yourselves in this fountain that will never run dry. You have the privilege of saying, "Children, there is an abundant Christ who can quench the thirst of your soul. You were made for him. Don't exchange the truth for a lie. Worship and serve the Creator, not created things."

Delighting in God restores your sense of what is ultimately valuable. Worship of God energizes you to seek joy and satisfaction in him alone. This world is fleeting and unworthy of your heart's devotion. Delight in God awakens the soul; at the same time everything else in life that competes with God for your devotion fades. The heart that is delighting in the glory of God is inoculated against the noisy demands of the world.

Help your children delight in God. You may be thinking, "I wasn't looking for heavy theology; I was looking for practical child rearing advice." Remember this. Your children are not likely to grow into adults who truly know God unless you provide them with a big God who is worthy of worship. Describe God's character, his mighty deeds and the soul-satisfying joys of knowing him, reminding them, "Children, your souls are looking for satisfaction and it is only found in God."

If you want your children to have a reason to sing on Sunday, give them a glorious God. If you want your children to have a reason not to sin on Monday, give them a glorious God. If you want them to think of nobler things than the latest, mind-numbing video fantasy game, give them a glorious God. If you want them to dream grander dreams than illicit sex or more money or more stuff, give them a glorious God. If you want them to have a reason for confidence when life seems to spin out of control, give them a glorious God.

When friends are offering the pleasures of sin for a season, they need a glorious God. Godly fear--that sense of awe and reverence that inspires true worship--requires a glorious God. God is the one before whom they should tremble and worship with reverence and awe. The glory of God will stoke the fires of true worship and godly living.

Where will the human hunger be satisfied? Rest in God alone. Isn't it amazing that Christ sacrificed himself for you and me? Lasting happiness is found in making much of God for eternity. There is a transcendent satisfaction in God which trials and difficulties cannot diminish and which success and pleasure cannot enhance.

We live in perilous times. Modern evangelism has reduced the message and purpose of the gospel. Much of evangelical Christianity is focused on getting people to pray the sinner's prayer so that they can go to heaven. The heart of the gospel is the glory of God. God is so jealous for his own glory that he sent his Son to redeem broken, sinful, unworthy people (Isa. 42:8). The Son prayed that his followers would see his glory (Jn. 17:24). The glory of God moved his holy heart to choose a people (Rom. 9:23).

God extends grace to broken people for his own glory. God is glorified when he is treasured above all, when he is your greatest prize, when he is your fountain of delight. The proclamation of salvation is a proclamation of the glory of God. The heart of the gospel is the glory of God. He is great and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods. Splendor, glory, and majesty are his. He reigns.

God does not exist for man; man exists for God. Jesus Christ restores broken, fallen man to a true worship of God. The God of the Bible is the supreme object of worship. Jesus Christ saves sinners and makes them worshipers.