Francis Chan’s Crazy Love Audiobook

Recommended Resources for Parents & Children

BIBLES & BIBLE STUDY MATERIALS

The Big Picture Story Bible (Crossway, 2004)
by David Helm, Illustrations by Gail Schoonmaker.
This is the best Picture Story Bible in print today. The illustrations are excellent, and the text is simple and engaging. The author does a great job of telling the main points of the entire Story of God from Genesis to Revelation. Recommended for Parents & Toddlers –
Early Elementary Age Children.

ESV Children’s Bible (Crossway, 2005)
Complete text of the English Standard Version, 214 full color illustrations, Bible Study Helps at the back. This is an excellent Bible for young readers to use for personal reading and for following along during the Sunday Gathering. Recommended for Elementary
Age Children.

Big Truths for Young Hearts (Crossway, 2009)
by Bruce Ware, professor of Christian Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Based upon the bedside conversations he had with his daughters as they grew up, Bruce Ware has compiled a story-form book of basic Christian doctrine for parents and children to study together. This is a great tool to use to go deeper with your children into particular aspects of God’s Story. Recommended for parents to read and discuss with children of all ages.

PARENTING RESOURCES

Shepherding a Child’s Heart (Shepherd’s Press, 1995) By Tedd Tripp. Focuses on the need for godly discipline to shape a child’s heart, not just his actions.

Instructing a Child’s Heart (Shepherd’s Press, 2008) By Tedd & Margy Tripp. Emphasizes the need for parents to teach their children the Biblical principles upon which godly actions are based, and which are reinforced through discipline: God’s design for authority, sowing & reaping, wisdom v. foolishness, etc.

Everyday Talk (Shepherd’s Press, 2004) By John Younts
Challenges parents with the reality that we teach our children most effectively when we are not even trying to teach them! Our normal, “everyday” words and actions carry the most weight and will either undermine or verify the things we are trying to teach our children through instruction and discipline.

Treasuring God in Our Traditions (Crossway, 2003) By Noël Piper
A great resource of ideas for building intentional, gospel-focused traditions into your family’s (and your community’s!) daily activities and special occasions.

The Unleashed Are Made in the Furnace

Where I grew up, there was only one sport people really played–basketball. We played it, watched it, talked about it, and lived it. And the best thing for all of us was that we grew up when the NBA was in its prime.  My early years were dominated by the Larry Bird and Magic Johnson clashes, but that was just the prelude to probably the best player of all time–Michael Jordan. He changed everything!
 
For a kid that loved basketball, I think the word I am searching for to describe Michael Jordan was “magical” (kinda feminine, but I was in junior high). All of us wanted to be “like Mike,” as the Gatorade commercial went. Everyone used to wear bun hugging shorts, but Mike freed us from that nonsense and introduced us to baggy ones. Our socks went from tube socks that were pulled up to our knees, to ones scrunched down to our shoes. And we no longer wore Converse or Adidas; we wore Nike, specifically Air Jordan’s. None of us could dribble with our tongue in our mouths anymore because Mike¹s wasn¹t.  And suddenly all of us thought we could jump like Mike so we wore wristbands on our forearms to protect ourselves from the rim.
 
Everyone wanted to be like Mike, but the mistake we made was to think that if we wore the right clothes and equipment, or if we took on his mannerisms, that somehow we would be like Mike. The problem with this, however, is that we missed the fact that this is not how Michael Jordan became “Air Jordan.” We wanted to be like him, but we didn’t want to work hard in the same way that made him into the greatest player of all time.
 
Sometimes, I think Christians operate the same way in regards to being like Jesus. If you were to ask most Christians if they want to be like Jesus, the answer would be, “Of course!” If you asked them if they wanted to walk in the steps of Jesus, however, the answer would probably be, “No.” We want to look like him, but if it means pain or discomfort, we are always looking for another way. The problem is that there is no other way.
 
The writer of Hebrews made sure that we understand that those truly of the faith will suffer, but most important is that they will endure or hold on. This process not only proves our faith (1 Pet. 1:6-7), but it also starts to make us more and more like Jesus.
 
The apostle Paul put it like this for the Romans, “we rejoice in
our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character” (5:3-4). That word “character” was used during Paul’s day to speak of proof or approval. They used it specifically of refining silver. The silversmith would heat the silver
ore until it melted, and to the surface would come the dross or impurities. He would scrape the dross from the top, let the metal
cool, and then look for his reflection in the silver. He would do this over and over until he could see his face in the metal. Silver that most accurately reflected his face was the most approved or had the highest character.
 
This is exactly what God is doing in our lives. In life he is allowing the heat to get turned up, and when it does, to the surface always comes impurity and sin! The major issue, however, is not working harder, but trusting the work of the gospel more in your life. Faith!