How can we make the most of this great God-given privilege and responsibility?
Bamboozled? Confident? Expecting or Preparing? Learning? Have teenagers?
Parenting by the Book has encouragement for all types.
“Parenting by the Book is a great resource not only for new parents, but also for those who are struggling with the challenges of raising children and those who are in a role to advise parents. David Walls has written practically, biblically and passionately about one of life’s greatest challenges.” Joseph Stowell- president, Moody Bible Institute
Author David Walls combines biblical wisdom from the book of Proverbs with common sense, encouragement, passion and humour. The result is whatevery parent has been waiting for—answers that work!
"...Dr. David Walls masterfully weaves current illustrations from a wide-slice of life, together with a deep insight gained from the book of Proverbs, to give parents a vital and practical aid for today's families."
DAVID BURNHAM Burnham Ministries International
"Clear. Concise. Contemporary. David Walls unites parent-to-parent based on the Bible."
LEITH ANDERSON Pastor, Wooddale Church
"Dr. Walls combines rigorous biblical understanding with compassionate devotion to family and a heart for the church to give us the very best of parenting books. Sell your other parenting books and buy this!"
KENT HUGHES Pastor, College Church
Dr. David Walls is the senior pastor of one of the largest churches in America—
Church of the Often Door in Elyria, Ohio. He is the author of four books including Ordinary Heroes. Dr. Walls was one of only thirty pastors selected to contribute to a video project called America's Greatest Preachers. He is also the president and voice for the radio broadcast: Point of Impact Ministries. David is married to Patricia and they have two sons, Jeremy and Kent.
FOREWORD
For too many parents, raising children is a confusing and frustrating task. Modern society offers little help. In fact, too much in our culture works directly to undermine the foundations of the family. Add that to a plethora of books and programs that offer the most outlandish and appalling advice on child-rearing. Parents—even Christian parents—feel they have been set adrift on a sea of chaos and contradiction.
Since parenting is such a crucial task to get right, isn't it a little frightening that so many parents feel utterly clueless? Why is it that after centuries of human history, even the most basic issues in parenting are still under intense debate? Why do even the best-known "experts" hold views that are flatly contrary to one another? Can anyone shed some clear light on these matters?
Can anyone speak with confidence about right principles of parenting?
If those are questions you have asked, hold onto this book. What you are about to read will sweep away the cobwebs, dispel the shadows, and rekindle your enthusiasm for your task as a parent.
Dr. David Walls writes with common sense, biblical wisdom, wit, passion and good humour. He understands that the parent's task is not meant to be a drudgery or a hardship, and he shows how intensely practical and immediately relevant are the parenting guidelines we find in God's Word.
Scripture is full of advice for parents. Most of it is not the kind of parenting advice you're likely to read in many of the popular parenting handbooks that vie for your attention on your local bookstore's shelves. Such books usually focus on the child's emotional and material "needs." They offer bogus explanations for unruly conduct, or suggest unusual methods for training and correcting children. They usually advise parents that self-esteem is the greatest lesson they must instil in their children.
Scripture, on the other hand, stresses parents' responsibility to teach their children right spiritual values. Self-control, not mere self-esteem, is crucial to the biblical approach. Teaching our children to love and obey God, instilling in them a love for the Word of God, and modelling real godliness in the family context—those are the areas where Scripture directs parents to focus their energies (see, for example, Deut. 6:6-7). If we get those things right, all other parenting issues tend to fall into place.
This book will ignite your eagerness to practice that kind of spiritual parenting. In a lively—often humorous—fashion, Dr. Walls goes straight to the heart of biblical truth, and applies it with discernment and clarity. He draws from Scripture so many plain and helpful principles that you may be surprised to find how much clear guidance the Bible actually offers for parents.
I think you'll find Parenting by the Book refreshing, stimulating, illuminating, and above all, encouraging. Whether you're a new parent just starting out, a struggling parent frustrated by the challenge of getting your family's act together, or a confident parent seeking some ways to improve your effectiveness, this book offers the kind of biblical insight you need. I am pleased to see it in print, and my prayer is that it will have a long and widespread ministry.
