Stephen Smallman has written a booklet to Christian parents about how to raise their children in a spirit of faith rather than anxiety. It all begins when parents bring their children to Jesus for his blessing. He then explains the meaning of regeneration and conversion as it relates to children raised in Christian families.

Christian parenting is hard work--and it's getting harder. Parents have a deep desire to pass on their faith, but fear that today's increasingly skeptical and hostile world will eventually lead their kids to reject the truth of Christianity. That leaves many parents feeling overwhelmed--uncertain of what they can do to help their children, given the difficulty and extent of the faith challenges they will face. This practical and timely resource gives parents the confidence of knowing what to discuss with their children and how to discuss it in order to facilitate impactful conversations that will form the basis of a lifelong faith. In a friendly, parent-to-parent voice, Natasha Crain identifies 30 specific conversations about God that parents must have with their children, organizing them under the categories of - the existence of God - science and God - the nature of God - believing in God - the difference God makes Chapters are sequenced in a curriculum-oriented way to provide a cumulative learning experience, making this book a flexible resource for use in multiple settings: homes, church classes, youth groups, small groups, private Christian schools, and homeschools. Every chapter has a step-by-step conversation guide with discussion questions and tips, and content is readily adaptable for use with kids of any age (elementary through high school). Endorsements: "My prayer is that God will use this book to both motivate and equip you to help your kids develop convictions about their faith."--From the foreword by Sean McDowell, PhD, Biola University professor, speaker, and author of more than eighteen books, including A New Kind of Apologist "I can't think of a more relevant or more needed book for parents raising kids in today's culture. This book on apologetics will lead parents in critical conversations that will help grow and guide kids to be lifelong followers of Christ."--Kristen Welch, author of Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World "Hey parents: Do you want to reduce the chances that your child will follow the crowd to the point of rejecting Christ and the values and truths you hold so dearly? Then you need to have the conversations that Natasha Crain so brilliantly describes in this book. Prevent heartbreak later by reading and heeding this book now!"--Frank Turek, PhD, president of CrossExamined Ministries and author of I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist and Stealing from God "May this book lead to thousands more Moms and Dads engaging with their kids through an intelligent faith. And may there be tens of thousands more kids who feel loved because the adults in their lives take their questions seriously."--Jeff Myers, PhD, president, Summit Ministries

A new examination of how and why American religious parents seek to pass on religion to their children The most important influence shaping the religious and spiritual lives of children, youth, and teenagers is their parents. A myriad of studies show that the parents of American youth play the leading role in shaping the character of their religious and spiritual lives, even well after they leave home and often for the rest of their lives. We know a lot about the importance of parents in faith transmission. However we know much less about the actual beliefs, feelings, and activities of the parents themselves, what Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk call the "intergenerational transmission of religious faith and practice." To address that gap, this book reports the findings of a new national study of religious parents in the United States. The findings and conclusions in Handing Down the Faith are based on 215 in-depth, personal interviews with religious parents from many traditions and different parts of the country, and sophisticated analyses of two nationally representative surveys of American parents about their religious parenting. Handing Down the Faith explores the background beliefs informing how and why religious parents seek to pass on religion to their children; examines how parenting styles interact with parent religiousness to shape effective religious transmission; shows how parents have been influenced by their experiences as children influenced by their own parents; reveals how religious parents view their congregations and what they most seek out in a local church, synagogue, temple, or mosque; explores the experiences and outlooks of immigrant parents including Latino Catholics, East Asian Buddhists, South Asian Muslims, and Indian Hindus. Smith and Adamczyk step back to consider how American religion has transformed over the last 100 years and to explain why parents today shoulder such a huge responsibility in transmitting religious faith and practice to their children. The book is rich in empirical evidence and unique in many of the topics it explores and explains, providing a variety of sometimes counterintuitive findings that will interest scholars of religion, social scientists interested in the family, parenting, and socialization; clergy and religious educators and leaders; and religious parents themselves.

Are children safe at your church? What precautions have you taken to ensure they won't be abused? Do you know how to recognize the signs of child abuse and neglect? What should you do if you suspect a child in your church or neighborhood is being abused or neglected? If you aren't sure how to answer those questions, you need Let the Children Come, a new book from Herald Press that helps churches and church-related ministries learn how to keep children safe and strengthen families. In the context of the Bible and faith, Let the Children Come helps Christians learn about their role in ending child abuse and neglect in all communities: church, home, extended family, neighborhood, school, work. Each chapter contains real-life stories, discussion questions and action items; the appendix includes prayers, readings and exercises for use in adult education. About the author Jeanette Harder is on faculty at the Grace Abbott School of Social Work at the University of Nebraska of Omaha, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses. She is a member of First Mennonite Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. Endorsements "A valuable tool for helping make our homes, churches and communities safer places for children." —Carolyn Holderread Heggen, author Sexual Abuse in Christian Homes and Churches "In clear, readable, and quite practical terms, Harder provides fundamental resources for understanding and taking seriously our responsibility to protect our children." —David A. Sherwood, Editor-in-Chief, Social Work & Christianity "Weaving biblical texts, social research, and stories, Let the Children Come arrives at a compelling conclusion: the faith community must respond to child abuse .. . . there is no excuse for every church not to own a copy and to share it with staff, volunteers, and parents." —Beth A. Swagman, Director of Safe Church Ministry for Christian Reformed Church in NA "Let the Children Come offers valuable equipping tools for all congregations." —Jane Woelk, Program Coordinator Voices for Non-Violence, MCC Manitoba About the book In the context of the Bible and faith, Let the Children Come will help Christians learn about their role in ending child abuse and neglect in all communities: church, home, extended family, neighborhood, school, work. Each chapter contains real-life stories, discussion questions and action items; the appendix includes prayers, readings and exercises for use in adult education. From the author "Sadly, children are being hurt and killed every day through abuse and neglect. While the church would like to believe that 'it doesn't happen here,' research and experience tell us that it does. Members of our faith communities need training to recognize the signs of abuse and to know how to respond. Faith communities need to be reminded of their role in protecting children, strengthening families, and ending child abuse and neglect." Read a press release about the book Read a feature article by the author Read the full list of endorsements Table of Contents

Winner of the Distinguished Book Award from American Sociology Association Sociology of Religion Section Winner of the Richard Kalish Best Publication Award from the Gerontological Society of America Few things are more likely to cause heartache to devout parents than seeing their child leave the faith. And it seems, from media portrayals, that this is happening more and more frequently. But is religious change between generations common? How does religion get passed down from one generation to the next? How do some families succeed in passing on their faith while others do not? Families and Faith: How Religion is Passed Down across Generations seeks to answer these questions and many more. For almost four decades, Vern Bengtson and his colleagues have been conducting the largest-ever study of religion and family across generations. Through war and social upheaval, depression and technological revolution, they have followed more than 350 families composed of more than 3,500 individuals whose lives span more than a century--the oldest was born in 1881, the youngest in 1988--to find out how religion is, or is not, passed down from one generation to the next. What they found may come as a surprise: despite enormous changes in American society, a child is actually more likely to remain within the fold than leave it, and even the nonreligious are more likely to follow their parents' example than to rebel. And while outside forces do play a role, the crucial factor in whether a child keeps the faith is the presence of a strong fatherly bond. Mixing unprecedented data with gripping interviews and sharp analysis, Families and Faith offers a fascinating exploration of what allows a family to pass on its most deeply-held tradition--its faith.

Research shows that if children do not accept Christ before they are fourteen, their chance of becoming believers greatly diminishes. Children's pastor Art Murphy offers help for anyone who struggles with the issue of children and salvation. The Faith of a Child is designed to teach parents, grandparents, or anyone who works with children how to be equipped and confident in guiding them to a saving faith in Christ.

"Previously published as The case for faith visual edition, 2005"--T.p. verso.