In this episode of the "Entrusting the Faith" podcast, we delve into a series of resources aimed at equipping parents and children in their journey of faith and discipleship. The episode focuses on materials from Truth 78 Ministry, all authored by David Michael, whom I had the privilege of interviewing on two different occasions.
The first resource highlighted is Established in the Faith: A Discipleship Guide for Discerning and Affirming a Young Person's Faith. This guide serves as a tool for parents to assess their child's belief in Christ and readiness for baptism, emphasizing the importance of genuine faith over mere ritual.
Next, I introduce A Father's Guide to Blessing His Children, which explores the biblical concept of blessing and provides practical ways for fathers to bless and pray over their children, aligning their prayers with God's will for the next generation.
The third resource discussed is Big, Bold, Biblical Prayers for the Next Generation, emphasizing the significance of praying fervently and purposefully for children, moving beyond superficial requests to align prayers with God's Word and His plans for the future.
Lastly, I highlight Zealous: Seven Commitments for the Discipleship of the Next Generation, a profound guide that challenges parents to embrace a biblical vision for their children's faith, foster a partnership between church and home, teach the entirety of God's Word, and inspire worship of God for His glory.
Throughout the episode, I stress the importance of intentional parenting, the power of prayer, and the need to instill a deep and lasting faith in the hearts of the next generation. These resources are not just tools but guides to help parents navigate the journey of discipleship with their children, ultimately pointing them towards a life of faith and worship. Join me in exploring these resources and committing to raising children who walk faithfully with the Lord.
This is a fabulous collection which I did not mention in the podcast which I would encourage you to consider, either as a collection or any of the books individually.
Episode 56: How only teaching morality does not glorify God - David Michael, Truth:78
Eric (00:00.48)
Welcome to the Entrusting the Faith podcast. I'm your host, Eric Rutherford, and we are doing a series on resources for parents, for children, for just use in the home as a way to grow in the knowledge and understanding of the Lord and to be able to equip your children to be able to walk faithfully with the Lord. So I've got a few resources today that are from Truth 78 Ministry.
And these were all, all four of these were written by David Michael. I had the opportunity to interview David twice actually. And both episodes are just amazing what he shares. And so I'll drop a link to both of those in the show notes. But from those conversations, I had picked up these materials and they are just top -notch. The first is Established in the Faith.
Discipleship guide for discerning and affirming a young person's faith. So this as you can see it's not a huge book This gives you Sort of a baseline for figuring out, you know, if your child is a believer You know, that's one of the things as parents, you know, we can we can do all the right things, right? We can put them in an environment
where they can learn about Christ and come to know Christ and worship Christ. But at the end of the day, we can't give them saving faith, right? We can't make them believe. All we can do is be of influence and consequence in their life. And so what this book does, this really gives sort of a way to figure it out.
you know, preparing, understanding the gospel, assurance of salvation, affirmation of faith. And really the goal of this book, David had written it to decide, you know, is a person a believer in order for baptism, right? You don't want, it's really easy to go through baptism and everybody's doing it. And, you know, it's just something that happens in the church and you're a good little person if you do it. But really baptism,
Eric (02:22.624)
is a response to putting your faith in Christ. And so that's what he had written this book. It's excellent and it's a great guide. The second book is a father's guide to blessing his children. A father's guide to blessing his children. This is powerful because what he does is he goes through...
And he talks about the idea of blessing, like what is a blessing? The biblical understanding of blessing, responsibility and authority to bless the fruits of blessing. And then he's got some suggestions where he took things straight from scripture and like Psalm 46, one through seven, Psalm 67, Psalm 91, Numbers six, 24 through 26. Like if...
If you, I mean there's just a bunch of them in here that he has put in here that can give you a way to bless your children, pray over them regularly. And in a way, it's like if you ever want to know how to pray for your children and you're wondering, man, am I praying God's will for them? Well, guess what?
These, what he talks about in here, he pulls straight from the Bible, these are absolutely what God wants for our children. So I would encourage you to get that. A father's guide to blessing his children, again, kind of skinny there. The third one is big, bold biblical prayers for the next generation. If you have not...
about how you pray for your children or pray for the children or your grandchildren or the children in your church, this will give you a great foundation. Because here's the reality. We want things that are too small for our children. We pray small prayers. And you know what I'm talking about. You know, oh, I want them to, you know, get a good grade on their test.
Eric (04:42.656)
want them to be safe, that's nice and vague. I want them to have a good day at school, or you fill in the blank. It's not that they're bad, they're just kinda puny. And so what this book does is this really gives you a foundation and a window into the importance.
of prayer and the significance of prayer and what it can do when you pray, when you pray big, you know, from prayers of this generation matter to the next gets into big bold biblical prayers, prayers for the next generation, as well as some examples. It's
Eric (05:31.712)
And then he has some of the prayers that he has used and it is powerful because it goes right to the heart of scripture. It goes right to the heart of what God wants us to pray. And so I can't recommend it enough. Last resource I have for you is zealous. Seven commitments for the discipleship of the next generation. I think I've read this three or four times. Again, it's a little thicker than the others, but not incredibly, incredibly big.
I cry through the whole book every time I read it because the Lord just breaks me when I do.
Eric (06:14.848)
you know, on the back cover, you know, are you burdened for the children growing up in your home and church to trust in Christ? Do you wonder if you're doing the right things to lead them to saving faith? Have you lost heart in your efforts to teach and guide the next generation? I mean, those are real, real questions that we deal with. You know, I love this quote in here. It says, the most important thing I can do to provide what I desire for my children is to seek God's help.
and plead for His grace to accomplish what I am powerless to do in the heart of my child. See, my responsibility as a parent, my job, what is within my power is to make much of Christ. It is to...
to hold Christ in awe and wonder, and that my children would look at me and see how I respond, and in turn, they might understand. And so this book really gives just, this is fantastic. So part one is what is zeal and why does it matter? And then part two is the seven commitments.
for the discipleship of the next generation. And they are, the first is embrace a biblical vision for the faith of the next generation. That's critical because if we do not do that, they're gonna be, they're lost, right? When you start looking at worldview, when you start looking at when worldviews are developed, you know,
Psychological studies show by the time children are age 13 their worldview is set. It is in concrete and it is really hard to move and so change. So what does that mean? So if your children grow up and they don't know about God, they think truth is relative, they you know all of this stuff and it's hard to break that. It's hard to break out of that.
Eric (08:30.848)
And so faith doesn't just happen. So it's embracing a biblical vision for faith. The second is foster a robust partnership between church and home. Here's the deal, parents and grandparents. It is not the church's job to disciple your children. Dads especially, if you're a dad and you have kids, it is our responsibility. We will be held accountable for that.
When we stand before the Lord, if you are a follower of Christ, and when we stand before the Lord, He is going to ask us, what did you do with what I gave to you? And so we need to, so we're responsible. So the church and the home, there's a partnership, right? But we cannot delegate it, we cannot outsource it. It is our responsibility, so.
The third teach the breadth and depth of the whole counsel of God. That means go beyond parables Go beyond the Gospels go beyond
the epistles, like the breadth of God's Word is from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 and everything in between, like to teach all of it.
Proclaim, number four, proclaim the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. It is, that is our job. We are to walk it and they are to follow us as we follow Christ. Fifth, disciple the mind, heart and will. All of that matters.
Eric (10:12.992)
Right? It is not just put the Jesus t -shirt on and not just let go and let God. It is mental. It is understanding. It is a heart movement and it is an act of the will. It is volitional. Six, pray with dependence on God's sovereign grace. So here's the reality. You can't save your kids. I gave you that quote earlier from this book. You can't. And you can't. That is one of the most...
overwhelmingly, I just get overwhelmed when I think about that and the fact that I can't do it. And seven, inspire worship of God for the glory of God. You see, it's not about, again, I had a jail free card, it's not about being a good person. You see, the Lord, he is worthy of our worship.
He is worthy of our praise. He is worthy for the rest of eternity for us.
He is worthy for the rest of eternity to hear us tell of his goodness. So it is what we need to do. We are to inspire the worship of God for the glory of God. And then part three, do not lose heart because this is a marathon. This it really is.
So, four resources, check them out. I'm gonna drop links in the show notes. I would encourage you to read them, meditate on them. We have bought many copies of each of these and given them to a lot of different people. So, they are definitely worth your time and effort to get into them. Praying that the Lord continues to work in you and through you for His glory. See you next week.