Gain Family Driven Faith (Paperback Edition With Study Questions ): Doing What It Takes To Raise Sons And Daughters Who Walk With God Executed By Voddie T. Baucham Jr. Represented In E-Text

whole lotta legalism detracts and distracts from what is otherwise a call to discipleship within families, What is good even great here is, regrettably, easily lost amidst that which is strange, Some great thoughts and practical advice, I loved the constant challenge to get families doing family worship, Yes and amen! The education we give our children is so critical in shaping how they view God, life and the world.
I am not willing to give this responsibility away to just anyone,

Also, the greatest titles I possess are husband and dad, I will not expect the church to be the primary or sole facilitator of spiritual growth and development in the life of my family.
That is my job. A good book presenting the goal of Christian parenting and practical steps so families in the church can make steps forward in their spiritual depth and biblical faithfulness.
I struggled through the last couple of chapters and am not sure I agree with him there, but overall the book was helpful.
I read this book in less thanhours on less thanhours of sleep after finding out one day before the deadline that I had to read and write a review of it for class.
Needless to say it could have been a nightmare but Voddie Baucham is a clear, personable writer who is very easy to read.
But I warn you, the following review was written in a jetlagged sleepdeprived state and is not my best work by a long shot.



What would it mean for the American church if every Christian family was committed to disciplining their children in the faith This is the question Voddie Baucham asks in FamilyDriven Faith.


Raised in Southern California by a single mother, Baucham did not come to Christ until college, Shortly after his conversion he married his wife Bridget, and soon after became a father, As a young man thrust into these new roles, he keenly felt his lack of role models, He didnt know what it meant to be a father and husband, much less a Christian father and husband.
This book is a result of his journey to discern and discover how to parent and lead his family in the way that the Bible teaches.
A clear, passionate, and humorous speaker, he quickly became a soughtafter voice in conservative homeschool circles, especially through his affiliation with fellow familyoriented speakers Geoff Botkin and Doug Phillips.


For Baucham, the family is the primary training ground for the discipleship of Christian children, but one that is much neglected in the American Christian church.
Citing statistics that show high rates upwards ofof children who will leave the faith after college, he lays the blame for this at the feet of parents who are “asking the church to do what God designed the family to accomplish.
”Baucham is speaking to those parents who desire that their children grow in faith but who, for one reason or another, have been neglecting their own role in their childrens discipleship, a role which Baucham sees as the main duty of a

Christian family.
If families were to focus on their own children, and if children were able to learn in a multigenerational environment, he claims, the church itself would grow stronger.


Baucham begins the book with an exhortation to Christian parents to think more seriously about the hearts of their children.
Laying out statistics that show the decline of the American church and family, he pleads with parents to refocus their energies on raising children to love God first and foremost, rather than the alltoo common emphasis on education or sports.
If the family makes faith a priority, the children will understand implicitly its place in their lives, How can this be done Baucham emphasizes the family atmosphere as a key part of a familydriven faith, In particular, the love between a husband and a wife should be a Biblical love that serves as a model for the children.
He pushes back against what he calls “grecoroman love”, a secular passiondriven love that changes with emotions, Instead, “the Biblical model of love is volitional” and this should inform how parents love each other, and how they love their children.
Another important component of the familydriven faith model is the Biblical worldview, Children should be able to articulate their worldview, not simply to adopt it from their parents without understanding the reasons behind it.


As should be clear from the above, in a familydriven faith model the home is “the principal delivery system for the transmittal of Gods truth.
” Baucham suggests ideas for incorporating family worship into daily life, He also touches on subjects such as child training, obedience, courtship, and the importance of a Christian education, Baucham and his wife homeschooled their children, and he makes a case for pulling children out of government schools.
Lastly, he presents his idea of the familyintegrated church, one where the churchs mission is to aid families in discipleship of their children, rather than the other way around, and to eschew agesegregated activities in favor of multigenerational worship.


Its easy to see why Voddie Baucham captivated the conservative homeschool movement, He writes with clarity and passion, and Christian parents were hungry for exactly this kind of teaching, By and large, his audience yearns to grow in faithfulness, and understands that something has gone wrong in the typical way that modern Christians raise their youth.
The model that Baucham offers is not an easy one, It raises the expectations for what it means to be a Christian parent, and this message is deeply and rightfully empowering for many people.


Where his passion can often go wrong is in its excesses, He leans too heavily on frightening statistics to prove his points, and has a tendency toward hyperbole, See, for example, the way he recounts his regret over his and his wifes decision to stop having kids through a medical procedure.
“The doctor took his scalpel and sutures and told God, The Bauchams hereby declare that they no longer trust, nor welcome you in this area of their lives.
”

FamilyDriven Faith was published in, and it is a different read with the advantage ofyears of hindsight.
The Bible places great value on family, but it is also a faith that calls us to leave family behind and follow Jesus.
Its a tightrope, and some that have followed Bauchams teaching over the years have plummeted off, A common temptation is to take his ideas as prescriptive formulas for a foolproof way to raise godly children.
Another is to put emphasis on the family to the exclusion of the church or other godly and helpful outside influences.
For example, his take on youth ministry seems to view youth ministers as potentially usurping the role of parents in a childs spiritual upbringing.
For families already prone to tribalism and pride, these are not necessarily helpful ideas,

Thats not to say countless families havent benefited from his teachings, A call to passionate Biblical discipleship in the family is needed, and Baucham was the man for his time to deliver that call.



A must read for Christian parents and church leaders! examining our walk under scripture will lead us down an unpopular road but this book is an encouragement for my family and I to remain faithful and go against the current.
may the Lord purify the church and help us grow in biblical affirmation and support of biblical marriage and family seeing children as a blessing, Christian education and homeschooling, biblical leadership and family worship and discipleship.
Book :/
"If I teach my son to keep his eye on the ball but fail to teach him to keep his eyes on Christ, I have failed as a father.
" Voddie Baucham

The purpose of this book is to call for a reform of the church and impact on the culture by focusing on bolstering family worship through education, childrearing and familydriven churches.


Baucham has many strengths, and being direct is one of them, This is especially helpful when hardhitting issues are needing to be addressed such as the lack of focus on the responsibility of fathers to lead their family in worship regularly.
He also directly takes on the cultural attacks on the family which have only gotten worse over the lastyears since this book being published, which is trying to undermine parental authority, undermine Biblical authority, and undermine God's created order in all things including gender.


My favorite points/takeaways were:
, Families must reprioritize family worship over other activities such as sports, etc,
. A call for churches to include familydriven worship instead of segregated groups by age, interest, etc,
. Living in the Word at home is where children will have the greatest impact/delight instead of dishing out our responsibilities on "children's ministry" or other church functions

There were some weaknesses in this book in my opinion:
.
Baucham overstates his case for homeschooling I think, to the point that he essentially makes it a rule/law for all Christians.
I agree that it is probably best, especially in this culture, but I worry that people reading this book may come away with thinking that family worship, homeschooling, and familydriven worship are the gospel.
The risk is creating a "class" of Christians who are homeschoolers and those who are not, and I think this is very dangerous.

. Baucham often uses himself for good examples, There are some cases where he doesn't, but by an large it seems like he is using himself as a good example for how to do all of these things which can come off a bit haughty.
He does have a few disclaimers in there which is good and tempers that sentiment a bit while reading.

. Just like homeschooling, I think Baucham may overstate his case for familydriven worship and integrated churches, I happen to agree with his conclusions, but I think the way it is stated could come across as saying that any church that has children's ministry isn't really a church.
Baucham isn't saying this, but the tone comes across like this in the last chapter,
. I wish it was a bit more clear that doing all of these things listed in this book is still NO guarantee of your children's salvation.
Even the title is a bit misleading, It seems as if Baucham is saying if you follow this plan your children will walk with God, Admittedly he does state that this isn't a guarantee, but I think he does so only once or twice and it certainly isn't clear in the book.


Overall, it's a great an much needed book though for our culture and our day, Baucham's strengths are also his weaknesses I think when it comes to just coming out and speaking truth boldly.
I just wish there was a little more gospel focus in this book and a little less legalistictype tendencies towards these things.
It could have been presented in a way that made it clear that family worship is not the gospel, but it is a conduit which can be used for the gospel.
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