Book Review: Revolutionary Parenting

Going through my library I have found a couple books that I have reviewed in the past in an older blog, and this is a book that I wanted to share with you again. So here’s a review of a really great book that had the priviledge of reading a couple of years agod.

June 8, 2007
I have just finished George Barna’s new book, “Revolutionary Parenting: What the Research Shows Really Works.” As a minister dedicated to helping parents produce what Barna calls “Spiritual Champions”, and a parent myself, this was a book I was very interested in reading.

First, here’s what Barna defines what a spiritual champion is:

“…individuals who have embraced Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord; accept the Bible as truth and as the guide for life; and seek to live in obedience to its principles and in search of ways to continually deepen their relationship with God.”

“Spiritual champions donate unusually generous amounts of time and money to spiritually driven causes. They carefully screen the media they ingest and have a deep and intense commitment to their relationship with God and other Christians. On a daily basis they strive to change the world in small but life-impacting ways…”

He also alludes that those that are considered “Spiritual Champions” for research purposes are those who are not only active in the community of faith, but are Spiritual leaders with influence.

While most books come from a psychological and experiential premise, this was written solely from research data. Patterns of commonality were then placed in book form for practical application and information purposes. While to some, the data in this book may seem too rigid, it can also appear to the over controlling, “we like our little Christian bubble” as ammunition for defending their way of parenting. After a thorough read (and re-read) here are some things I gleaned from Revolutionary Parenting.

1. If you desire to raise spiritual champions, you must be dedicated and committed to having a maturing faith in Christ. This means growing in the knowledge of God through His word and Prayer. This is a non-negotiable
2. The greatest difference you can make in you child in emerging as a dedicated follower of Christ and advocates of the scripture is spending extensive time studying the bible as a family (outside of church)
3. ”Achieving positive outcome rarely happens by chance.” If you are going to be a revolutionary parent, you need to be pro-active in your parenting, not reactive. This means you need goals and a plan to reach those goals.
4. Spending time with your child and disciplining them are the top two deficiencies among most parents. Don’t be like most parents. (“Quality time” can never replace quantity.)
5. If you can’t prove your parenting with biblical basis, then you won’t raise a spiritual champion…and there is a difference between a morally good and socially productive adult child than a spiritual champion.

These are just a few things. I totally recommend this read to both parents and those who are committed to ministering to children, youth, and their parents.