Parenting DOJO Resources (from our workshop)

Below are the "Parenting DOJO" resources for the workshop we gave on Monday and are giving again this Tuesday, March 6th at 7pm at Rooftop Community Church.  We invite and encourage you to come to find out more about the resources, why we recommend them, and how we implement them into our day to day family environment.  There are many of them, but each of them serve a different purpose and role in our family and in the raising of our children:


(If you purchase these items through Amazon and do so through our links below, we would be very grateful.  There is no extra cost to you and we receive a referral credit from them.)

Christian Worldview:



(more below the fold)

The Parenting DOJO

Julie and I are in the middle of a Parenting Workshop called the "Parenting DOJO".  Last year while teaching through the book of Titus in the New Testament, we as Christ Followers were challenged to train ourselves so that we would live out our faith more clearly so that the world would rightly see Jesus in us.  This is a creative word for discipleship, which is the responsibility of all who proclaim to believe in and follow Jesus Christ.

Julie and I hosted our first Parenting DOJO last Monday and will be hosting the same training again this Tuesday.  Our objective is to briefly teach on some important principles for Christian Parents and give MANY practical methods we have found effective in raising our own children.  They may not all work for everyone, but we hope some of them will be pertinent and useful for each family that attends.  We are not experts in this area, but are avid and passionate students.  We want to continue learning and growing in how to love and lead our own children toward (1) whole-hearted faith in Jesus Christ and (2) a keen knowledge of God and how their faith in Jesus should impact every area of their developing lives.

As you remember, please pray for our time on Tuesday evening.  Also, you will be seeing more posts with info and resources on this topic.

Zimbabwe Update - Pedzy

Most of you know that I went to Zimbabwe, Africa last August on a mission trip.  During our time we focused on discipleship training for the young adult believers in country.  We also spent time discipling and serving the pastoral leadership there as well.  One of the young ministry leaders I met on my first trip in 2007, saw again in 2011, and continue to correspond with is Pedzy.  Pedzy is great and is on fire for the Lord.  He recently graduated Bible College and is pursuing a ministry calling.  For those of you who want to see the people we are serving and ministering to in our Zimbabwe ministry, here is a video of Pedzy talking about a conference he attended in December led by a fellow pastor, Bill Layle, from our previous church in Grand Rapids...

Nathan Young (who went on the trip with us in August) and I just talked this morning about how we are still in touch with Pedzy...so the ministry relationship continues across the Atlantic Ocean. Thanks again to all who supported and prayed for our trip and for our Zimbabwean brothers and sisters in Christ!

"Bloodlines"

In light of our message yesterday on adoption and for a personal testimony on racism, here is John Piper's recent documentary...


Bloodlines Documentary with John Piper from Crossway on Vimeo.

How and Why Do We Discipline?

This past Sunday I was back up in the weekly rotation at Rooftop and shared a message on disciplining children as God disciplines us.  This is part of our "All God's Children" series:

Green Acres

When I met Julie in the late 90s, she was a top level saleswoman for IKON office solutions.  She lived in Oakland County in suburban Detroit which was the third wealthiest county in the country at that time.  Many of our friends in Detroit remember that Julie...

Well time can change a woman and this fall I witnessed something I never thought I would see.  This same Julie was also petrified of a couple dead mice in our home and a fake centipede behind the toilet. (A little joke somebody played on her a couple years ago.)  But no more!!!  Witness the following...

My wife has crossed over and it reminds me of a woman many decades ago who made a similar journey...

Jonathan's Birthday & Little Round Top

Today was Jonathan's birthday, he turned 8.  For breakfast we got some donuts for him and the family, for dinner he asked for meatloaf and Mama's special salad.  Before dinner we opened gifts and yet when asked what he was most excited about today, it was watching the next part of the movie Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition).

We watched the first hour a couple days ago and the most exciting part, General Bufords holding the "high ground" against the early confederate attack.  Today we watched the next part, the 20th Maine defend "Little Round Top".  They do so valiantly and when out of ammo, rather than risk collapse against the next confederate attack wave, they do the following...



While the battle and bayonet charge take place, neither David or Jonathan could sit down because they were so excited.  Well, the union forces led by the 20th Maine and Colonel Chamberlain won the battle and the day.  So much for a peaceful and early bedtime.

New Picture - Olamana's 3 Peaks

You all will notice the new picture for the "Narrow Path".  Although this is not my picture, this is a narrow path that I have climbed.  It is the Olomana Trail on the windward side of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands.  This was a great hike, but then again, it was also 15 years ago.  I wonder how I would fare today?  Nonetheless, we hiked all three peaks which is pretty challenging.  Most people stop at the first peak...but not a bunch of Marines!

Super Sunday (for Caroline)

But not for the reasons you might think...

Today in church I looked and saw our daughter Caroline raising her hands during the singing portion of worship.  Now this shouldn't be a surprise since both Julie and I will raise our hands in praise of our God when we are worshiping, both at church and at home.  But Caroline, who is 5, is not yet a "believer" in Jesus, in that she has not yet understood enough to profess for herself what salvation in Jesus Christ means.

For the past year now both Julie and I have been reading bible stories to her, talking about faith in Jesus, answering questions she might have, and asking her questions to see if the Truth is sinking in and sticking.  Caroline has done a great job listening and learning the different stories.  Also, she is connecting the different Old Testament stories of Jonah and Abraham to Jesus and what His call to "Follow Me" means to us today in 2012.

Well, today after church I asked Caroline why she was raising her hands and she said

A Personal Story About Gordie Howe

Tonight I found out that the famous Detroit Red Wing, 83 year old Gordie Howe, is suffering from Dementia.  This same disease took the life of his wife back in 2009.  Gordie Howe is one of the greatest hockey players of all time.  In fact, before Wayne Gretzky he was the greatest to ever play the game of hockey and and many still consider him the greatest.  However, my sadness and appreciation for Gordie Howe has little to do with what he did on a hockey rink.

My father passed away on December 1st, 1993 when I was 19 years old.  I was in the Marines and flew home from Pensacola where I was stationed at the time.  It was hard losing my dad, and after the funeral and all the family events, it was time for me to return to Florida.  It was a Monday morning and I had been dropped off at Detroit Metro airport and began making my way to my terminal.  I remember walking through the concourse and there in front of me was this older gentlemen walking towards me.  He was wearing a suit that was somewhat disheveled and looking very tired.