Customer Reviews

The Family God Uses: Leaving a Legacy of Influence

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Tom Blackaby is no stranger to participating in family ministry. He grew up in the home of Henry Blackaby who gave us Experiencing God. In that home he developed an attitude of service that has been played out in church staff positions, in Christian higher education, and ultimately in joining his father on writing projects and as international ministries director of Blackaby Ministries International.

With this background, Tom has now teamed up with his wife, Kim, to develop a book (and accompanying group study) that encourages families to work together in ministry. The book is designed to include illustrations from real-life examples - both from the authors' backgrounds and from testimonials from others who have participated in the activity of God as families.

The book is divided into six parts that provide a foundation and structure for families to join God in the work He is doing. The book provides excellent encouragement for families to go on mission together from all walks of life. The Family God Uses earns a whopping four out of five reading glasses.

I do see one major drawback to this particular book: the best audience for it is a Christian audience made up of regular people who want to live for Christ, but my fear is that the book will find a larger readership among "professional" Christians (ministers and preachers) who will place the book on their shelves without sharing it with non-minister types who just want to be effective Christ-followers. With that in mind, the good people at New Hope Publishers have provided me with a copy to give away. So, the first person to answer the following question correctly in the comment section at [...] will be awarded their own copy to read and be inspired by.

Give away question - I occasionally participate in clown ministry at home and while on missions trips. What is the name I have chosen for my clown personae?

--Benjamin Potter, January 25, 2010

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Following the principles of his father's book "Experiencing God" Tim Blackaby, along with his wife Kim, share how your family can `see where God is working and join Him.' According to Blackaby, the `family God uses' a) has authentic faith, b) strives to live righteously and c) strive to seek and serve Him. Who doesn't want this for their family?

While I found many practical and helpful insights from this book, I did not find it easily readable at times. However, it is worth trudging through to get to those nuggets of inspiration and application so readily presented throughout the book. For example:
* "God's priority is for church leaders to be spiritual leaders in the home first and out of that, to be better able to lead God's people." (emphasis mine)
* "Families who take seriously their relationship with God and their involvement with His people will begin to incorporate the mission of the church as their family mission."
* "Families and churches work together to bring the good news of Christ's love and sacrifice to those who have not heard it."
* "There's no better way to demonstrate our love than when we serve. Every Christian should be service-oriented."
* "Service shows our gratitude to God for all that He has given us physically, spiritually, socially, etc., and demonstrates to others our love for them and for God at the same time."

The book concludes with ideas of how your family can serve together as well as some `family time reflection' starters. I do recommend "The Family God Uses" as a resource for the family that is seeking and willing to say YES to God's invitation to join Him in His work.

In The Family God Uses, the Blackaby family provides churches and families with a tool to intentionally bring families back together by challenging them to creative involvement in ministry and missions. Through the stories of Christian families who have accepted God's challenge to be involved in His kingdom work locally and around the world, your family will be inspired to work together and serve together with Christ in the center.

Tom and Kim Blackaby share how God uses families through sharing stories from their own family. This book would make good discussion for small group study. Each chapter ends with a series of questions titled "Family Time Reflections." I am not sure this book offers anything different than any other books on Christian families, but it could be a great book to lead discussions within a bible study. Their goal is to show the possibilities how each family can be an influence for God.

It seems like families these days are drifting apart and drifting away from God. With busy jobs, busy school schedules, video games, television, and cell phones, families have lost touch with each other and as a result, they have lost touch with God. The Family God Uses is a new book by Tom and Kim Blackaby and it teaches families how they can spend quality time together while serving God at the same time.

My little family only consists of my husband and I and this book is geared more toward families with children, but there are still some useful suggestions for even my small family. This book also reminds us that, as Christians, we are to serve the church. It gives us the basic "whys" and the "hows" for serving God when we are called.

It may not be practical or possible for all families to serve in missions, such as for single parent families and this book offers alternate ways to serve the Lord locally. This book has some friendly advice and Godly principles for bringing families closer together. It reminds us that we have not just this life to consider, but our eternal lives as well. While there is not a whole lot of new information in The Family God Uses, it is a good place to learn how to get started.

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A lot of parents want to make sure they are raising their children up properly. As we so often joke about though, children don't come with owner's manuals. This leaves a lot of parents wondering if they are raising their children the best way possible, or is there a more effective way? Tom and Kim Blackaby give parents some guidance in one aspect of parenting--instructing them in their faith. They begin by laying the foundation of what a Godly family is and God's design for families. Then they address how that works out in church life, in the home life, and in your interactions with your children. They finish by giving some tips to help your family become a family God uses.

I struggled to stay focused as I read this book. It is not because the book is poorly written, but because of how I learn. This book presents the material in a very personal and example driven method. Tom and Kim give the biblical principles and then show how that principle played out in their lives. So this book will strike a real chord with those who learn best from hearing how a principle was lived out in other peoples lives as opposed to being given the principle and how it applies to our lives and our families. I just don't learn best like this because I feel like the principle is lost in the wealth of information given. In other words, I feel like I am looking for the light switch in a dark room that I've never before seen. If you are like me and learn best from simple straightforward presentation of principles, then you might struggle to read this book and learn from it. On the other hand, if you learn best from hearing how a principle was lived out in someone else life before you "get it," then this book will be perfect for you. The book has a great message with solid biblical principles for families, which is needed in our nation of growing broken and blended families.

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The Family God Uses written by Tom and Kim Blackaby is written to people who want their family to be affective in the Kingdom of God. The authors write the book in a very practical fashion. The information presented covers what God intends families to do, why they exist, and what they should look like in context of a modern evangelical church.

Being that I am currently a single young man, I have a biased opinion of this book simply because I can't take any of the information and practically apply it today. But I do believe that the information presented and the stories told can positively affect and even change the direction which a family may be living toward. The Blackabies seem to present a great example of what an extraordinary Christian family could look like. I think this is a very good book for a family to read who may not have much motivation in serving as a family. When a family doesn't have an example in how to live, it can be very hard and very confusing to discern the direction God would like you to take.

Sometimes people feel they can't press into God because they think they would have to give up their family to affectively serve. But with this book as a guide, a person who has the above perspective can let their stress go, keep their family, and serve God to the fullest. I want to encourage anyone who is investigating how to better serve God as a family, to read this book.

Book Review: The Family God Uses: Leaving a Legacy of Influence. Tom and Kim Blackaby, (New Hope Publishers: Birmingham, AL, 2009).

The Family God Uses is an inspirational book that focuses on the family as both a primary interest in developing Christ-followers and as a primary force in developing Christ-followers. In other words, it asserts that the first call of discipleship for a parent is within one's own family. The family is the created institution that provides companionship, training, and protection. Families are significant to God (pp.16-19). As the authors effectively argue, the family is the basic missional building block of society, the church, and ultimately the Kingdom of God.

The book contains numerous stories for the author's own experiences. These illustrations serve as catalysts of thinking as it relates to how the reader can begin to see his or her family in the same way God does and employ practical approaches to living according to this new vision.

One of the most interesting "takeaways" for me (as a father, husband, and pastor) was the successful balance created by ministering as a family. Often times, there is a belief that one must choose ministry over quality family time. Certainly time is limited and priorities always prevail. However, for the family that embraces ministry AS A FAMILY, both quality time and ministry effectiveness are gained in pursuing "the mission of God" together. In fact, as the author's successfully persuade, teaching a child how to understand the world is often more "caught" than "taught" as the family labors together in ministry.

The implication of the author's thesis is that a family that takes seriously the fact that family is a significant training field and missional force will realize that there is a more vibrant and dynamic commitment to God as the children grow, leave, and start their own families.

The structure of the book lends itself to being discussion material for a small group bible study as well as a personal study for individuals. Each chapter ends with reflective questions intended to encourage actions by the reader. As such, I recommend this book to anyone seeking to be a more effective disciple-maker of his family or anyone seeking to mobilize his family to be better disciple-makers as a unit.

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The state of our families in our culture today is in terrible shape. Half of marriages end in divorce and many children are growing up with a weekend parent at best. Many men are growing up not knowing what it means to be a man, a husband, or a father. We desperately need to recover the meaning of marriage and family. In their new book, Tom and Kim Blackaby, "The Family God Uses: Leaving a Legacy of Influence," seek to show their readers what a Godly family looks like and how we can model our families as God would have us to do.

Overall, the Blackaby's offer a pretty sound book. There is much to learn from them. I particularly enjoyed the repeated connection they made between the family and the church. As a husband, father, and pastor this filled me with great joy. It is imperative that the local church become central to the life of the family. One cannot miss this connection in Scripture. God and Israel were described in marital terms. This explains why God says that on account of Israel's harlotry (their idolatry), God was about to issue a certificate of divorce. Likewise, the Church is described as the bride of Christ.

I further enjoyed the practical aspect of the book. The authors do not seek to present a theory, but practical truths taken from Scripture. The authors frequently give practice advice, study helps, guiding questions, and real-life applications to make the truths of Scripture become more alive. The issue of the family is a very practical issue. Unless one take the text and place it into the readers real world, then they have ignored the reality of what the Bible teaches on the subject.

But I must say that as one who has read countless books on the subject, there isn't much here to chew on. The authors essentially repeat what has already been said. The authors remain on the bottom shelf and go no deeper than that. Quit simply, they write nothing that couldn't have been written by the average pastor or the seasoned Christian.

This is both a strength and a weakness. For those new to the faith and new to the subject, this book can be a helpful tool. Though I would probably send such a person elsewhere first, this certainly would not be a bad place to start. On the other hand, this is a major weakness. There just isn't much here to chew on. The stories are great and the advice is practical, but everything is on the bottom shelf. For those who want a deeper relationship with their spouse or a better understanding of their children, this is not the best place to turn to. This doesn't make it a bad book, just a simple, straight-forward book that is more targeted to a different audience.

The Blackaby family is well known in the Christian market and their ministry continues to impact many. This is yet another book to add to their resume. It is fairly solid, very simply, and extremely practical.

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