Revolutionary Parenting: What the Research Shows Really Works [Hardcover]

George Barna (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2007

The Revolution is underway, but in this new era, how can parents make a lasting impact in the spiritual lives of their children? To find the answer, George Barna researched the lives of thriving adult Christians and discovered the essential steps their parents took to shape their spiritual lives in childhood. He also learned surprising truths about which popular parenting tactics just aren't working. Revolutionary Parenting goes beyond youth group and Sunday school and shows parents how to instill in their children a vibrant commitment to Christ.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Spiritual champion: an irrepressible follower of Jesus Christ who accepts the Bible as truth, lives by its principles, and seeks ways to impact the world and continually deepen his or her relationship with God.
It’s your deepest wish for your child: A vibrant, faith-filled life. Yet the day-to-day challenges of parenting can feel so overwhelming. How can you be sure you’re doing the right things to shape your child’s heart, mind, and spirit?
There is no one-size-fits-all instruction manual to follow if you want to produce children who mature into twenty-first-century disciples of Jesus. But in this book, world-renowned researcher George Barna reveals some of the pieces to the puzzle, pieces that will guide your journey toward raising an irrepressible follower of Jesus Christ. Some of his findings will encourage you; some will surprise you. But all of them will equip you for Revolutionary Parenting that works. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

George Barna is the founder and directing leader of The Barna Group, Ltd., a California-based company that offers primary research and strategic assistance related to cultural assessment and transformation, faith dynamics and leadership development. Barna's firm has worked with hundreds of clients since its inception in 1984, ranging from Disney, Prudential, Ford, and Visa to numerous churches and denominations, the Billy Graham Association, World Vision, Campus Crusade for Christ, Focus on the Family, Prison Fellowship, and American Bible Society. He writes the popular biweekly Barna Update regarding his current research related to faith and cultural dynamics, available at [www.barna.org].

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: BarnaBooks; First Edition edition (March 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414307608
• ISBN-13: 978-1414307602
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #478,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

George Barna was raised and educated on the East Coast before moving to California in the early 1980s. He held executive positions in advertising, public policy, political campaigns, and media/marketing research before beginning his own company, the Barna Research Group (now The Barna Group), in 1984. The firm analyzes American culture and creates resources and experiences designed to facilitate moral and spiritual transformation. Located in Ventura, California, The Barna Group provides primary research as well as developmental resources and analytic diagnostics. The company has served several hundred parachurch ministries and thousands of Christian churches throughout the country. It has also supplied research to for-profit corporations such as Ford Motor Company, The Walt Disney Company, Visa USA, and Prudential, and has assisted the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army as well.



To date, George Barna has written more than 40 books, predominantly in the areas of leadership, trends, spiritual development, and church health. Included among them are bestsellers such as Revolution, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, The Frog in the Kettle, The Power of Vision, and Pagan Christianity? Several of his books have received national awards. He has also written for numerous periodicals and has published various syndicated reports on topics related to faith and lifestyle. He also writes a bimonthly research report, The Barna Update, which is accessed by hundreds of thousands of people through his firm's Web site (www.barna.org). His work is frequently cited as an authoritative source by the media. He has been hailed as "the most quoted person in the Christian church today" and is counted among its most influential leaders. In 2009, George initiated Metaformation, a new organization designed to help people maximize their potential. More information about his current projects is available from www.georgebarna.com.



Barna is a popular speaker at ministry conferences around the world and has taught at several universities and seminaries. He has served as a pastor of a large multiethnic church, has been involved in several church plants, and currently leads an organic church. He has served on the board of directors of various organizations. After graduating summa cum laude from Boston College, Barna earned two master's degrees from Rutgers University. At Rutgers, he was awarded the Eagleton Fellowship. He also received a doctorate from Dallas Baptist University. He lives with his wife and their three daughters in Southern California. He enjoys spending time with his family, writing, reading novels, playing and listening to guitar, relaxing on the beach, visiting bookstores, and eating pizza.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barna Has Got It Together This Time!, May 23, 2007

By 

Edward J. Vasicek "Author, pastor, columnist" (Kokomo, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Revolutionary Parenting: What the Research Shows Really Works (Hardcover)

This is one of the few books every Christian parent must read!

Although I have always valued Barna's statistics, I have not always agreed with his suggested plan of action because it was untested.

This time around, Barna wised up. He sorted through many families to find young adult children who turned out to be spiritually solid and worked backwards (to see if he could develop commonalities in how they were reared). And he did! Rather than diagnosing a problem and suggesting a solution, he has discovered what actually and really works (at least most of the time).

First, Barna begins by identifying the kind of young adults (from Christian homes) he considered "spiritual champions." Next, his group interviewed massive numbers of parents, some of who produced spiritual champions, some of who produced kids that were like everyone else's (not committed to Christ).

The test is when kids grow up and are in their 20's. While many twenty-somethings raised in Christian homes have forsaken the Lord, the spiritual champions clearly surface.

The differences were clear and striking. In the families producing spiritual champions, there was no doubt who was in charge; the children were taught how to think as Christians; parents did not give in to all the trends; they were proactive and limited what kids saw on TV and were selective about what kind of friends they had; they prayed together as a family and went to the Word (rather than feelings) when it came time to make decisions. They were more concerned about producing godly adults than pleasing their children in the moment. These parents are in control with their "hands on" and struggle when to take their hands off, whereas typical parents are "hands off" and struggle about when to put their hands on. He calls these sorts of parents "Revolutionary Parents."

Christian parents and counselors need to study this book.

Missing were charts and statistics. Barna also avoided the "home school/public school" issue. Although I know some Revolutionary Parents who send their kids to public school, these "Revolutionary Parents" seem to be the rule among home schooling families, in my observation. I suspect he is silent about this because he wants to encourage a broad readership (since it is possible to be a Revolutionary Parent and public school).

Great book!!! Wish it had been around years ago! If you are a new parent or even if your kids are already teens-- you need this book. It is short: a fast, easy, but meaningful read.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars if you only read one book on raising Christian children..., April 19, 2007

By 

A. Moses (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Revolutionary Parenting: What the Research Shows Really Works (Hardcover)

This book is amazing! Barna doesn't present his own ideas for how to raise spiritual kids, he just interviewed thousands of parents who have actually accomplished it. All their advice is coallated and summarized into a list of principles that have been *proven* to be effective. He does an excellent job reminding parents that there is no more important responsibility than to raise their children to be faithful to God. (This priority has to come before work, hobbies, etc.) The scope and depth of the material is daunting, and it will be a major worldview shift for most GenX parents. The book is short, but its impact is long.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crisis in American Christian Parenting, May 8, 2007

By 

rodboomboom (Dearborn, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Revolutionary Parenting: What the Research Shows Really Works (Hardcover)

Trend watcher Barna provides the church here in USA with excellent snapshot of where Christian parenting is among us. Surveying the 20-something children of Christian families, Barna searches for the factors which kept them active in their faith.

This will not reveal many of the excellent finds which this survey provides in this book form, but will only highlight several of the more important to this reader.

Above all it shows that American children of Christian homes are theologically impaired, at least the vast majority of them. What separates the active in their faith from the inactive in their early adult life center impressively around the Bible Study activity of the parents. This is something I've always strongly believed in and preached to anyone who would listen, and here is some data to support that, limited that it might be. This parent Bible Study permeates itself in the entire family climate and parenting skills, as the Bible has prominence in home life, family devotions, parenting, etc.

Fascinating and suprising results in some areas pop up, e.g. parents had individual parenting strategies for each individual, and they did not have a common discipline practice, as this varied greatly with the exception that they did practice some form of discipline and were consistent among other valuable correlation.

The only concern I had with this due to my theological differences with such evangelicals is the focus on believer's baptism/decision theology and somewhat emphasis on sanctification versus justification distinguishment.

The obvious problem identified at the outset is significant: most American parents have worthy goals and standards for their parenting, but they are not God's, they are not Biblical.

Read this, use it. Your children and their children will be blessed.