Revolutionary Parenting: What the Research Shows Really Works (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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.

From the Back Cover

Spi·ri·tu·al Cham·pi·on \ spir-i-chu-wal cham-pea-un\ n An irrepressible follower of Jesus Christ who accepts the Bible as truth, lives by its principles, seeks ways to impact the world and continually deepen his or her relationship with God.

If you’re like most parents, you think you’re doing an okay job--and you probably believe you’re doing better than most.

But if your goal is to raise kids with a life--impacting faith, that may not be good enough.

Determined to learn the secrets of those who've raised spiritual champions, world-renowned researcher George Barna conducted a series of surveys and thousands of personal interviews with both young adults and their parents.

In the process, he was able to uncover a number of common denominators to parenting success. Some of his findings will encourage you; others will surprise you. But be forewarned--raising a spiritual champion takes Revolutionary Parenting.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: BarnaBooks (March 6, 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: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,907 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 55 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 (Kokomo, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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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.

19 of 20 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 (REAL NAME)

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.

17 of 18 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 (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

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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.