Peter Witkowski Book Reviews

Family Worship: A Book Every Man Should Read

Whitney, Donald S. Family Worship. Crossway, IL 2016. 79pp. $7.99

No aspect of the faith is so unequivocally needed and yet so universally neglected as family worship. Most good church going, bible believing men and women never take whitney blogprayer together and never review the scriptures with their kids. Thankfully, Donald Whitney is attempting to change that dynamic. He just released his latest book, Family Worship, to show Christians why family worship is important and how easily it can be done.

Looking at Abraham, Joshua, and many other biblical giants, Don Whitney quickly and concisely shows his readers that the gospel was first and foremost passed down from generation to generation through family worship. Even with the creation of the New Testament church, the primary role of the family remained as seen in I Peter 3:7. And the practice should continue on. Taking a rapid-fire approach, Dr. Whitney covers over a thousand years of church history in a span of 15 little pages to reveal that Christians of every age have valued family worship. As Jonathan Edward says, “The Christian family ought to be as it were a little church.”

After blowing his readers away with the scriptural and historical need for family worship, Whitney gets practical. Realizing that most of us have never experienced family worship, the seminary professor and father discusses how to do it and do it well. He says that a good family worship session needs to last only around 10 minutes (maybe less if smaller children are involved.) and cover three things: read, pray, and sing. Read the Bible, pray together as a family, and then sing. Outside of choosing a song, little other preparation is needed except a commitment to have a family worship time.

Lastly,  Whitney shifts to answer some common questions that surround family worship. The two biggest questions he tackles were, How do women help with family worship; and how do men start leading? He encourages women to practice family worship in the absence of men.  And then he calls men to overcome their past failures by repenting and beginning to lead today.

He also provides a helpful distinction between the church and the family. The family supports the church but is not the church because baptism, the Lord’s Super, and preaching extend past the family.

Family Worship is a great read for parents, grandparents, and married couples. As  Whitney writes, “Family worship is for couples, not just parents.” If you are one of the many Christians who sees the need for family worship but doesn’t know much about the subject or where to begin, grab a copy of this book. It’s direct, easy to read, and rather short. As a friend of mines once said of a similar small sized book, “if we can’t read this book, we are really in trouble.” If you can read, you can find the time to read this book. I encourage you to set aside the eight dollars and an hour or so of your time to learn about family worship. And now I’ll let Whitney have the last word:

We need to accept the fact that in this sinful world, challenges to family worship arise regularly in every home. The blessings of family worship are too dangerous for Satan to let pass unopposed. Nevertheless, we must stand on the bedrock truth: God deserves to be worshiped daily in our homes by our families. And for that reason, start today.”

Peter Witkowski Children's Ministry

Kids’ Ministry, What Is It Really?

Kgirl blogids ministry is_______________________ ? What do would you put in the blank? Maybe, “childcare, nursery, fun, exciting, chaos, caring, love, etc.” A whole host of things pop to mind. After all there is not a “children’s” chapter in the Bible for us to read every time we baptize or if we are good Baptist “dedicate our children.” There is no New Testament description of kids’ ministry.

So what is kids’ ministry all about? Essentially is about the same thing that every biblical ministry is about. Kids’ ministry is about the gospel. Kids’ ministry is the ministry that faithfully explains the gospel to families. The apostle Paul says it this way:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The only way to help parents and the only way to reach kids is to preach the Bible. Sure games are great, crafts are fun, and clean facilities resonate with new moms. But these things don’t save or grow people. As one little boy once told me when I asked him why he stopped coming to church, “X Church has better snacks.” Sugar doesn’t grow the church. What completes, changes, and gives life is the word of God. Salvation comes through hearing the word. Families can always find better music, graphics, and slides elsewhere. But they can never find a better gospel.

Kids loved Jesus not because of his programs (if anything his disciples were rather unwelcoming). Kids loved Jesus because of who he was. He was the loving, gracious, savior of the world. And, He is still the savoir of the world. And He is still the best thing we can offer families that pop into church on Sunday morning.  We need to lovingly preach the word. We need to connect both parents and kids to the transforming power of the Jesus Christ. Games, crafts, and snacks can all help us teach better. But nothing is better than the Jesus of the Bible.

If we want to see marriages last, kids become obedient, and the next generation embrace Jesus, the game plan is simple. Preach, teach, and minister the word by applying directly to people’s lives. Nothing beats the gospel.

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

4 Tips for Picking Your Kid’s First Bible

  1.  Avoid paraphrases. Several would-be Bibles, such as, the “Living bible
    Bible” and the “Message” take several interpretive liberties when translating Scripture. Though more grown up in nature, these Bibles are similar to children’s Bibles. They typically capture the idea of the passage or story, but bear little resemblance to the original text.
  2. Find an accurately translated Bible. For example, the “King James” Bible, the “New King James Bible, the “English Standard Version” of the Bible, the “New American Standard” Bible, and the “Holman Standard” Bible were all translated in such a way that the English words you find on their pages parallel the text of the original languages of the Bible.
  3. Give your child a readable Bible. If your child does not enjoy Shakespearean plays or cannot read old English, please do not give your kid a Bible with thee’s and thou’s. Hand your child the Bible that you consider to be the easiest to understand. Personally, I like the “New King James” (NKJV) and the “English Standard Version” (ESV) the best. However as Bibles aimed at children go, I think the new Holman Standard Big Picture Interactive Bible has perhaps the best and most helpful notes for kids.
  4. Do not fret about the frills. The Bibles listed above have been published with notes for kids, teens, babies, soldiers, and for every other type of person. Although the notes and packaging are nice, the Bible’s ability to transform lies in the content of the Word not its appearance. If you choose a themed Bible, look over the notes to make sure you agree with them.