Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord

by Dave Stone

Practical life lessons, real-life stories, and Scriptural truths for being the family that glorifies God. Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord is the first of three books in the Faithful Families series where Pastor Dave Stone applies a practical, conversational, and humorous approach to the challenge of building a strong spiritual foundation for the family. Topics Authenticity, Discipline, Modeling Godly Principles, Sharing the Load, and more. Preaching is his gift, but Pastor Dave Stone’s family is his life’s blessing. While raising three kids with his wife, Beth, as well as shepherding the diverse families of his congregation, his heart, and passion for building strong families rings louder than ever. He knows that raising faithful families is a key to the future of the church. “The world needs more people like Dave Stone. He is an astounding communicator, tremendous minister, terrific dad, and a dear friend. He writes from a wellspring of experience and character. Read this book! You will be glad you did.” — Max Lucado

Genres: Parenting, Christian, Christian Non Fiction, Family, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Bethany Antinozzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised at how much I loved the simplicity of this. “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
‭‭3 John‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

[Linda Sedillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a gift from my mother in law. It was a great book with amazing tips on how to raise our children to love the Lord. I would recommended to all parents.

[Sarah Liz Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed and appreciated this book. I’m pretty picky when it comes to books on children and spirituality, but this book was simple, clear, and biblically-based. I had a few minor quibbles, but overall it was a lovely reminder of the responsibility and joy of modeling a relationship with Jesus for my children.

[Kelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a super practical parenting book. Basic Christian parenting ideas and emphasis on starting early and teaching your kids about the word so it soaks into their life. It’s easy to read and even easy to bounce around in the different chapters.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good insightful advice on how to parent kids to grow up loving the Lord. The three things it emphasizes most is being authentic in your relationship with the Lord, being prayerful with your kiddos, and being an example all the time — no matter the scenario on what it means to follow Christ.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic and quick read.

[Christian Fiction Addiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drawing upon his personal experiences of family life as a husband and a father to three children, Senior Pastor and author Dave Stone provides a wonderfully practical and encouraging book in Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord, the first installment in the "Faithful Families" series. Through sharing stories from his own home life and the homes of the families he's counselled in his role as pastor, the author gives readers ideas of how parents can shape their children by living authentic lives, praying for their children, and incorporating the Bible into family life. Dave Stone also tackles such issues as discipline and the importance of consistency, and speaks specifically to moms and to dads in separate chapters as well.

I greatly enjoyed this first installment in the Faithful Family series, finding it easy to read, and filled with hope, encouragement, and very practical steps parents can make to spiritually invest in their children. In an age where families can become overwhelmed with keeping up the perfect appearance, having the nicest house or car, or striving to help their child become the best at every possible activity, this book provides a breath of fresh air and reminds us about what really matters in life. I love the point the author makes that at the end of our lives, no one will care about all the material possessions we may provide for our kids, but rather what sort of relationships we had with our family members, the time we spent with them, the ways that we instilled faith, a love for God, a heart for serving him. The book is a pleasure to read, not only in how it's written, but the way the book has been put together with it's hard-cover format, frequent use of pictures, and relatively short chapters that make it easy to read the book on the go and fit in some reading here and there in the midst of busy schedules.

I highly recommend this book and encourage parents to add this one to their collection. You'll finish the book feeling more confident as a parent and equipped with some new ideas of how to lead your kids to love Jesus. What could be better than that? 5 out of 5 stars.

Book has been provided courtesy of the publisher, Thomas Nelson, for the purposes of this unbiased review.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no magical wand, nor any specific parenting regime to follow to raise your kids right. There are fantastic guides though and thoughtful mentors who have been there and have gained wisdom from the experience. Dave Stone is one of them, pastor to Southeast Christian Church in Louisville KY, father of 3 children who love the Lord. He offers his experience and advice in this book.



“Your faith must be both a noun and a verb. It can’t be all talk. It’s who you are and how you conduct yourself, consistently, daily. It’s how your actions grow out of your identity in Christ.”

You need firstly to be consistent in your own walk with the Lord. Don’t just be a Sunday Christian, being a walking hypocrite the rest of the week, your children see that and will follow suit.



Get into the Word, the only book that is going to provide the wisdom you need to pray for and cover your children in this world. Let your children see you in the Word.



Pray for your children, that their walk with the Lord will grow and be fulfilling. Pray for their present as well as their future. Pray together, letting your children into your prayer life, modeling a dynamic relationship with the creator.



Consistency is the key. “God is the very essence of consistency”.



Ideas for discipline, teaching, correcting and modeling the Christian walk are all in this book. No sure fire plan, no detailed listing of what to do when, simply a father and a pastor reaching out to suggest Godly principles with consistency that will make a difference in how you parent.



Fantastic and thorough look at parenting and raising your children to love the Lord.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Loved this book! There is honestly not much in it that is new and earth shattering, but it is one of those books I think I will keep and reread regularly to make sure I'm on the right path in our parenting journey! The main points of the book are so simple with regards to raising your children to be faithful; things like be an example, prayer, reading and memorizing scripture, etc. However, it was well written and an excellent reminder of our role in our children's lives as Christian parents. The author reminds us of our great responsibility in raising our children and with examples from his own family life as well as other families discusses what we can do to fulfill that responsibility. It is not a long book, but is a lifechanging book for me. I love that he emphasizes the importance of the husband and wife's relationship as a role model for kids, and he includes an entire chapter each on the importance of the mother's role, and the father's role. I had recently been looking for some Christian parenting books to get myself back on track with regards to discipline, and laughed and hit myself on the forehead (duh!) when he sums it up in one word: Consistency! While there is that small part on discipline, the majority of the book focuses as the title says, on raising our children to love God. This book is definitely staying on the home screen of my Nook, and I may just have to buy stacks of them to add to baby shower gifts! I will definitely be rereading and hopefully finding more by this author.

I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher for my honest review.

[Nicole Elliott]

Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord (Faithful Families) is a book written by a Pastor and Father who raised 3 children who love and serve the Lord. He passes on valuable lessons and suggestions on how you can raise children who will love God.


I found the layout of this book to read somewhat like a blog or website–lots of sections and filled with pictures. This obviously appealed to me!


Many of the points that Dave goes over are ones that are vastly familiar to me: Prayer, Modeling Godly Principles, Being Consistent in Discipline.

There is a reason that these are often talked about topics–it’s because they’re so important! I feel that it’s always good to get a look back at the basics of Godly parenting-and this book presents them in an easy to read and relate to manner.

There were some of the topics that he approached in a fresh way that I appreciated or that I gained extra insight from. One in particular was how to pray for our children by every different aspect of their lives from the time they’re little (Spiritually, Physically, Sexually, Mentally, Emotionally, Relationally)

I also appreciated the section on having requiring children to give honest and sincere apologizes when they’ve done something wrong from the time they’re around 3 years old.

Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord (Faithful Families) book will be a valuable refresher or a welcome eye-opener for any Christian parent!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off if you're looking for a book that is going to tell you how to fool proof your children and make sure they never leave the church or turn their backs on Christ - this isn't it. If, however, you are looking for a book that can encourage and equip you to help raise your children in a godly home and hopefully prevent the prodigal syndrome that seems to be happening so much today - this this it. Dave Stone isn't going to give you all the answers to your questions, no one can, but he does give you godly and Biblical advice in how to train your children so that when they are released from your home they will be as arrows for the Lord.

There is nothing brand new in the book but what I liked was the conversational tone, and the quick and easy to digest chapters. I didn't have to spend hours plodding my way through the book and actually finished it in two days - but it's one that I'll come back to again and again because the information is easy to implement as I raise my children to love the Lord and follow Him prayerfully for the rest of their lives. I would recommend this book to any parent who is just now entering parenthood or those who have older children and want to correct their and their children's behavior.

**Disclaimer: I was provided an e-copy of this book from BookSneeze in exchange for my honest opinion, no other compensation was given.

[Angie Vallejo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great blessing and encouragement to me as a mom, so I can recommend it for other parents who are committed to raising their children to love the Lord. Dave Stone gives a good outline to parents of the important things that will encourage your kids to love the Lord: prayer, reading the Bible, consistency in discipline and quality time. He includes a chapter for mom and one for dad with specific helps as well. While it can be discouraging at times as a parent, these words from the author provide a solid reminder of what is really important in parenting and what should come first. It is an easy read with powerful insights.

[Stephanie Ziegler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be too similar to other books on the market I have already read. The points to the book are obvious but written with some story to explain it better. On the front cover is a quote from Max Lucado. I think you would find his books with more substance. This book reminds me of those books at the end of the card aisle at Walgreens. A quickie inexpensive gift to purchase with a card because you waited until the last minute to shop. The book is an easy read. You will not be disappointed with the content, but you might gawk at the price.

Until next time, take life one page at a time!

[Susan M (MomBlogger) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Dave Stone has an amazing talent to write much-needed advice and encouragement for families today. His easy to read writing style and no-nonsense suggestions are welcome in today's struggling times. Although I am a full-time Stay at Home Mom, I find myself regretting when my children and I have not spent quality time together during a week of busy schedules and hectic activities. From getting up early to get the "big" kids ready for school, to finding creative ways to keep read more

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave and his wife Beth have poured so much into their kids and it shows in this book. There are 3 in the series (See Also https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... and https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... and each one is definitely worth reading if you are a parent.

I love their practical, usable advice that guides parents on how to discipline their children, teach them to be well rounded, and how to be obedient.

[Rachel Blom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Encouraging and inspirational read for parents on how to create a loving Christian home. More aimed at new Christians or struggling parents, because it's rather basic advice that stays somewhat on the surface. See review here: http://www.youthleadersacademy.com/bo...

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend loaned this book to me. I have read similar books with the same topics. The nice part about this book is it is small and take little time to read. The author does a good job of getting to the point with easy to remember bullet points. The advice is knowledge for parents. I gave it three stars just because I have read this type of material before.

[Michael Schmid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good little book for encouraging Christian parents in their role of raising their children and leading them to love Christ. Dave Stone provides plenty of personal examples and biblical teaching. Many of the things he mentions are basic truths which we often need to be reminded of.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet reminders in Dave's familiar, if a bit corny, style. Great advice from someone with great credibility.

[Lindsey Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on practical ways to teach your children to not just know the Lord with their minds, but with their hearts. One of THE greatest books on parenting with love and true relationship.

[Lisa Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good points and principles think about and apply

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read and good book to give first time parents. Great principles to implement in a family.