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one in 168...it's not enough
A great dilemma faces today's Christian family...
By Matt Markins
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Each week is comprised of 168 hours. Within those 168 hours, most kids spend barely an hour with their Sunday School teacher, pastor, or youth pastor. Is this an adequate amount of time for the spiritual training of our children? I think most parents would agree it’s not enough. If we are going to live out D6, as God commands, dads and moms need to regularly engage spiritually with their kids. We do this by sharing life experiences with our children, talking regularly with them, and allowing them to see how we (mom and dad) have grown in Christ through past successes and failures.
[D6 stands for Deuteronomy 6:5-7, where Moses told the Children of Israel that moms and dads are responsible for shaping the spiritual lives of their children.]
If this is the case, then why do more parents not get involved? At Randall House, we have narrowed down two primary reasons: not knowing where to begin, and out of balance priorities.
Many parents want to be involved; they just don’t know where to start. They need resources to help get them going, motivated, and plugged into the lives of their kids. Without helpful resources, many parents simply give up and decide it’s too much work to engage with their kids about spiritual or biblical matters.
Often dads and moms spend much of their adult life pursuing personal significance in their career or other extracurricular interests. Parents may forget that their primary job is not the one they get paid for, but rather raising a spiritual champion for Christ.
 Granted, there is a substantial amount of pressure to provide for our children—putting food on the table, a roof over their heads, clothing, education, and the list goes on. In this mad dash to provide for children, many parents struggle to find ways to connect spiritually at the end of the day.
[Learn more about this in George Barna's book REVOLUTIONARY PARENTING. Check it out at D6family.com/store.]
Once we identified what prevents some parents from being D6 parents, we asked ourselves, “What can we do to help?”
Randall House now provides three key D6 resources to help reshape the Christian family according to the commandment given by God in Deuteronomy 6.
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D6family.com Free resources to connect parents to kids!
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D6 Church Family Emphasis Campaign Kit
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This new resource for parents is dedicated to connecting parents to kids. It’s loaded with resources that will provide information and inspiration to be the D6 dad or mom you want to be. At D6family.com you’ll find tools like:
Splink – Simple Ways to Link Your Family Together! Splink is a FREE weekly email packed with ideas to help connect your family together. Splink provides creative ways to interact with your kids by passing along spiritual truths, teachable moments, ways to make memories, and just have fun together. To connect your family today, register at D6family.com and receive your free weekly Splink!
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D6 Stories – Deuteronomy 6:5-7 talks about dads and moms taking the opportunity to impress God’s Word upon the hearts of their children. We call these teachable moments D6 Stories. They can happen anywhere: in the car, after soccer practice, over pancakes, while riding bikes, you name it! The point is, we all face teachable moments with our children, but what do we do with them? Go and watch these funny, touching, and moving stories and you will be sure to be inspired. You can even upload your own! We’ll show you how at D6family.com.
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D6 Store & Resources – D6 provides you with some of the most innovative products available to the family today, but we can’t do this alone. That’s why we have partnered together with a select group of authors and ministries to bring you the best in parenting and family resources.
 The D6 Church Family Emphasis Kit
Pastors and leaders from across the country agree that changing a family can change a community. There is no better resource to help transform the family than The D6 Church Family Emphasis Kit.
The purpose of this three-week family emphasis program is to inform and mobilize the families in your church to apply the powerful message found in D6, which will change their family dynamics. This kit will help families:
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Connect with each other on a deeper level
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Strengthen their personal relationship with God
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Appreciate their divinely designed differences
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Share laughter and special moments with one another
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Realize their God-given responsibility as spiritual leaders in the home
The D6 Church Family Emphasis Kit includes:
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Three complete sermons for the pastor
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DVD (3 five-minute sessions) to be shown in service or small groups
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Church-wide registration to Splink
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Poster and Flyers for promotion
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T-Shirt to give away for promotion
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This resource is available for only $9.99. That’s a $39.99 value for a fraction of the price!
D6 has gained national attention among many of the leading influencers on the family, and the movement is gaining momentum. Why is this? Simply stated, the need for parents to engage spiritually is overwhelming. Parents are often involved in sports, music programs, and schoolwork, but when it comes to passing along their faith and spiritual values, they may drop the ball and choose not to engage.
Pastors all around the country are telling us that one of their greatest needs is getting parents plugged into the lives of their kids spiritually.
For this reason, Randall House will launch The D6 Conference. This nation-wide event, September 23 – 25, 2009, is for leaders and influencers on the family and family ministry (pastors, youth pastors, Sunday School teachers, lay leaders, and parents who want to make a difference in the lives of their kids).
The vision of The D6 Conference is to champion a movement of parents connecting with their kids spiritually in order to transfer their faith and life values. This is the one event for leaders that brings together today’s top influencers in family ministry.
Leaders who attend The D6 Conference will be challenged to take a different look at the way they minister to children, students, and families in light of the message of Deuteronomy 6:5-7. Research shows that the kids who grow up to be spiritual champions most often have a parent in the home who makes a considerable contribution to their spiritual influence. The D6 Conference will equip leaders with the tools and ideas they need to influence parents to become D6 Families.
[Pastors, bring your volunteer leaders! Leaders, bring your pastor! Parents, bring your friends! This event will reshape the way we view our parenting priorities.]
What Catalyst has been for leadership, and Women of Faith has been for women, The D6 Conference will be for Christian parenting. Don’t miss it!
Featured Speakers:
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Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family
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George Barna, president of the Barna Group
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Fred Stoeker, best-selling author of Every Man’s Battle
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John Trent, best-selling author and president of Strong Families
…Just to name a few
ABOUT THE WRITER: Matt Markins is the director of Sales and Marketing at Randall House. Contact him at matt.markins@randallhouse.com.
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