Suggested Family Devotions

Josh McDowell's One Year Book of Family Devotions by Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler Tyndale House Pub ISBN: 0842343024 Josh McDowell's One Year Book of Family Devotions helps your family discover the truth about always making right choices. Each day's devotional includes a Bible reading, a key verse, and an inspiring short story. An Introduction to Family Nights Family Night Tool Chest, Books 1, 2, & 3 by Jim Weidmann and Kurt Bruner Chariot/Victor Publishing ISBN 0-7814-0096-1 Each book contains a collection of 12 family nights. These spring from a national movement designed to bring spiritual growth and fun together on a regular family basis. Each book contains complete, clear plans for helping kids learn about God, the price of Jesus' sacrifice, resisting temptation, taming the tongue, and more.

The kids love the visual illustrations of spiritual principles. The book is simple to follow, has a wealth of practical illustrations to demonstrate spiritual principles, and provides suggestions for adjusting your family night to the different ages of your children. Family Night Tool Chest books are available from Focus on the Family or from your local Christian bookstore. What If..

.? 31 Fun Experiences for Families by Family Life Today This is a cassette tape with dramatized stories that deal with issues of like cheating, saying "I love you," making good choices, forgiveness, smoking, homework, and many more. Questions follow each story. People in our congregation have used this in their home with great effectiveness. It captures the attention of children and provides terrific opportunities for discussion.

The tape is most effect for children ages 6 to 12. The What If...? cassette is available from Family Life Today (1-800-358-6329) or your Christian bookstore.

Character Building For Families, Volumes I & II A Topical Unit Study of Christian Character Traits by Lee Ann Rubsam Character Building for Families is a topical unit study of Christian character traits we should all wish to develop in order to be more like Jesus. It is written in outline form for easy reading. Character Building for Families is designed to be led by one or both parents in a family devotions setting or as part of a home school curriculum. It can be used with just about any age range from five years and older, with as few or as many children as your family holds. Character traits include: obedience, orderliness, diligence, loyalty, deference, cheerfulness, stewardship, teachableness, mercy, and many more.

The arrangement of each unit makes Scripture memorization very easy. Each book costs about $13.00. To purchase Character Building for Families write to: Full Gospel Family Publications 419 East Taft Avenue Appleton, Wisconsin 54915.   Your Family Time with God A Weekly Plan for Family Devotions By John Maxwell with Brad Lewis Christian Parenting Books ISBN 0-7814-0240-9 [Review by Todd O.

Ross] John Maxwell is making quite a name for himself in the areas of leadership and motivation. He has strung off a number of bestsellers including The Winning Attitude, Developing the Leader Within You, and Developing the Leaders Around You. He has enlightened millions of Christian and business leaders with his wisdom. Now, he brings that wisdom to bear on parenting and family life with Your Family Time with God: A Weekly Plan for Family Devotions. Don't worry.

It's not your average devotional. Too often an author will pick 365 verses, write some commentary and pass it off as a devotional. Maxwell and Brad Lewis, the editor at Christian Parenting Today magazine who helped write this book, actually put an enormous amount of thought into this one to make it unique. First of all, Your Family Time with God is set up as 52 weekly devotions, each divided into Scripture, Memory Verse, Devotion Time, Prayer Time, Family Worship and Family Time Throughout the Week. Starting on Monday, families focus on a particular portion of the devotional topic every week day, adding up to about one hour per week.

This is helpful because many families today need a little structure in their routine. But it is still flexible enough to allow for the most hectic family schedules. Maxwell has chosen 52 family values as subjects for the devotions-from Attitude to Taming the Tongue and Kindness to Worship-and has written them to speak to the youngest and the oldest members of the household. He makes the lessons fun, too. For example, Maxwell compares bologna, with its not-so-pleasant ingredients, to our attitudes.

Maxwell even recognizes and addresses the difficulties of beginning a family devotion time; and this will be the hardest part about this book. "Doing devotions together as a family won't be easy," he says. "You will have to set aside and schedule time for it in your busy schedule. Some of your children may resist the idea, but don't give in or give up. It will require commitment to stick with it each week.

But remember, it will pay dividends in the lives of your children." And it will in yours. Todd O. Ross is a reviewer of Christian books who lives in Nashville, TN. Copyright �1996, ProMotion, inc.

, www@acloserlook.com Looking for more pointers on how to do family night? Check out our Family Devotions: Gotta Be Real page.