Kenny Hibbard

My son, Peyton, has one more week left of Pop Warner football. We play our first game “under the lights” tonight in the MARA Bowl first round. It has been another fun season of watching 7-9 year-olds learn the game, improve their skills of the game, and have a lot of fun.

This year, for the first time in his life, Peyton has decided to play basketball. Next week, after football season is over, he will venture into uncharted waters. He does not know very much about basketball. I personally never played basketball on a team, don’t watch basketball in our home and to be honest don’t even like basketball.

Where I grew up in Florida, we had two sports we played and cared about. Football and Baseball. March Madness in my home town was the sign that Spring Football practice was about to start. Anyway….I digress

When Peyton laces up the high-tops next week he will go to a sport practice completely clueless. He is unprepared and the only boy on his new team that has not played basketball before. Unlike football and baseball I have not trained him or given him proper instruction AT HOME to prepare him for this new adventure. Peyton has been throwing and catching a football in our backyard since he was two. He was learning to hit a baseball off a tee at two.

Sports are fun…but it is not the most important part of real life. However, too many of us as parents are failing to give our kids proper instruction and training in real life techniques and our kids are entering into High School clueless and more specifically graduating from high school and still completely unprepared for the real world.

Listen to what Ephesians 6:4 commands us to do as parents!

“Fathers (parents) do not exasperate your children; instead bring them up in the TRAINING and INSTRUCTION of the Lord.”

What does this mean?????…..see you Sunday!

This next Parenting series is going to rock many of our worlds. We live in a culture that is encouraging us to “not prepare” our kids for the real world. Over the last 15-20 years, we have faced an epidemic in our nation. Our kids are turning 18, 19, 20, 21 and beyond, and are clueless about how to function in the REAL world.

Look at this staggering stat:

Since 1970 there is a 50% increase of Twenty-somethings still living at home. Between the ages of 22-35, 16% of “adults” return to live with and rely on their parents.

We have a nation of parents not preparing their kids how to lead, make decisions, be responsible with their money, how to handle conflict, work hard, study hard and be responsible adults. Much of this is fostered by the misinformed lies we tell our little darlings….Do you ever say these to your kids?

You can be anything you want to be!

In life, it’s the thought that counts!

It does not matter if you win or lose, it is how you play the game!

Love is all you need and it will last a lifetime.

You can have it all and deserve it all!

It does not matter what you do in life as long as YOU are happy!

Looks don’t matter, it is what is on the inside that counts!

Some of you are steaming right now….how could a pastor NOT think those statements are true and that we should NOT tell our kids those things?

I thought I would stir the pot and get your parenting juices flowing…come this Sunday and lets talk about the real goal of parenting and not what many in our present culture would tell us.

As you know, this Sunday we are starting a new parenting series. Whenever I teach on such topics I try to take timeless Biblical truths about parenting and apply them in a life-application way for us as parents today. I also try to read current books by Christian parenting authors who can help shine some light into the sometimes dark holes of parenting. Then, on Sunday, I give what I believe to be a God honoring and helpful message on this tough subject.

I truly believe the topics and direction we are going in this series will be very helpful and is not really talked much about in our current culture.

On that note, I want to tell you about a book we will be selling at cost this coming Sunday at the Porch Cafe. It is a book that I first “had” to read when taking an Understanding The Youth Culture class while in Seminary. While reading it, I remember thinking how good it was and that I thought the principles were on target. I was 22 and single but it seemed correct.

I am now 36 and have 3 kids (ages 9, 5, 2) and believe through my own personal experience as a youth pastor, pastor and especially as a parent that this is a great book. It is not a book that falls in line with the last 25 years of parenting principles…but I believe they are correct and stand in contrast to much of today’s philosophy, which is flawed. The name of the book is “Parenting With Love and Logic”. We will be selling them for $17 each. They are normally $25 at the book store. However, we purchased a large amount and received a discount.

Send this BLOG to your friends who do not attend CSF. Invite them to this life (KID)changing series!