Strength for the Future
How can we prepare our kids to stand strong and not be blown away by the culture? AWANA leaders Valerie Bell, Matt Markins, and Mike Handler call for the raising up of the greatest generation of disciples.
Show Notes
About the Host
About the Guest
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Dave and Ann Wilson
Dave and Ann Wilson are hosts of FamilyLife Today®, FamilyLife’s nationally-syndicated radio program. Dave and Ann have been married for more than 38 years and have spent the last 33 teaching and mentoring couples and parents across the country. They have been featured speakers at FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember® marriage getaway since 1993 and have also hosted their own marriage conferences across the country. Cofounders of Kensington Church—a national, multicampus church that hosts more than 14,000 visitors every weekend—the Wilsons are the creative force behind DVD teaching series Rock Your Marriage and The Survival Guide To Parenting, as well as authors of the recently released book Vertical Marriage (Zondervan, 2019). Dave is a graduate of the International School of Theology, where he received a Master of Divinity degree. A Ball State University Hall of Fame quarterback, Dave served the Detroit Lions as chaplain for 33 years. Ann attended the University of Kentucky. She has been active alongside Dave in ministry as a speaker, writer, small-group leader, and mentor to countless wives of professional athletes. The Wilsons live in the Detroit area. They have three grown sons, CJ, Austin, and Cody, three daughters-in-law, and a growing number of grandchildren.
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Matt Markins
Matt Markins is President and Chief Strategy Officer of Awana, a global leader in child discipleship. He is also a public speaker and coauthor of three books, including RESILIENT: Child Discipleship and the Fearless Future of the Church. He and his wife, Katie, have volunteered in children’s ministry for more than 20 years, and they have two sons.
Mike Handler
Michael Handler is the Chief Communications Officer at Awana. He has 18 years of experience in business and ministry. Through engaging storytelling and collaboration, he helps leaders understand the culture and creatively solve problems. Michael and his wife, Erin, have four children. They love family dinners and cheering on the Cubs and Bears.
Valerie Bell
Valerie Bell is an award-winning author, global children’s activist, and sought-after speaker. In 2012 Valerie joined Awana®, bringing her leadership, calling, and passion to join the efforts of Awana in reaching children and youth all around the world. In her most recent book, Resilient: Child Discipleship and the Fearless Future of the Church Valerie challenges church and ministry leaders to disciple today’s children and youth as they will become the leaders of tomorrow’s churches, comm...more
How can we prepare our kids to stand strong and not be blown away by the culture? AWANA leaders Valerie Bell, Matt Markins, and Mike Handler call for the raising up of the greatest generation of disciples.
Strength for the Future
Bob: I’ve never forgotten something that Tim Kimmel said in the Art of Parenting® video series at FamilyLife. He said, “When a mom and a dad know how long a child is going to live, that changes the way they parent the child.” Tim goes on to say, “I know how long every child is going to live; they’re going to live forever.” When we have eternity in focus, and we’re thinking about our kids in light of eternity, it does change the strategy we employ, as parents, and the strategy that churches should be using to connect with kids.
Dave and Ann Wilson have been talking today to Valerie Bell, Matt Markins, and Mike Handler. They are the coauthors of a book called Resilient: Child Discipleship and the Fearless Future of the Church. We’ve got copies of the book in our FamilyLife Today Resource Center. This is good, not just for church leaders, this is a great book for moms and dads to be thinking, strategically, about how we disciple our sons and daughters. You can go online at FamilyLifeToday.com to get a copy of the book, Resilient. Again, our website is FamilyLifeToday.com; or you can call 1-800-358-6329 to order your copy; that’s 1-800-“F” as in family, “L” as in life, and then the word, “TODAY.”
Now, many of you have heard us talk, on FamilyLife Today, about a core group of people, who make this daily radio program/ make this podcast possible for all of us. It’s our monthly Legacy Partners, those of you who support this ministry, month in and month out, financially. And here, at the end of August, we are praying that God would raise up, in every city where FamilyLife Today is currently heard, two new families who would join us as monthly Legacy Partners. You would be a part of the team that makes FamilyLife Today possible in your community and would help us reach more people more often.
If you’re a long-time listener, and you’ve thought about becoming a Legacy Partner, this is a great time for you to join. Let me tell you why. When you become a Legacy Partner today, we want to send you a copy of Dave and Ann Wilson’s new book, No Perfect Parents. We’re also going to send you an all-access pass to a variety of messages from Dave and Ann/messages that—some of them have been featured on FamilyLife Today, but some of them are messages we haven’t shared with our listening audience yet—you’ll get access to those messages online. And we’ll send you a certificate so that you and your spouse, or someone you know, can attend, as your guest, an upcoming Weekend to Remember® marriage getaway. We’re about to kick off the fall season of getaways. We’ll send you a certificate that gives you entrance into a getaway of your choice. All of that when you become a monthly Legacy Partner.
Again, we’re praying that, in every city where FamilyLife Today is heard, there would be two families who would step forward and say, “We want to help make FamilyLife Today possible in our community.” So would you be one of those two families? You can find out more by going online at FamilyLifeToday.com. Click the button that says “Donate”; or just call us at 1-800-FL-TODAY and say, “I want to be a FamilyLife Today Legacy Partner and help make FamilyLife Today possible in my community.” Again, the number is 1-800-FL-TODAY; and we do hope to hear from you. Join us in praying—would you?—that we would achieve our goal of raising up a team of Legacy Partners in every city where FamilyLife Today is heard.
Now, tomorrow, Dave and Ann Wilson will be back with Valerie Bell, Matt Markins, and Mike Handler to talk about how we raise resilient kids and what our ultimate goal, as parents, ought to be. I hope you can join us for that.
On behalf of our hosts, Dave and Ann Wilson, I’m Bob Lepine. We will see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.
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