Porn Is Hunting Your Kids

July 10, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

I’m a techy guy: I love every time I can integrate a new gadget into my daily routine. I’m also a learner: I love the almost immediate access I can get to dictionaries, encyclopedias, histories, biographies, books and other study materials online.

But there is a huge danger lurking in all of this technology—PORNOGRAPHY.

Check out this infographic that Best Counseling Degrees put together…

Teens Online Infographic

Click for a larger view

Here’s the important thing to remember for anyone on the web, but especially for those of us who are parents: Pornographers are hunting for your kids. Porn is not passively waiting for someone to find it. The pornographers are finding more and more aggressive ways to get your kids hooked on their intoxicating drug.

One of the most heart-wrenching statistics I’ve heard recently comes from Josh McDowell, who reports how many people who are now addicted to porn, saw it accidentally for the first time. In other words, they weren’t looking for porn, but porn was looking for them!

Parents, we must confront this atrocity head-on:

  • Talk to your kids. Now! If they know how to get on the internet, they’re old enough to hear about what porn is and why they must avoid it.
  • Check out the helpful resources that Josh McDowell offers at Just One Click Away, or the resources at uknowkids.com.
  • Install a monitoring application on all your web-enabled devices. I like to use X3 Watch.
  • Set limits on how much online time is acceptable, and establish a time each night when all electronic are turned off (this goes for you too, Mom and Dad!).

The Bible says that the devil prowls around like a lion. One of the places he stalks freely is the online digital world. Parents, watch out and keep your kids safe!

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God Chooses Dads

June 17, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

God chooses DadsThis is an amazing thing God says to Abraham:

When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.” (Genesis 18:16-18)

Notice some very important aspects in this passage especially for Dads.

(1) God chose Abraham to be a father. 

God doesn’t haphazardly give children to fathers; He places children in homes on purpose. God chooses Dads!

(2) God chose Abraham for a specific paternal responsibility. 

God chooses a Dad today for the same reason He chose Abraham: So that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. 

(3) Because God gave Abraham this responsibility, He revealed intimate details to him about Abraham’s household. 

God asks, “Should I hide this from Abraham?” And then answers His own question with a resounding “No!” by telling Abraham specifically what is about to happen that will affect Abraham’s household (vv. 20-21). God wants to tell you, too, what’s happening in our culture that will affect your children.

(4) Abraham used this insight wisely. 

Verse 22 tells us, “Abraham remained standing before the Lord.” Dads, there is no better place for you to be than in God’s presence. If God chose you to be your children’s Dad, and if He specifically gave those children to you, He is your best resource for help in raising God-loving children!

Billy Graham said, “Parenting is the most important responsibility most of us will ever face, and none of us does it perfectly.” But rest assured, God wants to help us do it better!

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God-Devoted Fathers

June 16, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Here are a couple of great quotes from Andrew Murray that I shared with our Dads (and future Dads!) at Calvary Assembly of God this morning.

God-devoted father“God seeks a people on earth to do His will. The family is the great institution for this object; a believing and God-devoted father is one of the mightiest means of grace.”

“O God, teach me to realize fully what this parental faithfulness involves that You ask of me. I would make this the one object of my family life, to train my child to serve You. By my life, by my words, by my prayers, by gentleness and love, by authority and instruction, I would lead them in the way of the Lord. Be my helper, Lord. Above all, help me to remember that You have appointed this parental training for the fulfillment of Your purposes and that You have made provision for the grace to enable me to perform it. Let my faith envision Your undertaking for me in all that I must do to raise my children to love you. I ask all this in the name of Your Son. Amen.”

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Firsthand (book review)

April 22, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

FirsthandWhile I was reading Firsthand by Ryan & Josh Shook, I felt a little bit like I was reading my own autobiography. Ryan & Josh write about their journey to embrace faith in God as something personal for them—something firsthand. Prior to this point in their lives, these brothers felt like they were living and believing in a secondhand relationship with God.

I can relate. I’m a fourth-generation Christian, with my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents professing a relationship with Jesus Christ. I remember vividly my “crisis of faith” as I wrestled with my burning questions: Do I believe what the Bible says about God just because my parents believed it, or do I believe it because it’s true?

I would encourage all Christian parents to purchase a copy of this book for their kids. Ryan & Josh’s words will resonate with them, and will prepare them for their own journey of discovery. We Christian parents must do all we can to help our children successfully navigate this crucial time in their lives, and Firsthand will be an invaluable resource.

Here’s a video review I did for WaterBrook Multnomah Publishers—

I am a WaterBrook book reviewer. Here are some quotes I shared from this book.

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Understanding Sexting

February 19, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

uKnowkids logoSexting is something parents MUST be aware of. It is beyond unhealthy and unsafe, it is an outright danger to your son or daughter!

In case you haven’t heard the term before, sexting is the sending of suggestive sexual messages, or suggestive, nude or semi-nude pictures via text. It galls me to think that we’ve given our kids cell phone so we can keep them safe, and that same cell phone is being used to rob their innocence, put them in embarrassing situations, and placing them in very dangerous places.

In Understanding Sexting I read some alarming statistics:

  • 28% of teens admitted to having sent a sext
  • Three-quarters of teens that sext also admitted to having sexual intercourse
  • Kids involved in sexting are twice as likely to experience psychological distress, including thoughts of suicide
  • Sexts are quickly becoming the preferred way of cyber-bullying

uknowkids.com has made available a very easy-to-read guide on the topic of sexting. Understanding Sexting can be read very quickly, and it will help you as a parent to be aware of the dangers your kids face, give you some discussion-starter ideas with your kids, as well as sharing some technology tools we can use to keep our kids safe.

“The single biggest deterrent to this risky behavior is parental involvement.” —Understanding Sexting

Understanding Sexting is a FREE e-book from uknowkids.com. Click here to be taken directly to the download page.

Don’t turn a blind eye to this dangerous use of technology that your kids are probably holding in their hand right now. Read this book and talk to your kids. Let’s keep them safe!

You may also be interested in my book review of From Santa to Sexting.

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Prayer Focus: Families

September 6, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

As this week marks the beginning of a “new year,” (as students are heading back to school and we’re all settling in to our fall routines), we are taking time to focus our prayers.

Today’s pray focus is for our families.

The Bible uses the picture of a family frequently to portray the type of relationship that fellow followers of God should have with each other. So if satan can escalate divorce rates, and cause friction between parents and children, and create tension between siblings, the family doesn’t look so appealing any longer. As a result, it’s hard for people to feel like the family of God is something that they would enjoy being a part of.

But I believe that prayer can combat—and reverse—the alarming trends of divorce, estrangement, abandonment, and tension!

Charles Spurgeon said,

Let us set apart special seasons for extraordinary prayer. For if this fire should be smothered beneath the ashes of a worldly conformity, it will dim the fire on the family altar, and lessen our influence both in the Church and in the world. 

Even modern-day sociologist Paul Amato found “that if divorce rates and other family disruptions today were as low as they were fifty years ago, we would have 70,000 fewer suicides, 500,000 fewer acts of teen delinquency, 600,000 fewer children receiving therapy, and 750,000 fewer children repeating a grade.” What a compelling reason for us to pray for our families!

Billy Graham noted: “When brothers and sisters in Christ unite in the common bond of the Word of God and prayer, they are strengthened in their faith and witness.”

The Bible tells us the dangers of a divided home (Proverbs 21:19; Matthew 12:25). On the other side, we see the Bible talk frequently about entire households coming to the Lord together (see John 4:53; Acts 11:13-14; Acts 16:14-15; Acts 18:8), and how much joy there is when everyone serves God together (Proverbs 23:24; Psalm 133:1; 3 John 4).

Please pray with us throughout the day for our families. And if you can join us tonight, the church will be open for prayer from 5:30-6:30pm.

UPDATE: You can download the PowerPoint of our prayer points for today by clicking here → Week of prayer – families

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9 Quotes From “Praying Circles Around Your Children”

August 21, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Attention parents and grandparents: You need to read Praying Circles Around Your Children! To help whet your appetite, here are nine quotes from this outstanding book by Mark Batterson (you can read my full review here) that caught my heart:

“Make sure your heavenly Father hears about your kids daily!”

“You’ll never be a perfect parent, but you can be a praying parent. Prayer is your highest privilege as a parent. …Prayer turns ordinary parents into prophets who shape the destinies of their children, grandchildren, and every generation that follows. …Your prayers for your children are the greatest legacy you can leave.” 

“We instinctively attach an ASAP to every prayer and ask God to answer as soon as possible. We need a paradigm shift. We need to start praying ALAT prayers—as long as it takes.”

“Please listen to me, parents: you are prophets to your children. Jewish philosophers did not believe the prophetic gift was reserved for a few select individuals. They believed that becoming a prophetic was the crowning point of mental and spiritual development. It was the natural by-product of spiritual development. It was the natural by-product of spiritual development. The more one grows in grace, the more prophetic one becomes. This doesn’t mean you will start predicting the future. It means you’ll start creating it. How? Through your prayers! Prayer is the way we write the future. It’s the difference between letting things happen and making things happen.” 

“One of your chief responsibilities as a parent is to be a student of your child.”

“Pray about what to pray about. …The purpose of prayer is not to outline our agenda for God; the purpose is to get into the presence of God and get God’s agenda for us.”

“One of our primary responsibilities as parents is helping our children identify their life themes. We need to help them find the sweet spot where their God-given gifts and God-ordained passions overlap.”

“Great parenting doesn’t just mean teaching your kids; it also means learning from them. Think of it as reverse mentoring.” 

“Your prayers will shape the destiny of your family for generations to come.”

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Praying Circles Around Your Children (book review)

August 20, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Launching off his excellent book on prayer—The Circle Maker—Mark Batterson shares with parents and grandparents the incredible blessing of taking the initiative to pray for our children in Praying Circle Around Your Children.

Mark opens the book with these words:

“Make sure the heavenly Father hears about your kids daily! … You’ll never be a perfect parent, but you can be a praying parent. Prayer is your highest privilege as a parent.”

Just as The Circle Maker opened my eyes to new insights on prayer (you can read my review by clicking here), Praying Circles Around Your Children challenged me to step up into my privilege of being a prayerful Dad.

I loved the simple straightforward message in this book: Keep on praying for your kids.

  • Do you feel like you don’t know what to pray? Use the Scripture to help you find biblical promises to pray over your kids.
  • Do you feel like your prayers for your kids have been unanswered? Recommit to pray for them as long as it takes.
  • Do you feel like your prayers lack power? Find ways to pray with your kids where you keep them close, even laying your hands on them.
  • Do you feel like it’s too late to pray for your grown children or grandchildren? It’s never too late to talk to God about your (grand)kids.

This is a short book that you can easily read in one sitting, but the concepts you learn can be applied for the rest of your life.

I loved this book so much that I’m going to buy a copy for every family in my church. If you are a parent or grandparent, I cannot urge you strongly enough to pick up a copy of Praying Circles Around Your Children.

I am a Zondervan book reviewer.

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Artificial Maturity—How To NOT Move From College To Career

July 11, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Artificial Maturity is a must-read book by Dr. Tim Elmore for parents, pastors, youth pastors, teachers, coaches, and managers—anyone who works with youth. You can read my full review of this invaluable book by clicking here.

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The Book Of Man (book review)

July 9, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

“The purpose of this book is to explore and explain what it means to be a man,” writes William Bennett in the introduction of The Book Of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood. It seems like an ambitious goal, but this book actually does a wonderful job in achieving that lofty goal.

If you’ve read any of the other compilations that William Bennett has pulled together (such as The Book Of Virtues), you will have a good idea of the layout of this book. In case you haven’t experienced any of Bennett’s other collections, the idea is to pull together some of the wisest words ever spoken or written on a singular topic. In so doing, the reader will get to look at that topic through the eyes of so many different people, that it will give a much fuller view of the topic.

In this book, the topic is men. What does it mean to be a man? To be a Dad? To be a husband? To be a soldier or an employer/employee? To be tough and yet loving? To be thoughtful and yet a man of action? The Book Of Man is divided into six sections:

  • Man in war
  • Man at work
  • Man in play, sports, and leisure
  • Man in the polis
  • Man with woman and children
  • Man in prayer and reflection

In each section you will find the wit and wisdom of men living and dead; of those in the modern world and the ancient; of those from Western cultures and Eastern; of those who have “been there, done that.” This is not necessarily compiled to be read from cover-to-cover (although that’s the way I enjoyed reading it), but to go to the various sections as you are learning and growing in that area. I also love the comprehensive index at the end of the book, as a way to search for a particular author or topic.

As with William Bennett’s other books, this is a great book to read aloud with others. I would especially recommend Dads reading passages with their sons, as a great tool in helping our young men learn what it means to be a true man.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

UPDATE: I am sharing some of my favorite quotes from The Book Of Man. You can read them here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here.

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