Dedicated – Primer

Description

This eBook will help you better understand what it means to dedicate your children to the Lord every day. Dedication is a way of life that we teach our kids, not just something we do at the beginning of a child’s life.

The devastating reality that we must acknowledge is that many people who have been dedicated as children start out well, but they do not finish the race of faith. Some make bad choices and wander from the truth they have been taught. Others are following parents who have not dedicated themselves to the lifelong race required of people who follow Jesus. Parents who wish to raise dedicated children must first dedicate themselves to being disciples — committed followers of Jesus. Then they can pass on what they know and are learning to their kids—coaching their children.

Dedication comes down to one core issue for parents—living a discipleship lifestyle. A dedicated life involves being a disciple of Jesus and then making disciples of Jesus. But how do you do this? That’s what this eBook is all about. We know it isn’t easy to follow Jesus and teach your children to follow Jesus. We make mistakes. We fail. Our kids inevitably pick up some of our bad habits and sinful patterns. But despite these difficulties, Jesus calls us to follow him, and we must be dedicated to the task of learning from him and then teaching our children how to be dedicated to Christ as well.

Jason Houser is a songwriter, worship leader, and the founder of the Seeds Family Worship ministry. Looking back from here, he never would have imagined that leading worship at his church’s Vacation Bible School in 2002 would mark the beginning of the Seeds ministry. He has seen God’s faithfulness as he has written, recorded and produced over 150 scripture worship songs over the past 15 years. He has been able to work with many gifted artists, worship leaders and songwriters to bring these records to life including Matthew West, Tiffany Lee (Plumb), Jared Anderson (Rescue, Amazed), and Philip & Jessica Morlan.

In addition to his work with Seeds, Jason is a Grammy-nominated songwriter that has co-written recent chart-topping radio singles with Matthew West including “Broken Things” and “All In“.  He and West also co-wrote 2 ASCAP Songs of the Year together “The Motions” and “More” and co-wrote Joy Williams #1 single “Hide”.

Chad Harrington is Chief Storyteller and Founder at Harrington Interactive Media and HIM Publications. He holds degrees from Ozark Christian College and Asbury Theological Seminary. He is a co-author of Dedicated with his dad and Jason Houser. He and his wife, Rachel, live with their daughter, Emma, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Bobby Harrington is the executive director of Discipleship.org. He is the founding and lead pastor of Harpeth Christian Church (by the Harpeth River, just outside of Nashville, TN). He is an experienced church planter, coach of church leaders (through many years of ministry with Stadia and Church Coaching Solutions), and he is the author of several books on discipleship, including DiscipleShift that he co-wrote with Jim Putman and Robert E. Coleman, Dedicated: Training Your Children to Trust and Follow Jesus and Discipleship That Fits: The Five Kinds of Relationships God Uses to Help Us Grow, co-written with Alex Absalom.

Bobby has studied at such places as the University of Calgary, Harding School of Theology, Regent College (in Canada), Asbury Seminary, and Princeton University. He has a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Consulting (under Thom Rainer). He and his lovely wife Cindy have two grown children who trust and follow Jesus.