{"id":307331,"date":"2021-12-17T08:03:09","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T13:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/victorious-families\/"},"modified":"2021-12-17T08:03:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T13:03:09","slug":"victorious-families","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/victorious-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Victorious Families"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We plan for the most important things in life. Have you considered making a plan to nourish your children&#8217;s faith? Terence Chatmon champions parents to lead by example spiritually and mentor and train their children in the faith.<br \/>\nShow Notes and Resources<\/p>\n<p> \tFind resources from this podcast at shop.familylife.com.<br \/>\n \tDownload FamilyLife&#8217;s new app!<br \/>\n \tCheck out all that&#8217;s available on the FamilyLife Podcast Network.<\/p>\n<p>Families have an urgent need for God&#8217;s Word right now. You can help shape stronger families and restore others in crisis right now. Click here to have your gift matched dollar for dollar until midnight on December 31.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We plan for the most important things in life. Have you considered making a plan to nourish your children&#8217;s faith? Terence Chatmon champions parents to lead by example spiritually and mentor and train their children in the faith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/mp3.familylife.com\/fl2021-12-17.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:29:29","filesize":"26.99M","filesize_raw":"28305510","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2806],"tags":[4292,4294,7001],"podcast_series":[8496],"cwp_profile":[8868],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-307331","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-development","tag-children","tag-family","tag-growth","podcast_series-victorious-families","cwp_profile-terence-chatmon","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/307331\/victorious-families","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/307331\/victorious-families","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"fL3z5pjHjU\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/victorious-families\/\">Victorious Families<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/victorious-families\/embed\/#?secret=fL3z5pjHjU\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Victorious Families&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"fL3z5pjHjU\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"We plan for the most important things in life. Have you considered making a plan to nourish your children's faith? Terence Chatmon champions parents to lead by example spiritually and mentor and train their children in the faith.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylife.com\/fl2021-12-17.pdf","transcript_content":"<strong>Dave:<\/strong> When we sit down with a lot of parents, with little kids or even teenagers, we always ask them a question. Most parents have never even thought of this question, and they don\u2019t know how to answer it. Do you know where I\u2019m going?\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> I think you are going to say, \u201cWhat\u2019s your plan?\u201d or \u201cWhat are you trying to raise?\u201d That\u2019s what I heard you saying.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> In other words, so many parents\u2014we talk about this in our <em>No Perfect Parents<\/em> book\u2014have never even asked the question: \u201cWhat is my goal?\u201d\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>, where we want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most. I\u2019m Ann Wilson.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> And I\u2019m Dave Wilson, and you can find us at FamilyLifeToday.com or on our FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> app.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>!\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> \u201cIf I could envision my son or daughter as a man or woman in their 20s, or 30s, or 40s, what kind of man or woman are they?\u201d I think one of the most important things we can do at <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> and FamilyLife is help parents, number one, know what a worthy goal is to shoot for and then have a plan to do it.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Equip them.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> I\u2019m not kidding; we couldn\u2019t have a better person in the studio today to help us do that. Terence Chatmon is back with us, again, to talk about spiritual formation in your family. Terence, welcome back.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Thanks! Good to be back!\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> We\u2019re glad to have you here in Orlando. We\u2019ve already talked with you; I said previously, \u201cYou are a man with a plan,\u201d [Laughter] because what you\u2019ve done with your family. I just want to review\u2014I mean, the fact that your wife challenges you, to say, \u201cHow are we going to develop disciples of our kids?\u201d\u2014you, not only take that challenge,\u2014\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Wait, Dave. She said, \u201cYou better have a plan in two weeks,\u201d\u2014like\u2014\u201cWhat\u2019s our plan? How will they defend their faith as high schoolers and even college students when they are put into this world of everything is going against our faith?\u201d She\u2019s basically saying, \u201cTerence, what is your plan?\u201d\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Did she help you after that? I mean, in those 14 days, did she come back, day two, and say, \u201cDo you need some help?\u201d Or were you on your own to sort of develop this?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Dave, all she did was cook some great meals and took me back to those Sunday dinners to say, \u201cBuddy, you are on your own; I\u2019m praying for you.\u201d [Laughter] I would say the way she helped me was to pray for me, which I need a lot of.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> You guys have been married almost 40 years.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Oh man!\u2014almost 40 years, yes.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> You have three kids; six grandchildren?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> It will be six grandkids when our youngest daughter delivers those twins.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> We talked previously about\u2014\u201cOkay, you developed a goal, mission, values, vision.\u201d Again, you\u2019ve done that with Coca-Cola<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>, Johnson &amp; Johnson<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>\u2014different in your corporate life\u2014but now, the stakes are higher, I think; aren\u2019t they?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> They are.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Now, these are disciples in my own home. You said previously the first thing you did was get on your knees and pray. Take us back there. Then you get off your knees, and what? How did you <em>develop<\/em> this plan that now a hundred thousand families have been trained to go through?\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> \u2014with a ministry that\u2019s called?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> <em>Do Your Children Believe?<\/em>\n\nSo think about this; right? All through the 66 books of the Bible, what is God trying to get us to do? One, He is introducing His Son to us; He is introducing His plan. From the very beginning, He says, \u201cYou are now at enmity with Me because of the fall\u201d; right?\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Right.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u201cSo I am going to be coming; I\u2019m going to bring this whole thing back together, where there is\u201d\u2014what?\u2014\u201cwe have unity again.\u201d What\u2019s the answer to that?\u2014Christ Jesus. He tells us the plan, from the very beginning, that it is all about Christ.\n\nAs I thought about this, coming off of my knees, the vision that I saw was who this Christ was on the cross. I saw on the cross\u2014what?\n<ul>\n \t<li>His pain;<\/li>\n \t<li>I saw His sacrifice;<\/li>\n \t<li>His surrender;<\/li>\n \t<li>His will;<\/li>\n \t<li>but you know what?\u2014His great love for His creation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nI thought, \u201cWhat else would be more the sweeter than to see my kids fall madly in love with this Christ Jesus?\u201d\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> That is what we <em>all long for<\/em> as parents,\u2014\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Isn\u2019t it?\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> \u2014because we know that\u2019s their hope.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Our children can\u2019t believe without that image. As I thought about it, as I rose off my knees and said, \u201cLord, I don\u2019t know how to do this. I want to know how to do this. I think I know how to do this.\u201d\n\nI tell you\u2014if you don\u2019t have a plan for your children, someone else will\u2014so if we are not intentional with a plan\u2014and by the way, we are people of planners; we plan. Can you ever imagine going on a vacation without planning?\u2014just hop in the car: \u201cI\u2019m heading out to wherever, and I\u2019ll see you when I get there\u201d; we <em>never<\/em> do that. So why do we try to raise kids in spiritual formation\/unity in the Spirit without a plan?\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yet, I think so many of us get afraid at that moment; it\u2019s like: \u201cI don\u2019t know where to start,\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know what a plan would look like.\u201d Obviously,\u2014\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> \u201cI don\u2019t know if my kids are interested,\u201d \u201cAm I equipped to do this?\u201d\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> And you\u2019ve said, \u201cStart on your knees.\u201d So then, you get a vision of the cross. Did you spend\/just sit down and say, \u201cOkay, I\u2019m going to write some ideas\/some curriculum; what are we going to go through?\u201d Walk us through that.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Dave and Ann, I\u2019m sitting there; I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, Lord, here I am. Use me in a mighty way.\u201d I\u2019m saying, \u201cGod, I want to see this happen.\u201d\n\nThere are four words that still stick with me today as I\u2019ve developed that plan. Those four words are this:\n<ul>\n \t<li>I need a you that is willing to sacrifice your will for My will.<\/li>\n \t<li>I need a you that is willing to surrender.<\/li>\n \t<li>I need a you that is going to be dependent on Me and not you.<\/li>\n \t<li>Finally, I need a you that is humble: \u201cFor those that humble themselves and seek His face.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThat is what I need to do. It\u2019s not about what I can create, what I can develop, what I can write down based on 20 years of experience in the corporate world. It was really about surrendering, sacrifice, great humility, and dependency on Him. I didn\u2019t like those words. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Well, it\u2019s so funny, too, because that is our <em>natural<\/em> state of like: \u201cOkay, what am <em>I<\/em> going to do?\u201d God is saying, \u201cNo, that\u2019s the wrong question.\u201d The question is: \u201cWhat am <em>I<\/em> going to do <em>through<\/em> you?\u201d That\u2019s what you are saying; it\u2019s a state of surrender.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> That\u2019s exactly it. Here is a freeing thing; I want all parents to understand this, see. Regardless of whether you have a strong spiritual legacy, or maybe a first generation\u2014it doesn\u2019t matter\u2014I want you to understand this for total freedom. You can\u2019t go back and change the beginnings; but what you can do is you can start where you are and change the <em>ending<\/em>.\n\nI had the ending in mind. It\u2019s this vision that one day we will all unite in the heavens. That became the motto: \u201cUnity in the Spirit is our aim.\u201d Now, we would walk here, glorifying Him and enjoying Him forever; but that forever is not only this life but eternity. That\u2019s the purpose of life that we all long for.\n\nIn order to do that, it\u2019s about a relationship. I wanted them to understand what this relationship was all about. It\u2019s not religion; it\u2019s not about what I do. See, I grew up under theology of hell, fire, and brimstone. I thought it was about what I did, so I tried to do the right thing; but guess what? You know how that turned out\u2014not too well; right? I wanted to do the right thing; I just didn\u2019t know how sometimes. But here I am; I\u2019m marching through what I call performance theology. It\u2019s about what I did to earn God\u2019s favor; that\u2019s religion.\n\nI didn\u2019t want to teach my kids religion; I wanted to teach them the relationship with theology\u2014the done theology\u2014so God is sovereign; He is sovereign\u2014the Lord of lords, the King of kings, the love and the grace. I wanted to teach them <em>that<\/em>\u2014that He is sovereign\u2014so that is where we started.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> \u2014which is so great, too, because earlier, we had talked about you started out with sharing your story and your wife\u2019s story of you surrendering your lives to Jesus and what that looked like.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Then you said your kids shared their stories or maybe their lack of knowing Jesus at that point. I think that is a good way to start. So then what happened as you started discipling them?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Yes, we went back\u2014and I really began to kind of say, \u201cLet me put this pen to paper and this vision,\u201d\u2014I cast a vision there after my story and heard her story. I cast a vision.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> What did that sound like?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Unity in the Spirit\u2014that whole thing.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Oh, this is your unity; yes.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> So now I had a plan in terms of framework: \u201cTwice a month, we\u2019re going to sit down, around the dinner table, and we\u2019re just going to have a conversation.\u201d I wanted to build it around those three themes.\n\nThe first year is connection. So we started at the basics: \u201cWhat do we believe?\u201d \u201cWhy do we believe that?\u201d \u201cHow are we going to incorporate that in our life?\u201d\u2014because there is a difference between belief, and behavior, and a commitment. I wanted them to get to conviction\u2014so not just commitment\u2014but: \u201cWhat does conviction look like?\u201d; right?\u2014\u201cWe\u2019re living this out every day, and we <em>love<\/em> it\u201d; okay?\n\nI didn\u2019t want to force any of this on my kids, because they would walk away. It had to be what I call a mutual trust and a mutual vision: a mutual journey together. I began to just lay out: \u201cWhat do I believe?\u201d \u201cWhy do I believe it?\u201d \u201cWhat do I really believe that is really real that I really say I want to live through?\u201d I just remember <em>The Truth Project<\/em> with Dr. Del Tackett and some other people: \u201cDo you really believe what you say you believe is really real?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, what do I really believe?\u201d\n<ul>\n \t<li>I believe He is sovereign.<\/li>\n \t<li>I believe that He loves us.<\/li>\n \t<li>I believe His grace is sufficient.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\u201cHow do I teach that?\u201d I just began to look at verse after verse that He talks about His love, and His grace, and His mercy, and that it endures forever.\n\nWe just began to get our first four\/five years; we said, \u201cListen, every year, we want to be in God\u2019s Word.\u201d We started with the Old Testament actually. We started working through Genesis all the way to Revelation.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> You read it as a family?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> We read it as a family, and we used a Daily Bible; so each day we had readings. It was short readings\u2014typically three to four pages. We started reading God\u2019s Word.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> \u2014at the dinner table?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u2014at the dinner table together. As we talked about it, we talked about: \u201cWhat did you hear?\u201d \u201cWhat does it mean to you?\u201d \u201cHow do you apply it to your life?\u201d \u201cHow do we live this out as a family?\u201d \u201cHow are we doing today? What can we do better?\u201d\n\nThese kids just bought into it; right?\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> They were in high school. How old do you think they were around then?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Yes, middle school to high school.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> It says a lot about you, Terence, and your wife Wanda that they\u2019re open to it; they are interested. It says a lot about their trust in you and their respect in you\u2014that you had built a relationship with them\u2014that they\u2019ve probably already been watching and seeing that in your marriage and your life that this is for real.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> You know, it\u2019s so interesting that you say that; because one of the challenges we had\u2014which some will consider this a good thing\u2014but basically, we were an idol to our kids.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Wow.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> I say that humbly\u2014but we had just\/I mean, we have a terrific marriage, and our kids saw that. They say the way that we loved each other; they saw the way we were available all the time for them, and we support them in anything\u2014but we were becoming an idol as we later discovered\u2014it\u2019s good on one side, but it is not what we wanted to accomplish.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> What would you say to the family, or the mom or dad, who feels like: \u201cI have not been doing anything. Our marriage has been struggling. Am I disqualified to be able to have this kind of discipleship with my kids at this point?\u201d\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> You know, I always say we are always disqualified, but He qualifies us. I want to take those handcuffs off parents who feel inadequate; I want to take the handcuffs off the parents who say, \u201cI don\u2019t know what to do. I don\u2019t even know what the right thing is.\u201d\n\nDo you know what the right thing is?\u2014you call upon Him, and you say, \u201cLord, I am <em>not<\/em> qualified, but <em>You<\/em> are. Equip me where I am short.\u201d Guys, He makes up for the locust years. All of a sudden, those years\u2014that you think you haven\u2019t had very much fruit and maybe you haven\u2019t been as intentional in this process\u2014don\u2019t get trapped there; because He has in front of you years of just blessings.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> What would you say to the spouse, who maybe is listening right now and going, \u201cI\u2019m in; I want to do this\u201d; but their spouse is like not interested?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Oh man, we get that all the time; right?\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Weekends\u2014right?\u2014we have those trainings. Wives are very\/man, they are smart\u2014they bring the husbands; they don\u2019t even know why they are coming half the time\u2014[Laughter]\u2014\u201cHey, come out; we\u2019re coming out to a weekend thing.\u201d \u201cOkay, where are we going?\u201d They end up in the workshop: \u201cOh, I didn\u2019t know I was going to be in a workshop.\u201d But we find it is typically motivated [by women]; but at the end of the day, what we find in our workshops are men just weeping. They are weeping because they know they have not been available or responsible.\n\nAgain, we want parents to realize that they <em>are<\/em> responsible, and they need to be equipped; and He will equip you. Create that home environment that is conducive to kids learning; and every moment is a teachable moment. Look for that moment; right? Create that environment of love. Love your children well and let them know that their home is an environment of love. It is often said that: \u201cIf they see how much you care,\u201d\u2014right?\u2014\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u2014\u201cthey don\u2019t want to know how much you know.\u201d So what?\u2014how much you <em>care<\/em>.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Here is another one. I asked you: \u201cWhat if your spouse isn\u2019t on board?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat if your kids aren\u2019t? What if you are a dad, and you haven\u2019t done this\u2014or a mom\u2014and you say, \u2018Let\u2019s start this,\u2019\u2014and I know you\u2019ve seen this <em>thousands<\/em> of times because you train these families\u2014and your kids are like, \u2018I\u2019m not interested; I don\u2019t want to be a part of this\u2019? What do you say?\u201d\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Give them a thirst of love. It\u2019s almost like I wanted my kids to get involved in sports; because I played sports, coming up; and that was just the way I bonded with my father and so forth. He had us out in the field playing something. Baseball\u2014I loved baseball and all that good stuff\u2014Dad was always available regardless; right? He gave me a thirst to love the game of baseball. He talked to me about history; we were third generation \u201cWhite Sox\u201d fans. I mean, there is a lot of <em>pain<\/em> in the Chicago sports\u2014[Laughter]\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Oh, we know in Detroit.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Well, you know; you have a little of that pain with us; you know? But remember, we had a 100-some years with the Cubs\u2014you know, the Sox, a little bit better\u2014but he gave us a <em>thirst<\/em> to love whatever he introduced to us\u2014right?\u2014in this case, baseball.\n\nWe wanted to give our kids a <em>thirst<\/em> to love God\u2019s Word. We looked at every moment as that teachable moment so that they could see His love and His grace. We started\u2014it\u2019s never too early to start\u2014we started a little later in our life. We had been talking to them about\u2014obviously, they were following the Lord\u2014doing all the disciplines, church and so forth; but in terms of that intimacy, we wanted to start by showing the greatest intimacy of all, which is the love of the Father.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Answer this: \u201cHow important is it for the children to see mom, or dad, or mom and dad living out what they are teaching?\u201d\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Oh, it\u2019s a critical step. I\u2019m sitting there\u2014right?\u2014I doing all this\u2014teaching Bible study\u2014all this stuff; I\u2019m thinking, \u201cHey, I\u2019m killing it,\u201d\u2014right?\u2014\u201cI\u2019m landing it.\u201d\n\nYou know the things that they talked about, years later, in terms of: \u201cDad, I knew you were serious\u2026\u201d; I said, \u201cYes, what is it?\u201d \u201cWe saw you worshipping in church. You <em>never<\/em> worship in church out loud; you just stand there like the frozen chosen at some point. Then we saw you worshipping in church, and we knew you were serious.\u201d\n\nI just think about those days. We think it\u2019s something really sophisticated or some brilliant idea; and the kids are just looking for that basic thing: \u201cMan, that\u2019s real. He\u2019s living it out, and it must be important to him; because now he is being vulnerable.\u201d I\u2019m not one who used to be vulnerable. I used to try to keep things close to vest; you know? Back when I grew up, dads said, \u201cHey, whatever happens in the family <em>stays<\/em> in the family.\u201d We weren\u2019t open. Plus, men, it takes us a year to say our name anyway; we\u2019re not as transparent. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Well, obviously, you\u2019ve trained, you said, over a 100,000 families?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Over 100,000 families.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> What\u2019s your goal? I know you have a goal.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> You know, we\u2019ve got to have a goal; but I\u2019ve tried to stay away from the numbers there. We do have a 9.2 million goal by 2030; but\u2014\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Wait; wait; wait. \u201cWe do have a\u2026\u201d\u2014you gave me a number.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u20149.2 million.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> That\u2019s really a goal?\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> No, it really is; we\u2019re in a position\u2014the Lord has opened doors, despite us, into places we never thought we would be\u2014we just launched into Pakistan,\u2014\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Oh!\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u2014which is the fifth most persecuted country in the world. What 2020 has done\/COVID-19\u00a0 has done, it has just taken us into highways, and bi-ways, and apartment buildings that we could have never even thought about or, certainly, couldn\u2019t visit. I think the bigger picture is the Lord is at work.\n\nBlackaby always said\u2014I\u2019m a Blackaby fan\u2014he says, \u201cListen, you find out where the Lord is working, and you join Him there\u201d; right? That\u2019s our prayer\u2014we don\u2019t try to sail our way into some scenario\u2014we simply say, \u201cLord, where are You working around the family? Invite us into that.\u201d Guess what? I\u2019m finding the Lord is working everywhere,\u2014\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u2014even to the end of the days.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> These people around the world are <em>longing<\/em> to disciple their kids as well.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Oh, they are thirsty. You know, what I am finding is parents\/they are just afraid. If we fear failure, we do <em>nothing<\/em>,\u2014\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u2014especially men.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> If we fear failure, we will do nothing; because we want to\u2014see, everyone wants to be affirmed, regardless of who you are\u2014they want their life to matter. They want to\u2014you need to breathe in affirmation into kids\u2019 lives\u2014that\u2019s what we wanted to do was breathe in affirmation into kids\u2019 lives through the gospel message.\n\nIn order, I believe, for transformation to take place, you must get them into God\u2019s Word. You must get them into the discipline of prayer; that\u2019s a conversation. You have to get them into worship\u2014not just one Sunday\u2014you go 45 minutes. \u201cLet\u2019s talk about that worship service,\u201d\u2014that the pastor spent 20 to 30 hours preparing; right?\u2014and you go to IHOP somewhere and never mention it again to the family. What we want to do is engage our kids at every teachable moment.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> We know\u2014we\u2019re all grandparents sitting in this studio\u2014that the window to impact your kids in your home is closing quickly.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> It\u2019s closing quickly.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> It\u2019s gone before you know it.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Yes; real quick, I want to mention something around that; because those years are critical\u2014between the age of 3 and 13 years of age\u2014Barna has said, \u201cHey, between those ages of 3 and 13, kids are shaping their biblical worldview.\u201d\n\nWith that being said, we really wanted to plant the seed during those formable years. Right now, we are still doing our workshops, every other week, 8 to 9. We\u2019re diving into the year: \u201cCommission.\u201d We are training parents around the world. They can go to VictoriousFamily.org, start with our <em>7-Day Prayer Guide<\/em>. Our process is: \u201cKeep it simple,\u2014\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u2014\u201crepetitive, and consistent.\u201d We keep it simple; we don\u2019t have to create this long thing\u2014but simple, but <em>powerful,<\/em>\u2014\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u2014impactful, and transformational. We\u2019re trying to build a transformational, sustainable generational movement, not a program.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> All I would add to what you said is: \u201cStart today.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u201cStart today.\u201d\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> \u201cDon\u2019t wait until tomorrow. You can change the future right now; and I\u2019m telling you: today is the day. <em>Do not<\/em> wait.\u201d\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> \u201cToday is the day.\u201d\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Thanks, Terence.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> Thanks for being with us and for all you are doing.\n\n<strong>Terence:<\/strong> Well, thank you.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> On our website, at FamilyLifeToday.com, we\u2019ve got a link to Terence Chatmon\u2019s website, VictoriousFamily.com, where you can find the resources he was just mentioning. I think the point is clear: \u201cWhat is a step you can take today\u2014a simple step\u2014in the right direction?\u201d Maybe, it is as easy as opening the Bible at the next family meal and saying, \u201cI just want to read a few verses and just let us think about these,\u201d and starting to make that a practice at meal time. Maybe, it\u2019s something in relation to bedtime or at the start of the day; but these simple repeatable practices are <em>powerful<\/em> in our children\u2019s lives and in shaping our families.\n\nTerence has written a book called <em>Do Your Children Believe?<\/em> It\u2019s a book we\u2019ve got in our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> Resource Center. You can go to FamilyLifeToday.com to find out more, or call 1-800-FL-TODAY if you\u2019d like to order a copy. Again, our website is FamilyLifeToday.com. You can also call 1-800-358-6329 to get a copy of Terence Chatmon\u2019s book, <em>Do Your Children Believe?<\/em> Call 1-800-\u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word, \u201cTODAY.\u201d\n\nYou know, it\u2019s hard to think, but we will be on the edge of the new year in just two weeks. Christmas is next week; New Year\u2019s coming up quickly. We have just a couple of weeks, here at FamilyLife, that are going to be determinative for what happens in 2022. Our mission at FamilyLife is to do all we can do to effectively develop godly marriages and families. We believe godly marriages and families can change the world, one home at a time. We know that many of you resonate with that mission. You support that mission, because we hear from you throughout the year, and particularly here at yearend.\n\nI just have to tell you the donations we receive between now and the New Year will be very significant in shaping what this ministry is able to be and do in the months ahead. So we are asking every <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> listener: \u201cIf God has used this ministry in your life this year\/if you believe in the mission of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>, would you go online or call and make a donation\/a yearend donation?\u201d Two good things will happen. First of all, your donation will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to a total of $1.5 million. We\u2019ve had some friends of the ministry put together a matching-gift fund. They\u2019ve agreed to match every donation that comes in; so if you give $100, we get $100, from the matching-gift fund.\n\nIn addition to your donation being matched, dollar for dollar, we\u2019re going to send you a thank-you gift. It\u2019s a new book from Dane Ortlund, a devotional from the book of Psalms, 150 devotions to help you start the new year with your heart and mind focused on God\u2019s Word. The book is called <em>In the Lord I Take Refuge<\/em>. It\u2019s our thank-you gift when you make a yearend donation, and you can do that today. Go to FamilyLifeToday.com, or call 1-800-FL-TODAY. We look forward to hearing from you; and we hope you\u2019ll pray for us that we are able to take full advantage of this matching gift, here in the next two weeks. Thank you for that.\n\nWe hope you have a great weekend. Hope you and your family are able to worship together in your local church this weekend, and we hope you can join us on Monday when we want you to meet Melissa Ohden. She has a powerful story of growing up, knowing that her mom wanted to abort her. We\u2019ll hear from her how that knowledge marked her life, her identity, and about God\u2019s work in her own heart. I hope you can tune in for all of that.\n\nOn behalf of our hosts, Dave and Ann Wilson, I\u2019m Bob Lepine. We will see you back Monday for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\n<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife; a Cru<sup>\u00ae <\/sup>Ministry.\n\nHelping you pursue the relationships that matter most.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\nCopyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2021 FamilyLife. 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