Gems from "Raising Giant Killers" by Bill Johnson

I'll start by saying I just love Bethel Church and have tremendous respect for Bill Johnson. I'm always excited to soak up new material that comes from Redding, be it worship music, teachings or books. When I learned of Bill Johnson's release "Raising Giant Killers" my response was no different.
 
Anyone in this parenting gig knows that we need all the wisdom we can get, and also that there’s no shortage of advice for parents to wade through. Yet, no one in the trenches actually has time to sift through any of it. So if you’re ambitious enough to pick up a book on the spiritual nature of parenting, pick up this one.

The book is packed with wisdom, delivered in an envelope of grandfatherly love. One of my favorite wisdom gems I've gleaned from this book is to train children to respond to what you say, not your reaction. In my house, I'm constantly telling my kids to pick up their toys. But they rarely respond to the first time I ask. Instead, I have to raise my volume and threaten timeout before the floor becomes clean because they're a custom to responding to my frustration- not my request. By shifting my own behavior, we’ve been able to start to break that pattern.
 
This goes hand in hand with another piece of advice Bill Johnson gives- to respond to our children and not react. Though it's easier said than done, taking a moment to gather thoughts and emotions before forming a response rather than reacting can help build an extraordinary bridge of trust and communications within our walls. 
 
Lastly, you'll all be quite amused to learn that Bill Johnson gave his children ice cream every day after church if they worshiped during the service. Now some might feel like this is bribery- but Bill points to Hebrews 11:6, "God rewards those who seek him…" I’m notoriously stingy on rewards. Just ask my kids… but this notion really did shift my perspective. If we want our children to follow God and seek a relationship with Him on their own, then it’s wise to instill God’s goodness and generousness into their young hearts.  
 
It’s worth noting that Johnson does reference spanking as a form of disciple his family used. That’s not our families personal view, but I didn’t feel that the topic was addressed in a negative way and thought the overall advice on disciple could be used and adapted to your families personal policies.  
 
With everything being said, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading Raising Giant Killers. It’s a book I know I’ll continue to reference for years to come. I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

*please note that this was not a sponsored review- I picked this book up on my own :)