“Lead Your Family” Blurbs & Reviews
Written by Brian Jennings, Posted in Your Family
Blurbs & Reviews for Lead Your Family, by Brian Jennings
The disintegration of the family continues to be our culture’s greatest challenge. Hope has not come from the University System that undermines our moral values and overwhelms our children with unprecedented debt. Hope has not arisen from our political system even though our current president ran on that premise. Hope certainly hasn’t come from the three-inch screens that enslave us through perpetual connectivity. The only hope for our culture is the family and the only hope for the family is the spiritual leadership of parents committed to biblical principles.
Brian’s book offers practical suggestions to trigger parents to do what they already know they should do and already suspect they are capable of doing. This book is a starter kit with practical suggestions and simple action steps that will prompt further ideas and applications that will recalibrate your family on its spiritual foundations. The exercises you find here are flexible; 
the principles behind them are not. God wants you, and this nation needs you, to take these simple steps for your family.
-Mark Moore, PHD – Author of The Chronological Life of Christ and numerous other works; Teaching Pastor, Christ’s Church of the Valley, Phoenix, Arizona
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Kids are like wet cement. The impressions made on their hearts and minds become indelible, lifelong markings. The parenting years slip by quickly while school, friends, sports, and video games all press in to make their mark on our kids. So what can you do to leave a deep spiritual imprint on your family?
In your hands you’re holding a valuable how-to guide for every parent who wants to help their kids be forever shaped by a deep connection with Jesus. Drawing from his own experiences as a dad, Brian Jennings shares a goldmine of creative ideas that are practical and proven. You can do this! From the breakfast table to bedtime, date night to donut day, these pages will spur you to be the spiritual leader God is calling you to be.
If you don’t want to wake up tomorrow and find yourself wishing you had done more to help your kids know and love God, this book is for you.
-Ben Cachiaras –Sr. Pastor of Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Maryland; Contributing Editor for Christian Standard Magazine
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As parents we are all building a house and every house will face its share of storms. It all comes down to the foundation. But here’s the thing about foundations – they tend to get overlooked. Are you spiritually leading your family, or are you overlooking the foundation?
In Brian’s book Lead Your Family he gives us one building block after another to help us build a strong tower. As I read this book, I found a number of ways to strengthen my leadership at home. You will too. Filled with simple and practical ideas, Lead Your Family will equip you to strengthen the home 
God has entrusted you to build.
-Kyle Idleman – Author of Not a Fan, gods at War and Aha; Teaching Pastor, Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky
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As a parent, it’s hard to find time to read. With kids’ activities, church commitments, homework, etc., the book sitting on my nightstand often sits for much longer than I’d like. I was pleasantly surprised, then, when I opened Brian’s book and saw how short it was. If you’re expecting a full-length parenting book, you’ll be disappointed. BUT, if you’re looking for something quick to read that will provide do-able action steps for your family, this short book is just for you.
Lead Your Family provides 12 practical ideas families can begin incorporating immediately. Some of these activities can be incorporated anytime; others work better during the school year or during the summer. Each chapter contains a new suggestion and can literally be read in less than five minutes.
In chapter 8, Brian said this: “Our schedules manage us, instead of the other way around.” Even though this quote is probably true for many of us today, Lead Your Family will hopefully help us turn this around and begin to manage our schedules in ways that bring honor and glory 
to the One who gave us our children to raise.
-Lindsey Bell – Author of Searching for Sanity; blogger at lindseymbell.com
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Lead Your Family is a must-read for Christian parents who are overwhelmed by the challenge of raising their children in a post-Christian culture and preparing them for the challenges that lie ahead. Brian Jennings has written a thoroughly practical, easy-to-follow guide that provides a framework for engaging our children in habits and conversations that will stimulate their spiritual growth.
What makes Lead Your Family especially helpful is that the book addresses issues that most Christian families in today’s American culture are dealing with on some level. Some of these issues include our children’s involvement in sports and athletics, their insatiable appetite for electronic games and devices, their need for one-on-one time with their parents, and their need for daily reassurance that they are loved and cherished. Each chapter of the book presents specific strategies and ideas that can be adapted to fit a broad range of family circumstances. Single-parent families as well as traditional families with multiple children will each find helpful suggestions that they can use, no matter how frantic the pace of their lives may be.
From a readability standpoint, Lead Your Family is written somewhat like a series of devotionals. The style is informal and conversational. The chapters are short and the book can easily be read in one sitting. This makes it easier to begin right away to implement the book’s ideas and to reflect on Brian’s points. Biblical references are included throughout the book, which helps to facilitate in-depth study of the biblical principles being presented.
As you would expect, prayer and Bible reading are greatly emphasized in Lead Your Family. Whereas virtually all books on Christian parenting stress the importance of prayer and Bible study, what sets this book apart from others is that it provides ideas for getting younger children to invest in these spiritual disciplines, such as allowing them to choose specific parts of the Bible to read and encouraging them to write their own reflections in a personal journal.
On a personal level, Lead Your Family appeals to me because it highlights parenting issues that I’m presently dealing with in my own family, and it gives me some concrete ideas that my wife and I can utilize in our relationship with our daughters.
I highly recommend this book for parents seeking an additional resource to use in guiding their children along the path toward a lifelong relationship with their Creator.
-Gincy Hartin – Associate Minister at First Christian Church, a multiethnic church in South Chicago; blogger at gincyhartin.wordpress.com
Brian Jennings has written a book for families who want simple, practical, and easy to follow suggestions for how to Lead Your Family. The book is primarily for Christian parents who want their family and children to grow in their knowledge and relationship with Jesus.
In my opinion, the concepts and practical applications of this book are perfect for elementary aged kids through high school. From cover to cover, the book is 51 pages. If you’re on-the-go and busy, like any parent, you may not have time to read long-form books and when you do, your focus may be pulled in 100 different ways. That’s why I love the 51 page approach. It’s easy to read. It’s fast paced. The chapters are just a couple of pages each, which makes you feel like you’re making great progress no matter your pace.
Chapter 1 sets the family up for success by encouraging you to make sure the whole family is on board to live with purpose, proactively, not reactionary. He then subdivides the sections of the book into four parts: During the School Year, Summertime, All the Time and Anytime. These are great to help you recognize the needed rhythms in Leading Your Family. One of my favorite chapters is entitled “Slay Electronic Addictions” and I bet you can guess which section that one lands in. I’ll give you a hint… it’s the one with the most down time.
Jennings explains that during the Summertime, in his home, nobody is allowed to look at or give attention to an electronic screen before noon. Wow. Imagine that. I have a three year old and a five year old and the amount of screen time they currently get is a little embarrassing. That’s something we’ll be tackling here very shortly.
The practical implications of Lead Your Family are not high and lofty things. They are simple. They are direct. They cause you to question and rethink your prioritization as a family. This book causes me to rethink or at least question how well I’m teaching my kids. How am I doing? Are they learning to be generous, to treat other people well, to use electronics wisely, to pray, and to study the Bible? These are questions that plague the minds of many parents, but are quickly forgotten in the busyness of parenthood.
The last chapter is perhaps the most under thought on subject for Christian parents because it doesn’t address behavior, which is something we’re all so worried about. It addresses the subject of how to talk to your kids about baptism and making their own decisions on following Jesus and when the timing is appropriate for them to own that decision.
All in all, it’s a quick read with twelve practical ways to improve how you lead your family.
–Micah Foster – Lead Pastor at Two Cities Church, a brand new church in Clovis, California; blogger at micahfoster.net
Lead Your Family will be available June 1st from College Press Publishing, Amazon and iTunes. Interested in buying multiple copies for your church, group or special event, click here.
