Experiencing God at Home

Experiencing God at Home takes a fresh path back into the rich roots of Henry Blackaby’s world-renowned Experiencing God writings to connect what happens in our homes to what happens in our churches.

Here, his sons Tom and Richard Blackaby first establish the biblical case for the idea of experiencing God at home, illuminating how the clear foundation for God’s work in nations and churches around the world is his work in families.

Indeed, healthy families lead to healthy churches, and the Blackabys illustrate that through real-life stories of families that have found ways to experience God in marriage, in choosing life’s direction, in rescuing broken relationships, in forgiveness, in the salvation of loved ones, etc.

Lessons from the Bible support these moving accounts, and the book concludes with resources that will guide individuals families as well as entire churches toward practically experiencing God at home. (publisher's description)

I received this book from Shelton Interactive at no charge to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is part of the Experiencing God series that is written for specific target audiences. Using the same 7 principles familiar to those who have read the original book by Henry Blackaby, his sons now speak to parents on how to use those principles to raise children in homes that honor God and are God-centered. Briefly, the 7 steps they cover are God is always at work around you, God pursues a love relationship with you, God invites you to become involved with Him in His work, God speaks by the Holy Spirit, God's invitation leads to a crisis of belief, you must make adjustments, and you come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.

Filled with a lot of anecdotal stories of personal experiences and examples from the Bible, the emphasis is on the importance of a parent's involvement in a child's life. Listening to your offspring and taking time to answer is vital from an early age so the pattern is already established as your child grows older and has more important decisions to make. I especially liked the 'Questions for Reflection/Discussion' at the end of the chapters. These make this book useful for personal use, but also beneficial for small group study. I think this is a great book for anybody who is raising a family. Mine are grown, but I still got something out of the book. Even if you don't have children or grandchildren, there may be young people in your life that you do have influence with and who come to you for advice.

Tom Blackaby is director of International Ministries for Blackaby Ministries International and the former senior pastor of North Sea Baptist Church in Stavanger, Norway. He co-authored The Man God Uses with his father, Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God). Tom and his wife have three children.

Richard Blackaby is president of Blackaby Ministries International. A noted writer and speaker, he co-authored the revision of Experiencing God with his father Henry Blackaby. Richard and his wife have three children.