The Butler Family

Change of Parenting Style

Our parenting (and our understanding of how Jesus made disciples) has been deeply impacted by Jeff Schadt’s important research into why teen/parent relationships break down to result in 70% of Christian youth leaving their parents’ faith.

We first encountered Jeff through a recording of his conference Crossing Thin Ice: The Secrets of Influential Parenting. I have since spoken with Jeff at length by phone, and am eager to see his insights in wider circulation.

In coming weeks I expect to distill and report on the variety of insights that have impacted us, but here are some initial observations:

In contrast with common Christian parenting styles, and with other world religions, Jesus

• didn’t manage the disciples behavior through rewards and punishments,
• didn’t work to guard the disciples from failures and temptations,
• didn’t institute rules and disciplines to direct their growth, and
• didn’t dwell on their failures.

Instead, Jesus

• imparted a vision for what God could do through them,
• trained them to rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance and empowering,
• gave them just one command: “Love one another,” and
• trusted them, with the Holy Spirit’s coaching, to accomplish great things.

We appreciate your prayers as we adapt our approach to parenting, and our involvement in making disciples, in response to these and related insights.

For additional analysis of Jeff’s insights, see Strategic Youth Mobilization in our ministry site.

Selling our Home

Last year we felt led to put our house on the market, even though we weren’t sure which of several good options we would take as our next residence. Please continue to pray for the right buyer at the right time, and for clear guidance regarding our next ministry base.

Replacing our Van

Last year our 2000 van seemed unreliable enough that we began saving and preparing for a replacement as it passed 200,000 miles. The van now has 210,000 miles on it, and we are hoping that the most recent round of repairs will get us to our board meeting in CA in August, and back!

Please pray for clear guidance regarding when to replace this vehicle, and for God’s blessing on the van until then.

Thanks!