Children in the heart of God

CHILDREN IN THE HEART OF GOD
By Dave Gidney
Children's Ministry. 250 pages. £9.99
ISBN 1 84291 047 7

This accessible book is aimed at those seeking to reach children for God, and in clear, well-argued chapters about original sin and covenant theology establishes that children need salvation.

However, its primary focus is on how children were brought up in Old Testament society where the family provided the teaching environment, and every religious practice pointed towards God and nurtured a child's growing faith and understanding.

The final section briefly examines some modern psychological theories about the stages children go through in arriving at a mature adult faith. It draws interesting parallels between these theories and Jewish practice in Old Testament times and seeks to apply this to Christian family life and children's work in today's church.

It broadly succeeds in its aim of critiquing children's work in the church today in the light of Old Testament teaching. There are other 'parenting' books that major on Old Testament ways of children learning faith from the example as well as the teaching from their parents. However, this book's strong emphasis on both practical application and biblical reflection on modern 'faith development' theories would make it useful for those involved in children's work.

Harriet Strain,
minister's wife, St. Albans,
mother of four children, part-time GP

© Evangelicals Now - May 2003
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Main Articles

• Faith on the front line
  Other stories about the war in Iraq
• Society figures?
  Some of the implications from the recent Census results
• The changing face of Christian engagement with Muslims
• WWII and Iraq
• The jogger and the gospel posters
• Real wisdom for dads
  A look at Judges 13
• Empire and Spurgeon
  Defending the preacher's honour
• The reality of wrath
  Towards a true understanding of God and the gospel
• Monthly column on the arts
  A brave new digital world
• Monthly column for youth leaders
  Tribalism
• Monthly column on student work
  With the National Union of Students
• Monthly column on hymns and songs
  The Lord's day

Other articles

• Walking with Cavemen
• The Pianist
• Forgiving Hitler - The Kathy Diosy story - first part
• The Guide to Revolutionary Forgiveness
• Access:d - Live worship in the key of D
• Children in the heart of God
• Anxious Christians - Psychological problems and Christian faith
• The only hope: Jesus yesterday, today, forever
• Worship in the melting pot
• Ministering like the Master - Three messages for today's preachers
• The 'What would Jesus eat?' Cookbook
• Bringing home the prodigals
• The next Christendom
• Mining for wisdom
• Walking with God
• A first class mob - Children in revival: 300 years of God's work in Scotland
• If I were God, I'd end all the PAIN - Struggling with evil, suffering and faith
• The art of preaching Old Testament narrative
• Deconstructing the Dutch Utopia - Sex education and teenage pregnancy in the Netherlands
• Leading a local church in the age of the Spirit
• A man's influence