This week on License to Parent with Trace Embry… Trace Embry and Rich Roszel invite guest Don Whitney, Ph.D. to join them on the program to teach us how to develop family worship.
Don Whitney, Ph.D. obtained his Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; his Doctor of Ministry degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a Ph.D. in theology at the University of the Free State in South Africa. Don is the Professor of Biblical Spirituality and Associate Dean at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. He is the founder and president of The Center for Biblical Spirituality, and he is an author of several books on Christian Spirituality.
Today we discuss Don’s book Family Worship by defining these terms:
- Worship – Focusing on and responding to God. Focus on God and He will reveal Himself to us.
- Family Worship – Couples, families with children in the home, and empty-nesters that worship by reading the Bible, praying and singing together.
- Individual Worship – Personal prayer, praise and singing, and reading God’s Word. This can include keeping a journal by yourself.
- Music as Worship – How music plays a part of completing worship, which can be silently from our hearts and minds. God’s commands from the Bible and in the Psalms encourage us to sing.
- Men as Spiritual Leaders – The responsibility of Spiritual Leadership according to the Bible has been assigned to husbands and fathers.
- How to Begin Family Worship – Appropriate starting place in Scripture – narrative passages like the Gospels that have stories for families with young children. Story Bibles are a great resource. Older children become encouraged when the Leader asks them to join in worship. Long term, short duration worshiping as a family works best.
- Sharing the Worship Leader Role – Share in Bible reading. Pass the Bible around to each member to read a passage. Or, each family member can take turns reading night by night. All family members can also take turns singing and praying. Consistency is the key.
You can find his books and more about Don Whitney, Ph.D. at www.BiblicalSpirituality.org.
