‘Courageous’: A Free Movie About Cops and More

If you’re a father who struggles in leading your family, the film ‘Courageous’ would encourage you a lot. Packed with Biblical truths and situations that could happen in real life, it focuses on the generational effect of sin in families and communities.

The story of ‘Courageous’ is about four daddy cops. One denied his responsibility to his child born out of wedlock and one cloaked his drugs smuggling activity through churchy talk. One was wounded by his father’s absence in his life. One led them all to make a commitment to be courageous in serving the Lord Jesus Christ by leading and protecting their families in the right way.

Tests of faith, of friendship and of integrity are the scenes that would make you re-think the way you father your children. You would ponder on the loving grace of God to a community being patrolled by flawed men who were dependent on Him.

‘Courageous’ offers hope to everyone who seeks to appreciate God’s design for families. Using the tagline ‘Honor begins at home,’ the independent film directed by Stephen Kendrick and produced by Provident Pictures stars Alex Kendrick, Kevin Downes, Ken Bevel and Ben Davies. The film was well received by movie goers in its first opening week in the United States. It had a production budget of $2 million and grossed more than $34 million.

CCF Alabang is privileged to have a re-run of this film for FREE on March 23, 2011 at 7:00 PM. This is open to the public. Bring your family and friends! Click here to see CCF Alabang’s map.
View the film's trailer and share it and use devotionals and Bible study guides with its theme. Click here to go to ‘Courageous’’ official website.

Related Links:
Parenting Resources: http://www.crosswalk.com/family/parenting/
Pre-school Parenting Tips: http://ccfalabangnxtgen.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/tips-for-preschool-parents-what-your-preschool-teacher-wishes-you-knew/

Teach Kids to Make Wise Decisions

Look for ways to coach your children to make their own decisions or to think about how decisions should be made. You may even want to encourage cooperative decision-making when a child comes to ask for something.

Cooperative decision-making teaches children valuable skills of negotiation, compromise, communication, and creating alternatives. Mutual honor is demonstrated in the midst of cooperation.

How might you respond to this question: "Mom, will you take me to the store right now?"

Would you say, "No, I'm busy" or "Okay, let's go"? Those might be simple answers to the request but why not turn this into a cooperative learning experience about how we make such decisions.

Try saying, "Why don't you tell me more. I'm working on something right now. Let's work this out together."

Sometimes we make the error of emphasizing parental authority and other times we simply try to please our children. Neither is wrong but we might miss a valuable teaching opportunity.

Problem solving and decision-making become the garden where honor flourishes because children learn that the process is just as important as the end result. You can help children consider the ramifications of a particular decision. You might ask, "How will your brother feel if you do that?" Or, "I'm wondering how your friend feels when you eat a cookie in front of him."

Every problem we solve and decision we make has potential to show honor. Don't just tell kids what to do - ask questions. Sometimes there's nothing actually wrong with our decisions, but can we be more honoring? Great lessons are taught through cooperative decision-making.

For more practical ideas on developing honor in your family consider the book Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes, in You and Your Kids by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.

“Why do you do what’s right?”

It’s fun to ask this question of children. When you ask, “Why do you do what’s right?” the common answer from kids is, “So I don’t get in trouble.” That’s when you can take them to Romans 13:5 which says, “Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.”

Punishment is external. Conscience is internal. So what does that mean for parents?

Good news. God has created inside the heart of your child a piece of standard operating equipment that helps you do your job as a parent. Of course, the conscience isn’t a lot of help until it’s trained. But daily life regularly provides the opportunities to train the conscience.

Look for ways to get kids thinking about the conscience in their own lives. You can do that in part by talking about their motivations for doing what’s right. After all, if they only do what’s right to avoid punishment or to get a reward then they’re missing out on the benefits of the internal prompting of the conscience.

The reality is that maturity and responsibility require that a person do what’s right when no one is watching and when no apparent reward is available. The child just does it because it’s right. Now, children have the key to growing up and being responsible, and that's to do what’s right even without external prompters.

Of course children still need parents to help them know what’s right in any given situation but as parents work along with the God-given equipment in a child’s heart, they transfer the responsibility to the child. That’s great news and something we all look forward to.


This parenting tip comes from the Everyday Parents Can Raise Extraordinary Kids series by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN,BSN.