1. Year of the Family

2. “Raise Them to be Eagles Not Prairie Chickens !”
Matthew 20:20-28

3. Prairie chicken found an egg. She cared for this egg until it hatched
Prairie chicken found an egg. She cared for this egg until it hatched. Out came a baby eagle. Eaglets and momma prairie chickens are not known for their self-reflecting capacity; so, neither understood the eagle was an eagle and not a prairie chicken. The eaglet, therefore, was raised as a prairie chicken…

4. In the Bible, there is a mother who is more than determined to raise her two sons as eagles. Normally, this mother receives our disdain because of the chutzpa she demonstrated. She is the wife of Zebedee…

5. Purpose:
to better understand how serious a matter of encouraging kids really is

6. Certainly there is the danger of spoiling a child with a delusionary view. This takes place in a home that takes its cues from the world, gives no discipline and the kids are told only how wonderful they are, not where they need to improve…

7. I Encourage Love Without Strings
A. Words of LOVE

8. Eros (erws) Phileo (filew)
Refers to sexual desires… where we get our word erotic…
Phileo (filew)
Brotherly love or friendship… where we get our word philadelphia…

9. I Encourage Love Without Strings
A. Words of LOVE
B. New Word for LOVE

10. Eros (erws) Phileo (filew) Agape (agaph)
Refers to sexual desires… where we get our word erotic…
Phileo (filew)
Brotherly love or friendship… where we get our word philadelphia…
Agape (agaph)
Unconditional love… love without strings attached… a free/decisive act of the will…

11. II Encourage Awareness of Personality/Gifts
A. Personalities Are Given

12. “When God made Abraham Lincoln he threw away the mold.”

13. II Encourage Awareness of Personality/Gifts
A. Personalities Are Given
B. Gifts Are Also Given

14. Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

15. II Encourage Awareness of Personality/Gifts
A. Personalities Are Given
B. Gifts Are Also Given
C. Healthy Self-Esteem

16. Professor Diane Ravitch
“Our students tend to have more self-esteem than is apparently warranted.”
Professor Diane Ravitch

17. Professor Walter Williams
“While American students trail their counterparts in other countries in just about every academic area, they have the highest levels of self-esteem and feel good about their educational achievements. That’s sad. They’re fools and don’t know it.”
Professor Walter Williams

18. “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth.”
Ephesians 4:29
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth.”

19. Romans 5:8
“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us…”

20. …Douglas writes his dad was distant, cold and rarely spoke anything to him that was not stern and threatening… But then, his dad made his way to young Kirk and asked his son if he would like to go and get an ice cream cone…

21. Summary and Conclusion:
We must encourage our kids to distinguish between achievement, eternal appearances, and being servants of God…

22. Abraham Lincoln was not detoured in anyway by his lanky, gawky physique. Winston Churchill wasn’t discouraged by his pudgy, awkward, balding appearance. Both of these men experienced horrendous political failures causing critics to write their professional obituaries. But it was after Lincoln and

23. Churchill had been consigned to the political graveyard that they became two of modern history’s greatest leaders. Do you think God had anything to do with that? Do you think God fearing parents were a part of that plan?