More about Rick on the Personal Side

As you know when God calls us to do a work, he trains us for that work and often takes us through things that prepare us for the task. Real life is a really great teacher. I do not believe that God authors all of our difficulties. For example James tells us that God does not tempt us with evil. (James 1:13)

However God will teach us and strengthen us while he guides us through whatever comes our way and he will work everything out when we are walking with him. (Romans 8:28)

Having said that, I believe that God has wonderfully (and by his grace) taken me through some big and small storms and through it all he has prepared me to help and encourage and equip other parents and families. Here is the brief story.

• I was raised in a religious home without knowing Jesus as my savior.
• My parents separated when I was six. My Mom (a single mother on social assistance) raised my three siblings and me.
• I stopped listening to anyone at the age of thirteen and became a rebellious worldly teenager.
• My mother married my stepfather when I was thirteen.
• My father had remarried earlier and I have two half brothers and a half sister.
• My mother committed her life to Christ when I was about 17 and started praying for her family.
• I gave my life to Christ and my life was changed forever just before my 19th birthday.
• Shortly after this I married my high school girlfriend when I was 20.
• We had three children.
• When the kids were still quite young, my wife left. (This was the most difficult time of my life.)
• Although the children’s mother saw them, they lived with me full time and I experience what it’s like to be a single parent.
• Even though I was free to remarry, I told God that I was willing to stay single and devote more time to my children and helping other parents.
• God had another plan.
• A friend of mine who also was friends with the owner of eHarmony was insistent that I should give eHarmony a try. Even though I ignored him, he kept it up.
• When others started telling me the same thing I started to wonder. Then when the owner of eHarmony emailed me personally (in response to a request from our mutual friend) and invited me to join, I felt that God was in it.
• Through a wonderful series of Godincidences I met Luba and five months after our first date we were married. (That’s why we endorse E-Harmony on this site.)

Although in the beginning I promised myself that my family would never break apart, I now have a second wife and my children have a stepmother.

These are the personal family details in a nutshell. I have shared this with you to show that I am just a normal guy walking through a bumpy life trusting God. All the while doing my best to parent God’s way, allowing him to strengthen, teach and guide me through all life’s ups and downs.

And through it all, I believe one of the reasons he has taught me (and that I have gone through some of what I have gone through) is so that I could with grace, turn and help, strengthen, encourage and equip others who are facing the same and similar bumps.

My oldest daughter is now married to my awesome son-in-law and my first grandchild is providing me with more life experience to pass on. My second daughter is attending college and my teenage son (my inspiration for my books for boys) is still at home.

Contributing Author @ Christian Parenting Daily

ChristianParentingDaily.com is now hosting Rick Osborne’s “Christian Parenting” Blogs.

Christian Parenting Daily is a website dedicated to giving Christian parents the daily encouragement, support and help that they need. Their goal is to help you reach your goals; a peaceful happy home, strong family relationships and children who grow up loving and serving God.

They do that by providing fresh and engaging new content from trusted Christian authors, by scouring the web and finding awesome content and resources for you and your kids, by giving you Biblical and helpful commentary on our culture and current events (entertainment, news etc.) and by providing you with a supportive community atmosphere where you can be encouraged and help encourage others.

Click here to check out Rick’s latest postings.

The Legend of the Christmas Stocking

THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS STOCKING

Many Christian parents feel torn at Christmas time. Torn between allowing their kids to enjoy all of the colorful cultural fun and gift giving and instilling in them the importance of the real meaning of Christmas day.

The books in this series were designed to give Christian parents the tools they need to strike the balance by digging up the true Christian origin and meaning of some of the more fun and colorful traditions of the season.

Millions of families have successfully used these books, with their fun stories and classic illustrations, to promote both the celebration and meaning of Christmas.

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The Legend of the Christmas Tree

 THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Many Christian parents feel torn at Christmas time. Torn between allowing their kids to enjoy all of the colorful cultural fun and gift giving and instilling in them the importance of the real meaning of Christmas day.

The books in this series were designed to give Christian parents the tools they need to strike the balance by digging up the true Christian origin and meaning of some of the more fun and colorful traditions of the season.

Millions of families have successfully used these books, with their fun stories and classic illustrations, to promote both the celebration and meaning of Christmas.

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What the Bible says about your vote

How should a Christian vote? It seems to me that, with very few exceptions, there are Christians backing each and every political party and asking others to do so along side them. There are Christians who align themselves with an issue or issues instead of a party. They believe that these issues are important to their Faith and therefore more important then their allegiance to a certain politician or political group. The problem here is that Christians seem to differ greatly in their opinions about which issues should be seen as paramount and also on what the stand on these issues should be. To top it all off there are Christians who believe that we shouldn’t get involved in politics at all. In short, Christians are all over the place regarding politics and how we should vote and in many cases are even opposing one another.

Please allow me to humbly throw my hat into the proverbial ring. However, instead of siding with any party or issue I would like to take a look at what God’s Word says about our vote. There are no scriptures that deal directly with government as we know it, democracy, voting etc. but there are teachings about our response to and responsibilities towards governments that can be applied to our vote today.

Let’s take a look at one of the primary New Testament portions of scripture that deals with church and government, 1 Timothy 2:1 - 4.

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1 - 4)

I don’t know about you but for years every time I read these verses or heard them preached the words “that we might live peaceful and quiet lives” always bothered me. Didn’t Jesus tell us that we are not to put the things of this life first but to put God’s Kingdom first? Didn’t he tell us that one of the first things we are to pray about is for his Kingdom and also that his will would be done on Earth? Isn’t it true that pretty much all of the New Testament writers and Jesus himself have called us to be witnesses for the Gospel and to endure persecution for doing so? Didn’t Paul, who wrote the above words to Timothy (and us) teach that we are to FIGHT the good fight, run the race to win the heavenly prize, to boldly share our Faith and also to expect persecution?

Perhaps I was misunderstanding the intent of Paul’s words to Timothy because the Bible does not contradict itself. The problem was that I wasn’t trying to understand Paul’s words in their context.

Please allow me to take the liberty of adding some commentary to Paul’s word’s so that I can get right to my point. Here’s what I now believe Paul to be saying in these verses, my words in parenthesis:

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone (all people everywhere)–(Also) for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (So that we can get on with growing in Christ, sharing the Gospel with everyone, and expanding God’s Kingdom everywhere, as unimpeded by Kings and governments as possible.) This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (And praying for authorities will help us accomplish this.)

When Paul penned these words the church was being persecuted everywhere. Nero was governing Rome and not too long after these words were written Nero put Paul to death. Paul was letting Timothy and the Church, then and now, know that we should pray for the gospel to be spread to everyone everywhere and that we should pray for the governments everywhere because doing so can help us get the job done. The Christians of that day easily understood Paul’s words because they were attempting to follow the Gospel’s mandates and they were being persecuted and stalled at every turn.

Our focus is to be on the spreading of the Gospel not a quiet and peaceful life. We need the governments to not oppose us and perhaps even cooperate with us so that we can use the resulting peace and quiet to get on with our calling.

So how does this relate to politics, democracies and our votes as Christians today? Well in my estimation understanding Paul’s intent in these verses makes it simple. We are to stick with our Kingdom first purpose and pray for governments to not hinder us and perhaps even help us. Since in a democracy we have a say or a vote, our vote should mirror our purpose and prayer. Simply put we should vote for the person, party government etc who (after prayer and consideration) we believe is most likely to not hinder but to promote our God given purpose, to grow as Christians, to spread the Gospel and to expand God’s Kingdom.

Any vote for any other purpose by a Christian, say for the economy, more tax breaks, more money in our pockets is a misguided vote for a peaceful and quiet life for the sake of personal comfort.

It’s recorded six times in the Gospels that Jesus said that those who deny their lives for the sake of the Gospel will find their lives, but that those who put their lives first will lose them. Let your vote count, vote for those who will be more likely to support God’s agenda for this planet.

I appreciate and welcome your comments.

Bedtime Bible

THE BEDTIME BIBLE

This Bible Storybook was specifically designed to help Christian Parents establish their young children in the habit of regular prayer and Bible reading.

In about 12 minutes you can read the captivating story, ask your child the question supplied to stimulate conversation and pray through your regular nightly prayers along with the one supplied.

This is not just another Bible Storybook. It teaches your child what the Bible is and how we should use it. It tells the whole story of God’s Word, focuses on Jesus and their salvation and helps them learn what the Bible says about how we are to live.

Recommended for children under eight years old, best for children ages 3 – 8. Buy Now

2:52 Boys Non-Fiction Series

2:52 BOYS NON-FICTIONS SERIES

This series started with a conundrum. Publishing experts say that boys (on average) don’t read, so books published specifically for them usually fail. Yet parents wanted Christian resources for their boys. The solution? Write and design books that will both interest and feed Christian boys. Break the Bible out into topics that boys are attracted to, illustrate them with lots of pictures that boys will like, and break the content up into bite-sized pieces.

Well we solved the conundrum these books have been selling like cheap umbrellas in an unexpected rainstorm and the letters of thanks have poured in from the parents of boys everywhere.

The books are marked for ages 8 – 12 but boys as young as 5 and as old as 14 have been seen devouring them.

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What Mary & Joseph knew about Parenting

WHAT MARY & JOSEPH KNEW ABOUT PARENTING

God doesn’t waste his words. Everything in the Bible is there for a reason and every phrase is potentially life changing. Every time the Bible tells us about parents and children right there in the story is a Holy Spirit inspired lesson to be learned. I was amazed at how every important lesson that a Christian parent needs to know in order to do their job well is contained in God’s Word. Have you ever wondered which parenting approach is correct; which of the latest parenting gurus should be listened to? You can stop wondering and just find out what God’s Word prescribes. Buy Now

(Audio CD)

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What Rick is currently working on

In addition to writing his weekly blogs at Christian Parenting Daily, Rick is also writing a short ebook entitled “The Seven Mistakes Parents of Toddlers Make”. This ebook will be published shortly and will be made available for free by Christian Parenting Daily to their subscribers. If you would like a free copy, please subscribe at Christian Parenting Daily and you’ll automatically receive your copy when it’s published.

Rick has also begun work on his next full length book ‘Putting The “Sweet” Back In Home Sweet Home.’ This book will focus on family strife issues like sibling rivalry, teenage rebellion, blended families and parental strife. It will walk families through the seven practical and Biblical steps for creating and maintaining a peaceful, loving home and strong growing relationships. Rick’s books have sold close to ten million copies worldwide. The felt need for this book is great and we’re looking forward to the positive impact that it will have on families. If you’d like to be put on our list to be notified when the book is made available, please email us and enter ‘Book List Request’ in the subject line.

Finally, Rick is continuing work on the first ever Sunday School program that will unite church and home in a Biblical partnership for the progressive and intentional spiritual and moral development of children. Stay tuned to this site for more news on the Partnering With Parents program.

Teaching your Child How to Pray

TEACHING YOUR CHILD HOW TO PRAY

What other Christian Leaders have said about this Christian classic says it all.

Teaching Your Child How to Pray is must reading for all parents who are concerned and burdened about the spiritual development of their children (Dr. Tony Evans)

Rick writes and teaches what he lives. I heartily recommend Rick’s resources to every parent. Rick is one of God’s gifts to parents. (Josh D. McDowell)

In a step by step approach, Rick Osborne lays out a plan for working with children that meets their needs from the beginning of their lives, but the plan is just as effective for someone starting the learning process with older children. (Dr. D. James Kennedy)

I’m happy to recommend this book by Rick Osborne, who is able to communicate this message to parents and guide them in teaching their children to pray. (Larry Burkett)

This is not just another boring ‘how to’ book. In Teaching Your Child How to Pray, Rick Osborne makes this important venture challenging and exciting for both parents and their children. (Tim Wildmon)

Rick Osborne has done a masterful job of bringing together important principles and outstanding guidelines in Teaching Your Child How to Pray. Combined with the reader’s prayers, I believe the Lord will greatly use this book to revolutionize and strengthen the spiritual lives of their children, providing them a solid foundation from which, the Lord promises in His Word, they “will not depart”. (Vonette Bright)

This book is not just recommended. According to many it is essential reading for every Christian parent.

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