Product Description

Three thousand years ago, a wise man said, "Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Good training is not crisis management; it is what you do before the need of discipline arises.
BR> Most parenting is accidental rather than deliberate. Imagine building a house that way. We don't need to reinvent training. There are child training principles and methods that have worked from antiquity. To neglect deliberate training is to shove your child into a sea of choices and passions without a boat of compass.

This book is not about discipline, nor problem children. The emphasis is on the training of a child before the need to discipline arises. It is apparent that, though they expect obedience, most parents never attempt to train their child to obey. They wait until the behavior becomes unbearable and then explode. With proper training, discipline can be reduced to 5% of what many now practice. As you come to understand the difference between training and discipline, you will have a renewed vision for your family, no more raised voices, no contention, no bad attitudes, fewer spankings, a cheerful atmosphere in the home, and total obedience from your children.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11153 in Books
• Published on: 1994-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 109 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781892112002
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
...after only 2 days of applying the principles in your book, our rebellious, miserable, 8 year-old daughter suddenly transformed... -- No Greater Joy, Sample Ed. 2000, p. 5.

...after only 2 days of applying the principles in your book, our rebellious, miserable, 8 year-old daughter suddenly transformed... -- No Greater Joy, Sample Ed. 2000, p. 5.

I am so thankful to be enjoying my precious children instead of merely trying to "keep up" with my life. -- No Greater Joy, May/June 2000, p.4.

I enjoyed it so much that I ordered 8 more of them to give to each family at Christmas. --No Greater Joy, Sample Copy 1999, p. 8.

I am so thankful to be enjoying my precious children instead of merely trying to "keep up" with my life. -- No Greater Joy, May/June 2000, p.4.

I enjoyed it so much that I ordered 8 more of them to give to each family at Christmas. -- No Greater Joy, Sample Copy 1999, p. 8.

About the Author
Introducing Michael and Debi Pearl

Michael and Debi Pearl have been married since 1971. They have 5 children and 15 grandchildren. Between them they have authored 14 books and 8 booklets which combined have sold millions. Much of what they write deals with marriage, child training, and homeschooling.

One of their recent books, Good and Evil (Bible stories in Marvel comic format), has been published into 25 languages with another 60 translations soon to be ready for press. The Pearl's also publish a 32 page bi-monthly magazine with a subscription of over 100,000. Needless to say they are prolific writers and public speakers.

On another note, Michael is an inductee into the International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame and holds several world titles, including Gold Cup winner of 2008-9, long distance thrower of the year with a record all time high of hitting a four inch target at 63 feet, and he is the undisputed best tomahawk thrower of 2009, holding the world title.

When he is not teaching the Bible or speaking to audiences on how to have a good marriage and obedient children he is teaching kids how to stick a bull's eye with a knife or hawk.

Debi Pearl and husband Michael have 5 children and 15 grandchildren. Between them they have author 14 books and 8 booklets which combined have sold millions. Learn more about them and sign up for the No Greater Joy bi-monthly magazine at NoGreaterJoy.org.

Debi Pearl grew up during the 1960s at the height of the hippie revolution and the Jesus Movement. The forced draft due to the Vietnam War brought a sense of eternity to the youth, provoking them to seriously consider their souls. It was a time of a great move of the Spirit of God. As a teenager, dressed in tie-dye tee shirt and long drooping peasant skirt, she stood on the highways and byways sharing the gospel and seeing miracle after miracle of God's amazing grace. She married her life mate, Michael Pearl, in 1971.

Customer Reviews

Old-fashioned thinking for today's twisted culture.
I've noticed that people tend to get really extreme in their complaints or praise of this book and the Pearls in general. I recently finished this book and I'll try to share my perspective as someone who is not on either extreme of the opinion spectrum.

Issue #1: Are the Pearls faithful to the Bible?

I have a couple thoughts on this. First, I disagree with their over-commitment to the King James Version of the Bible. They are convinced it is the only true translation of the Bible. This is agreed by most Bible scholars to simply not be the case. There are a number of more accurate translations out there currently, and that on top of the fact that King James' language is simply not practical for today's English speakers. I'm not sure why the Pearls are so fanatical in their use of KJV. Second, I think they take things out of context. After all, their ministry is based on an incorrect use of 3 John, verse 4. I'm not sure why they allow themselves to obviously misuse scripture like this. They do this several times throughout the book.

I think the reader is safe to read the book, simply ignoring their use of scripture. The book can stand without their Biblical support. That said, they do have some reasonably good uses of scripture as well. And, even though they are not completely sound in their use of Biblical passages, they are not using them in a harmful way, and they do have a love for God, Jesus, the gospel, and the truth.

So, my point for this issue is: Don't look to this book as a source of Biblical training on raising children. It doesn't stand up as that sort of book, so don't expect it to deliver here.

Issue #2: Do the Pearls have anything useful to teach?

Considering what I said above, if you can look at this book as a practical guide to parenting rather than a Bible-verse-based guide to parenting, you'll find something very refreshing, counter-cultural, and helpful. As I mentioned earlier, I really think the book can stand without many of the scripture references used by the Pearls.

The Pearls trained their own children using tried and true methods of generations past, before "time-outs" were the norm for "disciplining" children.

I must say, to be fair to the Pearls, they never advocate beating children. They write absolutely to the contrary. They emphasize over and over with strong language that it is fundamentally important to do all things with love and gentleness. Don't let the extremist naysayers tell you otherwise. This book advocates controlled, anger-free, loving, and practical use of physical pain to train children. This works with children. Time has proven this across generations and cultures. It worked with me as a child, for which I have no resentment (in fact, I wish I had received MORE spankings). The question is, how do you perform your switching, rodding, or spanking? Is it accompanied by outbursts of anger? Is it done hastily or rashly? Or is it done with clear communication to the child, with understanding, words of wisdom, and complete calm? Is it done with a constant sense of love for the child?

These are two completely different approaches to training children with the sting of pain. Realize, when the Pearls talk about this form of training, it is nothing like beating. It is just enough sting to make the child realize they did something wrong. Just as burning your hand on a hot stove tells you not to perform that action again, so does the sting of a switch tell a child not to perform their wrong action again. The goal is not pain for it's own sake, but gentle and loving correction for the child's own good. This sting is something children understand and respond to.

One day, I was talking to a cousin of mine who has 4 children. His children are the sweetest, best-behaved children I have ever encountered. There is a sense of love and deep community among the whole family. So I asked my cousin for advice on raising good children. It came up that my cousin agreed with and used many principles from this book. He had read it and discovered it to be among the more useful parenting books he'd read. The point of this story is that the principles of this book, whether or not they are based on good Bible verses, is that they WORK. At the end of the day, that's what matters. Do the principles produce godly children? If so, I'll use that method, regardless of where it comes from.

Let me also mention the importance of heart training. This is a central focus of the Pearls' writing. The goal is always training heart attitudes of the child, communicating to them in such a way that they learn to understand what is happening at the depths of their heart, and how it comes out in their actions.

In my years as a parent, I have read several views on best practices. I have carefully observed many families, considering their philosophies, practices, and results. I can tell you that the best families I've seen, with a deep sense of love, godliness, and community, are those who used principles taught by the Pearls. The huge percentage of the time, "time-out" families produce rebellious, wild children who take pride in training their parents.

For this reason, I have to recommend this book highly to anyone who wants to raise godly children. Not because it presents profound biblical insight, but because it teaches the methods that work. Many people have painful experiences of abuse from their past, and so they will react rabidly against anything related to physical punishment. Let me advise you to read extremist reviews with caution. This book is not perfect, but it is far from terrible. It is the best parenting advice I've seen anywhere. It is great for the loving parent who uses it's methods, and it's worked for our family. This is one of those books you have to read before judging. It's very short, so it won't require a whole lot of your time. Pick up a copy.

Let me also state that another book the read side by side with this book is Tedd Tripp's book, "Shepherding a Child's Heart". This book teaches similar principles in terms of heart training. I think families who prefer this approach will find these two books to be a great duo for parenting advice. The best families I've seen prefer and recommend these books.

To Train Up A Child
THIS IS A DISGUSTING BOOK!!!!! ANYONE who treats a child like this should be HORSE WHIPPED! I CAN NOT believe AMAZON will sell this book.
Maybe I should thing twice about buying things from a site that would carry such filth

To give you an idea of the type of people these are when asked if a women should divorce a child molesting husband, one that molested their own kids, they said NO.. NO!!!! What do you mean NO. They said send him to jail and when his term was up WELCOME him with open arms. WHAT!!! These are REALLY sick people


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What a Horrible way to treat Children
To recommend or implement whipping a child for any reason is barbaric! The only thing a child learns from this type of abuse is that violence will resolve problems. Not only is physical violence detremental to a childs self worth but will encourage that kind of response from the child when put into certain situations.A child should find love and comfort at home, it is a sactuary. Everyone deserves a place they feel safe.