Will They Stand: Parenting Kids to Face the Giants

by Ken Ham

A "Must Read" For Today's Christian Parent! Our children are facing cultural "giants" that previous generations could never have imagined. Secularism, depravity, immorality, and apathy taunt Christians with a barrage of hate and intolerance. Will our children be equipped to stand strong against these giants or will they be overcome? That is the question Christian parents are asking. In this book, Ken Ham gives us a powerful message about the importance of raising strong believers who can stand in the face of a world that will challenge, disparage, and seek to eliminate their faith. He also helps prepare parents to equip the next generation to thrive in the face of cultural adversity and emerge as tomorrow's Christian leaders.

Genres: Parenting, Christian, Nonfiction, Faith, Christian Living

312 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2020

About the author

Dr. Ken Ham is the president of Answers in Genesis USA and is a well-known speaker and author on the subject of Young-Earth Creationism. He received a bachelor degree in applied science (emphasis on environmental biology) from the Queensland Institute of Technology, and a Diploma of Education from the University of Queensland. He has also received two honorary doctorates: a Doctor of Divinity from Temple Baptist College, and a Doctor of Literature from Baptist Liberty University.

He was a director of Creation Science Foundation (CSF) in Australia, an organization which he jointly founded with John Mackay. In 1987 he moved to the United States, still maintaining his links with CSF.

From 1987 to 1993, Ham worked for the Institute for Creation Research, and in 1994 set up what in 1995 became Answers in Genesis (AiG), a creation ministry dedicated to "upholding the authority of the Bible from the very first verse."

In 2008 Ham was described by well known atheist and evolutionary biologist PZ Myers as a "Wackaloon" for carrying out a prayer session with members of the Pentagon. Ham responded regarding the validity of that prayer breakfastand that PZ Myers and other critics were intolerant of his position.

Reviews

[Susan Abbett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting. A good biography of the Ham family with some good ideas about child-raising. Was hoping for more practical approaches.

[Hailey Kerlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

REALLY really good — great perspective and advice for parents on (home)schooling.

[Jennifer Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Ken and all he stands for and I really enjoyed reading this book but I didn't find it to be much different than the hundreds of other parenting books I've read. The message is timeless and important, we must take responsibility for our children's worldview and not just entrust them to the youth group or Christian school. Good challenges and of course great insight on creation and the flood.

[Bradfor Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

If you are looking for a great book that has biblical teachings about parenting then this is it. I first encountered Ken Ham on YouTube and become interested in a book he wrote about his brother titled: Divine Dilemma. It was excellent and it helped me to understand sin and the world. “Will They Stand” is no exception, it helped me to better understand my role as a parent and what the Bible has to say about it. Ken writes in a way that is easy to understand and uses many of his own personal experiences to teach. Ken takes you through the scriptures and uses God’s words to explain why being a parent is a blessing and why we must as parents prepare our children for the world they are going to enter.

Thank you Mr. Ham for another great book and for all that you do. I hope to visit the Answers in Genesis museum in Kentucky soon. May the lord continue to bless you and your wonderful family.

~Brad~

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot of idea and good information in the book but no time spent on how to implement. I also disagree with some of the theology.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fascinating read, and the reason for my 3 stars is as follows:

1. The idea of leaving a "legacy" is not a bad idea necessarily. We should strive to impact our kids and future generations and raise them in a way that is biblically grounded where our influence is recognized after we are dead and gone. It felt like this book like many other Christian self-help books is rooted in encouraging fear in the readers to pursue God and the Bible in order to avoid hell aka "fear-mongering". Let's just pursue God and the Bible so that we may know him and experience an amazing loving relationship with him, why make it selfish about incentives "going to heaven" or scaring people into it?

2. Young earth creationism agenda is pushed HEAVILY in this book, and is not at all sensitive to any other creationism ideologies and blatantly states that "So to believe in millions of years is a gospel issue. This belief is ultimately impugns and the character of the Creator and Savior and undermines the foundation of the soul-saving gospel". This is an incredibly bold statement and one that I don't consider to be loving at all. Punished by certainty. There is plenty of places in the bible that don't actually mean a literal interpretation, but a metaphorical or symbol. To state this is to claim that God didn't put effort into his creation, and did not make us intelligent enough to discern for ourselves.

3. Church statistics for Millenials and Generation Z are provided throughout as if getting people involved in the Church was the mission and vision of Jesus (not to live radically different; obviously we should have community with other believers, but church attendance is missing the mark or idea).

4. I very much appreciate the large emphasis on taking responsibility and the conservative approach, however, we cannot ignore the suffering of people that end up in incredibly challenging circumstances, and no effort was expressed to the reader to take hold and help these people as we should, but rather, a view of pursuing God and being separated from them to make sure we are "salty". Everyone is on the earth and in the world together, we are not supposed to live in separation. Yes be raised grounded in the faith, but be diligent.

5. Lastly, the young earth creationism agenda was pushed heavily and this very much saturated the reading. I would like to see the author entertain more ideas besides moral relativism, secularism, or humanism, as the system theory proves he is very closed-minded based on his parent's and more specifically father's upbringing.

However, there appeared to be a great mindset of utilizing the bible and implementing this mindset to help raise your children, this I very much appreciated. There maybe weren't many practical ideas.

It definitely is worth a read though if you're considering it. I hope this wasn't too negative. I did find value in this work.

[Becky Kilcullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate to be able to review Will They Stand as part of the Ken Ham Morning Basket from Masterbooks. This morning basket contains the books Creation to Babel and Will They Stand both authored by Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis. I was given these books for free in return for my honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The reading schedule for the books is generously offered for free download through the Masterbooks website. The study for the books is broken down in 4 9-week quarters (36 weeks of total study). Each week starts with the parent reading approximately 10 pages of Will They Stand as a personal study. After the completion of each chapter, there are journal prompts, available at then end of the reading schedule document, to encourage deeper internal reflection on the information read. The remaining 4 days of the week are for family reading of Creation to Babel. Each day has the parent reading about 1-2 pages aloud to the family, leaving plenty of time for guided discussion by the parent, answering questions, or other parts of the family morning basket.

Will They Stand is a wonderfully engaging book about how we should be raising our children utilizing biblical principles to prepare them spiritually to live and thrive in a world that is becoming increasingly wicked. Ken Ham offers many personal anecdotes to illustrate his points giving this book the feeling that he is sitting on your couch having a candid conversation about parenting. I was left with some strong convictions about ensuring my child, and any future children/grandchildren, will have a strong biblical understanding about how God wants us to live and His expectations for us as a population. It cemented my convictions of ensuring that the next generation is clear about their Christian faith, thus ensuring that future generations are able to live in a world that has strong Christian values. This war on the wickedness of society starts at home, and Ken Ham's book has the ability to show you how important the family unit is and give you a practical approach to looking more deeply into scripture for guidance.

While I read this book as part of the morning basket, it can be read as a stand alone book for deeper reflection on the need for Godly parenting. I highly recommend this book for all Christian parents.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for a step-by-step parenting book, this is not it. If you are looking for a book to challenge and encourage you to parent with a Christian worldview, this is a must-read!

"In our Western culture, we no longer live in 'merely' an ungodly world -- we are living in an anti-God world."

Ken Ham brings forth hard thoughts as you go through this book. He talks about legacy. About creationism. He talks about how the world is not neutral - it truly is anti-God. He walks you through the Bible and shows how God created marriage and family - how family is the "backbone of a nation." He discusses the result of the brokenness of the family system, the lack of embracing God's roles for husband and wife (father and mother), and what has resulted. Ham challenges your thinking on education.

This book will challenge you to make the Word of God the foundation of your life.

As heavy as the topics are that Ham covers, this book leaves you with a breath of fresh air. It is an easy read, written for every parent out there, with simple calls to action. He doesn't sugarcoat any subject covered, but still leaves you feeling encouraged as you raise your children in today's world. I would highly recommend this book as a must-read for every parent.

I received a free copy of the digital format of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

[Sanna Ditolla · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there was 4.5 stars that’s what I would give this book. I loved reading Ham’s story. It’s a very easy read and convicting. I assumed there would be more action items listed and I’m still deciding on the age of the earth although I do lean heavily toward young earth creation like Ham does and these two things is in part for not giving 5 stars.

He does a great job providing scripture and I enjoyed the 7 C’s of History at the end of the book that I will be reading to my boys.

I wholeheartedly agree what he notes on page 62:
“In 2014, an atheist speaking in Australia stated.
‘Change is always one generation away. So if we can plant the seeds of doubt in our children, religion will go away in a generation, or at least largely go away - and that's what I think we have an obligation to do.’

Atheists are out to capture the hearts and minds of your children. And sadly, they are being very successful with the majority of children.”

If you are a biblical Christian and have not figured this out I urge you to do your research and read this book.

[Becky Filipek · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book was a good reminder that teaching my children the Word of God is more important than anything else. I know I need to up my game in our homeschool, and quit worrying more about the academic subjects than the Bible. I also enjoyed the biographical stories from the Ham family.

I downgraded my star rating for this book because some of the cited research about teenagers and the Church is from 20 years ago, when I was a teen. We Millennials are turning 40 now. The youngest of our generation are 21-23 (depending on the year chosen for the end of Gen Y), so no longer even the age of a typical college student. Gen Z was mentioned a lot in this book, but much of the quoted research was from 2000-2005. I know this book was a rewrite and republish effort, especially based on the research not being fully updated, so they should have put more effort into updating and correcting.

[Emma Schreiber · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and a half stars.
Honestly, I don’t disagree with most of what Mr Ham said. I think he used far too many words to make his point. And I felt like he bashed secular schools needlessly, as well as parents who send their students there.
That being said, I do firmly believe and agree with Mr Ham that parents are the primary educators of their children, especially the spiritual influence. We have taken the easy route too often and let someone else take over that role. I want to stand in the gap for my children and raise them up to follow the Lord and His teachings. I will not allow someone else to teach them this.
I do homeschool and part of the reason is so that we as the parents know what our children are learning. This is best done at home I believe.
It was a decent, albeit long, read. I would recommend to someone seeking advice on education.

[Wendy Reillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is essential for parents that want to raise their children in the faith, with all of the noise that we are dealing with in today’s society our children are at risk to depart from the faith at a higher chance than generations past. This book gives eye opening statistics of where our children’s faith is headed if we are not careful and equip them properly to deal with current situations that were not common a few years ago. I truly enjoyed this book and recommended it to all Christian parents and future parents that are seeking to prepare their children to face the world when they leave the nest and even before.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a call to teach our children God's Word, so they can pass it on. Otherwise, God's Word, the knowledge of God will be lost. Children need to know how to recognize good vs. evil.
The author doesn't mince words, and uses data to make his points. Everyone who cares about children, about families, and sees the obvious lowering of stands to blend in with the world about us, needs to read this book. The illustrations seemed bland, so I did not give this book 5 stars. The content, however, is excellent and challenging.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a book that all Christian parents should read! It’s the reminder that we need to be proactive and be active in the teaching of our children, no matter the form of education. Parents cannot just sit back while schools and church educate. It is ultimately the parents responsibility to build a Biblical foundation and teach their children the Word of God and a Biblical worldview! “Parents who are engaged and proactive are highly important.” Continue to stand firm!

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Will you lead your family into a legacy of truth, life, and freedom, based on the word of God? Or will you lead your family into a legacy of relativism, bondage, and death? "

"How dare we, fallible humans, take our fallible ideas to God's word and reinterpret it!"

Ken Ham doesn't play around. He cuts straight to the heart of the issue we are facing today. I enjoyed this book - a convicting read, and a beautiful tribute to his parents and the legacy they left behind.

[Chantel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent read but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. It read more of an organized by topic autobiography and inspiring memoir than a book helping parents who want to raise tiny apologists. Lots of fantastic pointers but I’d have loved more concrete examples rather than legacy stories. Still highly recommend the read.

[Melissa Clement · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really refreshing. Christianity has become so wishy-washy and this book reminds us that it cannot be that way. Do you want to raise Christian children that will be able to stand up against the pressure of society. This book is a great starting point!

[Nathan Hensler · Rating 4 out of 5]

When he talked about parenting, it was very useful and insightful, but if I wanted to read about his ministry, which I am in full support of, I would've picked up a book on that. Good read, but pick out the chapters that apply

[Sydney Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a lot of personal/biographical background that may slow things down for some readers, and I wish there was more detail on how exactly they implemented some of their decisions as parents, but the practical points get this book 5 stars.

[Melanie Pell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really what I was expecting. This was along the lines of autobiography. I didn't come away with anything new or any helpful ideas to implement as a parent, only a little extra info about Mr. Ham's family. (Which seems to be a great family! Just not the book I was expecting)

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provided examples and ideas of how to raise your children on the foundation of God's word, the Bible. It was full of good reminders and reasons for the need to teach our children's the truth of God.

[Judy Constance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything Ken Ham writes is incredible and this is no exception. I really enjoyed his sharing more of his personal story and getting a peek into his family.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who have read Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World, this is basically an updated version with a few extra chapters thrown in. Still a good refresher.

[Bev Kimmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ken Ham knows what he believes and articulates it well. I appreciated the stories he tells regarding his father and the impact that had in his life.

[Kristen D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent testimony and reminders for parenting biblically.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great reminder of how important it is to teach (and live) a Biblical worldview. I enjoyed reading it with its autobiographical background.

[Sue Ellen Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good content, but not at much about how to parent, but about Christian worldview.

[Rebecca McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read with lots of Scripture to back up his thoughts.

“Remember, regardless of the past, the future is your responsibility.”

[Faith Wiechers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this book had more applicable examples of the advice Hamm gives. A few chapters made me very uneasy, however they did not go against scripture. Now I’m left mulling over why I felt convicted.