Skip to main content

Glimpses of Christ’s Glory

By Christian Living, Family Discipleship, Leadership, Podcast
Do you feel stuck in your spiritual walk? Are you an older Christian who opens his Bible and thinks, "I've heard this before?" Do you worry that you are coasting in your Christian life? In this episode, we will look at the key to finishing strong, which is pressing more into the glory of Christ. We will learn Jesus is the focal point of God's glory, and we are to sense that glory increasingly. This is the second episode in a three-part series on glory. ----- We want to help you raise strong disciples of Jesus Christ, who can stand...
Read More

Words That Last Forever: The Importance of Scripture in Today’s World

By Christian Living, Discerning Culture, Family Discipleship, Scripture & Scripture Lists

In 1949, George Orwell wrote 1984 as dystopian novel in which books are banned.  Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1931 as a dystopian novel in which books don’t have to be banned. They are ignored by people. As many have noted, we are living in Huxley’s world. Between the Internet, our phones, and our conversations, who knows how many words a person encounters in a day? Yet, how many are the word of God? We don’t have to ban the Bible because it’s getting drowned out. The following list might encourage you with the gift you have in your hands. Read, meditate on, memorize, and…

Read More

Leading Well in the Storms

By Family Discipleship, Leadership, Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Early Years, Parenting: Teens and Beyond

The following is a rough excerpt from a resource I am working on. In this chapter, I argue that “managing our household well” does not mean we will have no problems. It does not mean we have to appear as we have it together all the time. But it does mean that when the storms come, we will handle them in a godly manner. Understanding the storms will come, how does a leader respond in a godly manner? I would suggest there are at least three steps in the cycle. First, we seek to prevent problems. Rather than having a reactive leadership, a wise father…

Read More

Glimpses of God’s Glory

By Christian Living, Family Discipleship, Leadership, Podcast
Have you ever wondered what the word "glory" means? As Christians, we throw that word around a lot, but we don't actually know what it means. In this three-part series, we will cover the topic of glory. In this first podcast, Glimpses of God's Glory, you can listen in on a short topical sermon as I take us through four different uses of the word. ----- We want to help you raise strong disciples of Jesus Christ, who can stand strong in today's culture, and you can get the audiobook of the Disciple Making Parent absolutely free. Simply visit: http://www.thedisciplemakingparent.com/freeaudiobook/...
Read More

When You and Your Spouse Don’t Agree

By Family Discipleship, Marriage, Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Early Years, Parenting: Teens and Beyond

What if my spouse and I disagree on child-rearing decisions or philosophy? The classic conflicts that newlyweds face–where to squeeze the toothpaste, which way the toilet paper rolls–have their equally classic counterparts in parenting: What activities do we choose and how many? Can the kids play before their chores are done? Do the kids even have chores? What’s the response to someone not finishing what’s on her plate?” Disagreement in child-rearing can be a common occurrence. After all, two well-intentioned Christian parents will have different approaches to child-rearing, child discipline, and the individual decisions we each have to make for our children. The…

Read More

Hospitality: A New Testament Value and Duty

By Christian Living, Church Life, Family Discipleship

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. Acts 2:42, 46, 47 Practice hospitality. Romans 12:13 Now the overseer must be…hospitable. 1 Timothy 3:2 There is something mystically bonding when true hospitality occurs. The more a church becomes building oriented, the more this spiritual activity will atrophy. In a healthy church, hospitality and table fellowship are occurring in families and across families. There is nothing…

Read More

How Children’s Directors and Teachers Can Help Parents

By Church Life, Family Discipleship, Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Early Years, Parenting: Teens and Beyond

What can I do as a children’s director or teacher to help parents disciple their children? I have been asked this question or a variation of it many times. A children’s director or children’s teacher loves working with kids. However, he or she knows the biggest influence happens in the home. So even as he or she is working with the children, there is a longing to help parents. Often he or she is worried about the influences in the home but doesn’t know what to do. There are a number of obstacles that children’s ministers have. Sometimes it is the…

Read More

Recovering Proverbs 22:6 for a New Generation

By Christian Living, Family Discipleship, Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Early Years, Parenting: Teens and Beyond
In a previous article, I had us reexamine Proverbs 22:6. In this proverb, God states, Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  Clearing Up Misunderstandings Years ago, this verse was understood as a discipleship verse. Parents thought, “if I train up my child in the Christian faith, then when he is older, he will not depart from that faith.” It was understood as a promise. As a result of thinking this way, when young people walked away from the faith, these parents felt guilt. "What did I...
Read More

How Do I Lead When I Don’t Know Where to Go?

By Family Discipleship, Leadership, Marriage

I was recently asked this question by an earnest new husband. He is easygoing with an energetic wife. Both wanted to honor the Lord. But he articulated a struggle he was having as they faced some unexpected decisions that had large financial consequences. I thought he articulated a struggle many young (and older) men have. How do I lead us when I don’t know where I am going? Here was my response. In one sense, you do know where you are going. You want to have a loving, caring relationship with your wife. You want to honor the Lord with…

Read More

Teaching Our Children to Forgive

By Family Discipleship, Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Early Years, Parenting: Teens and Beyond

As a parent I have tried to keep short accounts with my children. When I have sinned by getting angry or not listening to them, I have sought their forgiveness. Included with that asking was sometimes a statement of working on correcting this area in my life. In addition to my asking them for forgiveness, they will need to ask forgiveness of me. Though God has forgiven all our sin on the cross, he still commands us to confess our sin to him (1 John 1:9). We confess our sin not to blot it out, but to restore our relationship…

Read More