The Disciple-Making Parent

What if you could invite me to your Sunday School and ask me some parenting questions to fill in the corners of The Disciple-Making Parent. That’s exactly what this recording is. A friend invited me to his church to finish up their study of The Disciple-Making Parent. In that time, we covered all sorts of subjects including ones I did not talk about like: prodigals, advice to young parents, and commitment to the local church.

The world we are living in is rapidly changing. What are the changes we are facing? And How are parents to walk their children through this anti-Christian turbulence?​ In this podcast, I speak about seven new realities that are different from when I grew up and how apologetics can strengthen families and youth. Take some time to hear about this vital topic.

We may think of the word repent as an outdated term, associated with men who walked around downtown with sandwich boards proclaiming, “Repent for the end is at hand.” The term seems odd, patriarchal, narrow-minded, and restrictiveI think what you will find in this short sermon is that it is a very relevant term. Relevant for your life, relevant for your growth and relevant for your family. To repent is to have a change of mind that results in a change of direction. It admits there is a standard that we are not meeting up too. And it is a loving call to change. I think you will be edified as you listen to this podcast.

Are you struggling to train your children in the regular habit of Bible reading?Are you struggling to discipline yourself?Listen in as we talk about Dr. Murray's resource Exploring the Bible. In addition, we will talk with him about his resource - Christians Get Depressed Too.

We all know that God calls us to love our family. But what if there was a reason deeper than we knew that could motivate our love? In this podcast, we are going to spend some time thinking about Jesus’ command that his disciples should love one another as he loved them. This is a profound command and impossible apart from the Spirit. But it is even more profound when we start thinking about loving, not some person at church but my family. My husband, my wife, my child. It is vital we do love each other with an agape love. Our children and the world are watching. I think you are going to discover encouragement and a new perspective on loving those who may be the hardest – those who live with you at home.

Do you want to grow in your role as the family shepherd? What are just a few tools that could equip you for this vital task? I sat down with my friend David Michael co-founder of Truth78 and talked about several things he has practiced, still practices, and encourages the church where he serves as Pastor of the Next Generation. Listen in to this podcast to hear how he prayed over his children as they grew up and how he equips parents, and particularly fathers, to help prepare their children for believer’s baptism.You are going to be challenged by this conversation.

What if you could listen to a wise pediatrician coach you through the first year of your baby’s life? What if he had information that could help you and your baby sleep through the night sooner. Would you be interested? Dr. Tom Hines has been a pediatrician for over 30 years and seen lots of babies. In addition, he and his wife, Mary Jo had four children of their own. He came to talk with me about his best advice that he would give for baby’s first year. If you are about to have a child listen closely for some great wisdom. If you know someone that is about to have a child, forward the link to them. Believe me, they will thank you when the parents are sleeping through the night again.

Do you want to have a peaceful home? Doesn’t everyone?What exactly are the principles that should guide us in that?For that matter, what exactly is a peaceful family?You are going to love the countercultural but biblical insight Dr. Randy Stinson brings into having a peaceful family. This conversation came about because of his presentation entitled The Peaceful Home at the ERLC conference this past October. Dr. Stinson is a regular conference speaker on the subjects of adoption, parenting, marriage, and men’s leadership.In this conversation we talk about: What exactly is a peaceful home? How to conquer sibling rivalry. And the importance of dad being the CFO – Chief Fun Officer.I promise this conversation will be worth your time!

How do we raise children to respect those who are different from us? What biblical message and doctrines can help us encourage a young person to love all sorts of people?On this podcast, I have the privilege to introduce you to a friend of mine, Dan Darling. He has recently released a book that is helpful for pastors and parents. It’s entitled The Dignity Revolution. In it, Dan lays out the case for understanding and then applying this idea of human dignity to many different areas.I was excited to have this conversation with Dan. He is the Vice President of Communications for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. His writing has appeared in major news outlets like USA Today and CNN. He’s a contributing editor for Christianity today and he hosts a podcast “The Way Home”. Most importantly he is married to Angela and has four children 13 to 7 years old. So, he is right in the middle of his parenting years.We spend the first half of our time getting our minds around this doctrine. And then for the second half, we start applying it to ourselves and our children.

Are you in the middle of a conflict in your family? In your church? Or at your work? If you are, Do you understand what God’s word has to say about handling conflict? Unfortunately, conflict is a part of every relationship - including our families. If you are the parent of young children you certainly know that! But most Christians are not equipped to handle the conflict in our relationships with others. And yet God in his grace has given us many principles to help us walk through disagreements. And to teach our children. The following episode contains a short teaching I did on very high-level principles that come to us from God’s word. Specifically, I am walking us through some principles laid out by Ken Sande in the Peacemaker. This is the classic resource on handling conflict. Certainly,​ there is a lot more that can be said on this topic. But I think it will get you started in handling the conflict that the Lord brings into your life.