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We may think of the word repent as an outdated term, associated with men who walked around downtown with sandwich boards proclaiming, “Repent for the end is at hand.”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 restrictive I 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...
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 eac...
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 ...
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 c...
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, ma...
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 excite...
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....
How happy is your family? How happy are you? Is a happy family even possible? In the middle of all this brokenness should a Christian even aim to be happy? This episode is absolutely vital for disciple-making parents. Happy homes are the place where the gospel passes the most easily. In fact, joy is a preeminent fruit of holiness and yet often we see Christina homes where the mark of being godly is a serious and sour disposition. Listen in to this message by Dr. David Murray as he explains the s...
Do Christians get depressed? And if they do, is it because of sin or because of physical issues, or some combination of the two? And more importantly, what do we do to help those who are depressed. Take a few minutes to listen to Dr. David Murray as he speaks on depression. These thoughts are from his excellent introductory book Christians Get Depressed Too.
Your understanding of emotions will affect your life. Your understanding of emotions will affect your family. Your understanding of emotions will affect your parenting. As a parent, your have a theology of emotions. Is it in line with the Bible? Dr. David Murray has written several books for Christians. Christians Get Depressed Too and The Happy Christian help us think biblically about this vital part of our lives. Invest a few minutes to listen to Dr. David Murray as he speaks on emotion. And a...
Is worrying synonymous with being a parent? After all there are so many dangers in the world. Should we say, "A good parent will worry?" After all what's wrong with worrying? We might say nothing except that Jesus tell us not to worry. Worry and fear drive many conflict at home and in the church. And these sins destroy the peace of many. We must start thinking clearly about this subject! In this episode we will listen in on an introductory counseling equipping module from the Association of Cert...
Parenting is hard work. Often we can get banged up as we walk through some of the difficulties of life. We don't know how to connect what we know to be true about God with the troubles we are facing. Marty Machowski, author of Long Story Short, Old Story New, and numerous other books sat down and talked with me about his new book - Parenting First-Aid. In this interview, you will hear why he wrote the book, what God has taught him over the years, and two incredible encouraging stories. Order the...
As we head back to school with the summer routine behind us, we can have a number of opportunities to share our faith. And yet when it comes to telling others about the most important thing we know - Jesus - we can start to stutter and stammer. Yet a home that is telling people about Jesus is a home that is attractive to 2nd generation Christians. In this episode, we turn the microphones around and Adam Miller interviews me about the contents of the book I wrote several years ago - Evangelism fo...
The Prodigal Son is one of Jesus' most beloved stories. Yet, we could actually be overlooking the main point of the story. In this episode I invite you to listen in on a sermon I preached on Luke 15 and The Prodigal Son. Or should I say Prodigal Sons? If you are the parent of a prodigal child, this episode can help you understand God’s lavish love for you and encourage you to love that prodigal even more. As you enter into the deep pain caused to the father, it may help you draw new strength to ...
Pornography is a demonic parasite on the Christian church and Christian family. Unless we have an active strategy it will infiltrate our lives and homes. In this podcast, I talk with Dan Armstrong, Corporate Communications Specialist at Covenant Eyes. We talk about how prevalent this issue is, what successful churches are doing, and what families can do. Listen in to be educated on this subject. For a free month of Covenant Eyes go to their website and use coupon code "Apollos" ....
If you are the parent of a prodigal, it can be easy to feel shame, guilt, and regret. We can say to ourselves, "If I had done everything right, he would not have rebelled." Join me in this episode as I have a conversation with a man who deliberately rebelled in his teen years. Travis does not blame his parents. No, he praises his parents their walk with the Lord. Listen to the heartache they had to go through. And then be dazzled by how God miraculously saved him. This conversation should give h...
Young people say that they #1 reason they walk away from the faith is hypocrisy in the church. What is the cause of this hypocrisy and how can we solve it? In this episode we talk about the missing elements of admonishment, peacemaking, and church discipline. Surprisingly, this is important for a healthy church life and a healthy family life.
Bullying is a common childhood problem. How would you help your child if this happened to him or her? Are Christians always to turn the other cheek? How does the gospel apply? Listen in as I have conversation with Kevin McKay about the wise way he walked his son through this very problem.
If the resurrection of Jesus Christ really happened, then it is the most important event in world history. It is the foundational rational proof for that Jesus was who he said he was. Make sure you can articulate the six reasons that Christians know that this event really happened. This is a great episode to listen with your tween or teenager. They need to know that their faith is based on rational evidence.
Listen in to learn about David Michael's family and his exhortation to pastors and the whole church to raise the next generation to hope in God.
At a recent conference I had the privilege of sitting down with David and Sally Michael, cofounders of Children Desiring God (now Truth78). In Part 1, I talked with Sally about the vision for the curriculum, how it came about, what's included, and just a few stories of how God has used it.
How would you like to talk with a Christian pediatrician of 25 year and glean his wisdom? Now you can! Listen in on part 2 of my conversation with my good friend, Dr. Tom Hines. In this episode we will talk about: – Introducing structure and limitations for little children – Crying and your children – you are not a failure! – Boredom, creativity, and toys – Training your children to sit for a church meeting Be sure and check out episode 1 to hear the rest of the conversation. For more informatio...
How would you like to talk with a Christian pediatrician of 25 year and glean his wisdom? Now you can! Listen in on part 1 of my conversation with my good friend, Dr. Tom Hines. In this episode we will talk about: – The number one issue within parents: Fear – The number one issue parents are dealing with: Technology – Specific suggestions for media as well as some surprising medical research – The overscheduled family and child - The importance of family meals Be sure and check out episode 2 to ...
