The Disciple-Making Parent

As a Christian, do you look around at the messiness of those who call themselves Christians. Does their bizarre behavior make you doubt your own faith? In today’s podcast we try to answer the question – Can Jesus explain the mess that Christianity seems to be in? Does this mess discredit Jesus? I think it is vital that our young people understand these issues. Otherwise, they can be tempted to say...

n this podcast I talk with Eric Bancroft. Eric is the pastor of Grace Church in Miami, he has been married for 22 years and has three teenage sons. During this episode, we talk about helping our kids think through the area of sex and how we disciple them through this.

The Kauflin name is probably very familiar to you. Although you may know him for his contribution to worship, you may not know that Bob Kauflin has thought a lot about parenting. I first heard Bob teach on parenting at a conference probably about 10 years ago and I thought, "This is excellent teaching from a godly man." He and Julie graciously agreed to talk with me recently. Bob is the Director o...

Do you and your spouse argue about money? Do you have a common understanding of what the Bible teaches about money? How are you teaching your children about money? In today’s podcast, I want to introduce you to my friend Daniel Howe. Daniel is the pastor of Christ Reformed Presbyterian church in East Providence RI. I invited him to address some of our families in our church and talk about the budg...

As Christians, we are commanded many times in the New Testament to love one another. But how does that play out in our daily lives?​ And how do we train our children in this? Jesus told us that all people will know we are his disciples if we love one another. In fact, that command is repeated 11 other times in the New Testament. But what does that love look like? In today’s podcast, I invite you t...

Studies show that young people who are connected with other adults in church have a much higher percentage of remaining with the faith. But as a parent, how can we facilitate this? And as a church leader, what can we contribute? In this episode, Tony Souder of the Pray for Me Campaign discusses how he has helped supercharge this idea for churchwide application.

As a mom, do you find yourself constantly comparing yourself with other families and feeling inferior? Do you feel overwhelmed trying to do this mom thing?​ Always feeling like there is more to do? Then this podcast is for you.

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 co...

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 rep...

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...

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 t...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 i...

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...

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 e...

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...

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 an...

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 ev...