Let's Parent on Purpose: Christian Marriage, Parenting, and Discipleship

Why does Scripture compare the husband-wife relationship to that of Christ and the church? How does a marriage reflect Jesus and His bride? Today Jay walks through the commands of Ephesians 5:22-33 and then expands on the greater story of redemption in the gospel. He shares the larger story of the Bible from the viewpoint of creation, sabbath rest, sin/vandalism, redemption, and restoration. Jay t...

Dr. Gary Chapman brings his 30+ years of biblical wisdom and counseling expertise to help identify the core traits of a healthy family. In this episode we unpack what each trait looks like and how to progress towards health if you are not there yet. Listen as Dr. Chapman describes: Families who Serve Husbands and Wives Who Relate Intimately Parents Who Guide Children Who Obey and Honor Parents Hus...

Our lives are shot through with sacred purpose even when, especially when, we are too busy or too caught up in our busyness to notice. Jay’s guest Douglas McKelvey has spent the last several years penning beautiful prayers to help us bring Christ into the mundane parts of our lives. As Jay and Douglas discuss the Every Moment Holy series, you’ll discover how your life is already full of liturgy wh...

Every parent following Jesus hopes their children will continue to love and follow Jesus beyond their youth group years. Sadly, a large percentage of people leave the church and leave the faith in their young adult years. Brad Griffin joins Jay today to share Fuller Youth Institute’s years of research on the key habits of ministries and families to form a character that lasts beyond the youth grou...

Every season of our parenting journey is fleeting, and we often miss the joy that God presents us while wishing away our current challenges. Today Jay talks with Jeanette Tapley about the importance of living in the joy of every season of life. They discuss the guilt that many working moms feel over not being a stay at home mom, the need for flexibility in how you parent from one child to the next...

Enjoy this sneak peak into the Stories of Hope with Dr. Samuel Thomas Podcast!  Dr. Samuel Thomas of Hopegivers International paints the heartbreaking picture of the life of a street child in India. Without a stable home or a mother and father to care for them, children are forced to scrap, beg, or steal. Many of them are trafficked, forced to take drugs, and work for criminals who keep them addic...

This is the second of a two-part series on gender with Christine Sneeringer, a ministry leader who specializes in sexuality and gender issues. Her own personal journey to overcome more than two decades of gender dysphoria informs her belief that it can be resolved without medical interventions. Because gender dysphoria is a psychological challenge, Christine argues that children and teens would be...

This is the first of a two-part series on gender with Christine Sneeringer, a ministry leader who specializes in sexuality and gender issues. Growing up, Christine knew all too well the distress and hardship of not feeling at home in her female body. More than anything she longed to be a boy. Looking back, Christine now realizes how her abuse history drove her negative perceptions of femininity, w...

More children and teens wrestle with anxiety than ever before. Sometimes moms and dads feel powerless to help their children escape the grip of chronic anxiety. Today our guest Hannah Conway shares several simple, practical strategies that can deescalate the general level of worry, tension, and anxiety your children experience. As we continue to create a household of engagement and encouragement,...

14, 8, 6, 5 years old when I started Thanks Christian Parenting, Covenant Fellowship, Listeners, My wife and kids In the past 7 years Jay has released 350 episodes and interviewed over 120 different people for Let’s Parent on Purpose. Today Jay shares his biggest personal insights from the years of being a learner behind the microphone.   To commemorate the Episode 350 milestone, be sure to check...

Every community is going to experience conflict. The way we navigate these conflicts will either break our community or make it stronger. Today Jay shares important truths to help you grow personally and relationally as you encounter conflict in your various communities. This is an episode that is very helpful for parents in their personal lives as well as giving language for how to train their ch...

As a Division 1 college soccer player, Craig Hettlinger was living many young men’s dream. A fateful decision to partake in a controlled substance after a win started a 16-year collapse into addiction and destruction.     Craig shares his story of addiction, failed attempts at sobriety, and his ultimate recovery and deliverance through God’s power. Craig now lives out his mission for Jesus by runn...

There’s a simple action you can take that has profound theological and neurological significance in your household… smile. Jay shares the correlation between smiling and the blessing of God from Numbers 6. A core facet of God’s blessing upon his people was the shining face of God looking upon them. In a similar way, we bless the members of our household simply by looking at them and giving our smi...

Jay shares a powerful set of words that can help rewire your household to get past the blame game and start working towards making things right. “It doesn’t have to be your fault to be your responsibility” is a concept we see through the teachings of Scripture (The Good Samaritan, Galatians 6, the incarnation of Jesus). As we start to incorporate this concept into every day life we will see endles...

“Our past hurts mixed with our present pressure often dictate our future fear.” Counselor and author Sissy Goff has watched this reality play out hundreds of times through the decades as she councils chidden as well as their moms and dads. So often parents are willing to get help for their anxious children while not addressing their own anxieties. In our conversation today, Licensed Counselor and...

Do your kids know beyond  shadow of a doubt, if they see pornography on the school bus, they can come home and tell you? Today’s guest Nick Liberto introduces us to an incredible resource that will help equip mom and dad to be THE expert on sex in their child’s life. The current average age of exposure to hardcore pornography is 8 years old. As parents, we need to have a good defense of protecting...

Jennifer Love longed to experience the life of Christ and the transformational power of prayer like she was reading in the Bible. As she sought the Lord asking for this life, He began to answer her. Through a series of experiences with her prayer group in church and on a mission trip, Jennifer began to see spiritual breakthrough in her prayer life. Her prayer team at church saw movement in areas t...

What if the Holy Spirit truly served as the Comforter and Counselor? When we read our Bibles, that what we would expect. However, when we live our lives, the transforming power of the Holy Spirit is often diminished, and we carry wounds and hurts for decades. While serving as a biblical professor at a large Evangelical University, Dr. Don love began to ask the Lord to show him if there could be mo...

Many moms and dads are shocked to find out how disorienting it is to parent their young adult children. Our 18-25 year old children still need parenting, but the relational dynamics are very different during these years. Pastor and author Jim Ramos has navigated these years with three of his own children, and shares insights he learned from parenting through this time frame. One of his mentors cal...

There are times in our lives when we know we’ve made a terrible decision. Sometimes our choice was blatant sin and rebellion, and other times the choice might have just been totally foolish. We know it’s not God’s will for us to sin and it’s not God’s will for us to make foolish decisions. So how do we recover when we know we’ve blown a major decision?  Do we miss God’s will for our life?   In thi...

Where the Bible is clear about God’s will, we must obey. But what about the thousands of choices we have in life where there doesn’t seem to be specific clarity in God’s Word? Do we pause and wait to hear the voice of the Lord? What about the people who seem to constantly say “God told me this?” Are we not walking with Jesus because we don’t have a steady stream of “God told me this?”     As we co...

One of the great paradoxes of life is that more choices don’t always lead to a happier life. Never ending choices can be paralyzing. Additionally, many choices give the illusion of freedom on the front end but ultimately lead to entrapment, slavery, and devastating consequences.  As we continue our series on Knowing and Doing God’s Will, today Jay takes about surprising principle: “Maximum Freedom...

One of the most common questions for a follower of Jesus is “How do I know God’s will for my life?” Often, these questions revolve around a few major decisions, such as where should I go to school, what should I do for a job, and who should I marry?  As we continue our series “Knowing and Doing God’s Will”, Jay lays out the Path of Wisdom for how to determine God’s will for your life, including wh...

Today Jay begins a series on Knowing and Doing God’s will. In this opening episode Jay shares a powerful prayer from Colossians 1 that explains the lifelong connection between knowing God’s will and knowing God. The reality is that God often calls us to follow Him before we know him deeply. It can be hard to trust God enough to obey, but it’s in the path of obedience that we truly meet God and kno...

Many moms and dads are shocked to find out how disorienting it is to parent their young adult children. Our 18-25 year old children still need parenting, but the relational dynamics are very different during these years. Pastor and author Jim Ramos has navigated these years with three of his own children, and shares insights he learned from parenting through this time frame. One of his mentors cal...