Parenting 29 results

  • Authority and the gospel

     Parents, your authority is established by what you honor. What you honor, what you value is a window into who you are. And the people who are looking the most closely through that window are your children. What you value the most is shown most clearly by your actions and not your words. The thoughts of what you value most are more transparent than you realize. These hidden thoughts are a huge factor in establishing your authority as a parent. Why? Because being driven by what God says is ...
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  • Your kids, social media and the Glory of God
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  • What to tell your children about thunder

       Lightning rips through the air followed by the violent crash of thunder. At that moment everything stops. Your heart pounds. Whatever you were thinking about is gone, replaced by fear, awe, terror, and a sense of smallness. The sound is of unrestrained energy. Or perhaps you are fortunate enough to hear the rolling thunder as a storm approaches through a mountain valley. Deep rumbles echo back and forth between the mountains. Astounding power, muted, yet ominous. There is the ...
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  • Don’t live for your children

     Living for your children will not sustain your life. If your hopes and dreams are bound to your children, you will be disappointed, perhaps even bitter. If you expect your children to provide the comfort and support that can only come from God you will be deeply hurt. You will set yourself up to be disappointed and crushed when your family fails you. No spouse, no child can provide comfort that can only be found in God. God will have no other gods before him. Your first loyalty must be to God ...
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  • Do your kids know this truth?

     It is important to educate and train your children. The question, of course, is what do you teach them and when. Here is one truth that is seldom taught because it something that people don’t like to talk about, especially with children: We live and die at God’s pleasure. It is good and necessary to teach children skills that will last a lifetime. It is also good to teach children that life is unpredictable for humans. As the Psalmist says our days are like grass and wildflowers. There is ...
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  • Social Networking for God’s Glory

     Social networking is a big part of modern life. It is necessary to ask what biblical principles intersect with 21st century electronic information transfer. You have to admit it is a stretch to think of Paul texting Timothy to bring him the parchments so that he can post them on his blog. Social networking was virtually unknown a decade ago. Yes, email allowed us to correspond quickly, but as a form of communication it was not much different than regular mail. Today our lives, as well as our ...
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  • Do your children appreciate your sacrifice?

     One morning 12 year-old Sarah heard a noise outside her window. The animals were making a racket. She heard a low growl - it was the bear again. Mother had scared it off last time with the rifle, but she could not chase the bear into the woods and leave the house unprotected. But, this time father was home. She heard the rifle fire. They were safe. Joshua, eight, helped his father load up the wagon. He would be gone two or three days. The lower pasture land needed plowing for Spring planting. ...
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  • From Presents to Possessions

     Something mysterious happens to items in colorfully wrapped boxes and then placed under a tree full of lights. After a short incubation period these items, called presents, become possessions when they are removed. Suddenly, all of the challenging things your remember from last Christmas, but over the course of 364 days have somehow managed to forget, are back. Presents have become possessions. Christ had an encounter with a brother who was also concerned that his sibling was not being fair. ...
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  • One more gift to open!

     You have one more gift to open. The day after Christmas does not mark the end of gift giving. Each morning the gift of Christ awaits. Even more, this gift is one that God opens for you. God is relentless in his pursuit to bring joy to your needy soul. He cannot be out given. No matter what circumstance you face, the unfailing love of God is constant. This love transcends the difficulties of this temporal life. Each morning the wonder of Christmas is yours again. This is not a gift that you ...
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  • From the manger to the cross.

     God’s ways are not our ways. Perhaps nothing demonstrates this more clearly than the incarnation of God’s Son, Jesus. His birth was that of a commoner and his death was that of a criminal. He was born in the company of animals in a stable. He died in the company of thieves on a cross stained with his blood. The political leaders of his country tried to murder him as a baby. And it was the religious leaders 33 years later who finally succeeded where Herod had failed. His family fled to ...
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