Every winter I create a sledding hill of of the stairs of our deck by clearing the deck of snow and slowly creating a mound higher and higher as the winter months progress. Sari and Macie just love climbing and sledding on it. I’m pretty proud of the hills I’ve made! But that pride can […]
My daughter Sari, who is 7 years old, wrote the following during her inside recess time at school after her class had talked about bullying. I appreciated the emotion in it! Bulles are horabill. Bull are mean. If I see one I will skreem! And then I will comdonw and tack a depbreth but seeing […]
A friend of mine was sharing a story about a time (some 20 years ago) when he was at Lake Hayward Beach area (in Hayward, WI) and a mother was asking her older daughter to get out of the lake because they were heading home. The daughter back-talked her mother (in public) and added a […]
“Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21a) I think the wealthy man who asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life wanted Jesus to pat him on the back for all of his obedience of the commandments. I think the man wanted Jesus to say something like: “Way to go! I’m so proud of […]
I had to apologize to Sari a while back. We were playing UNO as a family and Sari came around the coffee table and wanted to tickle me. She poked her finger in my neck. I really didn’t want to be tickled at that moment (in fact, I hate being tickled), so I chided her: […]
Who decides what the bad words are? Paul Tripp references an occasion where one of his kids asked this question and he made a couple of distinct categories: There are condemning, judgmental, ungodly words that should never be used. For example, asking God to “damn” someone just shouldn’t be done. It’s wrong. There are other […]
From the UK, a former editor for Britian’s version of Maxim magazine, called “Loaded” discusses his conclusion that pornography is “the most pernicious threat facing children today.” I asked the teenagers: ‘On a scale of one to ten, how likely would you say it is that boys and girls your age are watching porn online?’ The […]
This morning, Pastor Heath and I hosted an hour-long (turned into an hour and a half) conversation regarding wisdom and the use of technology and parenting. It was enlightening for all of us. Some things were brought up that I had not considered and some things were uncovered that some parents hadn’t considered. Here are […]
You think times have changed?! “It has been said: ‘Young people nowadays love luxury; they have bad manners and contempt for authority. They show disrespect for old people and love silly talk in place of exercise. They no longer stand up when older people enter the room; they contradict their parents, talk constantly in front […]
“Discipleship” doesn’t always come with religious connotations: “Schools, media, and peers are the ‘disciplers’ of America’s children–discipling them in secular humanism and vague, self-centered spirituality that has nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is no wonder then that, once teens are no longer under their parents’ direct authority, they drop their […]
“Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, consecrated to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by His rules. And family education and order are some of the chief means of grace. If these fail, all other means are likely to prove ineffectual.” Timothy Paul Jones. (2009). Perspectives on Family Ministry: […]
I’m currently enrolled in a graduate program through Wesley Seminary. This past week, my assignment was to create a communication tool for families and we had the option to use whatever medium we chose. I made a video. The first 5 minutes or so is setup for why communication is important in general as well […]
The power of a parent is to exude and model faith: “Here in this opening injunction (the Shema), God invites Israel to enter into a wholehearted love relationship with Him. But the passionate, all-consuming love for God expected in the Shema cannot be impressed on any child without residing first in the parent. Sooner or later children […]
“What gets through to teens are factual messages, in context, delivered consistently, over time, that parents echo.” source USA Today article
Where do we find identity? How is our identity shaped? In whom is our identity formed? These are pertinent questions for your middle school and high school student. And they are always asking the big identity question: Does anyone like me? The question for us as parents and small group leaders is: Do we have […]
I remember a time that it took work to find a dirty magazine. You either had to know a friend whose father had it, or you had to hope someone left an errant copy of a porn magazine on a shelf lower than where they were usually kept. Not anymore. It’s available anywhere, anytime, and […]
A Couple of Highlights from the “Digital Parenting” infographic below Make sure your student understands the difference between “virtual life” and “real life” Don’t “friend” someone online who you haven’t met in person Be open with your kids about your right to review search history, contacts, Facebook posts, uploaded pics, etc. source ChurchMag
Here is a list of “Family Ministry” and some “Parenting” books I have consolidated into a list. If I’m missing something on this list, please comment below with the title and the author and I’ll update the list. Family Ministry Field Guide: How Your Church Can Equip Parents to Make Disciples Timothy Paul Jones Perspectives […]
In almost every culture, children are valued. Historically speaking, kids are important to the family line, productive contributors to the family’s vocation, and mostly a joy to live life with. Children have been an integral part of home and community economics. However, it seems that our current American culture has exalted and centered home and […]
The other day my two girls were admiring the manger scene in the foyer of our church. They were a little confused, however, as to a missing element: baby Jesus. They came to me and were worried: “Dad, the manger set is missing baby Jesus.” I said: “Really? Isn’t that the most important part? How […]