It almost seems necessary for young parents to speak as if their children are a hindrance. As parents bemoan their roles as pure drudgery, the culture and the kids get the message: children are unwanted. If you read Scripture, you realize that children aren’t a burden – they are a blessing. It’s time to go the 2nd mile in affirming …
Paul described his work in discipleship as something for which he toiled (Col. 1:29). If that sounds like work to you, it is because spiritual disciplines require consistent, diligent effort on your part. In Session 6 of Distinctive Discipleship, you are going to select the most vital spiritual discipline to strengthen at this time in your life. You will determine which …
While technology has incredible benefits, it also brings dangerous possibilities. Learn how you can protect yourself and your family from unwise technological usage. “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything (1 Cor. 6:12). Incredible Benefits Relationship Strengthener– Technology allows us to …
Parenting with a dedicated spouse alongside you is a difficult endeavor in of itself. When a person is divorced or widowed, the challenges increase greatly. So how is a single parent (or remarried parent) to go about their difficult duties of raising children? While it’s hard to give advice that applies to every situation, there are some common recurring issues. …
Believers are called to find some way to assist orphans. Learn how your family could help through adoption, foster care, respite care, or financial assistance. Why is adoption important? God eagerly adopted us into His family. In love, He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will (Eph. 1:5). To …
While numerous cards and gifts are purchased to celebrate Father’s Day, there are many people who dread the holiday altogether. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 19.7 million children, more than 1 in 4, live without a father in the home. Whether that absence is due to death, desertion, decision, or detainment, the pain is real. Even in a society …
As we commit to a local church, what happens when we fail to represent Jesus? The Bible is clear on expectations of how we are to confront one another to avoid drifting spiritually. Current Trend Every believer has an unspoken list of sins that is acceptable and a pronounced list that is unacceptable. Christians tend to protest the sins outside …
Oftentimes, parents want to know what is wrong with their children. Why do they act the way they do? Why do they say the things they say? Every parent has lifted (or thrown) their child upwards towards the skies. While this movement is meant for the child’s delight, it is a symbol of what most parents what for their children …
As we registered our sons to play Upward Basketball at our church, there was one question lingering at the end of the form. The question read: “Would you be willing to coach your child’s team?” It should have included a checkbox for, “Do you want to be a glutton for punishment?” I realized that I had yet to coach my …
What a privilege to serve New Prospect Baptist Church in Inman, SC at their Gospel-Centered Parenting Event. Here are the notes for the 3 sessions on parenting with purpose. #1. Faith of a Child [Deut. 6:4-9] – How do you create your home to be an environment to help nurture the faith of your children? In this session, learn practical …
Recently, someone asked me a question regarding family discipleship and my wife responded for me, “How much time do you have?” I’m very passionate about the subject. It’s been a burden for our home and ministry. The topic was the focus of my doctorate. Since I talk about it a lot, I often get asked what Bibles or books do …
You can learn so much by studying someone’s Bible. In it, they leave clues regarding personal practices. When possible, I love to use someone’s personal Bible when preaching his or her funeral. It is a special connection. That proved to be true yet again while holding Stoney’s Bible. Stoney Huggins passed away at 88. I had the privilege of ministering …
God’s plan for your family is not complex. We make it that way, but it is truly simple. This is the plan:
God wants to reconcile the world to Himself through Christ-following parents who disciple their own children to multiply gospel transformation to all people.
I’m a parent. And as a parent, I have primary responsibility for the formation of my children. Whether it is spiritual, mental, emotional, relational, physical, or sexual development, as their parent, I am responsible to God to set the pace and to establish the curriculum. While we each may have certain areas that are easier for us to talk about than the others, we must prioritize teaching our children about sexuality.
Open up your Bible and open up your life to teach your children regarding God’s design for gender, sex, and marriage.
Children are a blessing as long as you don’t lead them to be a burden. Part of the role of parents is to shape children to be all that God has called them to be. That takes time. Growing weeds doesn’t take effort – growing gardens demands patience and care. If you want your children to be successful, you have …
Colossians 3:18-21 Disciples in the Home Authentic discipleship moves from the church and should eventually change the home. Disciples obey God’s commands for how families are to treat one another particularly in the relationship between husband and wife and between parent and child. Submissive Wives (Col. 3:18) Since men need significance, God calls wives to submit to their husbands. If …
As an adoptive family, we have more random stories of interactions with strangers than we care to count. For whatever reason, close associates or random passerbys feel inclined to make conversation regarding your family when they realize a child is adopted. In our situation, it is very obvious that we are an adoptive family, and so we have heard it …
Many marriages struggle due to dealing with extended families. One common issue for many couples is how for adults to interact with their adult parents. Regarding your parents, there are two equal marital dangers: dishonoring abandonment or reluctant detachment. Even while it seems difficult to obtain, there is a healthy balance. When you start your family with your spouse, …
I wish I could be a perfect father for my children. How I wish that I had always been intentional, patient, endearing, Christ-honoring in everything that they have heard me say and have seen me do. It is so easy for me to compare myself to other dads in our culture and think I am doing better than most. Better …
When you enter the New Testament, the idea of a father’s blessing is not as prominent due to the church functioning as the people of God rather than a family basis. In these pages, though, we have the best example of a father blessing his son in the example at Jesus’ baptism. Within the pages of Scripture, biblical blessings happened …
The Bible talks about blessing your children more than it does praying for your children. In some ways, a parental blessing is what you are praying to be fulfilled through their lives. Praying for our children must become a regular, intentional, specific part of our lives. As you think about your children, how would you pray concerning them in the …
Throughout the Bible, parents would bless their children. Have you ever wondered how a parent is supposed to give what is called a biblical blessing? “As heavenly Father, God set up a pattern of blessing for His people: verbally affirming His acceptance and support of them, painting vivid pictures of their expected future, and investing Himself and His resources to …
Does a child have a right to complete privacy regarding technology? The two parental extremes are: Grant your children complete privacy because you don’t want to push them away. Grant yourself complete access to everything possible so you can discover what they are really doing because you know the dangers. There are many options in addition these two, but every parent must make …
When a newborn is put into the hands of a parent for the first time, that parent has 936 weeks before that child turns 18. 936 Saturdays to go on adventures. 936 Sundays to worship together. 936 Mondays to seize the week. 936 Wednesdays to get over the hump of the week. 936 weeks. They are a gift. While parenting …
Biblical Blueprint Teach Your Children Diligently (Deut. 6:4-9) The Problem While the church provides important spiritual environments, the most critical spiritual environment is the one in which you live. You are called to be the primary evangelists and disciple-makers of your family. “Do as I say and not as I do” will not work in discipleship. It’s difficult for an hour-long …
The goal is not for your child to look more like you but to look more like Jesus. 1. Gen. 5:1-3 (cf. 1:27) 2. The goal is not for your child to look more like you but to look more like Jesus. 3. Don’t suffocate your child with lesser pursuits. 4. What needs to happen for my child to reflect more the …
Resolve to defy any sinful legacy and turn your family around. 1. The sins of the father punish future generations when they become the sins of the children (Deut. 24:16). – Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for …
Don’t punish your child when you have pushed their limits. 1. Prov. 22:6 2. Don’t punish your child when you have pushed their limits. 3. Discipline based upon the child’s crime and not based on your reputation. 4. Don’t neglect to teach about grace in discipline.
The Five Love Languages for Children is a great resource from Gary Chapman. Using the original love languages (physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, and acts of service), he teaches parents how to apply them in raising children. Favorite Quotes We need to fill our children’s emotional tanks with unconditional love, because real love is always unconditional (17). For …
Parents must discipline themselves before they discipline their children. Main Points Eph. 6:4 – Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Parents are called to disciple their children. Parents are also called to discipline their children. Parents must discipline themselves before they discipline their children. Hostile parents produce …
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline …
If parents nag about everything, children will not listen to anything. Main Points Col. 3:21 – Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Prov. 25:24 – It is better to live in a corner of the roof than in a house shared with a quarrelsome woman. If parents nag about everything, children will not listen to anything. …
The four gospels contain the life and ministry of Jesus the Christ. Within three years of organized ministry before his death and resurrection, he preached many sermons and shared many parables. In a time before podcasts and YouTube, his teachings have endured due to the life-changing paradigm with which he spoke. In all that he taught, Jesus also deemed it …
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 Main Points The reason holiness is so elusive to us is because we judge it by the world’s standard instead of the Word’s standard. Most of our presumed holiness is based on a comparison to the world rather than an evaluation from the Word. In this life, holiness is a pursuit and not a destination. If …
You job is to make your child independent, but you might be going about it in the wrong order. Family Alter Videos
I got a copy of Carey Publications’ A Catechism for Boys and Girls to implement in our homeschool. As we take primary responsibility in our children’s spiritual education, I constantly research methods. The word “catechism” carries all types of stigma with it. Some of them good and some of the bad. In its basic form, a catechism is a summary of …
We live in a time when parents are using coloring books and children are using day planners. If you don’t get the weight of that statement, let me unpack it. Adult coloring books are becoming a growing phenomenon right now. And I’m not going to throw shade at it. I enjoy coloring with my kids. I love pretending I am …
The Agnews have been homeschooling for the last three years, and I really haven’t talked about it much. Besides the video below that I made on the boys’ first day of kindergarten chronicling their long walk to school, I really haven’t opened up about why we chose this path. Homeschooling can be a divisive topic in our society, and so I haven’t made a …
Parents are called to reflect the character and nature of God in their discipline Weeks ago, I got to partner with area churches and put on a parenting workshop. We got many requests to make the content available. Here is the second session, The Principles of Discipline. Use it however it helps you or your church! The Principles of Discipline Key Points …
The goal of parental discipline is to make disciples within your home. Weeks ago, I got to partner with area churches and put on a parenting workshop. We got many requests to make the content available. Here is the first session, The Goal of Discipline. Use it however it helps you or your church! Key Points The Word of God is …
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