Parenting

How Do You Raise Children in a Pornographic Culture?

Digital porn is ubiquitous. So how do we prepare our sons and daughters to win the war against the porn culture all around them? It’s a great question from a mom named Molly. “Pastor John, thanks for this podcast and all the times you address parenting. My question: What is the best way to prepare […]
Lego calls for more play time with kids; Christian charity agrees

Around three-quarters of children say they wish their parents would play with them more. A study by Lego also found those who play together for at least 5 hours per week are happier. Nearly half of families blame things like work, chores and technology for not spending enough time doing so. Trevor Single from the […]
On Abortion, An Open Letter to Chelsea Clinton

Dear Chelsea, I’m not writing to berate you or give you a religious lecture. I’m appealing to you as the loving and devoted mother of your two precious children, Charlotte and Aidan. As a mother, you experienced what I can never experience as a man. You understand what it is to conceive a child inside […]
The keys to raising Godly children

I never imagined when David and I married that we would end up with 9 children. We lost quite a few others along the way through miscarriage but we are very thankful for our nine. Having a big family is a big responsibility and for us the most important thing was, and is, to train […]
The 3 Keys to Christian Parenting

For their Latin class, my middle school students were tasked with memorizing the Apostles’ Creed. What was a chore for them was pure joy for me. I listened to them repeat over and over the systematic presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s when I discovered it. I realized some of the students, most […]
Don’t believe what you read, teens actually rock

I have one child who is a teenager and I have to admit that I entered this phase of life with a lot of trepidation. At the start of last year, I attended a school evening where they were helping the parents transition from managing the raising of a child into the teen years. It […]
How to Bring the Bible to Life for Your Kids

A couple years ago, my wife stumbled on a blog by a mom who had been reading the Bible to her children, one chapter a day. Not a children’s Bible. The Bible. She started when they were young, and eventually worked through all 66 books. I was inspired. That same week, I sat my three- […]
Here’s why we need to develop smart kids

I watched the video below yesterday with both terror and excitement. Terror because of how many jobs this sort of technology will wipe out. Excitement because I am aware of the fact that, for a company like ours, it’s going to save probably millions of dollars in wages in the years to come. As a […]
Parenting in the Digital Age: The Twelve Essential Tips

Who is iGen? Kids between the ages of 6 and 23 fall into a generation now getting labeled Post-Millennial or Gen Z or iGen. I want to introduce you to the research on this generation, then process the implications for pastors, leaders, and parents: How do we steward teens in the digital age? To be […]
A Call to Arms For Our Mothers

As another Mother’s Day rolls around, we find ourselves floating in a sea of sentimental, loving, and sweet words on the things that mothers do for us. It is good to recognize, appreciate, and honor all of that, but it is not what I want to do today. I want to pull back the sentiment […]
Making home the place where your kids learn to love God

The most famous parenting verse in the book of Proverbs says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). That’s great to know. But the book of Proverbs has much more to say to parents. Proverbs offers deeper insights that […]
Research shows most dads say they don’t spend enough time with kids

U.S. fathers today are spending more time caring for their children than they did a half-century ago. Still, most (63%) say they spend too little time with their kids and a much smaller share (36%) say they spend the right amount of time with them, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in August […]