(This is a repost from last year, but for those who haven’t read it yet (and/or for those who want to be reminded of this… enjoy!)

While many parents are content with having their children believe in Santa Claus, there are still many other parents who wonder if it is right thing.  This post is meant to make you think about it perhaps more deeply and more Biblically/Theologically.

Despite the ambiguous and somewhat tainted origins of the warm, friendly, and even jolly Kris Kringle, this modernized mythological figure is in opposition to Christmas.  By, “Christmas”, here, it is meant the Christian and sanctified idea, apart from most of its own somewhat ambiguous and tainted history.  The word, “Christmas”, comes from two old words meaning, “to gather together to celebrate Christ(’s birth)”.  This is the idea that is meant here: The exalting of and exulting in Jesus the Christ, the only sinless Savior and supreme Lord, as being conceived supernaturally of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin in order to display the greatness, grace, and glory of God! Read More »

If a church is to exalt Christ by living in love, truth, and unity, then there will be an authentic pursuit of accountability in the Christian relationships God has blessed us with. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to each other and to pray for each other. Not so we can know everyone’s dirty laundry and spread it through the church via gossip, but for the purpose of prayer and healing. The prayers of righteous men (women) are powerful and effective. Authentic accountability relationships will center around the glory of Christ in the sanctification of his people. This happens through humility, confession, and prayers offered in belief.
This morning I wrote my accountability partner a list of questions I need to be asked. I’m sharing these with you in the hopes that they might spur you on to make a similar list. If you seek God, He will reveal to you the areas in which you need to grow. Find an accountability partner you can trust and hand them the keys to the hidden parts of your life… for the glory of God and the hope of mutual sanctification.

1. Have you been treasuring Christ above all of the other good gifts of the gospel?
2. Have your actions this week been for the praise of God, or for the praise of people?
3. Have you diligently and consistently spent time in the Word and in prayer?
4. Have you been a servant leader for your wife, tempering honesty with love and kindness?
5. Have you smiled/laughed with and encouraged your kids more than you’ve spoken sternly?
6. Have you been above reproach sexually with any and all thoughts, images, and women in your life?
7. Have you exercised consistently and been faithful to honor God with your eating?
8. Have you been wise in appropriately balancing time between work and family?
9. Have you sought to pray for and share the gospel with any non-believers this week?
10. Have you spent time learning and growing through reading and listening to other Godly men?

The alternate (or Puritan) title for this post is,

“Some Practical Benefits, Reasons, and Purposes for Being Commited to Family Worship Even With Very Young Children”. 

What follows is a non-exhaustive list for parents of young children to consider.  Practicing consistent Family Worship with very young children (even toddlers and infants; which I have) will:

1. Establish a consistent pattern that carries on in your family and will always be with your children.

2. Give you the ability to train them to sit quietly and listen during family and corporate church worship services.

3. Familiarize your children with the things, words, and ways of worship.

4. Teach you how to be better, more patient, and creative teachers and leaders of worship for your children.

5. Teach and express that the Gospel and God and the Bible are not just for adults.

6. Solidify the importance of family worship in the home, since you are willing and commited to it even with the youngest of children.

7. Help you become more comfortable and open and free aobut worshipping the Lord together with your children and spouse. Read More »

(I wrote this blog post a few months ago, but want to share it here now.)

The Holy Spirit enlightened my mind last night through my wife.

Whenever my wife and I have a “big” or “serious” argument, which is quite rare for us, she tends to be more emotional and therefore aggressive.  She is hurt and/or feels an injustice has taken place, which leads to her anger.  Her anger leads to her emotionally charged words directed at me.  Her goal is to make me feel the pain or frustration that she feels (to a lesser degree, an equal degree, or a greater degree).  She is aggressive in her attempt to achieve this.

I, on the other hand, am more of a “thinker” than a “feeler”.  I tend to be more reserved and calm in my approach.  Often what happens, however, is that I let her angry words produce anger in me, and I respond accordingly.  I have always blamed her for this, since I am the one who is seeking to be calm and use less emotionally charged words (at least initially).

But, becasue of God’s gracious answer to my prayer for wisdom and insight, I learned something last night. Read More »

As my 2 year old son is learning to talk more and more, he comes up with different and sometimes funny phrases.  Now, instead of saying, “No.”, when we ask him a question, he will say, “No, not.”  Our guess is that he means, “No, I do not want this or that.” or “No, I am not this or that.”

But his use of the emphatic negative echoes the Apostle Paul as he quotes from Psalms 14 and 53 in Romans 3:10 — “… no, not…”

10 as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worhless;

no one does good, not even one.’”

So, everytime my son tells me, “No, not.”, I think of how desperately we ALL need the righteousness of Jesus Christ and His substitionary death, for there is none righteous besides Him,…

No, Not one.

It seems like we often hear people today speaking about faith that has been handed down from their parents as if it was somehow a second class faith, or as if it couldn’t possibly be true faith at all. We hear statements like, “Your faith isn’t real until you ‘make it your own’”. While there may be an element of truth in them, statements like this can be less than encouraging for Christian parents. Why should we strive to teach our kids the ways of the Lord if those very efforts are going to cause them to doubt the legitimacy of their faith later in life? Does God really work through parents to pass faith on to their children?
When we look at the way Paul addresses Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter one, it can help to shed some light on this issue. It appears that Timothy (whose mother and grandmother were both believers) may have struggled with doubts regarding his faith. In the opening section of this letter, Paul sneaks in a few words of encouragement for him.
In 2 Timothy 1:3 Paul says, “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors…” (ESV).
According to Strong’s concordance, the phrase ‘as did my ancestors’ would be more literally translated ‘from my parents’, or ‘out of my parents’, or even ‘by means of my parents’. Any of these meanings (and even the ESV rendering, though more vaguely), make it clear that Paul is attributing the fact that he now serves God to the fact that God worked through his parents, and he is speaking of his faith in God as an heritage that has been passed to him by his parents. Read More »

I have a 20 month old and a 5 month old.  I have no greater responsibility and privilege in this life than to work toward their conversion for the glory of God.  As my wife and I have felt the weight of this, we have been struggling with this question, ”How do we be Gospel-Centered parents with little ones?”  This is the question that every Christian parent of toddlers and infants should be seeking to answer.

My 5 month old can’t talk.  He is learning to sit up and scoot around, and he knows our voices and faces, but still communication is ultra-limited.  What can I possibly do to give him an understanding of the Gospel?  My 20 month old can only say a couple dozen words.  He is learning colors, shapes, and letters, but he can’t even read, “See Spot Run”, much less the Holy Scriptures.  They have not the ability to understand 2+2=4, so what hope is there in their understanding the propitiation of Jesus Christ (I John 4:10).  How could we practically give the Gospel to our children when they are so young? Read More »

To most Christians this question probably seems ridiculous to even ask, but there are two very good reasons to ask and answer thoughtfully: the question, “Should we teach our children to pray before they show evidence of saving faith?”

1. Because there are some very learned and devout Christians  with sincere hearts of love for Jesus and their children, who are asking this question.

2. Because most of the Christians who assume that the answer to the above question is an obvious, “Yes.”, really have not thought through it enough and are thus not adequately prepared to answer those who question them about it AND also are not as passionate as they could be about teaching their children to pray.

Before we answer the question of, “Should we teach our children to pray?”, I think most of us need to ask why this is even a question.  The argument for not teaching our children, before we are sure they are genuine Believers, to pray goes something like this:

– Since the Bible is clear that praying with insincerity and without faith is wrong (Matthew 6:5-8; Romans 14:23 and Hebrews 11:6), and

– Since the Bible is clear that God will not listen to the prayers of those living in sin (Proverbs 15:8, 29; 28:9; Isaiah 1:12-17; Jeremiah 11:11, 14), and

– Since unbelieving children are living in sin, without faith, and have a heart of insincerity,

– Therefore, it is not right to teach them to pray to God.

Read More »

I started reading “The Culturally Savvy Christian” last week.  From the book, there is one major issue that is resonating in my heart.   As Christian families, we must learn how to minister in this culture without being consumed by this culture.   At the point where we are consuming more of culture than we are of Christ and His word, we are at risk of allowing a lost world to guide us (either consciously or subliminally) in our family’s beliefs, attitudes, and actions.  I believe Staub is right when he argues that, “So much theology is derived from popular culture that many argue that it has replaced religion.”  While it is often subtle, a reality show title like “American Idol”, a character like “Cinderella’s” fairy god mother, or a promise that Disneyland is the place where “dreams really do come true” can have far reaching influence on our minds and the minds of our maturing children.  Do you spend more time consuming the Word than you do consuming PopCulture (magazines, tv, movies, internet, etc)? What about your children? Do they spend more time in front of the television than they do in Bible reading, singing praise songs, and praying combined? If so, is it possible that our sinful world could be a greater influence on our attitudes, actions, and beliefs than the sovereign God who created and sustains us? An excerpt from the book states that “A thoughtful person knows that superficial pop culture is the cultural equivalent of junk food; it looks, feels, and tastes good but is often utterly lacking in nutrients… “  Are you thoughtful enough to know this, or have you been deceived too? If we ever hope for our families to become culture-creators rather than culture-imitators, it will begin with a fulfilling diet of Jesus and His Word.  Let’s limit the junk, and give ‘em the good stuff.

…Fight For It!

We all know people who, although they grew up in good Christian homes, do not know, trust in, or love Jesus today.  To them, the Gospel is now nothing more than a story; a history lesson; or merely “church talk” that they grew up with.

We should never assume that just because our kids are growing up in a Christian home (maybe even a more distinctly and passionate and Biblical Christian home than we did), that they will inherit eternal life.  We must fight with prayer and the Word, daily!  We must be burdened by the weight of their eternal destiny.  We must be seriously intentional about giving our children the Gospel, so as to point them to, show them, and give them a thirst for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

But let us not trust in our means of fighting for their Lives: being good Christian examples, praying with faithful fervancy, instructing and disciplining with the Word of Life, taking our family to church every week, doing family worship, and so on.  We must do these things, but only because we trust in our sovereign Savior of grace to draw them, change them, and save them to the uttermost.

Read Dr. John Piper’s similar word in blog post on An Encouragement and Precaution to Parents.  And remember, Don’t Assume Life… Fight For It!