Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on a recent study that validated (not that it needed to be) the biblical model of child-rearing—spankings combined with balanced love, forgiveness, and nurture. The study showed that kids who were spanked actually did better in many areas of life, including academically, than those who were not spanked. [...]
Several days ago the LA Times reported on a Kaiser Family Foundation study that showed kids are now averaging 53 hours per week in digital media, including TV, video games, cell phone, computer, etc. This does not include when kids are multitasking—perhaps using their phone and watching TV at the same time. When factoring those [...]
Several weeks ago I shared a post called “Reality Parenting—Making the Grade.” This post is a follow-up. A primary goal of every parent should be to model a right relationship with the Heavenly Father, and ultimately to see our children embrace that same relationship. Seeing a father or mother live in love with the Lord—happily [...]
A friend of mine who serves the Lord at the BBN Radio Network sent me this link to the Christmas story told by a four-year-old little girl. It blessed our family. It will captivate you from the first word! Merry Christmas! This was recorded and is available on CD from Jeff Apthorp, Sound Amazing Studios. [...]
Here’s a short list of mistakes that all parents can make when it comes to seeing, understanding, and biblically responding to the spiritual growing pains of life. (This is as much to myself as to others.) Stop and think about it—and pray for godly wisdom in responding to the issues of your children’s hearts with [...]
Have you had a student come through your youth group, graduate, and not mature spiritually the way you hoped? It seems no matter how we pray, labor, plan, or serve—there are some that graduate and drift spiritually. What about trying to help a struggling student, only to feel like you’re spinning your wheels? Gauging by [...]
Wanting to know the truth of where we stand with our kids I had a cute conversation at my daughter’s bedside last night, before we prayed. It went something like this: “Haylee, if you had to give me an A, B, C, D, or F as a daddy, tell how you would grade me…” she [...]
This is part two of Pitfalls of Passive Parenting. Click here to read part one. Passive Parents Focus on Behavior Modification Rather Than Heart Transformation—They are more concerned with minimizing embarrassment than with truly molding the heart. Eli wasn’t alarmed by the wickedness of his sons’ hearts. He was just embarrassed by their behavior and [...]
Life is complex. God’s will isn’t. In fact, at any given moment, there’s a powerful question you can ask to determine if you are in or out of His will. It’s simply this: “Did I follow God to where I am right now?” The Holy Spirit will instantly resonate the answer in your heart—you will [...]
Uncovering the assumptions and behaviors of disengaged parenting “It’s just a phase—he will grow out of it.” “That’s just what teenagers do—she’ll mature.” “All kids are this way—there’s not really anything we can do to change that.” “They have to be able to make decisions for themselves.” These and others are the statements we make [...]
Media will eat your family alive unless you tell it not to! In part one we uncovered five challenges that modern media brings into our lives and homes. To beat the challenges, tame this monster, and prepare your children to have discernment and wisdom, may I make the following suggestions: 1. Build healthy relationships committed [...]
Seems like kids are getting cell phones younger and younger these days! This post is one I’m only doing because of requests. Several years ago, as our boys became teens, we decided to get cell phones for them—primarily so we could get a hold of them in relation to school and youth group outings. It [...]
Both TIME magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle recently reported on some dangers surfacing behind the many hours that teens are spending in social networking. Here are a few quotes from the San Francisco Chronicle article that relayed the results of a poll of 1,000 teens and 1,000 parents: “From behind their bedroom doors, more [...]
Recently, I posted about our Q&A times with students at teen camps and retreats. Over the past five years, hundreds of questions consistently revolve around the same themes. If you are a parent or youth worker, this list might help you get into their heads. It is a general consolidations of hundreds of questions. Here are [...]
Helping Others by Asking the Right Questions Not long ago I was on our church campus on an off day. As I left the building, headed home, there was an unfamiliar man taking photos of our buildings. Trying to be hospitable and also cautious, I approached him and kindly asked where he was from. He [...]
