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Paul Tripp on Father’s Day 2017

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I love the consistent Biblical counsel of Paul Tripp.  Yesterday, he posted a video and communicated this encouraging message.  I hope it encourages you.

My dad did a great job of imparting some everyday skills, but he didn’t prepare me for the weightier things of life. I would characterize that as relationship with God and relationships with people.

I think one of the best ways to prepare your son or daughter for life is to help them as early as possible to be enthralled with the stunning glory and grace of God. Talk about God all the time; blow their mind with the glory of God.

You’ll have plenty of opportunities. If you’re building something, stop and talk about the grain of wood. Talk about how beautiful wood is, and how that beauty came out of the mind of God. If you’re nailing something, talk about the force of a hammer and all the physics that goes on there that came out of the mind of God.

If you’re fishing, remind your child of how different a trout looks from a bass. Tell them that that came out of the mind of God. As you’re watching the sun set, talk about the God who rules the day and the night.

This is the Father’s world. This is God’s world; this world is meant to point to him. Your son and daughter may not see Him; there’s a good possibility that they won’t. But the more your child is enthralled with God, the more likely they will be to give themselves to Him.

What could be more important than that?

Then there’s the second great command – love of others.

Human relationships are hard; love is hard. But listen, love is hard not because I’m surrounded by creepy people. Love is hard because of what’s inside of my heart. I’m judgmental. I’m critical. I’m unforgiving. I’m proud. I’m competitive. I’m greedy. I’m envious. All of those are anti-social instincts.

I wish I had a dad who said to me, “Son, you’re going to be leaving this home, you’re going to be building relationships, and the greatest danger to those relationships is you. There are some things inside of you that God desires to help you with, that God sent His Son to rescue you from. And the more you face those, the more you’ll become a person of love, and the more you become a person of love, the more you’ll live a life of blessing.”

I never had those conversations with my father. Oh, I learned a lot of helpful skills. But in many ways, I didn’t know myself, and I wasn’t filled with the awe of God, in the way that would have so much better prepared me for life.

The Church, The Future Generations and Revival

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Here’s an important question answered from Ray Ortlund’s When God Comes to Church:

“Do we want to guarantee that our children will run in the opposite direction of our most cherished biblical convictions?  All we have to do is sterilize our churches.  Make them rigid, unresponsive, grim.  Require of our ministers that they play the role of scolding, scowling Reverend Eat-Your-Peas. Treat the gospel as a theological system only, rather than also as a personal remedy.  Use the Bible as ammunition for “culture wars” rather than as food for life.  Withdraw from the historical situation in which God has placed us.  Build up the walls, reinforce the barriers and make certain that no experience gets in here.  Ignore the fact that “doctrine only” is not itself a biblical doctrine.

“But do we want our children to embrace our biblical convictions with joy?  Let our churches become environments fertile with revival potentialities.  Let’s shape our churches with deliberate intention that their content and tone may encourage our children, and all others, in true experience of God.  Let our convictions open up to their eyes a glorious vision of God and to their hearts the succulent pleasures of God.  We cannot trigger a divine visitation on our churches, but it is our responsibility prayerfully to offer our Lord a church steeped in the gospel and tenderly responsive to his presence.  His Spirit’s blessing should not have to work against the logic and ethos we create.

(pp. 16-17)

Links Related to Parentingology

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I was helped by each of these links recently when JT linked to them:

  1. Technology no longer has boundaries
  2. Know when to cut it off
  3. The difference between preference and addiction
  4. Focus on technology that truly connects us to our kids
  5. Model the balance
Reb Bradley, Homeschool Blindspots
  1. Having Self-Centered Dreams
  2. Raising Family as an Idol
  3. Emphasizing Outward Form
  4. Tending to Judge
  5. Depending on Formulas
  6. Over-Dependence on Authority and Control
  7. Over-Reliance Upon Sheltering
  8. Not Passing On a Pure Faith
  9. Not Cultivating a Loving Relationship With Our Children
Quoting Bryan Caplan: “Secondhand stress is one of kids’ leading grievances.”

Weekend Recap – Jesus, the GodMAN and wisdom for parents

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…audio from our weekend is now online:

In the AM, we looked at Hebrews 2:11-16, a sermon called GodMAN, and how Jesus took on human flesh to identify with us, defeat death and deliver us from slavery.

In the PM, we sought wisdom in Proverbs 4:1-9, a sermon entitled Parental Counsel, to see the high calling we have as parents to impart wisdom, be examples and made wisdom attractive.

I hope you had a blessed Lord’s Day.

Great Questions for Targeting Our Children’s Hearts…

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from Paul Tripp’s Getting To the Heart of Parenting. We’ve been teaching a class of young adults this material. We worked through each of the 10 sessions, now, we are using the rest of the quarter to review the sessions 2 at a time. Last Sunday, we reviewed the sessions entitled “Targeting the Heart.” Here are questions Tripp recommended using to get the heart and motive of your children:

What was going on?
What were you thinking and feeling as it was happening?
What did you do in response?
Why did you do it? or What were you seeking to accomplish?
What was the result?

To encourage younger parents, Tripp said he first used these when his 4 yr. old took a toy from his 2 yr. old brother. This is applicable stuff and can give us a grid to work from in engaging our children’s hearts with the Gospel. Only Jesus can help these to do what is right and honorable to God!

Paul Tripp on Parenting

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On Sunday AMs, I’m teaching Paul Tripp’s Getting To the Heart of Parenting (75% off at WTS Books for a season). Yesterday, Tripp posted an article on parenting entitled The Joyful Impossibility. He mentions 2 things he learned one evening that changed the experience of parenting for him:

1. I faced the fact that I had no ability whatsoever to change my children.
2. I faced the fact that in order to be a tool of grace, I desperately needed grace myself.

Read the article and be reminded of these things yourself.

Helpful Wisdom for Parents…

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on guarding sabbath for our children…

An excerpt:

My oldest son started high school this fall. At his orientation the counselors took a portion of the program to speak to parents about the greatest challenge they see students face in school. I expected to hear about poor study habits or substance abuse, but to my initial surprise, these were not at the top of the list. Apparently, the greatest challenge presenting itself in the office of the high school guidance counselor is a growing number of kids struggling with anxiety and depression. Can you guess why? A combination of over-scheduling and sleep deprivation, linked to two main contributors: electronics use and extracurricular activities. We were encouraged as parents to go home and talk to our teenagers about setting boundaries in both these areas. Parents across the auditorium scribbled notes furiously as the counselors outlined some suggestions: limit texting, monitor bedtimes, cut back on team practices. I couldn’t help but think to myself: tonight there will be many demonstrations of teenage angst when mom shows up with her new list of suggestions.

Read and profit yourself…

Sojourn Kids

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Still thinking about Sunday’s sermon on parenting, I came across a very helpful resource this week on the web…one of those you should bookmark, subscribe to, befriend on Facebook, etc.

Sojourn Kids is the Children’s Ministry of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY. They have amazing resources and links available on their site. They also feature great helps for parents. Navigate your way around this site…I promise you will find helpful things.

How To Make Your Kids Spirtually Apathetic:

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Apathy is defined as a “complete lack of emotion or motivation about a person, activity, or object; depression; lack of interest or enthusiasm; disinterest.” This weekend, we will be looking at Colossians 3:21 and how we are called to parent our children under the Lordship of Christ. I found this post by the Life Together blog on how to breed spiritual apathy in your kids so helpful.

Here are Scott Linscott’s 5 Keys to Making Your Kids Apathetic About Faith:

1. Put academic pursuits above faith-building activities.
2. Chase the gold ball first and foremost.
3. Teach your kid that the dollar is almighty.
4. Refuse to acknowledge that the primary motivating force in kids’ lives is relationship.
5. Model apathy in your own life.

You might check out the full article for more info on how each of these can be pursued. The upshot of all this is that God has greater desires for our children than mere worldly achievements. They were made in by Him and for Him. Let’s allow this vision to compel us to parent in a way that pleases the Lord.