Jesus talked quite a bit about money, so it follows that Christ-honoring parents need to instruct their children on this topic. As with everything else you teach your kids, the starting point is your own understanding, and then your actions based on that understanding. What do you believe about money? Is it evil? Is it good? How much of it should Christians have? A little? A lot? How should we manage it? Jesus said this: "I tell you,use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Whoever can be trusted with Continue Reading
How an Emergency Highlighted the Meaning of the Wedding
In a lovely, moving ceremony, my youngest son got married last Saturday. My heart overflows with joy, not just because he's found a wonderful woman, but because Jed and Rebecca understand what weddings are all about. Despite the swirl of opinions these days as to what marriage is and whether it's important, weddings are still a big deal in our culture. I hope weddings will always be a big deal -- but I pray it's for the right reasons. My son and his bride orient their lives around joyful obedience to Jesus Christ. They planned their ceremony around the understanding that their Continue Reading
For Strong Faith, Children need Critical Thinking Skills
I’ve seen the atheists’ billboard that reads, “Think before you believe.” I’d say it this way, “Think because you believe.” God gave humans a beautiful, brilliant mind as his image bearers. He also likens us to sheep, knowing our propensity to follow the crowd. Parents who love Jesus and want to impart a strong faith to their children must teach their children to be thinkers. Like all discipleship, this begins with parents developing their own critical thinking skills. After all, we can’t give our children what we don’t have. Critical thinking has nothing to do with Continue Reading
Why You Need to Fight for Your Joy
As Americans, we believe we have the right to pursue happiness. As Christians, we have access to joy in Christ. For the believer, Jesus is the source of all real joy. He bought and paid for our joy along with the rest of our unspeakably wonderful benefits package. However, just because joy is Christ's gift to us doesn't mean it comes our way easily. Every human culture in every era has contained anti-gospel elements, and ours is no exception. That's because Satan uses worldview to indoctrinate humans with his lies. Consider just a few Western cultural paradigms which can Continue Reading