When Santa Went to Jail

The back of this ornament you see pictured above says 1982, but the story begins over 30 years earlier.

It is initialed by my late paternal grandmother with her classic insignia of a crossing M and N. The M stands for Margie, but sometimes she said it stood for ‘Make-do’. But for us, the M always stood for Meemaw.

In the late 1940s my grandfather was in the United States Air Force and stationed in Japan along with my grandmother and two aunts. My dad and uncle had not yet been born. Being a young mom with two young daughters, my grandmother got creative one Christmas to keep her children occupied. She decided she would make Christmas Cookies.

These turned out to not just be any Christmas cookies, but with the help of a special cookie cutter she had found, she decided to make Santa Cookies.

Sort of like the guy who created Velcro accidently stumbling on such a great invention while hunting, my grandmother stumbled upon a wonderful Christmas tradition that has now been in our family nearly 70 years. What started out as a way to help little girls stay busy during Christmas, turned into one of my favorite family Christmas traditions.

Each year she would make these cookies and mail them to friends and family. When we came along she would patiently work with us each Christmas season to make these cookies and decorate them correctly. In 2004 when my wife and I were dating, she came over to help us decorate cookies. My siblings and I were aghast when we saw the future Mrs. Nelson pick up one of our beloved Santa Cookies and begin decorating it like a gingerbread man! Mistake! There's a certain way to decorate these cookies! That's where the ornament above comes in handy.

She had these ornaments cut out of wood and then decorated them just like the cookies and gave them out to family members. Not only does it help us get the pattern of decorating the cookie right, but it also reminds me of great memories with my grandmother. The ornament above has been around longer than I have.

It’s something I will forever cherish.

Well, a few years ago when my children were old enough to make cookies we decided we wanted to keep the tradition alive. At the same time, we also wanted to think of a way to clearly connect it to Christ and to focus on Him during all of our holiday festivities. It's not that we are 'anti-Santa', we just wanted another way to use a great tradition to talk with our kids about Jesus.

Turns out, this wasn’t hard to do, because Santa Claus has a real name: Saint Nicholas.

In 325 A.D., Saint Nicholas was a Pastor (Bishop) in Myra, which is in Modern Day Turkey. Now, St. Nick was a generous Pastor, and there are stories of his kindness and even his affinity for giving generous gifts in secret (see the connection?)… But I want to focus about the time jolly ole St. Nick lost his cool.

In 325 A.D. there was a church council in a place called Nicaea. Church councils were places where a lot of Pastors got together to talk about important subjects and seek to know what Scripture taught on them. This particular council was called because there was a man by the name of Arius who had begun teaching that Jesus was not equal with God the Father.

Similar to what the Jehovah(less) Witnesses now teach (there is nothing new under the sun!), Arius was saying that Jesus is important but He is not co-equal with God the Father. Arius famously preached "There was a time when the Son was not!", thus denying the Son's eternality, and equality with God.

Arius had begun to amass a decent following and at the council of Nicaea he went on and on about Jesus not being fully divine.

Maybe it's because his stockings weren't on quite right, or maybe he hadn't had a chance to smoke that fine Christmas pipe yet that day, but our boy Nicholas was fed up. More accurately it was because Nicholas loved the Jesus of the Bible that he got up from his seat at Nicaea, walked across the room and...

Well, he certainly didn't give Arius a cup of cheer, glass of egg nog, or plate of cookies.

Instead, he slapped that heretic right across the face. Backhand? Front hand? I'm not sure. But the place was shocked. So shocked, that like the Miracle on 34th Street, but for a much nobler reason, Santa Claus was thrown into jail. Whatsmore, he was stripped of his bishopric!

That would be a lump of coal difficult to swallow, but thankfully, the story doesn’t end there.

Nicholas was eventually freed from jail and because of the work of faithful men like Nicholas and others like Athanasius, the heretic Arius was eventually silenced. And not because one side 'won' and the other 'lost' but because it is impossible for both sides to be faithful to Scripture. Why? Because Scripture is clear on this issue.

You see, we cannot have Christmas without the Jesus of the Bible. And the Jesus of the Bible is fully God who became fully man, to rescue us from our sins. If Jesus is not God, then we are still lost in our sins, hopeless and helpless. But the good news is, as Scripture affirms, Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Hebrews 1:3). He is the First and the Last (Revelation 1:17). He is the I AM (John 8:58).

Jesus is God incarnate.

God became man so that He could give His body and blood on the cross to secure the way of salvation for all who repent of their sin and believe this good news. Nicholas was willing to go to jail for this truth. Many others have given their very lives for it.

This truth is what we celebrate this Christmas: God with us (Isaiah 7:14).

Whether or not your family does 'Santa Claus' is entirely up to you. But I wonder if you might take the opportunity this year to share with your children and others the story of the real St. Nick? While I don't condone slapping heretics, I do encourage thinking rightly about Jesus! And God has used many men in church history, including Nicholas Bishop of Myra, to remind us of the importance of the truth of God's incarnation.

St. Nicholas and others composed a Creed at Nicaea that captures the Bible’s teaching on Jesus. There was actually another Nicene Council in 381 in which the Nicene Creed was somewhat edited to help accurately reflect Scripture's teaching on the Trinity. I would like to conclude this blog with a portion of this creed:



We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.


He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

4 Ways our Christmas Tree Points to Jesus

I know that when one puts up their Christmas tree can be a source of controversy. Not like there are other sorts of more important controversies out there or anything. 

A lot of people are in the "Not till after Thanksgiving!" camp and I get that. I think it's out of a desire to protect Christmas from over commercialization. That's a noble desire indeed. 

For our family however, we don't feel like one month is long enough. In the first place, it's usually a bit of an effort to put everything up, so why go through that just to pull it down in 4 weeks!? But secondly, we like the tradition of being able to enjoy all that our Christmas tree stands for during this time of year. So, this leads to us usually putting our tree up in early November. 

And when we do there are four things we like to draw attention to when we put up our tree. I share these things not to try and say you have to do it this way but hopefully to give you some ideas on intentionality in your Christmas celebration. 

I love being intentional about making Christmas point to Christ. What an astounding truth that God most high clothes Himself in human flesh to dwell among us! So, here are 4 things we focus on when putting up our tree:

1. The Tree that we put up to celebrate Christ's birth also reminds us of Christ's death 

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24

The most wonderful news about God becoming man is that He came to do something about our sin problem. And this was accomplished though Christ's death on a cross made of wood. We use the Christmas tree to help us remember this. 

2. The Tree is an Evergreen. Jesus is eternal and so is His kingdom. 

There have been various reasons given for the origin of the 'Christmas Tree' but we use the fact that it is an evergreen to help us think rightly about Jesus' eternality and the everlastingness of His rule and reign. 

3. Jesus is the light of the world and Believers are called to be lights too. 

It's a beautiful sight to see your Christmas tree all lit up. Our children especially are captivated by it. We use it to remind them (and us) that Christmas is about hope. A light in the darkness. The days are shorter this time of year and physical darkness seems to be winning. But just as the lights on the tree shed more light in our living room, so to does Jesus shed light in this spiritually dark world. And as His followers our light should point to Him. 

4. God is faithful 

We don't do a 'themed' tree. Rather, every year we buy an ornament or a few and write the date on them. This is something I had when I was a child. So, we have a tree with ornaments that are nearly 30 years old. There's often fun conversation and memories as we put up ornaments together. We remember where we got them and the story behind them. 

What we've told our kids about this process is that this is a reminder of God's faithfulness to our family over the years. How He has blessed us and shown His kindness to us year after year.

Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to celebrate Christmas. But I do think it's a wonderful time to focus on God's incarnation and to share in the blessings, fun, and traditions of family. The point of this post is to help us think intentionally about pointing our children to Jesus through the holidays. Don't let the world take this celebration from us! Don't let the false god of materialism be who is really worshiped this time of year! 

Christ is King. O come let us adore Him.  

8 Quick Thoughts on the Election

I went to bed with the media saying Donald Trump had a 95%+ chance of winning the electoral college. Now that I've slept on it and seen the results here a just a few quick thoughts. There's certainly more I could say but I think I'll leave it at this for now:

1. Didn't see that coming.

2. I am grateful to God to not have an anti-marriage, anti-baby, anti-religious freedom, anti-constitution political party representing the office of president of the United States

3. Donald Trump is our new president. I commit to pray for him.

4. The longer God maintains religious freedom in this country the higher amount of responsibility we will be judged with. Let that sink in with the amount of time you spend with your Bible and how committed you are in your local church. We have no excuses. The more God blesses our nation economically the higher expectation the church has to be sacrificial in our giving. How will you use these blessings to commit to the advancement of God's kingdom?

5. Throughout the campaign I have not personally been able to trust Trump. And even now I'm more excited about who lost than who won. And I'm not sure about what the future holds for our country or how Trump will follow through on some of his campaign promises. I hope we will have Supreme Court justices committed to biblical principles. I hope our freedoms will remain in tact. I hate abortion. Trump was pro choice for a long time. I hope his views have really changed. See #3.

6. Some people are saying this is God's judgment on America. Others are saying this is a signal of hope that our Nation isn't as far gone as we thought. At this point, it's hard for me to fully agree with either spectrum. Time will tell.

7. I hope that a Trump presidency does not cause you to be complacent about the state of the Church or the state of our nation. Our great hope is heart change wrought by the Holy Spirit through the gospel. This is still much needed.

8. I am grateful for our country and all God has done in and through it. Let's pray for our governmental leaders and use the time God has given us here to strive for the advancement of the gospel throughout this nation and to the uttermost parts of the earth. Let's continue to pray for revival in our nation and Reformation in our churches.

Things that Won't Fix America

Like many Americans, I am grieved about where we are as a country. I think we have drifted pretty far from what the Founders intended for our great Nation and more concerning, I see some of the very freedoms we've enjoyed for so long being increasingly infringed upon. 

With that being said, I think it's helpful to remember that as a Believer, my first allegiance is not to a flag but to the King of kings. This is not to suggest that the two of necessity mutually exclude one another, but it is to emphasize that One must always take priority over the other. When we think about situations, and elections, and policies, and various movements in our culture, we must think as a Christian first. This doesn't always come naturally nor is it always easy to do unless we are intentional about it. 

I thank God that I am an American. I am the grandson of a USAF Colonel who fought countless missions in both Korea and Vietnam. I am grateful for his service to our country. I am grateful for the freedoms we enjoy and for the the principles on which this country was founded: All men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

But all of that, absolutely all of it, is subservient to my allegiance to King Jesus. This means I see all of what we have in America as a means to a greater end. Ultimately that end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. This is not to say that the above Americanisms conflict with Christianity but that they fall underneath it in the sense that the ultimate purpose of our freedoms as Americans is to glorify God. 

Maybe we could put it like this: the freedoms we enjoy as Americans should be used to live for the glory of God. To make Christ known to our countrymen. To happily enjoy Christ's rule and reign in our lives as we see Him ever widening the borders of His Kingdom around us. America is not nor never has been a theocracy. But it has, in the providence of God, served as channel in which the gospel has impacted not just innumerable people here but also to the far reaches of the earth. 

One thing that is for sure is that no matter what happens to our country the Kingdom of God will continue to advance and the Church will endure. 

With that being said, it is my great hope that our country will endure for the glory of God. And I think that the way our country will endure (if it is to endure) will be through the change of hearts wrought through the heralding of the gospel. This doesn't mean we aren't concerned about culture, politics, the downcast, etc. In fact, I'd say we are even more concerned about those things because we are concerned about them rightly, through the lens of the gospel. 

So, we live, we vote, we stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves, and all the while we live for the glory of God which includes sharing the good news of the life, death, burial, resurrection, and reign of King Jesus. And our great hope for the Nation lies in that. Not that the gospel changes a 'Nation' but that it does change the individuals who comprise the Nation thus 'fixing' a Nation. 

I think this is necessary to work through because I've seen so many posts the last several months that seem to at the very least imply that our hope lies somewhere else. Like if we can just get this one thing or that one thing or these several things together then that will fix America. While I maintain these things (depending on what issue has you riled up!) may be important, I also maintain that the gospel is not dependent on any of them in order to thrive and bring about the change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit. 

In fact, sometimes God uses the very opposite of what we think is necessary in order to bring about the change we want to see. 

So, with all of that in mind let's survey some popular topics today, none of which are the 'key' to fixing our country. 

Here we go:

1. Trump being elected president

I do think it's morally permissible to vote for Donald Trump. But I've actually seen people say Believers are morally obligated to vote for Trump. What's more, I've actually seen posts and conversations that have basically said Donald Trump is the key to making our nation great again. 

Say what?

Look, I don't think voting for Clinton is a viable option.  But for Believers to tell other Believers it is their obligation to vote Trump rather than not voting or voting third party is not biblically defensible. Furthermore, to bolster this pressure by insinuating that the hope of our nation rests in Trump being elected president is actually not Christian thinking.

If Hillary is prevented from becoming president or if Trump does become president, neither of those scenarios fix the country. Nor do they put us on a better trajectory without heart change. 

2. People standing for the National Anthem

I think it's disrespectful not to stand for the National Anthem. I don't think it's a time for protest. I am grateful for those who've defended our country. 

But I've seen lots of conversations of people acting as if we could just create laws or boycotts or make enough noise about people standing during the National Anthem that will fix our country. 

Laws won't change hearts.

Should people stand for the anthem? Yes. If they all stood tomorrow are we a better country? I don't think so. The root of the problem is not fixed. 

3. Black, blue, red, yellow, white lives Matters campaigns

Not sure what to add here. I appreciate some of the awareness that has been brought about. But even if everyone tomorrow agreed with whichever campaign you're involved in, that actually doesn't fix our issues does it? 

4. Having conservative justices on the Supreme Court 

Do I think this is important? You bet. Do I bemoan what would happen with more liberal judges on the Supreme Court? Certainly. 

But there is a difference in supporting and hoping for these things and in idolizing them. If tomorrow all 9 justices on the Supreme Court were conservative, our country would still be in trouble. 

If we could strike down the Obergefell and Roe v. Wade decisions, two decisions that are an abomination to God and an unconstitutional overreach of the Court, it still wouldn't change the hearts of the people. 

5. Maintaining our Freedoms 

The right to preach. The right to bear arms. The right to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 

These are all important. They are dear to our hearts. But even if those are not maintained in our country the end is not inevitable, for the church has endured, and even thrived in more hostile situations. 

My point in writing all of this is not to say that we shouldn't be involved in politics and policies. We definitely should be. We should vote Christian principles and seek to establish policies that are consistent with biblical teaching because it is when we align with Scripture that we will see an environment most conducive to true human flourishing. 

But in all of this Christ must have the preeminence. Take for example those who rightly hate abortion but wrongly take the route of physically attacking abortion doctors and workers. Is Christ honored through these sort of actions? No. And nor is He honored when Believers pin all of our hope on the outcome of an election, cultural movement, or policy change. It is good and right to use all of the influence we have to instill godly principles into our society. It is not right to do this through means of physical coercion. Nor is it right to act as though if an election, movement, or policy doesn't go the way we think it should that all hope is lost. Certainly not! King Jesus is on His throne. And He bows to no one. Not even human free will. He is ordering His universe by the word of His power. And all things will happen as He decrees. So, mankind is responsible for the choices we make, but ultimately Jesus wins. Therefore, as we strive for the advancement of the gospel together, our greatest hope lies in this truth. Even what feels like defeats here can and will be used by God for the glory of His great name and the good of His people. 

Again, don't sit back in your lawn chair and watch America burn. Be involved as you are able locally and regionally and even nationally to effect change. But let the driving motivation in what you do not merely be a 'better future' for your kids in terms of the American dream. No, let the driving force in all that you do be the glory of God and the hopes of seeing His glory furthered through the conversion sinners both here and abroad. 

Preach. Pray. Participate in the local church. Prioritize Scripture reading. And remember that the great problem of all Americans is not something outside them. It's not that they aren't educated enough or don't have the right opportunities in life. The greatest problem Americans have is a heart that rejects and rebels against the God who made them. And this won't be fixed by an external issue. It won't be fixed by a President. It won't be fixed by the Supreme Court. It will only be fixed by the gospel. And when professing Believers make these other things a priority over the gospel, even going so far as to be more passionate about voting than attending church, we actually become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. Ultimately, the gospel will not spread through policy but through people. We've got to share it. We've got to live out what Christ has worked in us. We've got to herald the news of the coming judgement but the free offer of pardon that exists now for all who repent and believe the gospel. 

No doubt part of living for Jesus is living for Him in all realms, including how we vote. But brothers and sisters, our great hope is not in the outcome our vote. It is in the One who casts the deciding Ballot. The King eternal. 

No doubt it's late at the time of this publication. So I do hope I've made sense! To God be the glory... 

10 Reasons to Intentionally Disciple Your Children

We wrapped up our sermon series on Discipleship  by discussing a crucial aspect of discipleship sometimes overlooked: Parenting. You can listen to the sermon in its entirety here, but what I hope to convince you of in this post is 10 reasons we must be intentionally discipling our children. 

• Intentional as in thought out and focused. Not merely taking your children to church, but in addition to that, having focused times throughout the week to teach the truths of Scripture.

• Discipling as in having the goal of rearing our children as the Lord's. That our focus, goal, and priority of raising our children is that we would see them come to follow Christ and to live with Him as their Savior and King. 

So, Ten Reasons to intentionally disciple our children:

1. God Commands it 

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).  This is a command. We could just stop here couldn’t we?

God commands us to raise our children up in the discipline and instruction of Him. Dads, you are the pastor of your home. Moms, if you are single or have a husband who is not a Believer, this responsibility falls on you. I don't mean to imply that a single parent home is easy, but this command applies even in that situation. 

We could look at other passages like Deuteronomy 6:4-7, Psalm 78:4, Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 22:6, 2 Timothy 3:15, and see that God's plan for children has always been that parents would be the primary disciple makers.

Church programs can certainly be helpful and beneficial. But they can't take the place of parenting. If a child spends 4 hours at church a week, that still pales in comparison to the amount of time they spend with their parents.

2. Christians throughout history have practiced it

As Christians, we have 2,000 years of Christian history to look to. Did everyone get everything right? No. But, there is still much to learn and we can hear the voices from Christian past call out to us and encourage us to do family worship.

We could go through a long list of names and quotes – Men like John Newton, who wrote the song Amazing Grace, like Jonathan Edwards, the greatest American Theologian in history, Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, have all advocated family worship and being intentional in the discipleship of our children

Almost 300 years ago George Whitefield had this to say: “visit our churches, and you may perhaps see something of the form of godliness still subsisting among us; but even that is scarcely to be met with in private houses.” So, he’s saying “look even in our churches godliness is but a form. But in the homes! Not even that is met in the homes!” Year by year it seems the standard of godliness is lowered by so called Christian culture. How fitting to see that as we look at this 2016 election cycle, we are simply reaping what we've sown! Let us take heed from those who've gone before us!

We are both prideful and foolish if we fail to listen to and learn from those who have gone on before us.

3. Grace compels it

In Christ, we are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Let me encourage you: Don’t let society dictate to you how you should raise your children and grandchildren. Don’t let society shape your thinking on what’s important in life. We are a new creation! All that we are has been affected by the gospel, including how we parent.

Let God’s grace compel you to put His principles to work in rearing kids.

4. There is a war on the family

You might be tempted to think this is new. No, it began in the Garden. The serpent took God’s order for the family and turned it on its head. And we continue to see this war rage throughout the Bible. Cain killing Abel, Joseph’s brothers attempting to kill him, Pharaoh ordering the death of male Hebrews, Herod killing children 2 and under, and on and on and on. There is a war on the family because God instituted the family and Satan hates God.

This war continues on today. The Obergefell decision. Abortion. Divorce. Pornography. Child Predators. Sex outside of marriage. All of this is part of the ongoing on the family. 

If I told you today that there was someone coming to break into your home, you'd do all you could to prevent it. The truth is, the Evil One is trying to break into your home. How are you protecting it? The reality is, no one is on the sidelines in this war. We are all engaged in this battle. How are you contributing? A lack of contribution is contribution toward the Enemy.

5. Your children need it

Prom Dresses, baseball, and college. All those things are great. But one day our children will stand before the throne of the God of the Universe. And they will give an account of their life. And we have the opportunity right now to instill in them the truths of God’s Word. They need it.

Their little hearts are so malleable. Press the truths of God on them! Let us strive them the gospel regularly, and intentionally! "Oh, but I don't want to sway my child one way or the other. I just want them to make their own choices." I promise you that if you don't intentionally seek to shape your child, the world will. "But I don't want to shelter my child." Well, sheltering your child, along with feeding and clothing him, is the sign of a good parent! No, I don't mean be a 'helicopter' parent. But I do mean take a focused and thoughtful approach to rearing your children in the Lord.

· This will manifest itself in daily conversations you have with your kids. Talk to them about the Bible, the gospel, God, sin, forgiveness.

· And it will manifest itself in intentional times of family devotions and prayer

Family worship is something we must recover in our homes. Resolve that at least 2-3 nights a week you will take 10-15 minutes with your children memorizing Scripture, talking about the Bible, singing songs of the faith, and explaining the gospel and its ramifications. 

6. You love your children

Read the type of person that Scripture calls blessed. Look at Psalm 1:1-3 for example. And so, because we love our children we instruct them in these truths. We want our children to live a blessed life don't we? We don’t just want them to escape hell. We want them to see life for what it was intended: To enjoy God and glorify Him forever! Because we love them we want them to live a life that matters.

7. Your soul needs it

It’s been said that our hearts are idol factories. Meaning, we are constantly reaching out to other things to worship. Whether it’s our self-esteem, or self-image, or even our children’s popularity, or money, or sports, or a certain size of clothes, or whatever.

You weren’t made to worship these things. You were made to worship the God who made you! You will find as you intentionally instruct your children in the ways of Christ that your own soul will find refreshment in the truths of Scripture.

As you teach you learn. As you teach your children to worship, you worship. As they grow, you grow. And your soul needs this.

8. The church needs it 

Psalm 127:3-4 says "Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth."

I love this imagery. The bible says children are like arrows in the hands of a warrior. That’s a manly image. Arrows. In the hands of a warrior.

So, in a sense, God has given the church this mighty weapon in children, whom we can rear and then shoot out at the forces of darkness and press them back as the Kingdom of God advances.

The local church should have a big picture focus on this. We can ever strive to equip and encourage parents in this. You remember Braveheart? Or any movie that depicts a battle scene like that. Here come the archers first and they just let loose a barrage of arrows. Wave after wave after wave! So, get your arrows ready. Get them ready to be of use to the church. Don’t let your children actually be tools in the hand of the Enemy. The church needs us to pour into our children now so that when they come of age, they can serve, and love, and assist in winning souls to Jesus, instead of needing to be won.

Do not bow to cultural expectations for rearing your children. The Bible Belt can be the toughest place to raise a Chrisitan child sometimes only because what passes as 'Christian' is too often contrary to Scripture. Do not be a parent that wants your child to have worldly success at the expense of a total commitment to following Christ in all areas. 

In Southern Baptist life, many adults have their names on a church roll but don't actually attend or at based attend occasionally. Do all in your power to not let your children grow up with that sort of commitment or mentality. Many professing Southern Baptists don't actually love the church and we know that any person who doesn't love the church doesn't love Christ and is, therefore, unregenerate. Don't settle for this in rearing your children.

Yes, we know that it is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit that regenerates hearts. But do all in your power to set your children an example of what a true Believer really is and then teach them intentionally the truths of God's Word. Teach them that the church isn't an add on to our week but what we schedule our week around. Show them tangible examples of generosity, grace, and sharing the gospel.

Our children need to be on this side of the mission carrying the banner of Christ to places still unreached instead of on the other side of the mission needing to be reached…

9. The world needs it

As Christian parents, we should be light to this world (cf. Matt. 5:16). Rearing your children with the primary goal of God’s glory isn’t common. The world needs to see that you’re different. When your children’s friends come over they need to see you engage in this behavior. Let your friends see you engage in this behavior.

The world needs to see that you don’t have a Sunday faith only but you desire to worship God with every aspect of your life. They need to see a recovery of biblical Christianity, and that is going to begin in the home. 

Yup. You will definitely have a high chance here of being looked at as 'weird' or 'counter-cultural.' But that's exactly what the gospel is to the world isn't it? Foolishness. I'm not saying strive to be weird by any means. I don't think that's a spiritual gift! But the world needs to see what it's like for parents who love Christ supremely. More than your kids’ popularity. More than gymnastics. More than sports. You’ve tasted and seen that the Lord is good and this has changed everything about you….

No, the world won't be saved through your Christian parenting. But your Christian parenting does give testimony to the gospel and how Christ saves to the uttermost.

10. We have no excuses

What I am talking about is being intentional in pouring God’s truth into our children.

Setting time aside a few nights a week to read the Bible together. To pray together. To ask questions. To sing. To talk about God’s Truth. To have a big picture view of raising your kids to the glory of God by intentionally proclaiming God’s Word to them. To talk of God's truth "when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise" (Deut. 6:7).

I think the 2 biggest excuses for people are these:

        1. I don’t have time

It is certainly true that we are all busy. But, this is a priority isn’t it? It’s ok to give up other things, in order to do this thing. Unplug the satellite if necessary. Cancel your child's basketball season if that's what it takes. This is important enough to make time for.

        2. I don’t know how

Just start with this: Open up the bible and read it with your kids, and pray, and then maybe sing a simple song that is age appropriate. God has equipped you in this! You can do this! 

Will you?

Let me close with this: There are no perfect parents. We've all failed, and we've all fallen short. Our salvation isn't based on our parenting skills but on the finished work of Christ. Jesus bore the wrath of God on our behalf, including the wrath that we deserve for our failures as parents. So, God accepts us in Christ! We don't parent so that God will love us. God has already proven His love for us in the finished work of His Son. So, the gospel has freed us to bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Yes, we fall short, but we are free now to strive for holiness in our families in such a way that God is pleased and that our families, churches, and communities will be affected positively for our good and His glory. 

How We Do Family Worship

I wrote the following almost 7 years ago. Our little family has grown since then but much of what we do is still the same:

This blog is not about ‘why’ we do family worship in our home, but how. I hope that everyone reading this understands the biblical foundation for family worship found in Scripture. As mentioned in previous blogs, Deut. 6:5-7 clearly states that parents are responsible for teaching their children about the Lord and His commands.

First of all, I want to say that we do not have the perfect model; nor are we perfect in our current framework of family worship. There are still things that we’d like to imporve on, but what we’ve started is a foundation for family worship in the home that we plan on lasting the rest of our lives.

We do our worship in the evenings right after supper. This usually happens about 4-5 days out of the week, but sometimes can be only a few if we have to be gone several nights. I want to take a side note here and say that families need to get back to eating supper together. Make it goal in the near future to eat together at least 3 nights out of the week for starters. I know families are busier and busier but the dinner table is a place we can laugh, cry, and bond together as a family. Some of us don’t understand the value of family dinners because we didn’t grow up eating supper as a family. If this describes you, I highly recomend that you start encouraging your family to eat supper together on a regular basis. The time shared is truly invaluable! This doesn’t mean you have to do family worship right after supper… This just happens to be the best time for us because we are all together (and we aren’t what you would call “morning people”!). Also, even if you don’t do family worship after dinner, still make it a priority to cut out some of the extracurricular activities that are preventing your family from eating supper together.

Ok so, right after dinner we’ll clean off the table and then I’ll read a passage of Scripture. We were reading through Bradyn’s Children’s Bible, but we haven’t been the last several weeks. If you have smaller children a children’s illustrated Bible really does come in handy! Lately, I’ve just been reading passages of Scripture that God has laid on my heart. I try to balance Old Testament and New Testament readings. Honestly, a reading plan would be better, and we are going to try and work on that in the future!

After I read the Bible I’ll aske a couple of simple questions. Bradyn’s only 2 and Caleb is 4 months, so I know they aren’t technically “learning” but it does help build a foundation for how we will do things in the future. Occasionally, Steph and I will discuss things from the reading on an adult level with each other. After the reading and questions, we’ll sing. We have an older Baptist Hymnal, but don’t use it every time. I have a guitar, but we don’t use it every time either. For about a year we’ve been really wearing out Jesus Loves Me! But it is important to sing different songs and I would encourage you to get a hymnal or other song book to help you sing with your family.

The last thing we do after 1-2 (sometimes 3-5!) songs is pray. We don’t just pray a generic “bless our family” prayer. Instead we try to pray according to the passage of Scripture that we just read. For example, 2 Peter 1:21 was in our reading the other night, and we thanked God for His inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.

This whole process takes about 10-15 minutes! I think so many people don’t do family worship because they are worried about time frame… In the future we may plan on taking longer as we introduce more “involved” questions and even Catechism(similar to the Westminster Catechism) but still the whole thing doesn’t have to last longer than 15-20 minutes at the most. Obviously don’t be looking at the clock ready to shut it down if kids are asking questions, but also don’t feel you have to give up your whole evening either.

So that’s basically it… The whole process of the Nelson Family Worship time. My challenge to you is to just start. Even if you can only plan on doing it 1 day every week right now, that’s fine. Just begin. If your kids are older it may take some getting used to, but still we must adhere to the biblical model of family discipleship. Maybe you don’t have kids yet or they’ve already left home. In that case I would still challenge you to have a similar form of worship time in your home. If you dont’ have kids yet, this is a great way to lay a foundation for one of the ways you will help raise godly children. Think about this:

If we can’t worship in the home, how can we worship during church services?

***

There's more I could add but after 7 years we basically keep the same format! We have memorized many bible verses, and the Apostles Creed. We've sang lots of songs. We've read through Pilgrim's Progress during one season. We've used other helps like The Ology, The Biggest Story, and The Jesus Story Book Bible. We've had some great conversations, some laughs, and even frustrations. We aren't perfect and there have been many nights I've wondered "is this worth it?" But I assure you it is! And I encourage you that if you still have kids at home start this TODAY!

It is our duty and privilege to be the primary disciple makers of our children. 

15 Books on Discipleship

Over the years I've read several books on discipleship. I thought I would just jot down a few that have been the most helpful. They all deal with at least some aspect of discipleship.

And here's a quick disclaimer: I may not necessarily agree with everything in each book. In fact, I know I don't agree with everything in every book listed below (except #15!). But, there is still enough value in each book that I would recommend it to you.

Hope this list is helpful! Also, they are NOT listed in any particular order.

1. The Reformed Pastor by Ricard Baxter (a must read for every pastor!)

2. and 3. Radical Together and Follow Me by David Platt

4. and 5. Apparent Privilege and reThink by Steve Wright (particularly helpful for parenting and the truth that parents are the primary disciple makers of their children)

6. One to One Bible Reading by David Helm

7. Gospel-Centered Discipleship by Jonathan K. Dodson

8. Community by Brad House (I 100% do not agree with the way the person who wrote the foreword handled his church planting situation. And I am not aware that he has since been restored biblically. So, I hesitate adding this one. Also, I don't agree always with the language of 'contextualization.' With that being said, there is still some helpful truth in this work when it comes to small groups).

9. Discipling by Mark Dever

10. Evangelism by J. Mack Stiles

11. Growing up by Robby Gallaty

12. Instruments in the Redeemers Hands by Paul David Tripp

13. and 14 The Trellis and the Vine and The Vine Project by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne (although both were great and helpful, I think you could get the most out of just reading The Vine Project).

15. The Bible - No, I didn't put that just to be cute or because I felt like I had to! But, the Bible is our sufficient means of making disciples. It's not just what we use to make disciples but it also instructs us how! So, don't leave it out of your list of discipleship books!