Life Over Coffee With Rick Thomas

One of the hardest things a Christian parent will ever experience is a child choosing not to walk with the Lord. Attached to this personal struggle is the temptation to force or manipulate righteousness on the child. You’ll know if you’re susceptible to these struggles if you are over-worrying, over-caring, or over-trying to get your child to change. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-31-you-cannot-change-your-children/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

If our children learn not to take themselves too seriously, it will be easier for them to live in relationships with others today and after they become adults. Not thinking too highly of yourself is to think humbly of yourself. A lack of gospel-centered humility keeps an individual from living well with God and others. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-30-teach-your-children-to-laugh-at-themselves/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Parents have the responsibility and privilege of guiding their children into a practical experience of knowing and loving God. Though all children are born with limited God awareness, you can cooperate with the Lord in connecting that immature, innate awareness of God in practical ways that could lead to their salvation and progressive sanctification. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-29-one-reason-children-rebel-against-their-parents/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Every loving parent wants their children to turn out well. However, they are also aware they have a role to play. Though God is the primary change agent, parents are secondary agents who must cooperate with the Lord to transform their children. Here are seven tips to help those parents. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-28-seven-point-checklist-to-have-fantastic-children/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

What do you hope your child will be after he grows up? Many Christians would say they hope their child loves God and others more than himself (Matthew 22:36-40). Those are two great goals, but what do they mean? Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-26-the-perfect-goal-for-your-child/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

When you think about your heavenly Father, you are immediately aware of His kindness, patience, forbearance, and affection for you. These thoughts about your heavenly Father are fundamental because how He treats you is how you are to treat others, especially your children. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-25-a-parents-secret-weapon-to-motivate-a-child-to-change/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

You cannot create unity from disunity. What is on the inside will come out on the outside. If disunity is in your marriage, disunity will flow out of it. If disunity characterizes your marriage, the likelihood of your children being relationally dysfunctional is strong. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-24-the-best-thing-some-parents-can-do-is-stop-parenting/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Parents love and care for their children, which is a good thing. Some parents over-care for their children, which is challenging, especially when their kids are not walking with the Lord. Many of these parents struggle as they rehearse all the ways they failed their children. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-23-i-failed-as-a-parent-now-what/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

The best way to learn how to be the best parent is to learn from the best parent. God, the Father, is the best parent the world has ever known. Understanding and applying His parenting to your family is one of the wisest things you can do. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/five-tips-from-the-best-parent-the-world-has-ever-known/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Two people can’t agree on everything completely. If you are married, you know this is true. Two fallen people living in proximity to each other will always have a few perspectives and preferences that will never be the same. It is unavoidable, and it does not have to be a bad thing. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-21-two-acceptable-conflicts-in-your-home/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Pragmatic parenting is a rule-based, heavily structured, and self-reliant methodology. Some of the family rules are good and biblical, while others are based on preferences and conveniences. It’s an unwise parenting model. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-20-the-danger-of-pragmatic-parenting/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

After all these years of counseling and all the trouble I’ve seen in people’s lives, it has become more real to me than ever how we need a better worldview and foundation on which to land when we fall. Learning how to fall well is God’s mercy to us. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-19-if-you-could-export-only-one-thing-to-your-child/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Teaching curse words, language use, biblical parenting, cultural engagement, redemptive speech, heart motives, child training, gospel-centered language, parental guidance, Christian worldview. It is impossible to engage our culture at any level and not hear curse words. Whether it is a television show or a stroll in the park, the words of our culture do not discriminate. They do not care who you are. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-18-the-wisdom-of-teaching-your-children-curse-words/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Introducing children to the world, biblical parenting, cultural awareness, gospel-centered parenting, sheltering vs. exposure, child training, spiritual preparedness, real-world engagement, parenting wisdom, family dynamics. The little people in your home will only be in your home for a nano-second. They may spend ninety percent of their lives outside of your parental jurisdiction. Equipping them to live well in the world that will make up nearly all of their earthly existence is wise. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-17-the-wisdom-of-introducing-your-children-to-the-world/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

A family with a gospel-centered view of sin experiences something that never crosses the mind of their culture. Once you tap into God’s grace at this level, sin is not a disadvantage but an opportunity to magnify God through your family’s imperfections. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (1 John 1:8-10). Here is a short list of those advantages. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-16-the-wisdom-of-engaging-the-sin-in-your-family/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

How do you discipline your children? What if I asked the question from your child’s perspective? What is their experience with your corrective care? Biblical restorative care always begins with God. The Father is the one you want to imitate, especially when it comes to discipline (Ephesians 5:1). Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-15-parental-discipline-comes-from-a-heart-of-love/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

One of the most practical things a parent could do for their children is to love them just because. You don’t need a reason other than they are your kids. God loves you that way. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-14-love-your-children-just-cause/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

If a person’s parenting model primarily consists of bringing critique from a heart of personal frustration, the parent’s model needs to change. Biblical parents center their primary communication with their children on love, not criticism. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/a-biblical-perspective-on-critiquing-children/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Shows Main Idea – A small group is more than a meeting—it’s a place for transformation. Learn how to engage, grow, and build a gospel-centered community. Watch or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-543-webinar-small-group-leader-development/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Being authoritarian is a good thing because, as image-bearers, we want to emulate our Father. Thus, we must learn to live under God’s authority and learn how to model it. However, if authoritarianism is our only parenting method, it may scuttle our children’s individualized sanctification needs. Read, Watch, or Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/day-12-rule-based-parenting-creates-dysfunctional-children/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.