The Life Of A True Pacesetter: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Pacesetters break down barriers and help us see what is possible. Pacesetters are driven by values, not by their own ambitions or desires. True Pacesetters see the world as God sees it...Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was that kind of man — a true Pacesetter. He believed all men and women are created by God and in the image of God, and he believed that standing up for the oppressed and marginalized was worth dying for. 

Five Ways to Shape How Your Elementary-Aged Kids See God

The elementary years provide an unlimited array of possibilities for strategic dads. Your children are changing at a startling pace, which also means that it can be challenging to discern the best ways to love and care for them along the way. 

Amid that uncertainty, don’t lose sight of the most important value you add at this stage. You are providing the mental definition your child will forever use to understand key concepts like “home” or “father.”

Christmas Is Almost Here! Here’s a Reading Plan to Help Your Family Celebrate

Whoa—Christmas is almost here! Now, how do we lead our families through it? 

Thanksgiving was just a few days ago, but we're already starting Advent. As dads, we want to take every opportunity to help shape our families’ hearts toward Jesus. Do you have a plan to share the real reason we celebrate Christmas?

Spending Time with God When Life Is Busy (and When Is Life Not Busy?)

If you are in my stage of life, feeling stretched for time is pretty much inevitable. I have four sons between the ages four and fifteen, a busy teaching schedule, and frequent out-of-town travel commitments. I also lead a small group and help teach Sunday school at church. Between trying to squeeze date nights with my wife, a little one-on-one time with my sons, and a couple of times a week for exercise, I don’t have much margin in my schedule. I could go on and on about how busy I am, but my guess is that you are probably just as busy or busier than I am.  

Spending time in God’s Word and in prayer is often the first thing to go when we get busy. We hate to admit it, but if we are honest, when we have to get up early to finish a presentation for an important meeting or when an unfinished project is looming, prayer can sometimes feel unproductive. We know we should find time to spend with God, but it often slips through the cracks. But over the last few years, I have found a few key rhythms that have helped me find time for prayer, even when life is especially busy.

Teach Your Kids “Me Last” in the Age of “Me First”

Have you ever played rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to go last—or to see who gets to sit in the backseat? 

My college roommate would yell, “Backseat!” every time the two of us rode with another diver. He also had the unique custom of tipping the ice cream server for his milkshake at Baskin Robbins. He explained, “Think about it...you tip the bartender, and all they do is knock the top off of a bottle. The person making your milkshake spends so much more time with your order.” He was a strong, yet empathetic leader in college and continues to be one now. I think that growing up in a household of four kids taught him that life was about much more than him—and these lessons have had a great deal to do with his success.

You Can’t Do It All. Stop Trying!

Birthday parties. Sports games and practices. Music recitals and lessons. Tutoring. Help in homeroom. Help with homework. Robotics. Scouts. Lunch with your child. After-school adventures. Youth group. School carpools.

And that is just part of a list for one child at one school. You might also have just as much to do for other children, as well as plans as a family, taking care of other relatives, neighborhood gatherings, and church and social commitments. Not to mention the fact that you likely work and need some personal downtime every now and then. 

If you are like most dads, you may feel overwhelmed by all there is to do. What do you do when you realize you can’t do it all?

8 Ways to Pray for Your Family

We all know that prayer is important, at least in theory. And we all know that family is important. So surely it should come naturally for us to pray for our families? 

But despite this logic, we probably all (at least from time to time) struggle with praying for our families. Here are 8 ways to pray for your family...

What I Would Do Differently If I Could Rewind My Parenting

What is one thing you would do differently as a parent? 

I recently considered this question while talking with my youngest child. He is now 21 and on summer break from college. He asked me what would I do differently if I could change only one thing in raising him and his sisters? A daunting question for those of us with mostly grown kids. 

Read, Pray, and Sing

Worshiping God with our kids is one of the greatest privileges of parenting. While nothing replaces worshiping with our church family on Sunday mornings, we can also bring the worship into our homes throughout the week. From Don Whitney’s book Family Worship, here is a simple approach you can use to start off your morning or wrap up the day praising God with your family. 

What Are You Afraid Of?

What are you afraid of? 

I certainly have had my big moments of doubt and fear in my life. I’ll never forget being at the hospital with my wife to deliver our third child and getting a call from my boss telling me we were out of business. I worked at a large bank during the 07-08 global financial crisis. My boss called and said we no longer offered home equity loans to the national market.