Are your Children Natural Born Sinners?
A few years ago, the Babylon Bee published a satirical article entitled “Woman Finally Accepts Doctrine of Total Depravity Now That Daughter Is Two.” The article was [...]
children
What Happens to Unbaptized Infants Who Die?
If the doctrine of original sin is true, and everyone is born with a sinful nature and a rebel towards God, what happens to babies who die? Do babies go to hell? Do they go [...]
Has Original Sin Made you a Bad Parent?
One of the strangest things I had to get used to as a young father, was my children freely admitting to their sins. Adam and Eve hid when they sinned, but my kids bragged [...]
The Three Nights of Christmas
Pohutukawa by Tepora Watene It’s that time of the year where we gather with friends and family to celebrate Christmas and to tie a bow on the year that was. 2020 has been [...]
50 Phrases to Say to our Kids
One of the most important things you can do is speak words of life to a child. This is true whether you are a parent, a grandparent, a caregiver, a teacher, a babysitter, a [...]
What Makes a Church a Family?
The gospel of grace has exploded over the past few years. Ten years ago you probably hadn’t heard of Joseph Prince, Andrew Wommack, or Escape to Reality. But today many [...]
8 Signs that a Church Doesn’t Get Grace
A while ago I listed eight signs of a hypergrace church. A hypergrace church preaches the unconditional love of God and the undiluted gospel of grace. A hypergrace church is [...]
Fatherless fiction
I have four children under the age of ten so I read a lot of children’s books. Sometimes I even read them to my kids! A recurring theme I have noticed in children’s [...]
Three books on parenting
Recently, I have read three books on parenting. One of them was good, one was not so good, and the third was a surprise. Let’s start with the good one. Grace-Based [...]
What About Those Who Never Hear the Gospel?
Everybody responds to God’s love and grace, one way or another. But what about those who die before they get a chance to respond? To pick an extreme example, what about [...]
What Happens to Babies Who Die?
What do you say to the parents of a deceased baby? What would you say to the families of the 80 children who died on flight MH17 last week? I’m not sure what you should say [...]
“The Jesus Storybook Bible” by Sally Lloyd-Jones
A question I am often asked is, “What grace resources are available for children?” It seems there are hardly any. In Sunday School children are much more likely to learn [...]
What is your dream?
Fifty years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave one of the most stirring speeches of all time. His “I have a dream” [...]
Would you free a slave? Would you feed a child?
If you lived in the 1850s during the time of slavery, and you had the resources to purchase and liberate slaves, would you do it? Would you go to the slave markets and buy [...]
The secret to grace-based parenting
When people learn that I have three children (ages 3, 5, and 7 if you’re interested), they assume that I must be an outstanding parent. They write to me with questions like [...]
Jesus’ Medicine – Tastes Like Ribena
My 5 year old came home from school with a fever. We wrapped her up in her doona, made her comfortable on the couch, and prayed for her. She got worse. By the time dinner was [...]
Grace and Law in the Chronicles of Narnia
One of the consequences of learning about grace is that you become sensitive to anything that smacks of legalism. This can lead to some nasty surprises. One moment you’re [...]
Escape to Reality 