Episode 638: TLP 638: What’s Coming in Season 36!

When I meet with an individual or council of family, I always take inventory of their physical health. One's physical health can be a huge burden on their spiritual health. Parenting isn't about us. In fact, parenting isn't even about our kids.

Parenting as Worship and the End of Season 35

Parenting is just one way Christian dads and moms are to worship God. So welcome to the Truth Love Parent podcast, where we train dads and moms to give God the preeminence in their parenting. Season 35 has reached its end, and so we embark on season 36.

Welcome to today's teaser of our upcoming content. I don't know how useful these short synopses are for you, but I find them very helpful as we set our sights on the next phase of our year. There's a lot of scripture that talks about seeing, looking ahead, being attentive, planning, discernment, and care.

So I view this as a way to prepare ourselves for what we're going to learn. So let's do that. I don't want to sound a dour, but this season will end in September with a celebration of our 10th anniversary.

And though that sounds very exciting, on one hand. On the other, it may be our last. As many of you know, we're trying to raise $100 ,000 so that this ministry can become sustainable and continue serving families.

However, in all transparency, though we've received a handful of precious donations, we are nowhere near our goal. Come September, the board and I will have to have the uncomfortable conversation about whether or not this ministry can afford to continue.

Again, I don't want to sound negative in any way. I've already said that I completely trust God to know what's best and to provide the wisdom He promises. I desperately want to do this full-time. I want to continue counseling families, writing books, and creating this free podcast content.

But I don't want to pursue anything the Lord isn't in. For quite a while now, I've been working 12 to 14 hour days trying to keep TLP up and running while also desperately trying to make the money to care for my family.

At the moment, TLP pays me about $10 ,000 a year. I think it would be great if TLP were able to provide a living wage so that I could throw myself full-time into ministering to families. So we're definitely not giving up hope at this point.

We're going to continue asking all of you to partner with us by becoming monthly donors. We're going to continue directing you to truthloveparent .com forward slash donate. Every little bit does help and will add up and by the grace of God could easily reach $100 ,000 and more if he wills.

By the way, please understand that the $100 ,000 mark is not for me. Okay, it's for the ministry. TLP would pay me from that, but I'm just one of the many different financial obligations the ministry has.

The board would ultimately decide if they can raise my salary and how much I would receive. Anyway, my point is we still have time. We could still reach our goal. But if this does end up being our last season of podcasting, I wanted to end on a high note and that's why I share all that information with you just now.

I want you to understand that though I'm hopeful we can reach our goal of raising $100 ,000. If we have to close our doors, I want to make sure we redeem the time and make this potential last season really count.

So as I was going through all of my notes about potential episodes and series, I wasn't seeing anything that really stuck out to me as a great way to end. So I asked my wife what topics she would include if this were our last season.

As we talked, the Lord lit the light bulb above my head, if I can say it that way, and I instantly knew where I needed to look. In counseling, I found that I returned to many of the same topics with my various counselees.

Our struggles and issues always feel unique to us, but Solomon says there's nothing new under the sun, and so we often come to realize that we're not alone in our difficulty. And not only that, but the biblical truth, we need to glorify God in our struggles and mature in Him is frequently exactly what other people need to hear in their struggles.

Common Counseling Themes for Season 36

So I opened my counseling notes. I went through all of the studies and life work I've collected over the years to which I find myself returning time and again. To be honest, there are so many, really too many for this season of content.

For example, I find myself frequently talking about what the Bible has to say about strong emotions like fear and anger and depression, conflict resolution, biblical decision-making, addictions, suffering, biblical love, obedience, repentance, self-harm, and how to become more like Christ.

I also frequently go through our material about how to have a family united in God from the book of Ephesians. Now, by the way, if any of those topics cause you to think I or my family really need help with that, I would be honored to work with your family and show you from God's Word the promises and help He offers.

But of all the material, I identified four of the most common biblical concepts to which I return time and again with the individuals and families I counsel. So what we're going to do is work through the life work I give my counselees in our sessions.

Now, for those of you who don't know, life work is what I call the homework assignments that my counselees work on in between sessions. I don't call it homework because, you know, no one likes homework, but we all want to have a better life.

So it's life work. Anyway, I'm going to make the life work pages available to you to use as you work through the sessions with your family or as you might benefit from them with your family in the future.

However, I do ask that you don't post these online or give them to friends. If you find these resources and can use them in your own family, please do, but don't seek to distribute them widely. Unless, of course, you're pointing people to Season 36 itself.

These documents reflect years of intensive study designed to minister to the families I serve. And by the way, that reminds me, each of the episodes for Season 36 are designed to be listened to by the whole family.

It's not just about dads and moms. I'd be honored to speak directly to the whole family as we work through these biblical topics. So invite the kids, print out the life work, and work through it as a family.

This might provide even a great family devotional time for you. Alright, so with all that said, you're probably wondering what we'll be discussing. Here it is. The first four episodes of the season are going to be about, number one, useful family relationships.

Useful Family Relationships

Now, some of you have likely heard me use that term useful to refer to families. If you've never heard it before, that might sound super blah. Useful? That's not what I imagine when I think of my family being who we're supposed to be.

I get it. But the Bible actually has some very important things to say about that word. In English, the word refers to being valuable or productive. It references something that fulfills its purpose in this world.

Though it might not sound romantic or overly spiritual, I'm sure you can understand how God created us for a purpose, and only when we submit to that purpose are we being valuable and a valuable influence to the world, and being productive in the Lord's will.

So, we're going to take four episodes to discuss the nature of useful family relationships, the resources to achieve this level of usefulness, and then we're going to spend the last two episodes getting super practical as to what a biblically useful family relationship needs to be in the home.

We'll lay out the expectations, our identity, our resources, and get super practical in our application. Then the next two episodes of the season will be about number two, humility in confession. Listen, friends, our biggest need, each of our problems, is pride, arrogance, selfishness, and self-worship.

Humility in Confession

All throughout the scriptures, we're commanded to be humble. We see countless examples, the greatest of which is Jesus Christ himself, who humbled himself to take on humanity and die a common criminal's death just to purchase our salvation.

And you've probably heard it said that an alcoholic will never seek help unless he first realizes that he's an alcoholic. As long as she doesn't think she has a problem, why would she seek help? So, the reason many of our families are stuck in destructive cycles and deteriorating before our eyes is that we pridefully don't see our need.

We think we're fine. When people tell us that we need to change, we ignore their reproof. Well, that's pride, that's arrogance. Everyone in your family and everyone in my family needs to learn how to humbly confess our sins and pursue repentance.

So, the first of these two episodes is going to lay the biblical foundation, and the second episode is going to seek to be as practical in our application as possible. Now, the next short series on this season might surprise you.

Sleep and Stewarding Physical Health

We're going to discuss number three, sleep and your family. I tell you what, when I meet with an individual, regardless of their age, or I meet with a family, I always take inventory of their overall physical health.

One's physical health can be a huge burden on their spiritual health, and it oftentimes introduces very unnecessary and powerful temptations. Now, that's not to say that our physical health gives us permission to sin or even makes us sin.

That is completely untrue. God always gives his children a way to escape temptation and glorify him. But I would be remiss if I try to counsel the spirit without also addressing any ungodly habits we have in our health.

And let me tell you, years of podcast content, years could be focused on this one topic alone. We Americans, in particular, are so bad when it comes to stewarding our health for the glory of God. So often, my counselees are eating poorly, overly stimulated with various energy boosters, including coffee, not exercising, not taking advantage of the natural rhythms and processes God infused into his creation to keep us well, and overly drugged with medications that are tearing apart our systems.

But other than self-control and eating, the most destructive life habit I regularly encounter is bad sleep habits, namely, not getting enough of it. This is especially true of our kids, and when we're exhausted, it's so hard to be who God wants us to be.

Of course, it's never impossible, but we set ourselves up for failure. So, we're going to take an episode to look at your body's needs. This is going to predominantly be an episode all about the sleep sciences.

This isn't to say that God's word doesn't speak into the topic of our sleep. In fact, we're going to see that that's not the truth at all. But the Lord has allowed sleep experts to identify what our bodies really need to perform well.

They've seen what God created into our systems, and they haven't been quiet about their findings. Now, in the second episode in this series, we're going to then open God's word to see what expectations he has for our sleep.

And the third episode is going to provide you necessary tools for creating more physically and spiritually healthy sleep cycles for you and your family. It's not an easy thing to change. So, we need to understand how best to work through it, lest we make things worse.

And then, as we come to the last part of the season, our final short series is going to be about number four, God's plan for your family. We're going to open the scriptures to identify a comprehensive understanding of what you shouldn't do, what you should do, and what you must be.

God's Plan for Your Family

I'm very much looking forward to that three-part series. And then, the final standalone episode of the season will be number five, graduation day. By God's grace, there comes a time when counseling should end.

Discipleship, counseling, parenting, and one-anothering is necessary to help those who can't or aren't doing right to turn around. However, once the individual is in consistent and beneficial habits of spiritual change, once they start doing for themselves what the parent or counselor or disciple or friend originally had to do for them, they're ready to graduate.

Now, this doesn't mean that they don't need help in other areas. It doesn't mean that they won't fall back into the same sin at some point in the future. But when the counselee starts counseling themselves exactly as the counselor was counseling them, and when they're submitting to God's word, they're right where God wants them.

Of course, I will say that none of us should imagine graduating from biblical discipleship as an overall pursuit. That should never stop. However, parenting is designed to come to an end and transition into the discipleship we see amongst all God's people.

Biblical counseling, especially when there's a fee associated with it, is appropriate to end if the counselee is living in the light of truth. But even then, the former counselee should continue in their regular biblical discipleship.

That, again, should never stop. Anyway, when my counselees have shown progress in their knowledge, understanding, and most importantly, their wise application of truth and submission to it, it's time to graduate them.

On that final episode of season 36, I'm going to give your family the exact same encouragements and warnings I give all of my counselees who reach that place. Of course, these encouragements and warnings are going to come directly from the Bible because you don't need my opinions.

We all need God's perfect and sufficient word. If, in God's perfect plan, that's the last podcast I ever do, I think that's the perfect place to end. However, if the Lord wills that Truth Love Family will continue to exist and continue serving families all over the world, that graduation day episode will beautifully set the stage for every episode and series that's to follow.

As we follow the encouragements and heed the warnings, we will continue to learn about God, seek to understand His word through diligent study, and continue to wisely apply His truth to our lives in practical ways.

And that's it. We're going to pursue useful family relationships, humility in confession, Christ-honoring sleep patterns, and God's glorious plan for our families. And we'll end off the season preparing to continue seeing the Lord and growing in Him.

Closing Encouragements and Listener Support

I hope you're as excited about this season as I am. I hope you'll tune in for every episode. I hope your family will join you, and I hope you'll share this episode with your friends, pastors, and extended family so they can get excited about Season 36 as well.

I also hope you'll strongly consider becoming a monthly donor so that we can enter our 11th year of ministry financially equipped to glorify God. So, I do invite you to visit TruthLoveParent .com forward slash donate to learn more.

And don't forget you can always email us at counselor at TruthLoveParent .com or leave a voicemail at 828 -423 -0894 if you'd like to participate in biblical counseling with me. Lord willing, I'll see you next week.

Truth Love Parent is part of the Evermind Ministries family and is dedicated to helping you worship God through your parenting. So join us next time as we study God's word to learn how to parent our children for life and godliness.

And remember that TLP is a listener supported ministry. You can visit TruthLoveParent .com forward slash donate to learn more.