A redeemed child of God, happy husband, homeschooling dad of nine, and lifelong lover of good books.
Hey Dads,
As Christian dads, we long for our children to follow God’s path with joy-filled hearts. We pray they will delight in God Himself. But is there something we need to make sure we ourselves are doing first?
In Ep. 30, my longtime friend Jonathan Ballou talks with me about how we as dads need to “secure our own mask first” to guide our families in the right way.
With Much Aloha,
Nathan
Hebrews 7:27
“The journey of missions has always had a strong connection to adventure. It’s always, for me, had a sense of freshness and newness and a pioneering spirit to it…”—Jonathan Ballou
“Honestly, we learn from each other in that, we support each other in that, because our strengths are different, we lean on each other.”—J.B.
“I know that my own heart has to be steady through my walk with God. I think that I try to deal with my own…spiritual, emotional turbulence without letting that shake the people around me.”—J.B.
“One of the responsibilities that God gave men with our role is to be steady. And the faith and the devotional life of a father has to provide stability that will weather seasons. Any family is going to go through a lot of different seasons, and I’ve seen in so many cases where it’s the strength and the stability of a father’s walk with God that allows the family to navigate and to weather those different times.”—J.B.
“We live in an age where there’s a great deal of the abdication of the role that God has given to us.”—J.B.
“We do have the responsibility to other people, but the way that we’re best suited to care for our families is when our own spiritual lives, our own spiritual walk is regular and steady and faithful, and then we’re able to, by example, lead others into a similar closeness and intimacy with Christ.”—J.B.
“Fathers, you can get this right.”—J.B., referring to what Jon Tyson teaches fathers regarding raising their sons
“As readers, we can’t become complacent….We want our minds to be sharp. There can be a certain dullness of the mind, either from not reading, or from only reading that which we already know or that which we already agree with, and we’re never allowing ourselves to be challenged to actually do the work of sifting out and refuting what somebody else is putting out there in their position. I think we expose ourselves to a certain amount of mental atrophy, that we would then become unfit to help the people that we’re supposed to help.” —J.B.
👤 Elisabeth Elliot
👤 Wilfred Grenfell
👤 J. Hudson Taylor (best book about him: Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor)
📖 Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing
📖 The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg
👤 Oswald Chambers
👤 A.W. Tozer
📖 The Intentional Father, by Jon Tyson
👤 James Dobson
👤 John Eldredge
👤 Douglas Wilson
👤 Steve Farrar
🎙️Please subscribe to the podcast so you can listen again next week!
✍🏻 Leaving a review is the best way to say “thanks” so that others can find the podcast, too! In Apple Podcast app, scroll down to the bottom of the episode list (right above the “About” section) and click the tiny link to “Write a Review.”
➡️ Take a screenshot or click the “Share” button in your podcast app to let your friends know.
🧑🏻💻 Join the Facebook group
📧 Read more and subscribe to our newsletter at treasureboxbooks.com
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/jonny-easton/the-messenger
License code: OAJIXAABB3C1V1OY
https://uppbeat.io/t/aaron-paul-low/pony-express
License code: ZUCYKOROVB4PRHZC
Looking for a free lesson plan to teach your children Sunday School at home during the Coronavirus lockdown–without the take-home
Our visit was short—only a few hours. I didn’t know much about her background, interests, or family—only that they had escaped from religious persecution in their home country and were seeking asylum in America. Unfortunately we didn’t meet until right before they moved away from our state, and with our busy lives—hers and mine—there was little hope of building a deeper relationship long-distance. But in that short few hours talking with this mom, I felt that I had found a friend: someone whose culture, mother tongue, and life experiences were vastly different from my own, but whose heart, like mine, was to serve the Lord and care for her family as best as she could.
What they are not known for is being easy to prepare. Many days I would spend at least 10-15 minutes first laboriously chopping the ends off garlic cloves and smashing them to loosen the skin for my kids to help me peel before slicing or mincing, then peeling and chopping a section of ginger, and then crying while peeling and chopping an onion. Now I can get just as good results in about 5 minutes, without the tears. My secret?
And when we work with and for God, He records each service for Him just like He did for the heads of the tribes back in Numbers. Not a single spoon or goat kid missed his notice, not even when it was given day after day after day. Whatever offering you are making the Lord today, He is recording it completely, separately, and in detail—and when someday He reviews your service, He won’t skim the repetitive parts.
I never know how to respond to this question, partly because I don’t think I do “it” very well (whatever “it” is), and partly because I assume the person asking isn’t really interested in any of the answers I have to give. But maybe they are . . . maybe I just need to prepare an articulate answer beforehand so that I can say something besides “Uhh, do what?” and, perhaps, make a small dent in some stereotypes.
How could a humble teacher from a tiny Middle Eastern country who never owned his own pillow, much less sat on a throne, have anything to do with me and my problems?
Refresh Publishing stands for
Relationship with God and family first
Exhortation based on the truth of God’s word
Faith revealed by obedience to His leading
Reality in acknowledging the trials of daily life
Equipping God’s people with tools for spiritual growth
Sharing 10% of revenue with our church and other worthwhile causes
Honesty in our marketing and communications
PO Box 4762
Kaneohe, HI 96744
for more book suggestions, story samples, and updates from Refresh Publishing / Treasure Box Books. Unsubscribe at any time.
Sign up to receive podcast updates, books suggestions, story samples, and more from Treasure Box Books & Refresh Publishing.
