The Disciple-Making Parent

On this episode of The Disciple-Making Parent Podcast, we talk with Tim Challies about how Christian families can think clearly about technology in a world where screens, social media, and now AI are everywhere. We look at the real numbers shaping teen life, the risks that often stay hidden until it is too late, and three common responses to new tools: enthusiastic embrace, strict separation, and disciplined discernment.

We also explore a distinctly Christian framework for technology. We are image-bearers called to create and use tools for good, while recognizing how sin twists every technology toward harm and idolatry. Finally, we consider what is coming next, including AI, augmented reality, and transhumanism, and how we can choose practices that help our families use technology to love God and serve others.

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Managing Your Households Well

Want to lead your family (and your home) with wisdom in a distracted age? Managing Your Households Well: How Family Leadership Trains You for Church Leadership is a practical resource for church leaders and aspiring leaders—showing how faithful, steady care at home shapes the kind of character needed for lasting ministry leadership.

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Free Disciple-Making Parent Audiobook

You can also get the Disciple-Making Parent audiobook free. Visit thedisciplemakingparent.com, sign up for the weekly newsletter, and we’ll send you the full audiobook—because we want to help parents and grandparents raise kids who love Jesus and learn to make disciples in everyday life.

Resources From This Podcast
Suffering and Our Savior- Podcast with Tim Challies
 ​Personal Accounts of God’s Goodness in Suffering- Podcast with Tim Challies
Finding Comfort in Suffering: Personal Q&A on Grief & God’s Goodness- Podcast with Tim Challies
challies.com – Tim Challies’ blog
The Next Story: Faith, Friends, Family, and the Digital World, by Tim Challies

On this episode of The Disciple-Making Parent Podcast, we talk with Dan Darling about what healthy Christian patriotism looks like.

We unpack why love of country can be an expression of gratitude and a part of discipleship, and how we can teach children and grandchildren to think biblically about their nation without slipping into cynicism or idolatry. We discuss how to tell the full story of history, including real sins and real progress, and why reform is strongest when it grows out of love for a country’s ideals. We also clarify the difference between patriotism and Christian nationalism, and why robust Christian engagement in the public square matters while maintaining a clear distinction between church and state. Along the way, we reflect on American exceptionalism, ordered loves, and practical ways families can cultivate civic gratitude and responsibility.

In this episode, Chap Bettis sits down with Tim Challies and pastor Travis Rymer for a candid Q&A that closes out The Disciple-Making Parent’s mini-series on suffering. Tim shares Scriptures and hymns that shaped his grief, how his family helped their daughters process loss, and why grief must never become our identity. You’ll also hear practical counsel on balancing honest lament with trust in God’s goodness, and on letting truth shape emotions rather than emotions shaping truth.

Resources From This Podcast
Tim Challies: Suffering and Our Savior (#1 in series)
Tim Challies: Personal Accounts of God’s Goodness in Suffering (#2 in series)
On Jordan’s Stormy Banks, performed by Indelible Grace
Seasons of Sorrow, by Tim Challies
A Manifesto for Times of Suffering- Tim’s “Grief Manifesto”
Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, by Mark Vroegop
Tim Challies- Walking Through Deep Sorrow and Loss (Prior podcast interview) ​

On this episode of The Disciple-Making Parent Podcast, we listen as Tim Challies shares a deeply personal “story of grace” from the aftermath of losing his son, Nick. We hear what those first shocking moments were like, how grief can cloud our thinking and sap our strength, and why it’s essential to let truth—especially what we know about God’s sovereignty and goodness—lead when our emotions feel unsteady.

Topics Covered in This Week’s Podcast
03:46 Introduction: Losing and grieving Nick
09:31 Glimpses of grace
15:25 Tim’s manifesto
21:25 Five lessons about grief
29:31 Five ways to help people who are grieving

Resources From This Podcast
Tim Challies: Personal Accounts of God’s Goodness in Suffering (Previous podcast)
Seasons of Sorrow, by Tim Challies
Challies.com, Tim’s blog
A Manifesto for Times of Suffering
Tim Challies- Walking Through Deep Sorrow and Loss (Prior podcast interview)

On this episode of The Disciple-Making Parent Podcast, we begin a new series by listening to Tim Challies as he helps us think biblically about suffering, sorrow, and the compassion of Christ.

Tim walks us through Luke 7:11–17, where Jesus meets a grieving widow in Nain and raises her son, and we’re reminded of three simple, steady truths: death is strong, God is stronger, and one day death itself will die.

As we listen, we’re encouraged to trust God’s good purposes in our pain, to remember that Jesus draws near to the brokenhearted, and to anchor our hope in the future comfort and resurrection promised to all who are in Christ. 

Topics Covered in This Week’s Podcast
4:01 Introduction
11:18 Death is strong
19:04 God is stronger
25:11 Death will die

Resources From This Podcast
Seasons of Sorrow, by Tim Challies
Tim Challies- Walking Through Deep Sorrow and Loss (Prior podcast interview)Challies.com, Tim’s blog