TLP 226: How Do You Become an Ambassador Parent?

Truth.Love.Parent.

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So, what do you do if you're already born again, already passionate about growing in your ambassadorship, consistent in the

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Word and assembling with the Church, and you've already read all the books and listened to all the podcasts you can about parenting?

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Well… Welcome to Truth. Love. Parents. Where we use God's Word to become intentional, premeditated parents.

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Here's your host, AM Brewster. Welcome to the second episode in our new series. How do you become a new parent in the new year?

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If you didn't catch the first episode, please listen to that one first. And if you're new to Truth. Love. Parent, I welcome you and I'm excited that you're starting the new year with us.

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We've had a jump in our statistics lately, so that either means new families are joining us in this journey, or it means that a lot of you have just made

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New Year's resolutions to get caught up with your podcast listening. Either way, I'm blessed by your being here and I pray that we can equip you.

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And I truly believe we're going to do that. This series is all about how you can take the first steps in becoming an intentional, premeditated, disciple -making, ambassador parent who teaches, interprets, counsels, and trains your children.

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But before we get into that, if you've been listening to the show for any period of time, please rate, review, and or recommend us.

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You can rate and review us on iTunes, and it only takes a minute, and you can recommend us on Facebook. When you do that, you're giving those secular companies a reason to introduce us to new families looking for help and encouragement.

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I know that Kara has done that several times. She's one of our patrons, and she's constantly telling people about TLP.

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We have her to thank for today's episode, so I hope you find her wherever she is in the world and show your appreciation.

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And if you'd be interested in learning more about TLP's mission and goals and what it means to be a patron of the show, you can click the 5 ways to support

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TLP link in the description of this and every show. Alright, one more thing before we jump into the main topic.

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Recently, the company we've used to process your generous donations has made some poor choices. Patreon has decided, like many of the other tech giants out there recently, that they have the right to determine what is ethical, and they're capriciously punishing people who don't align with their worldview.

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While being a podcast dedicated to Christ -honoring parenting, I can only imagine how long it will be before they decide that our philosophy of life is hate speech or intolerant or any other number of politically correct buzzwords.

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And even if they don't boot us off of their site, I'm not really super interested in them continuing to get over 7 % of your donations.

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Therefore, for the moment, we're transitioning all of that to PayPal. PayPal is experienced, trusted, convenient, and has not yet decided that its purpose is to curate the world.

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So, since we're a listener -supported ministry, I'd ask you to consider giving in 2019. And if you choose to do so,

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PayPal will be a super easy way for you to give one -time donations or to become a patron by giving every month.

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And they collect a much smaller percentage for processing as well. Okay, let's jump into the meat of the show.

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We're going to start with what I believe is the most important part of our mission. Let me say it one more time.

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TLP exists to glorify God by equipping dads and moms to be intentional, premeditated, disciple -making ambassador parents.

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That's our mission. And then for this series, we're also going to talk about how to take the first steps in the four jobs that make up being an ambassador parent.

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We're going to talk about teaching, interpreting, counseling, and training your kids. And you could probably tell that the hinge on which our mission swings is the ambassador parent.

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Intentional, premeditated, and disciple -making all define being an ambassador, and teaching, interpreting, counseling, and training is what the ambassador parent does.

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So that will be our starting place today. How do we become ambassador parents? As always, we're going to cover a lot of ground, and you can get our free episode notes from Taking Back the

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Family whenever you want. All right, let's start with the outline we introduced last time. Number one, learn the truth.

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Two, decide to believe the truth. Three, get some help. And four, make small changes. For each of these points,

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I'm going to give you some practical first steps. So let's get started. Number one, learn the truth. As I mentioned last time, these episodes are not designed to teach you anything we haven't already discussed about what it means to be a

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Christ -honoring parent. We're focusing on how to start being a Christ -honoring parent. However, I do want to remind you of what you've learned, and if you've never heard the episodes

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I'm going to share, you can learn the material and get caught up with the rest of us. We have so many relevant episodes about what it means to be an ambassador parent, so I've included a comprehensive list with all the links in the description of today's episode and at truthloveparent .com.

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They include our first episode on the subject, Stop Being the Leader, and of course, the Fifth Way to Parent series, but there's also our

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Speed Parenting series, our episodes about evangelism parenting, needy parenting. There's also parenting like Hosea, Jesus, and the

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Holy Spirit. And again, the links to all of those and way more are below. So that's the first point.

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You can't believe something you don't know, and you can't become something you haven't learned. But before we move to point two,

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I want to reiterate the obvious. We will never be able to be an ambassador parent if we don't have a personal relationship with God.

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Please, my friends, answer these two questions for me. Number one, do you have a relationship with God?

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And number two, can you prove from the Bible that you have a relationship with God? If the answer to either of those is no, please get some help.

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You can even call me on the phone, and I'll be more than happy to introduce you to our great God, and I'll say more on this subject at the end.

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Okay, so that's the first point. Number two, decide to believe the truth. Like I said last time, no one can do this for you.

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Belief, faith, and trust is a personal decision to live like what you know is actually true. That's going to require action.

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So what do we need to believe to be ambassador parents? We need to believe that God is who He says He is. We need to believe that He commands us to be

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His ambassadors. We need to believe that to not be His ambassador is a sin.

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We need to believe that the Bible is going to give us everything we need to be the best ambassadors we can be.

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We need to believe that we must be continually learning and submitting in order to become the ambassadors He called and created us to be.

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And we need to believe that all things He expects from us are non -negotiables. Will you do this?

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Because until you choose to believe that this is how you have to live and parent, it will only be head knowledge.

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Head knowledge alone puffs up. It's not until we put it into practice that it becomes wisdom. First you learn, then you believe, and then, number three, get some help.

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Now, last time I said that this is a huge discussion to which we must dedicate much more time later.

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I also laid out the following five observations concerning the importance of community. Number one, we all need people to whom we can be accountable.

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Two, when it comes to parenting, spouses are a great start, but there should be more people speaking into this subject.

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Three, there's wisdom in a multitude of counselors. Four, humility and honesty cultivate the soil of our hearts for change.

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And five, God created His church to thrive in community. To this point, I'd encourage you to listen to the following episodes.

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The first is the Your Family Needs to Go to Church series, which starts in episode 175, and the second is episode 198,

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Creating Community. Those links will be below as well. But specifically in regard to becoming an ambassador parent, this is what

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I'd suggest. You can do this as individuals or as a couple, and if you're going to do it as an individual, then definitely find someone who is the same sex.

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Number one, find someone who's willing to take this journey with you. If you're starting on a quest to be a new and better parent this year, the individual has to be on that page with you.

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Of course, this could be a spouse, but it doesn't have to be. If your spouse is unsaved, then I would encourage you to invest in a same -sex mentor -slash -disciple type of relationship to assist you.

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And as I said last time, though I believe you and your spouse need to be on the same page and keeping each other accountable,

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I believe you'll find more success as you invite others into the process. Number two, find someone who's willing to become a newer, better parent or an older individual who's already been there.

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You know, like a mature parent whose children are gone from the house and are following Christ. Number three, get on the same page.

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This basically means that you both know and believe the same thing when it comes to parenting. Hopefully, they too have listened to these episodes.

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Number four, give each other the freedom to be honest. Invite them to be real. The Bible tells us that the wounds of a friend are faithful.

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That's what you want. You want a friend who will faithfully wound you in love when necessary. Number five, ask them to watch out for this one thing.

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Are you parenting the way Jesus would parent? Now I know that's broad and that's okay. That's the job of an ambassador.

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And number six, spend time together that involves real parenting. One of the easiest things to do is to fake our parenting for a couple hours at church.

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However, when you spend regular amounts of time together in various situations and venues at each other's houses and so on and so forth, it's much easier for others to really see us for who we are.

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Now this really isn't as hard as it sounds. It's just counter -culturally intuitive for most of us.

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But it's the way God designed the church to work. Just remember this. Find a Christ -honoring friend who's willing to grow as an ambassador who will be honest with you about whether or not you're parenting the way

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Jesus would. And now, the really practical part. Number four, make small changes.

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Now I know this was the part for which we've all been waiting, but it was so vital that we lay that prior foundation.

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If we don't know what an ambassador looks like, if we don't believe we need to be the first follower, and if we don't have community that will support and strengthen us, then the next part will be nearly impossible.

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And again, don't forget that our free episode notes and transcript are available all the time at truthloveparent .com on our blog,

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Taking Back the Family. So here are some first steps. Number one, solidify for certain that you are in fact born again.

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I'm going to include a link to a new page at truthloveparent .com. It'll walk you through the introductory information necessary for you to understand the gospel and to learn why a relationship with God is so important.

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It's called the first step to being a good parent. Number two, commit your parenting to the

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Lord. I suggest that you, by yourself or with your spouse, spend some time with God talking to Him about becoming

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His ambassador to your family. I don't really like form prayers and there's nothing magical about what

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I'm going to share, but I share it in the spirit that Jesus shared the disciples' prayer. Consider it just a mere outline of important points to include in your discussion with God.

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Letter A, acknowledge your calling as an ambassador. B, admit your inability to do the job.

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This is a good time to confess your parenting sins. C, ask Him for eyes to see the truth and strength to submit to that truth.

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And D, praise Him for the supreme privilege of being His representative to your family. As you take the first steps in becoming an ambassador parent,

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I believe you should pray these ideas to God on a daily basis, renewing your mind and recommitting every morning or every time you're tempted to parent in your own way or every time you fail in your parenting.

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Number three, schedule a time to study what it means to be an ambassador parent. If something is worth doing, it's worth scheduling.

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Plan a time to not only read 2 Corinthians 5, 11 through 21, but also really understand it.

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It's one of the most foundational passages concerning our call to ambassadorship. And then allow that time in the

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Word to draw you to other passages. Commit to regularly spending time with the God you're called to emulate.

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Also, if you haven't heard all of the episodes we've published concerning ambassador parenting, you should plan a time to listen to them as well.

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They're just chock full of biblical passages and principles designed to deepen your knowledge and application of this concept.

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Number four, make it a priority to attend church. Again, how can you hope to impersonate the

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King of Kings if you don't really know that much about Him? So, what do you do if you're already born again, already passionate about growing in your ambassadorship, consistent in the

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Word and assembling with the body, and if you've already read all the books and listened to all the podcasts you can about parenting?

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Well, number five, attack your puny kingdom. To do this, you're going to have to identify at least one area in your life where you parent for self instead of God.

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This won't be as difficult as you may think. Just ask your spouse or your kids or ask your parenting mentor, or you could just do this great life work project and write down 75 areas where you sin against God in your parenting.

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It's a fantastic project because it requires deep introspection, honesty, and understanding of the truth.

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If you're really interested in doing this, and I hope you are, here are some pointers. The first 10 things on the list should come pretty easily, but they'll likely be very broad.

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Any number of items could spin off of these. For example, you may write, I'm impatient with my kids.

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Wonderful. Now ask why. Here's what my list may look like. I'm impatient with my kids.

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I want my kids to do things on my timetable. I want my kids to do things my way. I don't want to have to wait when

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I have things to do. I don't like having to remind them of things I've already told them. I don't like being contradicted.

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I don't like it when they think they can run their own little lives. I don't like parenting unless it's fun. I'm too focused on my own plan instead of God's plan.

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I'm arrogant enough to think that my kids should be living for me. So on and so forth. I think you see where I'm going.

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So what's the point? Well, once I've identified some of the core beliefs that are motivating what I do, I need to attack those.

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I need to tear them down. To use King James English, I need to mortify the deeds of the flesh.

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Come up with a plan in the new year to become the best version of your own worst enemy. Normally when we say things like you're your own worst enemy, we're talking about how we're the ones making it difficult to glorify

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God in our lives. However, we need to become our flesh's worst enemy. We need to wage war in the power of God on the sin in our lives.

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And though all of our unbelief has similar roots, we're going to have to really think about the main roadblock in your own hearts that's been hindering you from being a better ambassador for Christ.

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All right, let's review before we get to our sixth and final one. Solidify for certain that you are born again. Commit your parenting to the

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Lord. Schedule a time to study what it means to be an ambassador parent. Make it a priority to attend church and attack your puny kingdom.

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And then number six, make your commitment visible. As you're renewing your mind and you identify what you need to put off and what you need to put on,

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I suggest you post it somewhere in the house. It would be great to have a Bible verse about patience visible to the whole house.

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In another room, you could post a question like, was that patient? On your bathroom mirror, you could tape, who are you going to worship today?

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And get scripture on the walls everywhere you can. Doing this not only refocuses your mind throughout the day, but it also causes your family to grapple with the same information as they see it in the house.

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It would also be fun to redeem social media a little bit. Make your goals known on your walls and profiles and in your groups.

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You can comment on this post. You can share your goals on our Facebook page or in our closed group, the

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TLP family. But you should definitely tell your accountability partner to share with your friend what you're working on so they can have an active role in the process.

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And all of this is designed to help you take the first steps to becoming an ambassador parent. By the way, if you think of any other important steps, please send them to teamTLP at truthloveparent .com

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so we can share them with everyone else. And of course, when we talk about being an ambassador, we're discussing a very broad idea with many truths and principles.

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So the following episodes in this series are going to address the more specific elements like being intentional, premeditated, disciple -making, teaching, interpreting, counseling, and training parents.

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And you can always feel free to contact the TLP counselors at counselor at truthloveparent .com if you think you need some more specific help for your unique family situation.

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I don't know about you, but this series is really exciting me. It's so encouraging to know that God designed us for change, empowers us for change, and has given us everything we need for change in His Word and the

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Church. All we have to do is take the first step. So to that end, I'll see you next time.

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Truth. Love. Parents. Is part of the Evermind Ministries family and is dedicated to helping you become an intentional, premeditated parent.

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Join us next time as we search God's Word for the truth your family needs today.