TLP 326: The New Truth.Love.Parent.

Truth.Love.Parent.

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Here's the big news for Truth Love Parent, starting in January 2020.

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We are going to… Welcome to Truth. Love. Parent.

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Where we use God's Word to become intentional premeditated parents. Here's your host,

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AM Brewster. Happy New Year, friends! I am super excited about what today's episode represents, and I hope you'll stick with us through to the end to hear all the news.

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If this is the first time you've tuned in to an episode of Truth Love Parent, we welcome you and are happy to have you.

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Just know that this will not be a typical episode. Normally, we open God's Word to learn how

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He would have us parent. However, today is an extremely important beginning of year announcement about the future of TLP, so we're taking a break from our normal format.

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The nice thing is, if you're new to the show, today will be a great way for you to get to know us better. My name is

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Aaron. I was born again at the age of nine, and I dedicated my life to full -time Christian service at the age of 12.

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At that time, I thought the Lord may call me to foreign missions work, but I wasn't certain, and I remember being excited about discovering what the

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Lord had for me. By the way, I'm going to include in the description of today's episode a list of previous shows that provide you more information about my story and some of the unique parenting themes we may discuss today.

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For example, episode 45 talks about how I, with the indispensable help of my mother, came to be a follower of Christ.

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And episode 158 starts a short series that teaches parents how to help their children discover God's will for their lives.

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Well, with my parents' help, I eventually chose to major in camp ministries with an acting minor. I then earned my

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Master's of Science in biblical counseling. The following January, I married my wife, Johanna, and started my own family.

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We now have two children, Micah and Ivy. Since we were married in 06, we've been members of five different churches and worked in three ministries.

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God used each of those ministries to equip us to serve Him better in our family, in our church, in our full -time ministry, and in our community.

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And each of those moves were clearly ordained by the Lord. It was never as if we were leaving the former place so much as we were moving on to the next.

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And we are so grateful to God for every church and ministry with which we've served over the past 14 years.

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And today marks another of those transitions. But before I get into that,

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I want to take a moment to remember from where Truth Love Parent has come and how the Lord allowed us to become a valuable source for all things biblical parenting in your life and the life of many other families.

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In September of 2016, I started the Truth Love Parent podcast as an extension of the family program

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I was creating for Victory Academy for Boys. That following February, the Lord allowed us to start a free website which expanded our reach and the number of resources and tools that we could share.

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You can hear more about that amazing experience in TLP snippet number four. Since then, according to Google anyway, we have become one of the best

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Christian parenting podcasts in the world. And I believe the reason is clear. It has nothing to do with me.

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We strive to make sure our content has high biblical fidelity. We work extra hard to immerse all we say and all we do in the scriptures.

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A consequence of this is that our content does not become outdated by changing fads like pop culture hot takes.

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All of our episodes, of which there are now over 325, are evergreen. That means that they continue to be relevant and practical because God's word will forever be relevant and practical.

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The degree to which our shows align with scripture is the degree to which they remain applicable every day to your family.

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And the more Bible we cover, the more replay value each episode has. And we also love creating these free episode notes and transcripts for all of our regular shows.

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It makes it easier for you to go back and study the scriptures we've discussed. So if you have not yet subscribed to our podcast, you can find us almost everywhere podcasts are found, or even one of a smaller number of podcasts now available on Pandora.

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Another reason we've become one of the premier sources for all things biblical parenting is our professionally curated parenting resources.

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Now, I'm neither the oldest nor the most experienced guy in the room, I get it, but I've been studying and serving in family ministry since 1998.

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I have advanced degrees in this field, and I've experienced not only with my own family, but also from working in churches,

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Christian schools, and boarding homes for at -risk teens. And I've been counseling families for over a decade. Of course,

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I'm not saying that to pat myself on the back. That's not the point. I'm saying that to put your mind at ease.

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The parenting content that Team TLP and I curate is really top -notch. There's a ton of content with which we are not yet familiar,

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I admit that, and we're always welcome to suggestions at TeamTLP at TruthLoveParent .com.

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But the resources we do share can be trusted to have the greatest loyalty to God and His Word.

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So, whether it's on social media or our website, you can know there is one go -to hub for all things biblical parenting that is always growing and expanding as we find more worthwhile resources.

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And the really great thing is that we're not all consumed with pushing just our material.

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While most ministries and websites are busy promoting their own resources and their own resources alone, Team TLP and I want to promote the best resources for biblical parenting.

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Will that include our own books and curriculum and videos and articles? Well, it better. We need to stop doing what we're doing.

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But it will also include the plethora of quality materials being created by others. We want you to have access to the best and to be able to find them all in one place.

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So let's take a moment to introduce you to the two places where we curate information for your family. The first is

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TruthLoveParent .com. We have lists upon ever -growing lists of other podcasts, books, blogs, ministries, and quotes from various authors who have no connection with TLP because they have significant value for you and your family.

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I encourage you to peruse the site and check back often as we update our lists and categories. We also have professionally curated resources on our social media accounts.

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We post very regularly on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube, even LinkedIn if I remember correctly, and we post more things from other quality individuals than we often do our own.

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I would strongly encourage you to like and follow TLP on one or all of those social media sites. I hear people complain all the time about how depressing their news feeds are, and I simply respond, then you're following all the wrong people.

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You need to like and follow people and ministries that will build you up in Christ, and TLP is one of those ministries.

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Multiple times a day, we're sharing some of the best biblical parenting insights, quotes, images, tools, and articles.

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In fact, in 2020, we're increasing the flow of awesome info, so make sure you subscribe and follow and like so you don't miss an opportunity to be built up in your parenting.

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Now, I just said a lot about how we share and cite other people's content, but other than the podcast, we do have one current original and totally free resource called 25

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Days to Becoming a Premeditated Parent. It's an email -based parenting course designed to help you grow specifically in the area of planning your parenting.

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I've always said that none of us improvise our parenting well. If we want to be able to speak God's words in the moment, we need to know

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His words and practice them. But it's more than merely memorizing a script. It's creating a mindset that intentionally and premeditatedly plans to glorify

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God in our parenting. That course is free and available at TruthLoveParent .com.

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In review, the Lord has allowed TLP to become a premier source of biblical parenting content because we've done our best to remain faithful to His truth and we're passionate about equipping you with all the best resources.

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But there's also one more extremely important factor. We couldn't have done any of this without the faithful giving of God's people.

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TruthLoveParent is a faith -based ministry that relies on donations in order to continue ministering. And I know this time of year, everyone is telling you about how much they need money and how you can give to this and give to that, and that's fantastic.

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And maybe this is just our opportunity. We don't want to bore you with just one more thing that sounds like everyone else.

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But please understand, whether it's a one -time gift or monthly donations, every dollar helps us continue creating this free parenting content, which the

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Lord sends all over the world. In the past three years, we have been listened to in over 90 different countries.

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Regardless of whether you've given $100 or a $5 bill, you've played a part in the lives of families in Somalia and the

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United Arab Emirates and Russia and Singapore because you made it possible for them to hear how God called and created us to parent.

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I don't know about you, but that is extremely exciting. Many of the people who listen to this podcast are in the 1040 window.

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That's an area on the globe where God's Word is forbidden in those countries and people are able to access it through this podcast.

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That's amazing. And God has done all of that in only three short years, all while I've been working full -time at Victory Academy for Boys.

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Now, before I get back to my story and I unveil the amazing opportunities that will make Truth Love Parent an even more robust source for biblical parenting,

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I want to tell a side story. My daughter came to me before Christmas while I was lying on my bed.

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She assumed her usual place by lying on top of me and proceeded to ask me what I wanted for Christmas. This year, she seems very excited and personally motivated to invest in others.

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I responded, what do you think I want for Christmas? I thought it would be a valuable exercise for me to determine how she's thinking through this process.

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Her response floored me. She said, well, I know how important TLP is to you.

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Maybe I could buy you DVDs so you can learn more about parenting. Can you believe that?

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I told her how incredibly spot on her observation was and how proud I was that she really took a moment to look at life through someone else's eyes.

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This little girl has seen the significance and value of what TLP is doing, and she's also benefiting from it.

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We listen to many of the episodes as a family, but I'm also trying to live out all the study and the prep I do to prepare for each episode.

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And she connected the dots. She realized that the best way to bless me was to invest in TLP and thereby invest in countless families all over the world.

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Now let's continue with my story. When I left off, I was talking about how God has led my family step by step and how he's used each step to prepare us for the next.

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So for the past five and a half years, my family and I have been serving at Victory Academy for Boys. My personal relationship with God, my marriage, and my parenting have all been put through the fiery crucible and come out more refined because of it.

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I praise God for not only using that time to further equip me for leading my family, but also for equipping me to serve your families.

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But through a series of clearly providential events, the Lord made it clear to me and my family that it's time to transition to a new phase of our lives.

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So on November 20th of 2019, my family and I said goodbye to Victory Academy for Boys and all the amazing people we met there, and we moved to Brevard, North Carolina.

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Now for the past month and a half, my family and I have been regrouping and praying and preparing for our next stage of life and ministry.

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And today we're going to unveil the plan to you. Here it is, the moment for which we've all been waiting.

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Starting on January 1st, I am the full -time Executive Director of Truth Love Parent. Now what does that mean, especially the full -time word?

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Well honestly, it means I'm going to continue doing what I've already been doing. But since I'm full -time, I can do even more.

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Now I want to talk about what will make TLP the ever -growing premier source for all things biblical parenting, but we have to get real first.

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TLP has always been a volunteer labor of love. It was my hobby. It was a thing I did with my free time.

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Victory Academy was my full -time ministry, and thereby it paid the bills. Now that I work full -time at TLP, well,

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I no longer have a paycheck. My family and I have stepped out on faith, firmly believing that this is the

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Lord's will for our lives. It's similar to the way a missionary or an evangelist lives from week to week on faith that the

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Lord will provide their needs through the faithful giving of His church. But Aaron, don't people already give to TLP?

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That's a great question. Yes, for a couple years now, there have been a core group of amazing people who have regularly given to TLP.

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However, we've never used those resources to pay anyone on Team TLP. Those monies have always been fully dedicated to keeping the ministry running and being a blessing to others.

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Well, now I believe we need to start budgeting a payroll. In Luke 10, Jesus sent the apostles out into the world, and among other things,

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He told them to find people who would give them food and lodging and, quote, remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages, unquote.

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In 1 Timothy 5, Paul quotes Jesus when he tells Timothy, My daughter wanted to donate her, quote -unquote, widow's mite as an act of worship to God, but also because she understands the importance of what

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TLP is doing and because she knows that our family is in need of support. Now, I honestly hate asking for money, and I'm probably like you,

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I don't like listening to everyone else ask for money. I really wish I didn't have to do it, but the Lord is well -pleased when we're dependent on Him.

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In Proverbs 30, 7 -9, we read, Lest I be full and deny you and say,

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Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God, unquote.

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This is not about being rich. This is about providing for my family as I serve other families. That's it.

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So, Truth Love Parent is what it's always been. It's a listener -supported, faith -based ministry. It's just now the faith part is a little more significant than it was.

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Allow me to continue the transparency for a moment. Our patrons' monthly giving is about $500.

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Now that is amazing. It's been exactly what we've needed for the past five years. It's enabled us to become one of the premier sources of all things biblical parenting.

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But imagine running a full -time ministry on that budget. Now imagine providing for your family on just a fraction of that budget.

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I know you understand what I'm talking about. So think about it this way for a moment. If only 500 people, and we have far more subscribers than that.

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If all of them gave only $10 a month, not a day, not a week, only $10 a month, that would be $5 ,000.

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That would be an amazing start. I could support my family off of less than half of that and pour the rest into producing more and more content.

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And that's only if 500 people faithfully gave $10 a month. $10 a month is two cheap cups of coffee.

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It's a pizza. It's a fancy stick of ChapStick off of Amazon. I know there are many of you who have and can easily do more than that.

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And please don't think, well, if it's that easy, they don't need my help. We do need your help. And I believe the Lord would be pleased by you giving to this ministry in 2020.

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So whether it's $1 or the price of a coffee a week or $100 a month or more, your faithful gifts will enable this ministry to continue growing.

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And since faithful consistency will be super important moving forward, we want to do something special for our monthly givers.

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But I'll talk more about that later. So let's discuss what I plan to do as the director of TLP and what your gifts will finance.

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Now that I'm full time, I'm going to devote more time to prayer specifically for the TLP family. I have developed relationships with many of you and I love to pray for you and your families.

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If you go to our website and join the TLP family, you'll receive a password that will give you access to our TLP family closed

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Facebook group where we talk about life and parenting and pray for each other. I would love to start praying for you and your spouse and your kids.

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It's completely free to join the TLP family and get into the closed Facebook group. So sign up and let us know how we can pray for you.

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But I also plan to devote more time to studying biblical parenting. There is much I have to learn and until I've gone through every passage of scripture and applied it to our families multiple times, there will still be more to learn.

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None of us will ever be able to learn everything there is to know about God, so we can all keep studying until the day we die.

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And for those of you whom God has called to minister in other fields, I can do the study and pass it on to you.

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Of course, that doesn't remove your responsibility to personally read and study the Word, but I and Team TLP can help you take those additional steps you couldn't otherwise take without leaving your job.

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And as I do all that study, that will enable me to create more original content. This will include regular podcast episodes,

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TLP snippets, books, training materials, other podcasts, just who knows what.

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And it is my plan to finally finish up my book, Quit! God's Cure for Family Strife, and release it free to anyone who wants it and to do that this year.

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I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to that. It's been years in the making. But I also hope to do more traveling.

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I would absolutely love to preach to your church, small group, or ministry. I'd love to teach at your parenting workshop, couples conference, teachers seminar, or family camp.

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In fact, I'm a huge advocate of God -honoring Christian camps. I'd love to have the opportunity to open God's Word to children of all ages at camp.

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We could even do TLP meetups wherever I have a speaking engagement. You can go to truthloveparent .com

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and click on Conferences to learn more. I truly believe it's these speaking opportunities that will be most valuable for all of us.

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When you're there, face -to -face, with a ready -to -learn posture, it's so much easier for real change to happen.

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Let's be honest, you're probably listening to this podcast while you're doing something else. I get it. That's how I listen to podcasts.

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And we read books in small chunks as we move from distracting element to life challenge to other distracting element.

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But when we gather together with other believers for the intent purpose of dedicating a few hours to intentional learning and growth, we generally experience more dynamic growth.

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I can say that because that's how God intends the church to work. TLP's theme verse is Ephesians 4 .15.

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Verses 15 and 16 lay out this vision. Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped.

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When each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

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It's as we are speaking the truth in love to each other that we become more like Christ and in the same process strengthen not only the individuals, but the whole body of Christ.

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I would strongly encourage you to talk to your pastors. Lay out for them a vision of a couple's conference or a parenting weekend.

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Offer to host it. If you are the pastor, will you please consider how the Lord may use TLP to strengthen your flock.

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Let's get these meetings going all over the states and the world. Let's dedicate to the intentional premeditated discipleship of parents.

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Now, we're coming to the end of our show, but there are a few more things I hope to do with all of my new time. I want to grow

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Team TLP's group of volunteers. There's always more to be done and the more of us who are equipped to do it, the more powerful

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TLP can be in serving families. I have one lady to whom I want to introduce you. She's a fierce friend, a loving wife and mother, a fantastic author, and a passionate voice for God in the family.

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She wants to join Team TLP. She wants to volunteer her time to see God glorified in our families.

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The more people like her who join Team TLP, the more we'll be able to accomplish. And as giving increases,

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I want to actually hire people. I think it would be amazing if this ministry could have a whole team working full time to equip you and parents like you.

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Also with the help of Team TLP, I'm going to lead in website development and growth. Our online resources can always get better.

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I can also plan to do more biblical counseling and family coaching. You can email counselor at truthloveparent .com

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or visit truthloveparent .com to learn more. I'm excited about a number of mentoring and discipleship opportunities

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I have in the new year. And there's so much more. I want to schedule more special guests. I want to pull in people who are smarter and more experienced than I.

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I want to use the voices and wisdom of others to broaden the scope and value of this program. I also hope to grow community opportunities in our new city.

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If you live in or near Brevard, I'd love to talk to you about the needs and opportunities in this area. If we can't help those in our

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Jerusalem, we shouldn't be too focused on those at the outermost parts of the earth. Being full -time with TLP will provide me more opportunities for community service.

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And your increased giving will help us accomplish each and every one of those points. If you'd be interested in joining our team, whether through the giving of money or the giving of talents and time, please click on the 5 ways to support

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TLP link in the description of this episode. We also beg you to pray for Team TLP and the

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Brewster family. And we ask that you share TLP with the people God puts into your life. You can tell people about us by word of mouth and on social media by sharing our episodes.

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And you can write and review this show so that even complete strangers can benefit from your testimony. You can also support us by shopping on Amazon using our affiliate links and buying exclusive TLP merchandise from the

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TLP store. And of course, you can give. You can give a one -time gift, that would be amazing, but you can also give monthly.

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In fact, I would argue that consistent monthly gifts at lower amounts will be much more helpful in our budgeting and planning than large one -time gifts.

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Now don't get me wrong, we will happily put your large one -time gift to good use, but we want to really encourage faithful and consistent monthly givers.

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Team TLP and I have plans in mind as to how we can especially thank those of you who give monthly.

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All of this to say, I can't wait to jump back into our regular twice -a -week teaching schedule. We're starting a two -part episode next time about the choice all parents have to make.

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It'll be a great, biblically entrenched way to start off the new year. I hope you're as excited about this as I am.

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I hope you're already thinking about how you can get involved. You can tell your friends about TLP. You can encourage your pastor to invite us to speak.

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We don't even need to meet in a church. You can host a TLP meetup wherever you want. I hope you also pray for us, and I hope you'll give.

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I love you guys. I love your families. I've been honored to do this with you for the past three years, and I'm overwhelmingly honored to have the chance to serve you more like this in the future.

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Happy New Year! Truth. Love. Parents. is part of the

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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!