Matthew, a teenage listener of the podcast writes and asks this.

Dear Pastor John, when I hang out with my dad, I feel discouraged in my Christian walk

because he gives me the feeling that God is a God who is full of rules of what I can

and cannot do.

Whereas when I hang out with my friends, they encourage me by talking about the joys

we have in Christ and how awesome Christ is.

I'm only 15 years old and I feel as if this is driving a wedge between me and my dad.

How can I overcome this feeling?

Am I in the wrong?

What would you say to Matthew, Pastor John?

I don't know enough about Matthew or his dad or his friends to pronounce on whether

he's in the wrong.

But I do have things I want to say to Matthew and there's three of them and here they are.

Matthew, never lose sight of the biblical command to honor your mother and your father.

Here's what the Bible says.

You know this, just a reminder, honor your father and mother.

This is the first commandment with promise that it may go well with you and that you may

live long in the land.

One way to honor your father is to empathize with the long, hard challenge of raising children.

That seems to me that your dad has put in 15 years into this job.

If not more, if you've got brothers and sisters, one of the things that makes it so hard to

be a parent and I have been one five times over for now 42 years.

...