Discipleship Without All the Pressure: Parenting from Weakness, Not Perfection | Chris Ammen (Bonus Episode)

Minimalist Moms Podcast | Simple Living for Overwhelmed Moms

Diane Boden

Self-improvement, Home & Garden, Leisure, How To, Kids & Family, Mental Health, Education, Parenting, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 952 Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For those that are new around here, I release bonus episodes that serve a niche part of my audience, I have listeners of all faith backgrounds that listen to the podcast. This episode is coming from a christian perspective so if that’s something that doesn’t fit what you’re looking for, check out the other episode that dropped this week or join me back here next Tuesday for a conversation that you don’t want to miss!

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In this episode, Diane sits down with Chris Ammen, a children’s pastor from Chattanooga, Tennessee, author of Raising Disciples at Home, and contributor to Kaleidoscope Kids Bibles. Chris shares his journey into children’s ministry, his passion for nurturing the spiritual and emotional health of children, and his vision for discipleship as a communal, grace-filled process. We explore what it means to raise kids in a Christ-centered way - without the pressure to be perfect parents. Chris offers guidance on how to integrate humility, emotional awareness, and behavioral instruction rooted in the example of Jesus.

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About Chris|

Chris Ammen is a children’s pastor, writer, educator, and the parent of four children. He is also the founder of Kaleidoscope, a company who specializes in creating beautifully designed retellings of every book of the Bible for older elementary school children (ages 7 to 11). Chris and his family live in Tennessee.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	For those of you that are new around here, I release bonus episodes that serve a niche part of my audience.
0:05.3	I have listeners of all faith backgrounds that listen to the podcast.
0:09.0	This episode is coming from a Christian perspective.
0:11.6	So if that's something that doesn't fit what you're looking for, check out the other episode that dropped this week with my guest, Jerry Colber, or join me back here next week for conversations that you don't want to miss.
0:21.7	There's just these doom and gloom messages being given to parents about discipleship and about
0:27.5	what they have to do now and what they really should be doing. Actually, the good news is that I can't
0:32.8	disciple my children. I need the work of the Holy Spirit. I need the work of community around me.
0:40.1	But what Jesus did with his disciples was he saw these really common men who were fishing,
0:46.2	which meant that they weren't the best of the best. They weren't the tip top of their class.
0:50.1	And he came to them and he said, come and follow me as my disciples.
0:54.9	It's like an identity piece, too.
0:56.8	We're so quick to call our children sinners.
1:01.2	And certainly, like, that's the part of our makeup is that we sin.
1:06.1	But our children who are believers who have come to faith in Jesus, the Bible calls them saints.
1:11.5	Hello and welcome to the minimalist moms podcast. If the idea of spiritually leading your children
1:16.7	feels overwhelming, shame-filled, or like you're just not cut out for it, you're not alone.
1:21.7	Joining me today is children's pastor and father of four, Chris Ammon, and he's author of the
1:26.7	new book, Raising Disciples at Home.
1:28.8	As I said, you're not alone. Chris gets it, and more importantly, he believes God does too.
1:33.9	Together we unpack how discipleship is less about having all the answers and more about
1:38.8	depending on God and our weakness. Chris shares how parents can let go of performance-based
1:43.2	parenting and step into a daily grace-filled rhythm of pointing their kids back to Jesus. But before we get there, if you have yet to leave a rating and review for the minimalist moms podcast, it only takes a brief moment, but it is the best way to continue to support the show. I'm so grateful for all of you that have chosen to do this. Again, it just takes a little bit
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