Friends, today I am delighted to share an Advent post with you written by my friend and brother in Christ, Troy Depue. Troy serves as the pastor of Knight for God Ministries, a growing online church ministry seeking to glorify God in all they do and spreading the Word of God to as many people as they can. Troy is a faithful husband and grateful father.
He and I met at OurCalling, a Dallas-based homeless outreach where we both worked at the time. I’m grateful to call him a friend and brother in Christ.
Advent
A Guest Post by Pastor Troy Depue
This time of year, advent calendars are popping up and being sold. Most of the time these are calendars are daily cutouts your kids pull out and tear off to get a piece of candy inside, and there is a short bit of information on the back about Jesus and his birth. This sounds great, and they are spreading Jesus to kids.
The issue lies in what is being discussed about that as a family. See, it takes more than a kid just wanting to get a piece of candy to understand what is going on. Parents often forget to parent and let everything else teach their kids, and the kids are left empty and unsure. If you choose to use an advent calendar with your kids, you need to be discussing and reading the story from the Bible of what is going on on that particular day.
See, Deuteronomy 6:6-7 speaks directly on this topic as well:
6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be [written] on your heart and mind. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your [a]children [impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths] and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 Amplified Bible
This means that you should be teaching them at all times, no matter the situation, and modeling it to them as well. This means that giving them a daily piece of candy is simply not enough. While there are those that will say a kid does not understand the complexities of Biblical theology, there are also a ton of adults that do not either. You teach them, and they begin to understand. You do not teach them, and they get confused and wont understand. It is pretty simple.
I have also recently heard a former teacher talk about her book that she put out to teach kids about Jesus and the reason for the season. Sounds excellent. But she uses such condescending wording that if was honestly offensive. And she still used words with no teaching of what they meant. If you never teach your kid what salvation and sanctification mean, and the difference between them, they will not know as adults (I have ran into this many times). If you do not teach them about conviction and condemnation, the words are just words that have no meaning. They will not understand that we sin, what sin is, and why we needed Jesus. If you do not teach them about death, something no one likes to talk about, they do not understand that Jesus died and was resurrected and how big of a miracle that is. If you do not teach them about death, they may think Jesus was just asleep (I have heard this as well as a youth leader).
The point is that while this can be a tool, it requires a deeper conversation.
My recommendation is to begin a tradition where you begin reading the Gospel of Luke on December 1st as a family. One chapter a day. That may seem like a lot, but you can even have it play on a Bible audio platform while you eat dinner, as a family (a foreign concept to many). And then discuss it as a family. Why Luke? Because there are 24 chapters in Luke. So you end the Gospel of Luke on Christmas Eve and can celebrate His birth on Christmas day with the full understanding of the gift you have been given. It changes perspectives on the commercialized “gimme gimme gimme” and “me me me” attitude the world would have them believe with a fat guy in a red suit giving them their worldly desires, into thankfulness.
Bridget A. Thomas – Every Day Is A Gift
Loring Schultz – Word For The Soul
Alan Kearns – Devotional Treasure
Nathan R Dooley – Time For Providence
David Duncan – David’s Daily Dose
Cindi West – God Still Speaks
Barb Hegreberg – My Life in our Father’s World
Rainer Bantau – The Devotional Guy™
You can catch more of Troy on his Knight for God YouTube channel.
My friend, I pray you are blessed by this celebration of Advent. Thank you for reading this installment of our ADVENT2025 series.
Until my next post…
Be salty, stay lit.
Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™
You can now find my articles in The Christian Grandfather Magazine.
Please hit me up if you have questions or drop a comment below. And please subscribe to my blog!
#bgbg2#BibleGateway
The Stigma Stops Here.
#mentalhealthmatters
© 2025 Rainer Bantau | The Devotional Guy™ | All Rights Reserved
The Devotional Guy™ 
For sure, Barb. We‘ve got to talk it and walk it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
AMEN!!
We should be living out our faith everyday. This means openly discussing the why’s and the why not’s with our friends and loved ones.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Alan. That’s wonderful news about the opportunity you had to share the Gospel with your son. I am grateful for Troy’s message as well. He is very dedicated to his family, ministry, and work. I know him to be a faithful servant of the Lord. Blessings, all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A very pertinent message from brother Troy – thank you. You highlight the need and opportunity to teach our family about the Gospel message, particularly when they are young. I would say this applies when your kids are adults too! I had an opportunity to discuss the importance of Advent and God’s plan of salvation with my 25 year old son last night (he has been away from the Lord since high school). May we take every opportunity to share Jesus during this Christmas Advent season.
Thank you for your encouragement. May our Father God continue to guide and bless you in your ministry each day 🙏
LikeLiked by 1 person