Christian Parent, Crazy World

We've all heard the story of a kid in the church youth group who is now on a destructive path. Many parents are living this story. Sometimes the lessons we teach our kids don’t stick. The faith we hand down doesn’t become their own. They have outside influences that erode the foundation that us parents seek so diligently to build.   In this episode, Catherine shares a cautionary tale of a young ma...

Our culture is selling a pack of lies to the next generation. Are your kids buying?   Joining Catherine again in this episode is Elizabeth Urbanowicz, creator of Foundation Worldview , a Christian worldview curriculum for kids ages 14 to 4. Elizabeth has distilled the catalog of cultural falsehoods into a best-of list containing the top seven most prevalent lies being sold to our kids.   They are:...

What type of mindset makes us vulnerable to chronic stress, anxiety & depression? When you are stressed, what automatic coping mechanisms have you adopted that don’t help, but diminish your wellness?  What holds you back from getting the rest that you need when you’re stressed?   In this episode from Breathe: The Stress Less Podcast  (another free show from LifeAudio), soul care coach Bonnie s...

The Christian worldview is challenged like never before in American culture. With a majority of kids leaving the faith after they leave the nest, Christian parents need to prioritize establishing a biblical worldview in the lives of our children.   Our kids can’t keep what they don’t own, and they can’t own what they haven't received.    But how do we teach our kids the Christian worldview?   What...

There is no greater discipline that we can teach our children than the daily practice of prayer. Communing with our heavenly Father is the lifeblood of our faith.   But how do we teach our kids to pray?   Catherine wraps up this series on Gen Z by exploring that question.   Joining Catherine to discuss this vital topic is Erica Renaud, author of the brand new book Pray with Me: Help Your Children...

Every generation has faced challenges from the culture, but the intensity and ferocity of the challenges facing Gen Z is new. These challenges are pummeling the next generation like waves, one after another after another.   What are the cultural waves facing Gen Z?   We can’t respond to them if we don’t know what they are.   Joining Catherine again to discuss these cultural waves is Dr. Jonathan M...

The gap between generations has never been greater. Understanding the unique aspects and challenges of Gen Z is vital if we want to reach this generation with the truth of the Christian worldview. How well are we doing? Recent statistics show that half of Gen Z children raised in the church are leaving the faith after they leave the nest, and recent research from Barna shows that only 4% of Gen Z...

Raising the next generation presents some very unique challenges. Recent statistics show that half of Gen Z children raised in the church are leaving the faith after they leave the nest. And recent research from Barna shows that only 4% of Gen Z has a Biblical worldview.   How do you disciple them?   How do you relate?   What obstacles do they face and how can you teach them to pray?   Catherine a...

How can you eat better, sleep better, exercise better, work better, play better, spend better, save better, serve better, worship better, and pray better? Those are very good questions to ask at the beginning of a new year.   But how can you improve your relationship with your kids this year?   Now that’s a question to put at the top of the list.   In this special New Year’s episode, Catherine spe...

Finding worthwhile holiday entertainment is quite a challenge these days. A recent list of “The Top 100 Christmas Movies of All Time” on Rotten Tomatoes placed a movie called “ Tangerine” at number 4. Brace yourself for the description:   “After hearing that her boyfriend/pimp cheated on her while she was in jail, a transgender sex worker and her best friend set out to find him and teach him and h...

Baptism is an important part of being a Christian, regardless of your theological tradition. However, we can’t all seem to agree upon exactly how we’re supposed to do it. In this special episode, Catherine provides a special preview of Kainos Project, another podcast on the LifeAudio podcast network that's perfect for parents! Every week, hosts Dale and Tamara Chamberlain help you tackle ancient t...

Did you know that 20 young people take their own lives every single day in the United States? Catherine recently sat down with one such teen for a two-part series on suicide. Emma Benoit had a picture-perfect life. She was a vibrant, beautiful 16-year-old varsity cheerleader whose secret battle with anxiety led her to take a gun, point it at her chest, and pull the trigger. Only 1% of people with...

Did you know that 20 young people take their own lives every single day in the United States? Catherine recently sat down with one such teen for a two-part series on suicide. Emma Benoit had a picture-perfect life. She was a vibrant, beautiful 16-year-old varsity cheerleader whose secret battle with anxiety led her to take a gun, point it at her chest, and pull the trigger. Only 1% of people with...

Just mentioning God’s plan for our sexuality has become hate speech these days. How did that happen? That question is answered as Catherine concludes this series on sexuality by discussing the overarching narratives that are competing with the Biblical view on sexuality. Also addressed is the sinister agenda taking place in our nation’s hospitals where children are being maimed in transitional sur...

Biblical sexuality and cultural sexuality are diametrically opposed to one another. Our kids are neck deep in a culture that says everything the Bible teaches on sexuality is not only wrong but oppressive, divisive, and hateful. As parents, we need to know what our culture is saying about sexuality. We must know where these ideas are coming from and how to talk to our kids about it. In part 3 of a...

Some topics that CPCW covers are relevant to lot of parents and a lot of kids, but the topic of sexuality is relevant to ALL parents and ALL kids. We cannot escape this issue in our families and our friendship circles. So who defines our sexuality? Our celebrities, our politicians, our teachers and school administrators, our friends, our feelings… or God. If we want to call ourselves Christ follow...

Your kids cannot go into a public restroom these days, turn on the television, go to school, or play high school or collegiate sports without being confronted with the question of sexuality. Who defines it? Our politicians, our celebrities, our educators, our feelings… or God? This is the most relevant cultural issue of our day. The question of sexuality goes to the very core of who we are as huma...

Sometimes we can feel like the walking wounded in the church. Some people will jump from church to church trying to forget their wounds. Others will leave the church altogether. The injuries we incur in these close quarters can follow us around for a lifetime if we let them. In this episode, Catherine talks about the wounds that can happen when we walk closely with other believers in the church. S...

Abuse in the church is hard to understand ourselves, much less to explain to our kids. But we need to have these conversations. CHRISTIAN PARENT/CRAZY WORLD focusses on topics that can build our kid’s faith or tear it down. This is most certainly one of those dangerous topics that can tear down their faith as they get older, causing them to leave the church and Christianity altogether. Why does th...

Being under the scrutiny of a fellow believer is such a painful place to be. And when someone judges our kids, we often feel it more than they do. If we don’t deal with the judgements of others properly, the wounds can lead us and our kids away from the body of Christ and from the faith. Judging is going to happen in the church, and as we have learned in this series, that is by design. We are supp...

As parents, we have to judge the actions of our kids. And we live in families, neighborhoods, communities, and churches where we hold each other accountable. So sometimes that requires us to assess the actions of other people. (Especially the little people who live with us.) We have to consider the fruit in people’s lives, as Jesus said to do. And they have to do that with us as well. But in that...

Some would say that it’s never right to judge another person. Others say that it is. So which is it? At some point in our Christian walk, we are going to be judged by other believers, and so will our kids. It is important that we know what Scripture says about this issue. In this episode, Catherine continues in a series on judging by examining what the Bible has to say on this critical topic. Ever...

We’ve all come under the scrutiny of others, and so have our kids. When we are judged by other Christians, the pain can be acute. It can lead us away from God and the faith. Catherine begins a new series on judging by establishing a proper foundation of God’s overwhelming love before we dissect someone’s behavior. Then she examines the pain that ungodly judgments can cause. With those critical pre...

Catherine concludes this uplifting series on the power of our words by pulling the lens way back to show how our words water the seeds of legacy in our kids’ lives. In this episode, Catherine travels to the future, to a place where all our hard parenting work is done. All the seeds are planted. All the water has poured out of us onto those little seeds, and these precious plants are strong and vib...

Words can change the course of a life. They can build dreams, or they can break them. Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” We want our words to produce healthy fruit in the lives of our children. But how can we do that specifically? In this refreshing episode, Catherine offers seven ways to bless your kids with words. As a par...