Christian Parent, Crazy World

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...

A little boy whose dreams were dashed by the words of a teacher. A young man whose aspirations were ignited by the words of a co-worker. A poor child who believed he could be anything if he kept reading because his illiterate mom said so. These are some of the incredible stories that Catherine brings to life in this uplifting series on the power of our words. Words are weighty. They can shape the...

In this episode, Catherine wraps up this series on dealing with the difficult parts of the Bible by addressing those parts of Scripture we still don’t understand. Let’s be honest—sometimes Scripture does say what we want it to say. What is the point of these passages dealing with rape, slavery, and murder? Issues like these frequently come up when discussing the Christian faith with unbelievers an...

Catherine continues in a series on dealing with the difficult parts of Scripture by discussing two often misunderstood aspects of God’s nature: his mercy and his justice. These attributes are opposite ends of the divine pendulum. If we don’t understand them, we don’t understand who God is. We must properly comprehend these parts of God’s character if we want to prevent our kids from falling for th...

There are many out there who would mischaracterize God. We need to prepare our kids for these mischaracterizations of God. We must not ignore, sanitize, or downplay the difficult parts of Scripture. We must address them head on and give our kids an accurate understanding of who God is. If we read the Old Testament honestly, we will see a God of great compassion and mercy. A God who pleads with his...

Catherine continues in her series on dealing with difficult parts of Scripture with installment two. In this episode, Catherine applies the practical guidelines that she gave in episode 31 to a difficult story from the Bible that led a young college-age Christian to abandon his faith. Our kids are getting blindsided by parts of the Bible that they haven’t heard or haven’t properly considered, and...

There is stuff in the Bible that is hard to understand and difficult to explain. And too often, the first time many Christian kids encounter these difficult parts of the Bible is when an atheist professor brings them up in a class, or a friend who is a secular humanist challenges them in the cafeteria or at work. Kids are getting blindsided because they didn’t cover those topics in Sunday School o...

In this episode, Catherine tackles a question that every parent needs to have firmly settled: is it ok to question God and the Christian faith? Kids are coming home from school, extracurricular activities, higher education, work, or even church with serious questions about their beliefs. This is a good thing. But how do you handle that? How do we help our kids with these difficult topics? How do w...

When it comes to defending your faith, you don’t always need to play defense. Sometimes you need to go on the offense. These 7 guidelines will help you and your kiddos challenge cultural lies and lead others to the truth. You and your children need to: 1. Always define your terms. 2. Question everything. 3. Challenge labels. (Don’t label and discard.) 4. Don’t Cancel. Instead, consult. 5. Don’t ce...

How powerful are our words? Can they change the future? In this episode of CPCW, Catherine takes a fascinating, prophetic look at how words have the power to shape reality in the past, present, and future. Our leaders are using words to confuse and distort reality. But as faith-filled parents, we can use our words through prayer to effect change in our lives, in our kid’s lives, and in the world....

Get to know Catherine better in this wacky bonus episode of CP/CW as she shares a very fun and lively interview with Larry Roberts from the recent Spark Media Conference in Nashville, TN. Hear more about her background, how the podcast started, her passion for Christian apologetics, her two miraculous trips to the maternity ward in her 40s, and more than you ever wanted to know about Nashville hot...

What Every Parent Needs to Know about the Prodigal Child – Episode 26 *CONGRATULATIONS to CHRISTIAN PARENT/CRAZY WORLD for being named the 2022 Best Kids and Family Podcast by Spark Media.* https://bit.ly/3qmrx1K Catherine brings some much-needed truth to our perspective on parenting in this episode of CPCW by discussing what is the parent’s responsibility, what is the child’s responsibility, and...

Catherine continues in a series on truth by examining another way that the enemy is attacking the Christian faith and the next generation. In this episode, Catherine connects the dots between a prominent philosophical movement and the current state of gender and sexuality in our culture. The influence of nominalism has led not only to the denial of universal truth, but the denial of universals in...

Catherine continues in a series on truth with this second installment, which identifies the leading way that the enemy tricks Believers. Truth is the central issue of the Christian faith—it is the primary reason Christ came to earth, and yet nearly half of all born again Christians do not believe in universal truth. The enemy has a plan to twist and contort the truth, and in this episode, Catherin...

In this episode, Catherine identifies the greatest threat to our faith and our culture today. That threat involves an attack on something that is so central, so foundational to our faith, that to attack it is to attack the very core of who we are as Christians. Truly, it is an attack on Christ Himself. This threat is leading to an erosion of both our faith and our culture, and it is leading to the...

This is Catherine’s most practical podcast yet. In this insightful episode, Catherine helps you leave behind the old and embrace the new in 2022 with a “Dashboard for Life,” which is a report card containing 13 gauges on how to improve in the new year. Catherine walks you through how to examine your faith life, your marriage or dating life, your family life, and nine other areas by offering simple...