Christian Parent, Crazy World

The Hallmark Channel has found a cash cow with their Countdown to Christmas, attracting around 80 million viewers during the 8-week event. These films are a cultural phenomenon. Why are they so popular? After all, they are predictable and a little cheesy. Why do we love them so much? Catherine has a theory on that, which is both enlightening and entertaining. The answer is very significant both cu...

Culture swings on a pendulum between two extremes, and the enemy is very adept at using these extremes to his advantage. He is masterful at hiding our vices, and using a complementary virtue to reinforce what is our greatest area of weakness, as a culture and as individuals.  In this episode, Catherine shows how culture how ebbs and flows between these two extremes throughout history. Then she ide...

HOW DO YOU LIVE BIBLICALLY WHEN EVERYONE AROUND YOU ISN’T? Or a lot of people around you aren’t. In other words, how do you live a counter-cultural life? Good question, huh? We are in the middle of a series on how to be a counter-cultural Christian. In this episode, Catherine offers six guidelines to help you and your kids swim upstream in our downstream culture. At the end of life, all that matte...

If we are going to swim God’s direction in this downstream culture, people will think that we are odd. They will have all kinds of choice words to describe us. We need to have this expectation in life, and we need to give our kids this expectation as well. If our children stay true to God’s Word and God’s standard, our culture will not celebrate them. In fact, our culture will accuse and may even...

Do you know that you have a purpose in life? Like beyond parenting. Beyond what you do for a living, even, perhaps. Beyond paying the bills and doing the chores and feeding the kids. You have a purpose in life. Something that God created you to do before you were ever born. God has a very specific part for you to play in the grand story He is writing throughout all of history In this podcast, I’m...

The more your kids understand their God-given purpose in life, the more likely they are to stay grounded in their faith into adulthood. As parents, we have this incredibly unique position in our kid’s lives. We are literally front row center for most of the first two decades. We are, hands down, the most important influence on our kids during their formative years. We have not just the ability, bu...

When you step out with God in prayer, you need to expect opposition from the enemy. That’s because prayer changes history. Your history, your child’s history, human history. *** Resources: Read my article on this topic on Crosswalk.com God Is Good, But This Isn’t: Blogcast Recording | Article. Take Heart: 100 Devotions to Seeing God When Life's Not Okay *** Scriptures to Pray When You Go to Battle...

Get close to God. Seek His face. Declare who He is. Exclaim His goodness. Ask for direction. Request what you need. And command His will to be done here on earth in your life as it is in heaven. Pray some bold prayers. Scriptures referenced: James 1:5 Philippians 4:6-7 Psalm 37:4 Psalm 144:1-2 Article referenced: Is God Still Speaking to Us in Dreams, Even Today? Read my article on this topic on C...

I love apologetics, explaining the faith and equipping parents to help their children stand strong in the faith. But there comes a time in life when we need to stop explaining and start exercising – we’ve got to start walking out all that we know. In this episode, we will cover: 1. The four types of prayers we should be praying when we are in a battle for one of our kids 2. The greatest impediment...

We spend a lot of time worrying that our children will leave the faith in college. But statistics show that children are more likely to leave the faith before they leave the nest. In this episode, Catherine covers: 1. What is to blame when your child walks away from the faith (and what NOT to blame). 2. A battleplan for going to war for your child’s faith Articles and Resources Mentioned in this E...

We have all heard at some point to “speak the truth in love." But how exactly do we do that? Where in scripture are we instructed to do so? In this episode, we are going to break down this popular saying and discuss how to humbly lead others to the truth. Our goal should not just be to speak the truth, but that our expression of truth is effective and genuine. Resources Mentioned: Article: The Dan...

Our social and political landscape is incredibly contentious. We need guidelines to help us and our kids navigate these treacherous waters. In this episode, we discuss how to talk about sensitive topics with our kids, telling them the truth – which is often offensive -- but with love. How do we do that? I’ve got 6 guidelines. Read the article that goes with this episode. GUIDELINES: 1. Listen. Rea...

This episode is the culmination of all the hard work we have done in the last three episodes! We are going to look at why the other worldviews we’ve looked at begin to fall apart because they don’t accurately explain and represent reality. Resources and Articles Mentioned in This Episode: 1. Eric Metaxas interview with John Smirak 2. John Smirak article: Is the Woke Cult Just a Spastic Reaction to...

Natasha Crain expertly challenges us: Instead of asking if a worldview is religious or non-religious, we should ask – from where does this worldview get its authority? Research and Resources That Went into This Episode: Natasha Crain’s Website: https://natashacrain.com/ Crain’s podcast that asks, “From where does this worldview get its authority?” Debate between Alan Dershowitz and Alan Keyes on r...

Today, we’re getting brainy. But we’re also going to have a lot of fun. The subject of worldviews can be overwhelming and confusing. But you and your kids are going to need to understand these concepts. I break down each main worldview in easy-to-understand terms and have a ton of resources to help you explore and explain these worldviews to your kids. When it comes to worldviews, the question we...

Some might argue that we should simply teach our kids the principles of the Christian faith and ignore other worldviews. Isn’t knowing the truth enough? Catherine doesn’t think so. We want our kid’s faith to be challenged. Resistance creates strength. Lack of resistance creates a wimpy, flabby faith. In this episode, she will give you FIVE reasons why we want to teach our kids other worldviews. Yo...

If we want our kids to stand strong in their faith, we need to have real answers to some of their hardest questions about God and His Word. Why did God use men to write his book? In this episode, Catherine unpacks this question and the powerful, life-altering answer. The fact is: that God used the men and women he did to write the Bible and share the gospel should give us incredible hope for our o...

One of the main reasons young people are leaving the faith is because they are growing up in a legalistic faith. They approached their faith as a list of do’s and don’ts. Their relationship with God was a checklist, a duty. In this episode, Catherine unpacks what the rules in the Bible are all about, why they are important, and how we sometimes misunderstand what they are about. The rules aren’t a...

In the last episode, we talked about what our kids need for an authentic faith. We concluded that we need to teach our kids how to wrestle - how to contend - for their faith. One of the primary reasons cited for this youth exodus by Tom Bisset in his book Why Christian Kids Leave the Faith is surprisingly simple: “They left because they never personally owned their faith.” In other words, their fa...

The key to an authentic faith? Wrestling. In this episode, Catherine walks us through the story of Jacob and how, through his wrestling, his faith became his own. A new LifeWay Research survey says Two-thirds of young people say they stopped regularly going to church for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22. Why Christian Kids Leave the Faith by Tom Bissett. In that book, he gives the top...

An astronomical number of Christian young people are leaving the faith after they leave the nest. A recent New LifeWay Research survey shows that two-thirds of Christian youth stop attending church for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22. A study from the Assemblies of God shows that “at least half and possibly over two-thirds of Christian young people will step away from the faith while...