Raising Sinners

Change is inevitable.  But all at one time? New city.  New church.  New friends.  New schools.  New home.  New dog (hey Moose!)   The Stephens family has experienced lots of change in the couple of years and we wanted to check in with the queen of the household herself, Mrs. Debbie Stephens! Wife, mom, speaker, teacher and funny girl, Debbie shares from her heart how they’ve navigated their new no...

Mary Comm is a seasoned and experienced ministry leader, author, and speaker.  She brings her 25+ years of Christian ministry experience to parents and family members facing the difficult and despairing issues concerning their LGBTQ loved ones.  She offers HOPE in the context of Biblical truth and personal experience, wrapped in compassion, peppered with humor, and packed with the powerful and tru...

How to be a good Christian spouse: the answers are all over the Bible.  But dating? And, especially dating as a Christian in an overtly sexual world? The Bible isn’t as clear about this topic…or is it? Is there a way to date and bring glory to God? How does a Christian date in an overtly sexual world? Many voices are eager to chime into this conversation, and it often feels downright overwhelming...

Chatting with Lauren Chandler was truly like catching up with an old friend.  She is DE-LIGHTFUL!!! Lauren is an avid writer, a worship leader at her home church, The Village Church, in Flower Mound, Texas where she and her husband, Matt, have served for almost 20 years, and mom to her 3 children.  Lauren is also a Bird Lady! That’s right! She watches birds, feeds birds, and even has an app on her...

We have to admit it…WE ARE BIG EXPERIENCING GOD FANS!!! Dr. Henry Blackaby wrote the study 33 years ago, we have completed the study countless times over the years, and it has shaped us, encouraged us, challenged us and strengthened us! So, we were a little starstruck when Dr. Richard Blackaby joined us for this interview.   Dr. Richard Blackaby, Henry’s son and ministry partner is the General Edi...

Mean Girls isn’t just a movie.  We’ve all been in situations where we’ve been bullied, treated unfairly, ridiculed, not invited, uninvited, accused, laughed at…It’s real life. Mean girls and bullies don’t go away in 7th grade. They follow us into adulthood unfortunately, so figuring out how to move forward and adjust is just as important as how to react in the moment.   In this episode, we share p...

We’re one year old! Happy Birthday! Happy Anniversary! Whatever it is we’re celebrating and remembering the goodness of God over this past year!   In this episode, Lisa and Chrissie reminisce over the past year, talk about favorite episodes, and even share some stats! We remember our first episode and all the technical issues we had.  Let’s be honest, we still have technical issues.  But we carry...

It’s time for the MOM SQUAD again! Chrissie’s youngest daughter, Abbie Tracy joins us today to talk COMPARISON.  It’s a topic we can all identify with.  We asked a group of moms recently what they struggle with regarding comparison and here are a few of their answers:   Body image, parenting, age, career, mom guilt, biblical insight and knowledge, finances, spouse, home, friends, materialism, fami...

We’re excited to share with you the 2nd Edition of Parent2Parent!   When we asked parents for their one piece of advice, they were passionate and eager to share.  We compiled their nuggets of wisdom ad decided to drill down on some of the main points parents saw as priorities in parenting.   In this second edition of Parent2Parent, we talk about the hard yards of parenting, the toddler years and h...

Some days podcasting is easy and today was one of those days.  Terra Mattson joined us for this episode, and she is so easy to talk to, so knowledgeable and just REAL! She’s raising two daughters, we’ve raised two daughters each, so we were all on the same page! And that was good because our subject was GIRLS! Terra is a spokesperson for Christian Parenting so maybe you’ve seen her videos on your...

Well, you guys it’s officially SUMMER this week at the RAISING SINNERS PODCAST and we’re on vacation! YIPPEEEEE! But that doesn’t mean we don’t have something GREAT for you to plug in to today.  We are replaying RAISING KIDS TO WALK IN COMMUNITY – IT TAKES A VILLAGE! And yes, it does! We need community and so do our kiddos.  Listen to this REPLAY and be reminded of this truth from God’s word!   We...

JJ Campbell joins us for this episode of Raising Sinners, and she is so much fun! A young mom and life enthusiast, JJ created a new, innovative way for parents to be intentional while in the car.  And if you’ve been a parent for 34 minutes or more, you know there’s a lot of car time!    JJ and “Along for the Ride Podcast” to the rescue!   Who doesn’t want to have fun while driving? Whether it’s a...

In this episode of Raising Sinners, we talk about the dangers that might arise as we raise our kids.  First and foremost, we want to guard against passing down a religion.  No one needs more religion.  But how do we pass on an authentic, Christian faith and not just a good, moral  lifestyle?  That’s the question.  Susie Hawkins is our guest.  Susie has been a mentor for Lisa and Chrissie, and a tr...

We’re thrilled to have Chris Sasser with us again on the Raising Sinners Podcast. Chris has been around kids for a while now, serving as youth pastor for many years and now as pastor of Family Ministries at Port City Community Church in Wilmington, NC.  Whether it’s his own kids or a student at the church, he sees up close and personal what kids are up against today and how many are struggling wit...

Welcome to RAISING SINNERS! We are so excited to launch a new series today – The Mom Squad! Occasionally, we’ll gather with some moms who are “in the game” and chat about all the things - cell phones, hormones, schooling, discipline, friends, community, keeping the spark alive in our marriages and really anything they are wanting to talk about.  This will be moms talking to moms.  And we hope you...

Well, you guys it’s officially SUMMER this week at the RAISING SINNERS PODCAST and we’re on vacation! YIPPEEEEE! But that doesn’t mean we don’t have something GREAT for you to plug in to today.  One of our favorite podcasts this year (and one of the most popular!) was WHEN YOUR CHILD STRUGGLES TO FIT IN.  We’ve all been there, and we can assume our children will face challenges, as well.  Be encou...

We asked for it and we got it…PARENTING ADIVCE!!!   When we asked parents for their one piece of advice, they were passionate and eager to share. We compiled their nuggets of wisdom and decided to drill down on some of the main points parents saw as priorities in parenting.    In this first episode of Parent2Parent, we talk about being the perfect parent (not possible), mom guilt (it’s a thing) an...

We can’t begin to tell you how much we enjoyed our conversation with Chris Sasser.  Chris has been around kids for a while now, serving as youth pastor for many years and now as pastor of Family Ministries at Port City Community Church in Wilmington, NC.  Whether it’s his own kids or a student at the church, he sees up close and personal what kids are up against today and how many are struggling w...

Jen and Tom Sherman have been friends of ours for many years.  In fact, Jen was one of our first guests on The Wonder Podcast.  Her love of books and reading culminated recently in her newest venture, and love, BOOKISH, a nonprofit bookstore in Malakoff, Texas.  Tom has been in the residential mortgage lending business for 30 years and is currently branch owner at Benchmark Mortgage.   They have t...

Thank you for joining us for Part 3 of this series. Carmen Schroeder has been our friend for a while now.  She’s self-taught in Hebrew and our “go-to” person for all things Torah.  Okay all things life. There, we said it.  She’s that friend.  And when we decided to spend time talking about our roles in marriage and how that manifest in our parenting, we knew she had to join the conversation.    Wh...

Thank you for joining us for Part 2 of this series. Carmen Schroeder has been our friend for a while now.  She’s self-taught in Hebrew and our “go-to” person for all things Torah.  Okay all things life. There, we said it.  She’s that friend.  And when we decided to spend time talking about our roles in marriage and how that manifest in our parenting, we knew she had to join the conversation.    Wh...

Carmen Schroeder has been our friend for a while now.  She’s self-taught in Hebrew and our “go-to” person for all things Torah.  Okay all things life. There, we said it.  She’s that friend.  And when we decided to spend time talking about our roles in marriage and how that manifest in our parenting, we knew she had to join the conversation.    What started out as a 30-minute podcast episode, quick...

During this 2-part series, Lisa and Chrissie talk with Merry Worrell about praying for adult children.  Merry is a wife and mom of 3 grown children.  Her background is in Children’s Ministry and Mental Health Counseling.  A Bible study leader, Merry also leads and mentors girls and moms through spiritual formation.  She is passionate about the Body of Christ knowing the Word, and the Father’s grea...

During this 2-part series, Lisa and Chrissie talk with Merry Worrell about praying for adult children.   Merry is a wife and mom of 3 grown children.  Her background is in Children’s Ministry and Mental Health Counseling.  A Bible study leader, Merry also leads and mentors girls and moms through spiritual formation.  She is passionate about the Body of Christ knowing the Word, and the Father’s gre...

It’s almost 2022! Congratulations! We made it! We just wanted to share a very quick word of thanksgiving and encouragement today.  A new year is a fresh start – a fresh start in our walk with the Lord, a fresh start in our parenting, a fresh start with family and friends and a fresh start in life. (actually), EVERY DAY in Christ is a fresh start because He makes ALL things new!   As we turn the ca...