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Discerning Culture

Sep 21
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Ray Van Neste – Reasons a Preacher Should Address the Children

By Church Life, Discerning Culture, Family Discipleship, Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Early Years, Parenting: Teens and Beyond, Podcast

Could it be that we’re ignoring a large group in our worship service, even when they show up week after week? I planted and pastor to church for 25 years, and I know that everyone has a wonderful idea about what you should be doing with your time. But I would ask you to think about one little section of your sermon. That’s what we’re gonna be talking about in today’s podcast. We’re talking with Dr. Ray Van Neste about his recent blog post entitled: Preacher, Don’t Forget to Speak to the Children. And in that post, he lays out…

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Sep 07
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Deepak Reju -Establishing an Effective and Safe Children’s Ministry

By Church Life, Discerning Culture, Family Discipleship, Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Early Years, Parenting: Teens and Beyond, Podcast

This Sunday, hundreds of thousands of parents will drop off their children at the children’s ministry of a church. And hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours will have been spent in preparation, but is the ministry safe? And is it effective? We’re going to be talking with Deepak Reju about two of his very helpful books. In the first part of the interview, we will talk about the, his book Build on Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide for Gospel Based Children’s Ministry. In the second half of our conversation, we talk about a second book On Guard: Preventing and Responding to…

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Feb 23
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Brett McCracken – The Wisdom Pyramid

By Discerning Culture, Podcast

We are raising children in the information age. We need a new unit of measurement- the exabyte. Experts predict in 2025, 463 exabytes will be created online every day. That’s the equivalent of over 270 million DVDs. Even more amazingly, that data is all available from a device I carry in my hand. But what if all this information was not making my family more wise, but instead more foolish? In today’s podcast we are going to talk to Brett McCracken about his book, The Wisdom Pyramid. In it McCracken lays out a vision for living a wise life by…

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Jun 17
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Thoughts on Poverty

By Discerning Culture

The United States is experiencing an unusual time of turmoil. Our young people will be influenced to think emotionally like the world or to think more Scripturally. This is my attempt to think biblically about poverty. Let me be clear that this is NOT an area of expertise. But it is an area where voices are influencing our children. We want to think as clearly as we can. Christians may disagree with applications but the following biblical principles are meant to guide our thinking. As with everything, I do my best to think through things from a biblical framework. I…

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May 13
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Tim Challies: Thoughts on Media and Your Family

By Discerning Culture, Interviews, Podcast

The media, internet, and screens can seem like a tsunami, overwhelming us and our children. Sometimes it seems to disciple our children more than we do. What should a parent do? In this podcast, I talked with Tim Challies about his perspective on the media and its use in his family. He has written a book, The Next Story: Faith, Friends, Family, and the Digital World. In our time together we talked about some insights on this new world that could guide us as parents. In addition, at the end of the episode, we touch briefly on his last chapter…

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Jul 29
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An Apologetic for the Christian Mess: 12 Things I Wish I Had Known as a Teen

By Discerning Culture

In my teen years, as I was becoming more aware of the wider world, I began to understand that the Christian world is a lot messier than I realized. Rather than contradicting what Jesus taught, this mess actually fulfills it. But no one ever told me that.  Here are a few things I wish someone had told me about the Christian mess. Perhaps this list can help you or in your discipleship of your teen. 1. True Christians will always be a minority. Jesus said, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find…

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Mar 12
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Around the Web

By Discerning Culture

Kids Opting Out of Social Media – I’m sure you know of this trend but it still interesting to see an article on it. Our children are narrowcasting not broadcasting. Make sure you are talking with them. With Him – Jesus’ Discipleship Method.  This has huge implications for parents. Are you “with him?” Are you bringing your children “with you?” Ask Questions Like Jesus – One author says that Jesus was asked 183 questions but asked 307. Questions are powerful teaching tools. This article looks at different types of questions and will help you in your communication. 10 Questions to Diagnose Your…

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Nov 12
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How TV Affects Our Family and World

By Discerning Culture No Comments

Here is research proof  to what we already know. As TV spreads, it changes culture. This article points out how the spread of TV  has reduced Brazil’s birthrate and influenced social mores in India gradually. The article goes on to point out how TV has changed our culture’s acceptance of homosexuality. Some applications as I see it. 1. We are imitators. We can’t help it. The question is what will we imitate. We will imitate those we admire. If I am saturating myself with TV characters then I will want to emulate them. If I put myself around those who…

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Jun 01
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Yolanda Weinberger: A Christian Woman Thinks about Race and Racism

By Discerning Culture, Interviews

I am honored to have an articulate and wise board of The Apollos Project. In this interview, I talk with Yolanda Weinberger about her thoughts on race and racism. 00:01 – Meet Yolanda! 04:51 – A few stories of of racism 08:34 – How Yolanda thinks about racism 13:45 – Advice for “guilty feeling” whites 17:24 – Advice for Americans of African descent 22:38 – How Yolanda has tried to disciple her children thinking about race 25:17 – Thoughts on Ferguson and Baltimore 31:40 – Applying the gospel to this issue 34:09 – Ways to stay connected with Yolanda. [fusion_builder_container…

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