On today’s re-release of a previous solo show, we are tackling the topic of how to raise your littles in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. My prayer is that you'll come away from this episode feeling equipped and encouraged, knowing that raising your littles in this way does not have to be complicated.

~Ephesians 6:4 and what is interesting about the word "nurture" coming before the word "admonition"

~The crucial foundation of nurture and why our training of our children in theology and right living must first come from a place of humility, tenderness, care, patience, gentleness, slowness, and nurture

~What we can learn from bamboo about the importance of having a strong foundation and why it is ok when our training takes a while

~The negative impact that raising children up legalistically, overly strictly, or in a domineering way can have on children

~How raising our children up in the tender nurture of the Lord gives them a more accurate picture of who their Heavenly Father is

~How failing to raise your children first in the nurture of the Lord can lead to your provoking them to wrath

~What raising our children up in the admonition of the Lord can look like practically on an everyday basis (as we're shown in Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

~Why the theological training of our children need not be complicated and instead can and should be simple - thereby showing them how applicable, relevant, and practical God's Word is to every aspect of our everyday lives

~The importance of refusing to overly shelter our children but to instead prepare them well for real life in age appropriate ways

~Why we want to raise our children not to be mere yes-men, but to instead be able to think for themselves, be critical thinkers, and interpret God's Word for themselves, applying it to every situation in life

~Equipping our children to have a faith of their own rather than piggy backing off ours, so that when we are one day not here, they will still be able to stand firm

~Practical books, media, practices, and other resources to aid you in your parenting and raising your children in the admonition of the Lord

~The power and importance of having lots of gospel conversations with your kids (and examples of some of the types of conversations we regularly have in our home)

~And more!

For full show notes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast

Terry Crist is a husband, father, pastor, and the author of the new book, “Loving Samaritans: Radical Kindness in an Us vs. Them World“. He has a heart for inspiring people to follow Jesus and love others well, and that comes through really well in our conversation today.

What We Chat about in Today’s Episode:

~Terry’s new book, what led him to write it, and what readers can expect

~How a love for the church does not negate our passion to call the church up to be her best - that that is actually an important part of loving the church well

~Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4 and what we can glean from it

~How Jesus’ whimsical, loving, gracious interaction with the woman at the well enabled Him to touch on the tricky topics of sexuality, religion, politics, power, cultural identity, and more in a way that caused her to open up to Him in conversation; how this is a model for us for cultural engagement

~The folly of making assumptions about people as opposed to asking them questions and getting to know them and why they do what they do; getting to know them as individual persons as opposed to groups; the wrong decisions we make when we fail to do this

~Jesus’ model for us that all people are worthy of love and respect, time and attention, of being heard, and of hearing truth without insult

~Asking the question of who the samaritans are in our world and what we may have gotten wrong about them

~Divisiveness now being viewed as a virtue in our day; what our call is instead - to love people on both ends of the ideological spectrum

~Fear and the Pharisaical problem of a “fragile righteousness” and how it can lead to the dangerous desire of eradicating the “other”; understanding that our righteousness is not our own but rather the gift of Jesus’ own righteousness and will not be tarnished when we go into the world as He has called us to

~Asking “Where does the Spirit want me to go today?” as a way to model the way and ministry of Jesus; walking through your day with your heart and eyes wide open to where Jesus is already at work and joining Him there instead of thinking it’s all on us

~Going from religious, dogmatic strangers to compassionate, understanding neighbors and why this change is so important

~Being in it for the long game and understanding that people are worthy of love and affection even if they never come to Christ

~The importance of having both biblical orthodoxy (truth) and biblical orthopraxy (how we’re living out that truth)

~What Pastor Terry would say to those who are afraid that their children will become corrupted by the culture

~The power of the ministry of “withness”

~The problem with being a culture warrior and how it keeps us from from being kingdom ambassadors sent on a mission with a message of peace

~Daniel as a model for cultural engagement

~And more!

As we find ourselves in the middle of yet another election year, I felt it to be the right time to re-visit a podcast episode I first recorded and released 4 years ago during our last presidential election year.  Today we will be addressing again the topic of the most important thing for Christians to remember this election year.  I pray this episode will prove to be helpful and encouraging to you.

~A post ("The Most Important Thing for Christians to Remember This Election Year") I wrote back in 2016 during the last presidential election

~What our name-calling, personal attacks, hand-wringing, and political anxiety reveal about our hearts and the true condition of our faith

~The emphasis we as believers are too often placing on debate over love; how this is very different from the call we are given in the Word

~A survey of Scripture to see what our ultimate call is and what the most important thing is for us to remember and live out this election year

~How our love for America is crowding out the most important thing - love for God and love for others 

~The reality that our ultimate goal is not first and foremost to 'save America', but to fulfill the Great Commission; that our ultimate goal is not to make patriotic Americans, but to make disciples of Christ

~The way our lambasting our fellow believers in Christ over political differences is hindering our witness and our ability to live out the Great Commission

~It being love - and not being our political viewpoints-  that proves we are Christ's disciples

~How Paul tells us that truth without love is worthless

~The sobering, convicting words spoken by Christ to the church at Ephesus in the book of Revelation and what His message to them says to us today

~How grace and truth, mercy and truth, love and truth, are always paired together in the Scriptures when describing the character of God - it is never one without the other - and neither should it be with us

~The importance of being slow to speak and quick to listen, seeking to understand where the other person is coming from

~The impossibility of our wrath, anger, and hatred ever producing the righteousness of Christ in the lives of others

~The politicide going around today emulated by a Twitter thread hoping for destruction to come to Trump voters; the importance of asking ourselves as conservative Christians if we are guilty of the same thing towards Biden voters

~And more!

Kristen Lavalley is a wife, mom of 5, writer, and author of the brand new book, Even if He Doesn't: What We Believe about God When Life Doesn't Make Sense. She is passionate about helping people who have been harmed by the church or walked through pain that has left them reeling and with theological questions. Our prayer is that you will come away from this episode feeling seen, understood, loved, and helped in whatever you may be walking through.

What We Chat about in Today’s Episode:

~Kristen’s new book, what led her to write it, and what readers can expect

~The importance of engaging honestly with your pain and your beliefs and how doing so can actually save your faith - as it did Kristen’s

~Understanding that questions and doubts can actually be invitations to know God better, not automatically a scary thing that will result in you losing your faith

~The concept of the slippery slope and why it should be our aim to help those who find themselves there

~Kristen’s own experience in being able to see the goodness of God in some of life’s hardest moments

~The importance of being teachable and allowing God to re-define your beliefs and viewpoints according to what actually is true about Him

~The importance of practicing the presence of God and how impactful this is in the hardest of times

~Defining God’s goodness as He defines it, and not according to how we think goodness looks or is defined

~Coming to the place of being able to learn what God is really like, not just how we want Him to be

~Understanding that it is a mercy when God allows our hard circumstances to refine how we view Him and enable us to get to know Him better

~The problem with having a transactional view of God

~Faith over formula

~Realizing that it is a theological red flag when you are constantly being surprised by the goodness of God to you

~Understanding God’s Word emphasizes His love - not His wrath!- for His kids; the importance of knowing that it is His *kindness* that leads to our repentance

~The truth that there is comfort at the feet of Jesus, even if there aren’t always answers

~How to love and serve well those who are suffering

~Knowing that you are safe in the love of God

~And more!

For full show notes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast 

During this Valentines week of love, we are journeying back to the podcast archives and addressing the topic of love, the importance Scripture places on it, and how God's Word defines it. I hope you will walk away from this chat feeling well equipped to better understand and live out love in a culture and time that is very confused.

~The topic of love, and why it is such an important topic for believers, especially, to grasp

~The importance of understanding the Bible's definition of love

~The extremes that are on both sides of the spectrum and seen in the church and culture at large: 1) the idea that as long as you speak truth, you are ok and it doesn't matter how you present it because that is the most loving thing you can do and 2) the idea that love means you approve of and accept everything anyone does; why these are both wrong and unbiblical

~The primary call of a Christian - to love; why it is important to understand this and how we are falling down on our job

~Love as the supreme thing

~Paul's definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13

~How Paul's clear definition of love makes it clear that your presentation DOES matter, your motive DOES matter, and just "speaking truth" is not enough

~How Paul's clear definition of love makes it clear that loving someone does not mean you approve of and accept everything they do

~Paul's emphasis in Ephesians 4 on speaking the truth in *love*

~The importance of others being able to tangibly feel our love for them - even if and when we disagree

~A deep dive into Ephesians 4, 1 John 3, 1 John 4, John 13, and 1 Corinthians 13

~Love and boundaries

~The sobering reality that if we do not love others, the love of God is not in us, either

~Our call to love everyone, with no exceptions

~And more!

Elizabeth Urbanowicz is the  founder of Foundation Worldview, where her passion is on display for creating resources to equip parents to be able to help their kids carefully evaluate all the ideas that are regularly coming at them so that they can understand and enjoy the goodness and beauty of biblical truth. Our prayer is that you would come away from this episode inspired and equipped to raise your kids in a biblical worldview and with love for others.

~How Elizabeth first put this passion to work with the children she was teaching at her school

~The importance of equipping our kids to be critical thinkers and to be able to evaluate, on their own, what they are hearing on a daily basis

~The importance of not underestimating just how much our children truly can understand, even at young ages; what to do and how to start equipping your children on these worldview topics

~How Foundation Worldview came about

~How the resources are set up and how parents can implement them at home either as a part of their homeschool or in a supplemental way to their child’s education elsewhere

~Equipping our kids to know whether someone is sharing something that is objectively true vs. something that is just their own personal preferences or feelings

~Equipping and inspiring our kids to have time in the Word on their own (and to want to, as opposed to it just being a box to check!); the importance of teaching our kids the importance of context in Scripture

~How to raise your kids with a strong, biblical worldview in a crazy time like this without losing hope or feeling overwhelmed

~Understanding what full discipleship actually is

~The importance of prioritizing your relationship with your children; the impact that this has on their worldview

~The importance of knowing how your children give and receive love and how knowing that impacts our ability to grow in relationship with our kids

~Addressing our kids’ presentation of truth and raising them with the importance of speaking the truth in *love*

~Training our kids in the importance of listening well and asking good questions

~Clarifying our purpose, priorities, and goals in each season of parenting

~And more!

Head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast

Rebekah Hargraves is the host of the Home and Hearth Podcast and on today's solo show she is covering the topic of "Bible Study 101".  Though this is a re-release of an episode originally recorded three years ago, it seems timely again as we are feeling fearful in these times and needing to grow in our knowledge of the Bible and our ability to study it. May you come away from this episode feeling encouraged and equipped in your ability to study, understand, and interpret the Bible for yourself.

~*How* to study the Bible, and then moving on into *when* to study the Bible (help for the busy woman who finds it hard to make time for the Word)

~5 Bible Study tips for beginners:

*Pick a user-friendly Bible translation

*Choose a Reading Plan for where to begin (see my Bible Reading Plan article below, however, for some necessary caveats to this!)

*Find a good Bible study or Bible study method

*Learn to reflect on what you are reading

*Take advantage of the many free study resources at your disposal

~Different Bible translations, and what the differences are between word-for-word translations and thought-for-thought (or dynamic equivalent) translations

~The Bible translation I personally would recommend that is an "optimal equivalence" translation

~What the Holy Spirit has clearly called me, personally, to do in my personal Bible study time

~Free online resources and websites for Bible study

~Great books of the Bible to begin with if you are a new believer

~Bible study methods:

*SOAP method Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer

*Inductive Bible Study Method

~Great guided Bible study book recommendations

~Practical tips for how to be in the Word as a busy woman

~Meeting with God all throughout the day in relationship with Him, as opposed to relegating time with Him to a business meeting in the morning

~And more!

For full shownotes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast 

Karrie Garcia is a wife, mom of 3, runs the organization Freedom Movement and is author of “Free and Fully Alive: Reclaiming the Story of Who You Were Created to Be". Her passion is to equip people to heal in their story and begin to step into their God-given calling by helping them be trauma-informed, Biblically-sound, and Spirit-filled.

~Karrie’s new book, "Free and Fully Alive: Reclaiming the Story of Who You Were Created to Be", what led her to write it, and what readers can expect

~The difference between what we humanly think of as freedom and what Biblical freedom actually is

~The power of God’s presence in the midst of our pain

~The importance of going beyond just knowing right doctrine into actually knowing the heart of Jesus

~The importance and power of vulnerability

~The difference between “doing for” God and “being with” God

~Remembering that when we hide, God comes looking

~The importance of knowing and understanding who God created you to be

~The importance of rest and reflection

~Understanding that thriving comes from first acknowledging our pain before the Lord and inviting Him into it and believing that He can bring good from it

~Understanding that we cannot by-pass our pain, because our calling and purpose are able to be formed out of that pain

~Worldly grief vs. godly, biblical grief

~Realizing that repentance is actually our best friend

~The power of getting curious

~And more!

Head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast for full shownotes! 

On this week’s solo podcast episode, I am re-releasing an episode where I took to the show to talk all about New Year’s resolutions, goals, walking by the Spirit, and holding fast to the gospel in the midst of it all.

~Why so many of our resolutions “fail” and why wrong theology is shooting us in the foot here

~The impact of the gospel on our guilt surrounding “failing” in our resolutions and goals

~The important first steps to take when drafting up your resolutions and goals for the year

~The importance of walking by the Spirit in the everyday moments of our lives, not even just in the big-picture times of planning for a whole year

~Our identity and why it does not come from what we accomplish

~Willingly changing course when God calls us to

~The importance of redeeming the time well – regardless of whether or not we have already “failed” in our resolutions

~Understanding that looking to yourself for the strength required to fulfill your resolutions is not enough

~And more!

Hannah Anderson is a wife, mom, and author of several books, most recently a children’s book entitled “The World God Made”, based on Psalm 104. We hope you come away from this episode more in awe of God than before and feeling more equipped to share the wonders of God's creation and majesty with your children.

~Hannah’s new children’s book, The World God Made, what led her to write it, and what readers can expect

~The impact that the beauty of the natural world can have on us

~Inviting children out into the world to celebrate the world God made; acknowledging that that can sometimes be a scary thing to do with how wild nature is

~Hannah’s vision and hope for this book and how it can inspire wonder and curiosity about creation in children

~Advice for parents for how to cultivate in our kids a sense of wonder and curiosity about creation and God’s world

~The inherent wonder and enchantment of simple things; how being out in creation grows our imagination and sense of the wonder and majesty and bigness of our God

~Trusting the process rather than making the idea of cultivating in our children a love of nature and sense of wonder more complicated and overwhelming than it has to be

~Trusting our own wonder and how this can shape our children

~Stirring our imaginations to attune to what is around us and to be aware; the importance of slowing down and creating space to hear from God

~Attention as an important spiritual discipline

~Understanding that we can delight in and learn from nature in even the most urban of spaces; trusting God’s sovereignty of Him placing us in the space we live in

~The importance of sharing spaces and taking advantage of community spaces in nature

~Advice for parents who feel intimidated and don’t know how to take advantage of time in nature with their kids by engaging them in conversations about God

~Specific revelation vs. general revelation and why both are important

~How Hannah struck the balance in writing this book between creating a book that is engaging to young children while also keeping it faithful to the text of Psalm 104

~Psalm 104 as an invitation to wonder and celebration

~Specific passages from Psalm 104 that became especially meaningful to Hannah as she wrote this book

~The comforting truth that God has not left creation itself but is still actively working in it and healing it

~And more!

On today’s solo show, we are tackling the topic of Advent and, through a study of both Isaiah 9:6-7 as well as Mary's Magnificat in Luke 1, coming to understand the political nature of Advent. May this episode be enlightening and inspiring to you as we approach an election year and begin to prayerfully consider the way of the Kingdom in the political sphere.

~Isaiah 9:6-7 and Mary's Magnificat in Luke 1 and how they reveal the very political nature of Advent

~The political implications of Advent and the upside down Kingdom of God it ushered in

~Understanding that the ways of the kingdom are antithetical to the ways of this world; the implications of this for our involvement in the political sphere

~The importance of understanding that if our goal is to just uphold a particular political party, we are doing politics wrong as Christians

~Walking by the Spirit in the political sphere

~Advent's emphasis on peace, justice, caring for the poor, and bringing down those in power; how this emphasis should frame and inform our political stances

~The fact that the same Hebrew word is translated in the OT as both justice and righteousness; why this is important

~And more!