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Raising Christian Kids in a Creepy Culture - Part 4
Episode 221 – Raising Christian Kids in a Creepy Culture 4
Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Script Notes:
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 6. English Standard Version
********
VK: Hello! Welcome to another episode of Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K and today we’re going to conclude a series we began last time on Anchored by Truth. We called this series “Raising Christian Kids in a Creepy Culture.” We called it that because today our culture can be downright hostile to people, especially children, develop a relationship with Jesus. Christian parents must make consistent, conscious, and disciplined choices to raise a Christian kid in this creepy culture. So, to help us finish off this series we’re happy to have someone in the studio who has done that – who has raised two kids who are now out in the world but still standing firmly with Jesus. As she has been throughout this series Candy Coates is with us in the studio again. Candy was a working mom with a very accomplished professional career and she is also the wife of a successful lawyer and businessman. Candy shared her own story of how her upbringing in a small Florida community helped shape her own steadfast faith in an earlier episode of Anchored by Truth. We would encourage all Anchored by Truth listeners who missed that episode to go to our website (crystalseabooks.com) and catch her inspiring story. I think Candy’s story makes a very important point in a very powerful way. Candy’s grandparents had a strong Christian faith. Her grandparents imparted that faith to her parents and her parents did that for her. And now Candy has passed that legacy along. We have no doubt that that tree of life that has been so faithfully cultivated will continue to bear fruit in future generations. Candy’s story emphasizes the fact that it is possible for faith to be passed from generation to generation. That is both sobering and encouraging for anyone with kids, grandkids, or great-grandkids. We can, and should, leave a legacy of faith until the Lord returns for us all.
And today we want to discuss one way for parents and grandparent to ensure that they have ample opportunities to pass their faith along – and that is by using Crystal Sea’s humor series that we call Life Lessons with a Laugh. It’s not very common in our day and age for people to be able to use humor to begin discussions with their kids about the Bible or faith in Jesus but Crystal Sea’s Life Lessons do just that. We introduced our Life Lessons to Candy when she first came into the studio to share her testimony and I think it’s safe to say she loved them right from the beginning. Candy, when we first gave you copies of our David and Goliath and Noah Life Lessons you pretty much enjoyed them right away, didn’t you.
Candy: I did indeed. And I’d also like to tell you how pleased I am to be back with Anchored by Truth as we close out this series. It’s been an amazing and important series because every Christian parent today needs help with the goal of helping their child build their faith in the Savior. And as you said I did enjoy the Life Lessons right from the start. As you soon as you played the first sample for me while we were touring in the studio I was engaged. That’s why I asked you to provide me with some samples that I could play in the car on the way home.
VK: And just to clarify for the broadcast and podcast audience we produce episodes of Anchored by Truth several weeks before they are aired on radio or made available on the internet. So, when Candy first came into the studio none of the Life Lessons were available from our website. But several of our Life Lesson series are now available at crystalseabooks.com. And we will continue to release more of them there as time goes by. So, it makes sense to visit our website frequently to get our latest releases. Anyway, Candy was so engaged by the samples that we played in the studio that she asked to take a couple of series home with her. Of course, we were only too happy to do that. And the next time she came back she asked for more. Candy, why was that?
Candy: Well, the simple answer is that they are funny. They are really funny and enjoyable in the best kind of way. The humor is clean and good-natured unlike so much of what is classified as comedy these days. There wasn’t anything in the Life Lessons that I would have minded playing for my kids. And I think that was kind of your point wasn’t it. You wanted parents or even youth group pastors or ministers to have a way to introduce spiritual topics to kids in a way that everyone would enjoy.
VK: Well, yes that was our goal. We want people to return to being able to share their Christian faith, not only in their family, but also with friends and neighbors just as they would share a good backyard bar-b-que or a play date in the park. That seems to be so difficult these days for a lot of people. So, we wanted to make talking about faith, Jesus, and the Bible easier. And people always enjoy a good laugh.
Candy: And I think you’ve achieved that. But one of the things I really appreciate about the Life Lessons is that each one helps kids, and grownups for that matter, think about the Bible and the Savior. And they do it in a way that makes it easy for kids to remember what they’ve heard. I really love the little songs that you’ve included in many of them. Kids are really drawn to music and rhymes. So, the ones you’ve used are spot on.
VK: So, let’s play a sample of one of the song parodies that we have included in a Life Lesson. This example is from our Life Lesson series on David and Goliath. This lesson notes that the reason David had gone down to the valley of Elah and wound up in the confrontation with Goliath was because David’s father had sent some bread and cheese to David’s brothers and their comrades. Well, of course when you put bread and cheese together you’re pretty close to a pizza.
- David No. 3: That’s amore’ parody -
Candy: I love that example. The lyrics are clever but most importantly they make a point that kids need to know – that God loves us and that God wants us to know that He loves us. The parody you have used makes that clear but a mom or dad who is listening to that Life Lesson with their kids can point that out and reinforce it. And while you didn’t play the whole lesson - because we just don’t have the time - the lesson goes on the point out the importance of fellowship by using the example of David’s friendship with Jonathan, one of King Saul’s sons. We would never think of it today but David’s friendship with Jonathan was one the big reasons he eventually became the king himself. And how neat it would be for a family to listen to that Life Lesson and then have pizza with some friends. That’s one of the things I think the Life Lessons do so well. They point out that we can use pizza and friendships to serve the Savior.
VK: And the song parodies that are included in some of the Life Lessons are one way we try to help parents and kids absorb and retain information. Too many people today forget that one of the reasons we can be so confident that the Bible’s history is accurate is because the Bible relates real names, places, and events. We can locate the valley of Elah on a map because it is a real place. And we know that many of the names that are contained in the Bible have been confirmed by archeological finds. And certainly people can understand that bread and cheese are real foods that have been eaten for thousands of years. So when the Bible reports that those were all part of David’s encounter with Goliath we can have confidence in the story’s accuracy.
Candy: And helping people absorb important Bible details is something I think the Life Lessons do very well. I enjoyed the information that you gave in a couple of the lessons from the Noah series about how big the ark actually was and especially that the dimensions the Bible gives us for the ark made it stable on the ocean.
VK: Let’s play a sample from that section of the Noah series. As the Life Lesson points out God gave Noah some very important information before Noah started building the ark. God answered a very important question for Noah – “How deep is your ark?”
- Noah No. 4: starting with “I mean the ark had to be truly remarkable” -
Candy: That section is great. You have another one of the cute song parodies. You have some funny lines like “a floppy rudder endangers a distressed dingy.” And you have some good information for parents and kids. The dimensions the Bible gives us for the ark are the same dimensions that are used to build ocean liners today. That shows that the information about the ark’s size makes sense from a real world perspective. In another one of the Noah Life Lessons that I listened to you talked about how large the ark was. The ark would have been big enough to hold up to 2,000 railroad cars of cargo – plenty of room for a lot of animals and the food to feed them since the vast majority of the animals on board were actually about chicken or rabbit size. Parents or youth group leaders can – at least, they should be able to – use any of those points to start a discussion about something important with their child or group.
VK: We sometimes refer to audio products like the Life Lessons as “discussion starters.” A parent, grandparent, youth group pastor, or homeschool group leader can play a Life Lesson to get a discussion going. The Life Lessons only last about 6 to 8 minutes so in a group setting that is planned for an hour there is plenty of time after the Life Lesson ends for further discussion. Even in a half-hour time slot, there’s time for a Life Lesson followed by the parent or leader helping amplify the points raised.
Candy: And one of the things I like about the Life Lessons is that you have covered a wide variety of Biblical topics. You have Life Lesson series on many of the famous Bible stories like David and Goliath, the Flood of Noah, and Daniel and the lion’s den. But you also have series on Bible topics like creation, angels, the Ten Commandments, and prophets.
VK: We wanted to have enough different Life Lesson series so that a homeschooler, youth group leader, or parent who is teaching their child the Bible would have plenty of variety. And we wanted to cover important topics like the miracles that Jesus performed. Let’s listen to a sample from Life Lesson series on the miracles of Jesus.
- Miracles No. 3: starting opening sections -
Candy: See I love that section. There’s a strong visual about a bunch of construction workers building something. That will get kids – well, and adults too – attention about what is going on. And I like the fact that the AI is quoting scripture and that you provide the scripture reference. And I like the fact that later on in that lesson in a part we didn’t hear today that the kids learn about why that episode points to the fact that Jesus was divine as well as human. Even kids who have never read the Bible will hear the Bible and then hear a short explanation about why that part of the Bible is important to a basic Christian truth: that Jesus was fully divine as well as fully human. There’s a lot of teaching going on in that Life Lesson but it’s introduced in a humorous fashion.
VK: As one of our recent visitors to Crystal Sea just said when he was listening to a sample Life Lesson humor gets people to lower their defenses. People need to know that Jesus can be their Savior.
Candy: Amen to that.
VK: But Jesus cannot be anyone’s Savior unless He is able to satisfy the demands of God’s perfectly holy justice. When we sin we sin against an infinite God. And a finite man cannot pay a debt to an infinite God. But Jesus can pay our sin debt because Jesus is both fully divine as well as being fully human. Theologians say that Jesus is one Person with two natures and there are a lot of scripture verses that demonstrate that. All that is great for a Sunday morning sermon or even an entire course in a seminary. But a lot of people, especially kids are not in church these days and they certainly are not going to seminary. But we can introduce even deep Christian topics in a simple and funny way and then see where the discussion goes.
Candy: And one of the things that kind of a Life Lesson might do is stimulate the adults to go and look up the scripture for themselves. Too many adults these days can’t help kids develop their Christian faith because they have a weak faith themselves. So, even though these Life Lessons are great for kids, frankly there are a lot of adults who need them as well. And I know that I have listened to just about all of the Life Lessons that you have created and I can testify that they are funny. There are recurring jokes like RD getting Jerry’s name wrong all the time, but there is also a lot of variety. The visuals are funny and the sound effects are hilarious. But most importantly, the Life Lessons teach kids about Jesus.
VK: That is always the most important thing, isn’t it? Kids need to know about Jesus, especially in this day and time. Many people today, even Christians have been hesitant about sharing their faith. But as Romans, chapter 10, verse 14 says, “how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them.” Those of us who know about Jesus have a responsibility to tell others about him. But these days that can be hard for some people to do.
Candy: But that’s the beauty of the Life Lessons. They can make it much easier for people to tell others about the Savior even in those situations like a church youth group where you would think everyone would already know about Him. Well, they may know about Him but that’s not the question. Do you know what I mean? The question is not whether they know about Jesus but whether they know Jesus as their Savior. A lot of people might not know that you can use humor to help people know Jesus as their Savior but the Life Lessons with a Laugh prove that you can. You have a couple of songs in the Life Lessons that really demonstrate that.
VK: And here is a short rhythmical piece from our Names of Jesus Life Lesson series that is a good illustration of that.
- Names of Jesus No. 5: Jesus name rap -
Candy: And I really like the parody that you did that you call “Danger Man.”
VK: Before we close for today, let’s listen to that.
Candy: I love that because people who don’t know Jesus are in danger – eternal danger. And none of us know how much longer that we have available to make a decision for Jesus to become our Savior. The Life Lessons are a great way to make sure that everybody, especially children, are introduced to the Bible and to the Savior. As you said, humor can get people to lower their defenses and a lot of people today are defensive when it comes to talking about Jesus. I think you guys have done a great job of helping people overcome any hesitation they might have about starting conversations with their kids or friends.
VK: It’s clear from these last few episodes that Candy never had any hesitation about ensuring that her children knew about Jesus. And because of that her kids emerged from their school years, including college, with their faith intact. That’s a real compliment to her and her husband and to their commitment to truth. Well, we’d really like to thank Candy Coates for being our guest on Anchored by Truth today. I think we can all see that one big reason Candy’s children know Jesus and have a genuine love for him is because she has that love and knowledge. Candy’s story is a clear illustration of how sacred scripture –the Bible – continues to demonstrate its supernatural nature through lives that are changed for the better for all eternity by its saving power. Today for our closing prayer, how about if we listen to a prayer for our young children? We should always be in prayer for our children but we must also be willing to be doers of the Word not just hearers. Prayer and actively instructing children about Jesus are concrete steps that put our faith into action.
---- PRAYER FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
VK: We hope you’ll be with us in the future when we’ll continue our discussion with Candy. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show.
If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!”
(Bible Quote from the English Standard Version)
Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 6. English Standard Version
ADDITIONAL STORIES
1. I think there are 3 big principles to keep in mind if you want to raise Christian kids in a creepy culture. (Get 3 or 4 different tracks of this discussion)
a. Your actions must be intentional, purposeful, and consistent
b. You must protect your children and allow them to behave in a manner consistent with their age; let kids be kids in an appropriate way; create a safe way for them to be kids
c. You must either find a community that will be supportive of your desire for your kids to grow up as strong Christians or build one. Cross City was the kind of community you want for your kids but if your current community does not offer what you need, you must find it. Might be at church, might be at a Christian school or homeschool group, might be a ministry offshoot, might be a neighborhood.
2. God can touch other people’s lives through yours in amazing ways. Sometimes you can inspire and help people find or regain their faith when you aren’t even aware that you are doing it. For instance, one of the great times we had when our children were little was our trip out west. Caitlin was 4 and Mason was 6 and we …
3. One of the keys to raising kids who mature and develop properly is to be involved with their teachers and schools. Sometimes you may be blessed to have a great teacher like we were with one of Mason’s social studies teachers. We went to see him one day because …
4. When you’re trying to be faithful, God will sometimes confirm that you are doing something right when you least expect it. For instance, when Caitlin was in (grade or middle) school, I had to have some serious surgery. So, I hired a high school friend to …
5. Now, I’m not saying that raising Christian kids who maintain their faith is easy. It can such the fillings out of your head sometimes, but you have to do it. There is no alternative. But it can be challenging. A lot of the time you may be the only parent or one of a few that is truly shouldering the burden. At (Mason or Caitlin)’s school they used to put on a teacher appreciation breakfast …
6. To raise a Christian kid you also have to be prepared to listen to your child carefully. For instance when Caitlin was in the 4th grade one day she told me that she wanted to go to Holy Comforter School. ….
7. To raise Christian children you must be very conscious of the environment that will surround your children. Our oldest Mason went to public schools until he went to college. But the public schools were changing as he was going through them. By the time Caitlin was going through them … (Holy Comforter, Maclay)
8. We always made it a practice to not only know Mason and Caitlin’s schools and teachers but also to know their friends. And we would go out of our way to meet the parents of their friends. This was important …
9. You are going to have challenges crop up that you never expect. For instance, Caitlin had been a model student when she was in elementary and middle school, but when she got to high school one day she came to me and said …
10. As Christians we know that God is sovereign and that He knows what’s best even when we don’t understand that at the time. A good example is when Caitlin was getting ready to graduate from the University of Alabama and she thought she had completed all of her requirements. She had worked with her counselor … but (hammer it with prayer; stone; 311)
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By R.D.Fierro
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Episode 221 – Raising Christian Kids in a Creepy Culture 4
Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Script Notes:
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 6. English Standard Version
********
VK: Hello! Welcome to another episode of Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K and today we’re going to conclude a series we began last time on Anchored by Truth. We called this series “Raising Christian Kids in a Creepy Culture.” We called it that because today our culture can be downright hostile to people, especially children, develop a relationship with Jesus. Christian parents must make consistent, conscious, and disciplined choices to raise a Christian kid in this creepy culture. So, to help us finish off this series we’re happy to have someone in the studio who has done that – who has raised two kids who are now out in the world but still standing firmly with Jesus. As she has been throughout this series Candy Coates is with us in the studio again. Candy was a working mom with a very accomplished professional career and she is also the wife of a successful lawyer and businessman. Candy shared her own story of how her upbringing in a small Florida community helped shape her own steadfast faith in an earlier episode of Anchored by Truth. We would encourage all Anchored by Truth listeners who missed that episode to go to our website (crystalseabooks.com) and catch her inspiring story. I think Candy’s story makes a very important point in a very powerful way. Candy’s grandparents had a strong Christian faith. Her grandparents imparted that faith to her parents and her parents did that for her. And now Candy has passed that legacy along. We have no doubt that that tree of life that has been so faithfully cultivated will continue to bear fruit in future generations. Candy’s story emphasizes the fact that it is possible for faith to be passed from generation to generation. That is both sobering and encouraging for anyone with kids, grandkids, or great-grandkids. We can, and should, leave a legacy of faith until the Lord returns for us all.
And today we want to discuss one way for parents and grandparent to ensure that they have ample opportunities to pass their faith along – and that is by using Crystal Sea’s humor series that we call Life Lessons with a Laugh. It’s not very common in our day and age for people to be able to use humor to begin discussions with their kids about the Bible or faith in Jesus but Crystal Sea’s Life Lessons do just that. We introduced our Life Lessons to Candy when she first came into the studio to share her testimony and I think it’s safe to say she loved them right from the beginning. Candy, when we first gave you copies of our David and Goliath and Noah Life Lessons you pretty much enjoyed them right away, didn’t you.
Candy: I did indeed. And I’d also like to tell you how pleased I am to be back with Anchored by Truth as we close out this series. It’s been an amazing and important series because every Christian parent today needs help with the goal of helping their child build their faith in the Savior. And as you said I did enjoy the Life Lessons right from the start. As you soon as you played the first sample for me while we were touring in the studio I was engaged. That’s why I asked you to provide me with some samples that I could play in the car on the way home.
VK: And just to clarify for the broadcast and podcast audience we produce episodes of Anchored by Truth several weeks before they are aired on radio or made available on the internet. So, when Candy first came into the studio none of the Life Lessons were available from our website. But several of our Life Lesson series are now available at crystalseabooks.com. And we will continue to release more of them there as time goes by. So, it makes sense to visit our website frequently to get our latest releases. Anyway, Candy was so engaged by the samples that we played in the studio that she asked to take a couple of series home with her. Of course, we were only too happy to do that. And the next time she came back she asked for more. Candy, why was that?
Candy: Well, the simple answer is that they are funny. They are really funny and enjoyable in the best kind of way. The humor is clean and good-natured unlike so much of what is classified as comedy these days. There wasn’t anything in the Life Lessons that I would have minded playing for my kids. And I think that was kind of your point wasn’t it. You wanted parents or even youth group pastors or ministers to have a way to introduce spiritual topics to kids in a way that everyone would enjoy.
VK: Well, yes that was our goal. We want people to return to being able to share their Christian faith, not only in their family, but also with friends and neighbors just as they would share a good backyard bar-b-que or a play date in the park. That seems to be so difficult these days for a lot of people. So, we wanted to make talking about faith, Jesus, and the Bible easier. And people always enjoy a good laugh.
Candy: And I think you’ve achieved that. But one of the things I really appreciate about the Life Lessons is that each one helps kids, and grownups for that matter, think about the Bible and the Savior. And they do it in a way that makes it easy for kids to remember what they’ve heard. I really love the little songs that you’ve included in many of them. Kids are really drawn to music and rhymes. So, the ones you’ve used are spot on.
VK: So, let’s play a sample of one of the song parodies that we have included in a Life Lesson. This example is from our Life Lesson series on David and Goliath. This lesson notes that the reason David had gone down to the valley of Elah and wound up in the confrontation with Goliath was because David’s father had sent some bread and cheese to David’s brothers and their comrades. Well, of course when you put bread and cheese together you’re pretty close to a pizza.
- David No. 3: That’s amore’ parody -
Candy: I love that example. The lyrics are clever but most importantly they make a point that kids need to know – that God loves us and that God wants us to know that He loves us. The parody you have used makes that clear but a mom or dad who is listening to that Life Lesson with their kids can point that out and reinforce it. And while you didn’t play the whole lesson - because we just don’t have the time - the lesson goes on the point out the importance of fellowship by using the example of David’s friendship with Jonathan, one of King Saul’s sons. We would never think of it today but David’s friendship with Jonathan was one the big reasons he eventually became the king himself. And how neat it would be for a family to listen to that Life Lesson and then have pizza with some friends. That’s one of the things I think the Life Lessons do so well. They point out that we can use pizza and friendships to serve the Savior.
VK: And the song parodies that are included in some of the Life Lessons are one way we try to help parents and kids absorb and retain information. Too many people today forget that one of the reasons we can be so confident that the Bible’s history is accurate is because the Bible relates real names, places, and events. We can locate the valley of Elah on a map because it is a real place. And we know that many of the names that are contained in the Bible have been confirmed by archeological finds. And certainly people can understand that bread and cheese are real foods that have been eaten for thousands of years. So when the Bible reports that those were all part of David’s encounter with Goliath we can have confidence in the story’s accuracy.
Candy: And helping people absorb important Bible details is something I think the Life Lessons do very well. I enjoyed the information that you gave in a couple of the lessons from the Noah series about how big the ark actually was and especially that the dimensions the Bible gives us for the ark made it stable on the ocean.
VK: Let’s play a sample from that section of the Noah series. As the Life Lesson points out God gave Noah some very important information before Noah started building the ark. God answered a very important question for Noah – “How deep is your ark?”
- Noah No. 4: starting with “I mean the ark had to be truly remarkable” -
Candy: That section is great. You have another one of the cute song parodies. You have some funny lines like “a floppy rudder endangers a distressed dingy.” And you have some good information for parents and kids. The dimensions the Bible gives us for the ark are the same dimensions that are used to build ocean liners today. That shows that the information about the ark’s size makes sense from a real world perspective. In another one of the Noah Life Lessons that I listened to you talked about how large the ark was. The ark would have been big enough to hold up to 2,000 railroad cars of cargo – plenty of room for a lot of animals and the food to feed them since the vast majority of the animals on board were actually about chicken or rabbit size. Parents or youth group leaders can – at least, they should be able to – use any of those points to start a discussion about something important with their child or group.
VK: We sometimes refer to audio products like the Life Lessons as “discussion starters.” A parent, grandparent, youth group pastor, or homeschool group leader can play a Life Lesson to get a discussion going. The Life Lessons only last about 6 to 8 minutes so in a group setting that is planned for an hour there is plenty of time after the Life Lesson ends for further discussion. Even in a half-hour time slot, there’s time for a Life Lesson followed by the parent or leader helping amplify the points raised.
Candy: And one of the things I like about the Life Lessons is that you have covered a wide variety of Biblical topics. You have Life Lesson series on many of the famous Bible stories like David and Goliath, the Flood of Noah, and Daniel and the lion’s den. But you also have series on Bible topics like creation, angels, the Ten Commandments, and prophets.
VK: We wanted to have enough different Life Lesson series so that a homeschooler, youth group leader, or parent who is teaching their child the Bible would have plenty of variety. And we wanted to cover important topics like the miracles that Jesus performed. Let’s listen to a sample from Life Lesson series on the miracles of Jesus.
- Miracles No. 3: starting opening sections -
Candy: See I love that section. There’s a strong visual about a bunch of construction workers building something. That will get kids – well, and adults too – attention about what is going on. And I like the fact that the AI is quoting scripture and that you provide the scripture reference. And I like the fact that later on in that lesson in a part we didn’t hear today that the kids learn about why that episode points to the fact that Jesus was divine as well as human. Even kids who have never read the Bible will hear the Bible and then hear a short explanation about why that part of the Bible is important to a basic Christian truth: that Jesus was fully divine as well as fully human. There’s a lot of teaching going on in that Life Lesson but it’s introduced in a humorous fashion.
VK: As one of our recent visitors to Crystal Sea just said when he was listening to a sample Life Lesson humor gets people to lower their defenses. People need to know that Jesus can be their Savior.
Candy: Amen to that.
VK: But Jesus cannot be anyone’s Savior unless He is able to satisfy the demands of God’s perfectly holy justice. When we sin we sin against an infinite God. And a finite man cannot pay a debt to an infinite God. But Jesus can pay our sin debt because Jesus is both fully divine as well as being fully human. Theologians say that Jesus is one Person with two natures and there are a lot of scripture verses that demonstrate that. All that is great for a Sunday morning sermon or even an entire course in a seminary. But a lot of people, especially kids are not in church these days and they certainly are not going to seminary. But we can introduce even deep Christian topics in a simple and funny way and then see where the discussion goes.
Candy: And one of the things that kind of a Life Lesson might do is stimulate the adults to go and look up the scripture for themselves. Too many adults these days can’t help kids develop their Christian faith because they have a weak faith themselves. So, even though these Life Lessons are great for kids, frankly there are a lot of adults who need them as well. And I know that I have listened to just about all of the Life Lessons that you have created and I can testify that they are funny. There are recurring jokes like RD getting Jerry’s name wrong all the time, but there is also a lot of variety. The visuals are funny and the sound effects are hilarious. But most importantly, the Life Lessons teach kids about Jesus.
VK: That is always the most important thing, isn’t it? Kids need to know about Jesus, especially in this day and time. Many people today, even Christians have been hesitant about sharing their faith. But as Romans, chapter 10, verse 14 says, “how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them.” Those of us who know about Jesus have a responsibility to tell others about him. But these days that can be hard for some people to do.
Candy: But that’s the beauty of the Life Lessons. They can make it much easier for people to tell others about the Savior even in those situations like a church youth group where you would think everyone would already know about Him. Well, they may know about Him but that’s not the question. Do you know what I mean? The question is not whether they know about Jesus but whether they know Jesus as their Savior. A lot of people might not know that you can use humor to help people know Jesus as their Savior but the Life Lessons with a Laugh prove that you can. You have a couple of songs in the Life Lessons that really demonstrate that.
VK: And here is a short rhythmical piece from our Names of Jesus Life Lesson series that is a good illustration of that.
- Names of Jesus No. 5: Jesus name rap -
Candy: And I really like the parody that you did that you call “Danger Man.”
VK: Before we close for today, let’s listen to that.
Candy: I love that because people who don’t know Jesus are in danger – eternal danger. And none of us know how much longer that we have available to make a decision for Jesus to become our Savior. The Life Lessons are a great way to make sure that everybody, especially children, are introduced to the Bible and to the Savior. As you said, humor can get people to lower their defenses and a lot of people today are defensive when it comes to talking about Jesus. I think you guys have done a great job of helping people overcome any hesitation they might have about starting conversations with their kids or friends.
VK: It’s clear from these last few episodes that Candy never had any hesitation about ensuring that her children knew about Jesus. And because of that her kids emerged from their school years, including college, with their faith intact. That’s a real compliment to her and her husband and to their commitment to truth. Well, we’d really like to thank Candy Coates for being our guest on Anchored by Truth today. I think we can all see that one big reason Candy’s children know Jesus and have a genuine love for him is because she has that love and knowledge. Candy’s story is a clear illustration of how sacred scripture –the Bible – continues to demonstrate its supernatural nature through lives that are changed for the better for all eternity by its saving power. Today for our closing prayer, how about if we listen to a prayer for our young children? We should always be in prayer for our children but we must also be willing to be doers of the Word not just hearers. Prayer and actively instructing children about Jesus are concrete steps that put our faith into action.
---- PRAYER FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
VK: We hope you’ll be with us in the future when we’ll continue our discussion with Candy. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show.
If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!”
(Bible Quote from the English Standard Version)
Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 6. English Standard Version
ADDITIONAL STORIES
1. I think there are 3 big principles to keep in mind if you want to raise Christian kids in a creepy culture. (Get 3 or 4 different tracks of this discussion)
a. Your actions must be intentional, purposeful, and consistent
b. You must protect your children and allow them to behave in a manner consistent with their age; let kids be kids in an appropriate way; create a safe way for them to be kids
c. You must either find a community that will be supportive of your desire for your kids to grow up as strong Christians or build one. Cross City was the kind of community you want for your kids but if your current community does not offer what you need, you must find it. Might be at church, might be at a Christian school or homeschool group, might be a ministry offshoot, might be a neighborhood.
2. God can touch other people’s lives through yours in amazing ways. Sometimes you can inspire and help people find or regain their faith when you aren’t even aware that you are doing it. For instance, one of the great times we had when our children were little was our trip out west. Caitlin was 4 and Mason was 6 and we …
3. One of the keys to raising kids who mature and develop properly is to be involved with their teachers and schools. Sometimes you may be blessed to have a great teacher like we were with one of Mason’s social studies teachers. We went to see him one day because …
4. When you’re trying to be faithful, God will sometimes confirm that you are doing something right when you least expect it. For instance, when Caitlin was in (grade or middle) school, I had to have some serious surgery. So, I hired a high school friend to …
5. Now, I’m not saying that raising Christian kids who maintain their faith is easy. It can such the fillings out of your head sometimes, but you have to do it. There is no alternative. But it can be challenging. A lot of the time you may be the only parent or one of a few that is truly shouldering the burden. At (Mason or Caitlin)’s school they used to put on a teacher appreciation breakfast …
6. To raise a Christian kid you also have to be prepared to listen to your child carefully. For instance when Caitlin was in the 4th grade one day she told me that she wanted to go to Holy Comforter School. ….
7. To raise Christian children you must be very conscious of the environment that will surround your children. Our oldest Mason went to public schools until he went to college. But the public schools were changing as he was going through them. By the time Caitlin was going through them … (Holy Comforter, Maclay)
8. We always made it a practice to not only know Mason and Caitlin’s schools and teachers but also to know their friends. And we would go out of our way to meet the parents of their friends. This was important …
9. You are going to have challenges crop up that you never expect. For instance, Caitlin had been a model student when she was in elementary and middle school, but when she got to high school one day she came to me and said …
10. As Christians we know that God is sovereign and that He knows what’s best even when we don’t understand that at the time. A good example is when Caitlin was getting ready to graduate from the University of Alabama and she thought she had completed all of her requirements. She had worked with her counselor … but (hammer it with prayer; stone; 311)