Kids love Santa - can they simultaneously love Jesus.  We tell our kids Santa is real, and surely it does them no harm.  We tell them Jesus is in their hearts, does that no them harm?  At some point we come clean about Santa, yet we continue to claim the picture of Jesus they had at an early age is going to stay with them through the rest of their lives.  When is it that we are actually just lying to ourselves and to them.  Not only that, but we think it's ok - unless someone lies directly to US, cuz then we have a problem with it.

So are you saying after kids ask Jesus into their hearts, that Jesus may not actually be there? Yep. Well if that's the case, how are parents supposed to feel about that?  How are kids who are growing past that time supposed to look back and feel?  If I said the prayer early on, is this all just a lie?  Did it not work???

 

**(Apologies for the buzz noice through pieces of this episode)

Why is it that we teach our kids about sex, about language, about math step by step as they mature and grow, yet when it comes to "faith" we feel that throwing them in the deep end right away is the most helpful, effective way to guarantee as best we can that they will treasure Christ? Do we even notice that what we are doing, what we are promoting, is an inconsistency in how we operate with every other part of raising our kids?

Oh boy, here we go - this topic was requested by several people and this first pass through it is going to be multiple episodes.  This topic is sure to be a common thru many of our toddcasts, as understanding what we are capable of understanding is a very important concept to ... wait for it ... understand.  Trigger warning - What happens to kids when they die?  Does God have a grading scale or a "grace period" for those who never get the opportunity to hear the gospel?

There are churches of all sizes, but is there also a "narrow road" of all sizes?  What attracts people to bigger churches vs smaller churches, and what can be taken from the gospel message these varying sized churches are presenting.  Does the vision statement of the church help us know what their view of God is?  Is connection to what typically is seen as a "successful church" an important part in us growing in our faith?

Hang on a sec - didn't God create all that is?  I thought God hated sin, so why did God create beings that were capable of sinning?  If God is supposed to be sovereign, then sin inevitably has to be a part of His plan, right?  We can't possibly be acting outside of His sovereign plan, so does that make Him responsible for sin?  

These are just some of the questions we tackle in this conversation, to hopefully shed some light on how and why sin exists.

Do you have less high a view of the scriptures than you used to?  Is it possible to have TOO high a view?  How can we be sure what it says is being interpreted, preached, and understood correctly?  Are we better off having less knowledge of the many ideas presented in the Bible?  Perhaps we should hold a lighter view of the Bible and live based on our understanding of just the bigger key principles?  Take a listen if you want to hear the Todd's pull this one apart.

Are WE the ones coming TO faith, or is it God?  Do I decide to follow Jesus, or am I just a puppet?  How much is God, how much is me?  If you've ever stopped to wrestle with the tension that we may be choosing to trust in Christ - but God is supposed to already know whether or not that's going to happen, then this conversation is going to pick up right in the middle of your thought.

Faith, Works, Wide road, Narrow road, right thinking, wrong thinking - it's just a lot.  If you have ever asked yourself, "What even is the difference between Roman Catholics and Protestants, Catholics and Evangelicals?" - this might be a good chat to listen to.

For this very first episode, we're gonna jump right into a question that you likely aren't going to be encouraged to ask on a Sunday morning, and likely won't be given a response if you did - but here we go anyway ... .. "Will the Pope go to heaven when he dies?".