Treasure Box Books | Dads Building Relationships, Reading Great Books, Preparing Children for Life

Note: The quote beginning "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations" (recited twice in this episode) is not attributed in the recording, but is from a letter by John Adams to his wife, one day after the original signing of the Declaration of Independence (July 2, 1776). The full text of that quote can be found below.

Hey My Fellow Dads,

Episode 78, Reflecting On Our 250th, is actually a three-part episode.

--Nathan

"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin [is] a reproach to any people."

“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

“You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”

“I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests—and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning— and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!”

“Those who note Providence will have providences to note.”

“What I hope they discover—and maybe they have, but we’re just not hearing about it in the press—is what Alexis de Toqueville discovered during his journeys in the early days of our Republic, 1831.”

📚  Democracy in America, by Alexis de Toqueville

📚 1776, by David McCullough

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/jonny-easton/the-messenger License code: OAJIXAABB3C1V1OY  

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/aaron-paul-low/pony-express License code: ZUCYKOROVB4PRHZC

Hey Fellow Dads,

Do you want to truly know and walk with God? In this episode I state that “God offers us His fellowship if we are willing to get to know Him on His terms.” What are those terms, and what difference will it make in our individual and family lives if we do know Him?

—Nathan

📖 Job 22:21

📖 John 17:3

📖 Exodus 33:13

📖 Genesis 15:1

📖 James 2:23

📖 Romans 5:1-2

📖 James 4:8a

📖 Psalm 90:12

📖 Proverbs 27:17

📖 1 Cor. 15:33

📖 Galatians 6:5

📖 James 4:17

“God created you to know Him, He desires for you to know Him, and you will be satisfied with knowing Him as nothing else can satisfy you.”—Nathan

“…whether we like it or not, we are shaped by the people who influence us. In many cases, we can’t help who influences us—we don’t know who made our socks, or who made the ink in our favorite ink pen, or who made our dinged-up hydro-flask, or who built our smartphone, or who picked our coffee beans. But we can choose who will influence how we think about God.”—Nathan

“…more is not necessarily better. Faster is not necessarily better. Nor is less necessarily better. And new is often not better than old.”—Nathan

“…the venerable Dead are waiting in my Library to entertain me, and relieve me from the Nonsense of surviving Mortals.”—Samuel Davies

📚 Philip Keller (A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm)

📚 J. Oswald Sanders (The Incomparable Christ; Enjoying Intimacy with God; Prayer Power Unlimited)

📚 Charles Spurgeon (The Soul-Winner; Morning and Evening; The Power of Christ’s Prayer Life)

📚 A.W. Tozer (The Attributes of God; The Knowledge of the Holy)

📚 Warren Wiersbe (On Being a Servant of God)

📚 H.A. Ironside (Commentaries on the Gospels)

📚 Vance Havner (Reflections on the Gospels)

🎙️Please subscribe to the podcast so you can listen again next week!

✍🏻 Leaving a review is the best way to say "thanks" so that others can find the podcast, too! In Apple Podcast app, scroll down to the bottom of the episode list (right above the "About" section) and click the tiny link to "Write a Review."

➡️ Take a screenshot or click the "Share" button in your podcast app to let your friends know.

🧑🏻‍💻 Join the Facebook group

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

Hey Fellow Dads,

If we could sit down together and talk, I’d want to ask you…What books did you read this past year, either to your family or on your own? Which were your favorites? And what are your goals for the coming year? I hope my answers to these questions encourage you to make your own lists and continue in the good work of leading your family.

—Nathan

Semiquincentennial: lit. half of 500 years. 250th year.

Bonus titles

“True, there are only twelve hours in the day, but there are fully twelve hours in the day—sufficient time to do all the will of God. There is always enough time to do that.” —J. Oswald Sanders, in Prayer Power Unlimited

[When pastoring a church, George Whitefield] “divided the day into three parts—eight hours for study and retirement, eight hours for sleep and meals, and eight hours for reading prayers, catechizing, and visiting the parish. The profit I reaped by these exercises…was unspeakable.” —George Whitefield’s journal, quoted in Forgotten Founding Father, by Stephen Mansfield

“I have observed that before God calls me to a public work, He always sends me into some retirement.”—G. Whitefield

“Our lives are not the same as Whitefield’s, nor should we try to emulate him or any other man in every detail—but we may and should feel compelled to improve in certain areas when we see how those men excelled in those areas—and it’s not a bad idea to ask the Lord how we should change in those areas, if it all. I know this—I long to be a more faithful servant of my Lord Jesus Christ, and managing my time better than I did in 2025 and praying more consistently than I did in 2025 will prove major factors in my desire coming to fruition—to be a better servant to my Lord Jesus Christ.” —Nathan

🎙️Please subscribe to the podcast so you can listen again next week!

✍🏻 Leaving a review is the best way to say "thanks" so that others can find the podcast, too! In Apple Podcast app, scroll down to the bottom of the episode list (right above the "About" section) and click the tiny link to "Write a Review."

➡️ Take a screenshot or click the "Share" button in your podcast app to let your friends know.

🧑🏻‍💻 Join the Facebook group

📧 Read more and subscribe to our newsletter at treasureboxbooks.com

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

Hey Fellow Dads,

We want to continuously lead our families to think about Christ, to learn about Him, to love Him, to serve Him, and to share His gospel throughout the year. I think Christmas is a great time of year to recalibrate and refocus our attention on Him, especially as we prepare to step into a new year. Here are seven ways to help us do that.

—Nathan

📖 Genesis 3:15

📖 Genesis 49:8-12

📖 Micah 5:2

📖 Psalm 132:1-12

📖 Matthew 1-2

📖 Luke 1-2

📖 John 1

📖  Hebrews 10:25

📚  Jotham’s Journey, by Arnold Ytreeide

📚  Bartholomew’s Passage, by Arnold Ytreeide

📚  Ishtar’s Odyssey, by Arnold Ytreeide

“While we’re trying to keep the emphasis on Christ, it’s easy to get lost in the details and forget what we’re actually doing—remember and rejoice in Jesus Christ and the fact that God sent Him to be our Saviour.”—Nathan

“Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.”—from “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” originally by Charles Wesley, altered by others, including George Whitefield

“So many opportunities abound, but we want our children to know that we as dads depend on the Lord to open the doors, to help us open our mouths, and to open hearts to the gospel of Christ.”—Nathan

by Benjamin Russell Hanby (1866)

1 Who is He in yonder stall, At whose feet the shepherds fall?

2 Who is He the people bless For His words of gentleness?

3 Lo! at midnight, who is He Prays in dark Gethsemane?

4 Who is He that from the grave Comes to heal and help and save?

Chorus: ’Tis the Lord, O wondrous story! ’Tis the Lord, the King of glory!

🎙️Please subscribe to the podcast so you can listen again next week!

✍🏻 Leaving a review is the best way to say "thanks" so that others can find the podcast, too! In Apple Podcast app, scroll down to the bottom of the episode list (right above the "About" section) and click the tiny link to "Write a Review."

➡️ Take a screenshot or click the "Share" button in your podcast app to let your friends know.

🧑🏻‍💻 Join the Facebook group

https://uppbeat.io/t/aura-classica/angels-we-have-heard-on-high

https://uppbeat.io/t/aaron-paul-low/pony-express 

https://uppbeat.io/t/holly-jones/o-come-all-ye-faithful 

Hey Fellow Dads,

Looking for a good Christian devotional book? Amazon has over 90,000 options to wade through! But here are five great choices for classic devotional books that have stood the test of time and will continue to encourage you for years to come.

--Nathan

📚  Daily Light on the Daily Path

https://www.wholesomewords.org/resources/bbagster.html

https://dailylightdevotional.org

📚  Morning and Evening, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

📚  The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, by Arthur Bennett

https://puritanboard.com/threads/is-valley-of-vision-the-greatest-misunderstanding-in-puritan-literature.114643/

📚  Days of Praise (quarterly devotional magazine)

https://www.icr.org/icr-magazines

📚  Any good hymnal

     📖  Great Hymns of the Faith, published by Brentwood-Benson

     https://brentwoodbenson.com/63-great-hymns-of-the-faith-blue.html

     📖  Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs, published by Melody Publications

     https://melodypublications.com/collections/frontpage

     📖  Rejoice, published by Majesty Music

     https://www.majestymusic.com/hymnals/rejoice-hymnal.html

     📖  Bible Truth Hymns, published by Bible Truth Music

     https://bibletruthmusic.com/product-category/hymnals-hymnals/hymnals/

“’He that hath made his refuge God,’ might serve as the title of a true believer. A hypocrite, when afflicted by God, resents the infliction, and, like a slave, would run from the Master who has scourged him; but not so the true heir of heaven, he kisses the hand which smote him, and seeks shelter from the rod in the bosom of the God who frowned upon him.” —Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Nov. 19, Evening

“When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain, I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.” —“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” by Isaac Watts

“Jesus! the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease, 'Tis music in the sinner's ears, 'tis life and health and peace.

“He breaks the power of cancelled sin, he sets the prisoner free; His blood can make the foulest clean; his blood availed for me.”

🎙️Please subscribe to the podcast so you can listen again next week!

✍🏻 Leaving a review is the best way to say "thanks" so that others can find the podcast, too! In Apple Podcast app, scroll down to the bottom of the episode list (right above the "About" section) and click the tiny link to "Write a Review."

➡️ Take a screenshot or click the "Share" button in your podcast app to let your friends know.

🧑🏻‍💻 Join the Facebook group

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

Hey Dads,

We’ve thought about several reasons why we ought to use devotional books to help us walk with God, but how do we actually put these tools to use in realistic ways? In this episode, I’ll give you six practical ways to make devotional books a genuine benefit to your fellowship with the Lord.

—Nathan

📖 Job 23:12 “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”

📖 Deuteronomy 33:25b “…and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.”

📖 Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”

📚 Morning and Evening, by Charles Spurgeon

📚 Daily Light on the Daily Path, by Jonathan Bagster & Robert Bagster

“Make heaven crowded.” —Charlie Kirk

“I admit, I’m guilty of having far more books than I’ll ever have time enough to read—here on my desk, next to my desk on a bookshelf, and on my nightstand, I’ve got devotional books I’m slowly working through.

“If I could go back 15 years and give myself advice that I should listen to, concerning devotional books, I think it would be, get one or two books that godly men you respect recommend, and read them, systematically, day-by-day.” —Nathan

“[It’s] for you to figure out how God leads you—individually.

After all, the point is to use tools that aid you in your fellowship with God.” —Nathan

“Just like eating is necessary every day (unless we’re fasting), we must spend some time each day in God’s word. For a Christian who wants to walk with God—especially for a dad who is striving to lead his family in God’s way—spending time in God’s word every day is a non-negotiable.” —Nathan

“…if we don’t consciously make time every day to read, we probably won’t. And that’s true for everything we ought to be reading, whether it be the Bible itself, or devotional books, or biographies, or civics, or whatever. We’ve got to make time, and that probably includes writing down on a daily to-do list—and holding ourselves to it.” —Nathan

“We live in a time when we are used to scrolling through short posts, laughing at memes, watching short videos, and then forgetting about them.

“Reading devotional books can help us to train our brains in the lost art of meditation, and if they’re the right kind of devotional literature, they can give us nourishing material to feed our souls.” —Nathan

“Do not mistake feeling moved by a motivating truth for actual action in response to that truth.” —Nathan

🎙️Please subscribe to the podcast so you can listen again next week!

✍🏻 Leaving a review is the best way to say "thanks" so that others can find the podcast, too! In Apple Podcast app, scroll down to the bottom of the episode list (right above the "About" section) and click the tiny link to "Write a Review."

➡️ Take a screenshot or click the "Share" button in your podcast app to let your friends know.

🧑🏻‍💻 Join the Facebook group.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

Hey Dads,

A man was shot while exercising his first amendment right to free speech—because someone deemed what he said to be evil. What was this man’s message, and what should our response be as believers—and especially as Christian dads? How can we fight lies not with violence, but with truthful words?

- Nathan

📖 1 Timothy 4:12

📖 Hebrews 9:27

📖 Romans 8:28

🎵 “And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us.”

—Martin Luther, in “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”

📜 “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.“ —The First Amendment to the Constitution of These United States of America

🎤 “He genuinely respected and genuinely loved, in a Christian manner, the people on the other side of the table. He didn’t hate anybody…. He was trying to win the argument, but he had tremendous compassion for the people he was debating, always, and he had the right heart about it.”—Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson

🎤 “Beat the idea, not the person.”—Joseph Ching

🎤 “He knew that the free speech that we are guaranteed, both in the public square and in to practice our own religious faith as we see most fitting according to our conscience, that’s not something that most people have had throughout history…that’s something most people in the world still do not have.”—Nathan

🎤 “2A, not only chronologically but also logically, follows 1A.”—Nathan

🎤 “It’s like somebody put the Constitution up on a wall and shot the First Amendment.”—Mike Rowe, on Charlie Kirk’s assassination

🎤 “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith. That would be the most important thing. The most important thing is my faith.”—Charlie Kirk

🎤 “He cared for people because of his Christian faith.” (speaker?)

🎤“When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence, that’s when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil and they lose their humanity.”—Charlie Kirk

🎤 “The world is evil….But our Savior. Our Lord. Our God. Не...Не is so good.”—Erika Kirk

🎤“[Charlie was] a real champion—a champion for the gospel, a champion for America, a champion for liberty, a champion for free speech. Charlie Kirk died September 10, 2025. Let’s allow his life to impact us, and let’s allow his example to stir us to do what’s right—with conviction, with courage, with compassion.”—Nathan

🎤 “We are not talking about this particular point to say let’s stir up anger and let’s go find some Leftists and return the favor. No, not at all. What I do want you to recognize is, first, that the threat is real in America today, that if you stand up for what’s true, what’s right, biblically and morally, with moral objectivity, with common sense, you paint a target on yourself and on your children.

Second, recognize where the threat comes from. The threat is coming from people who reject God, who reject the Bible, who reject natural law, who reject common sense."—Nathan 

🖥️ The Constitution of the United States of America

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript

🖥️ Eric Metaxas Answers Hard Questions About Charlie Kirk

https://www.prageru.com/videos/eric-metaxas-answers-hard-questions-about-the-murder-of-charlie-kirk?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_14963361

📚 The Christian After Death, by Robert Ervin Hough

📚 Heaven: Biblical Answers to Common Questions, by Randy Alcorn

📚 God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life: The Myth of the Modern Message, by Ray Comfort (a book Charlie Kirk recommended on his podcast

🎙️Please subscribe to the podcast so you can listen again next week!

✍🏻 Leaving a review is the best way to say "thanks" so that others can find the podcast, too! In Apple Podcast app, scroll down to the bottom of the episode list (right above the "About" section) and click the tiny link to "Write a Review."

➡️ Take a screenshot or click the "Share" button in your podcast app to let your friends know.

💡 Our website is currently down, but we’re working on getting it back up so you can see the show notes soon.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/aaron-paul-low/pony-express

Hey fellow dads,

What’s the difference between doctrinal and devotional books? Why are good devotional books so helpful in our spiritual walk? Join us for today’s episode, and let’s find out.

—Nathan

📖  Matthew 12

📖  Isaiah 42

📖  Proverbs 11:14

📖  Proverbs 15:22

📖  Proverbs 24:6

📖  Proverbs 2:20

📚 Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth, by Charles Ryrie

📚 Things Hard to be Understood: A Handbook of Biblical Difficulties, by David Cloud

📚 What Every Christian Ought to Know: Essential Truths for Growing Your Faith, by Adrian Rogers

📚 Reflections on the Gospels: Devotional Thoughts from the Pen of Vance Havner, compiled by Michael Catt

📚 Morning and Evening, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

📚 The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, by Arthur Bennett

⛓️ https://banneroftruth.org/us/devotional-series/the-valley-of-vision-devotional/

🎙️Please subscribe to the podcast so you can listen again next week!

✍🏻 Leaving a review is the best way to say "thanks" so that others can find the podcast, too! In Apple Podcast app, scroll down to the bottom of the episode list (right above the "About" section) and click the tiny link to "Write a Review."

➡️ Take a screenshot or click the "Share" button in your podcast app to let your friends know.

🧑🏻‍💻 Join the Facebook group

📧 Read more and subscribe to our newsletter at treasureboxbooks.com

💡 See the show notes at https://refreshpublishing.com/071-helps-for-your-daily-walk-part-1-why-use-devotional-books

🎵 Aurora (used in pre-intro)

🎵 Pony Express (used in show intro and outro)

Hey fellow dads,

Only God knows how long we'll live, but He can “teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” What Scriptures and books might help us do that? Tune in today and find out!

—Nathan

“There are some books that are worth reading again.”—Nathan

“Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”— Jim Elliot

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” — Jim Elliot

“When the time comes to die, make sure that all you have to do is die!” — Jim Elliot

💡 See the show notes, with Scripture references, quotes, and more, at https://refreshpublishing.com/070-only-one-life

https://uppbeat.io/t/sonda/time

https://uppbeat.io/t/aaron-paul-low/pony-express

Hey fellow dads,

Happy Fourth of July! As your family celebrates America’s birthday, have you thought about the ideas that formed the foundation for our nation and the first Independence Day? Join us today as we talk about a book that reveals the largely unknown true history of America’s independence and discuss how to teach our children a Christian patriotism.

—Nathan

📖 Proverbs 22:4 By humility [and] the fear of the LORD [are] riches, and honour, and life.

📖 Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin [is] a reproach to any people.

📖 Psalm 33:12 Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] the LORD; [and] the people [whom] he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

📖 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

📚 The Patriot’s Reference: Documents, Speeches, and Sermons that Compose the American Soul, Edited by Joel J. Miller and Kristen Parrish, published by Thomas Nelson.

Not mentioned in podcast, but also helpful:

📚 The Revolution Myth by Glen Chambers and Gene Fisher. Out of print, but available from some used book sources.

We are reduced to the alternative of choosing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force.—The latter is our choice.—We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery.—Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them.

Our cause is just. Our Union is perfect. Our internal resources are great, and if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable.—We gratefully acknowledge as signal instances of the Divine favor towards us, that his Providence would not permit us to be called into this severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operations, and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers, which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves.

Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our friends and fellow subjects in any part of the empire, we assure them that we mean not to dissolve that union which has so long and so happily subsisted between us, and which we sincerely wish to see restored.—Necessity has not yet driven us into that desperate measure, or induced us to excite any other nation to war against them. We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from Great Britain, and establishing independent States. We fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by unprovoked armies, without any imputation, or even suspicion of offence. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death.

In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is our birthright, and which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it— for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our forefathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall' be removed, and not before,

With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most devoutly implore his Divine goodness to protect us happily through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the empire from the calamities of civil war.

As quoted by Thaddeus Allen, in An Inquiry into the Views, Services, Principles and Influences of the Leading Men in the Origination of Our Union and the Formation and Administration of our Early Government, vol. 1 (Boston: Saxton & Kelt, 1847).

💡 See the show notes, with Scripture references, quotes, and more, at https://refreshpublishing.com/069-four-ideas-for-the-fourth-of-july

“Star-Spangled Banner” This document confirms the download of an audio file pursuant to the Content License as defined in the Pixabay Terms of Service available at https://pixabay.com/service/terms/ (License on file)

https://uppbeat.io/t/aaron-paul-low/pony-express