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

Hi, Fellow Dad!

Do you want to provide your children with good books, but you aren't sure where to start, or how to determine if a book is really good or not? As we prepared to launch this podcast, my family had a discussion around the dinner table about some of the myths people believe about books, and their comments sparked the outline for this episode.

If we're going to find the treasures in books, we've got to watch out for counterfeits!

—Nathan

“The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.” - Proverbs 14:15

Don't believe everything you've heard!

Myth: old books = good books.

Myth: Little children need dumbed-down books and cartoonish illustrations.

"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond." - C.S.Lewis

Myth: If it’s a children’s book, it’s appropriate for children.

"It is the books we read before middle life that do most to mold our characters and influence our lives." - Robert Pitman

Myth: Christian authors and Christian publishing companies always produce only trustworthy content.

Myth: We should read only authors who agree with us 100%!

Myth: If it's worth reading or listening to, it has to be written by a well-known or popular author. Some of the best authors are not very well known. In this episode, I mention Egerton Ryerson Young, Louise A. Vernon, and Arnold Ytreeide as specific examples.

💡 "Myths abound and they are convincing. Don't believe every word you hear--or read. Filter everything by truth. And let the word of God be your filter."

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” - Philippians 4:8

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💡 See the show notes at https://refreshpublishing.com/008-beware-these-myths/

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Tags: choosing books, reading to children, best books for Christian families

Hi, Fellow Dad!

Your house might have

A kitchen to cook in,

A bedroom to sleep in,

A living room to host guests.

All places to complete specific tasks.

But there's a special place every dad should have in his home, and it wasn't until I was a few years into being a dad that I realized I should have this place.

What is it, you ask?

Stay tuned!

—Nathan

1. Start simply.

Dad's uncomfortable reading chair. =)

Mommy's comfy reading chair. =)

The Daddy Time sofa.

Family Time books (next to Dad's armchair--the one that hits his funny bone about once a week)

"However you do it, wherever you do it, find a place in your home and build a place to read!"

“But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.” - Micah 4:4

"I have sought for happiness everywhere, but I have found it nowhere except in a little corner with a little book."--Thomas a Kempis

“Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.” - 2 Kings 4:10

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✍🏻 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."

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Have you ever been facing a problem or trial so big that there was nothing you could do but trust God?

We're publishing this episode one year after our youngest little guy went in for open heart surgery to correct his congenital heart defects. God once again showed Himself gracious, kind, and comforting to us through that weighty time, and a large part of that comfort came to us in the Psalms.

In this episode, we're sharing some of our favorite Psalms, and we hope the Lord will use these to bring comfort, strength, and guidance to you and your family as well.

The four Psalms narrated in this selection are the first in a collection of "Our Favorite Psalms, Part 1," available for free audio download to everyone who signs up for our newsletter and updates at http://refreshpublishing.com/treasure-box-books/subscribe [We apologize; the treasureboxbooks link given in the episode is currently not working. Please use this one instead.]

The Holy Spirit has promised, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8). May He enable you to draw near to Him as you listen to and meditate on His precious words.

"I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities." - Ps. 31:7

🎙️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 and take part in our Launch Team (Oct. 24-26) to receive a free Reading Log pdf and a chance at winning your choice of three books from the lists in our show notes!

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Hi, Fellow Dads,

I suppose you all watched a good bit of the news covering the wildfire that swept through and consumed the town of Lahaina, on the west coast of Maui, back in August. After over two months, it's still hard for me to wrap my mind around the magnitude of loss people there suffered, especially having acquaintances who lost their home, vehicle, and church building in the blaze.

I recorded this episode about a week after the Lahaina fire, discussing a Bible-based perspective and response to such tragedies.

Note: When, recording this episode, I unintentionally used the word “ideal,” but intended to say “ordeal.”

As a Christian, I believe the Bible is the word of God.

And because it is the word of God, I believe it accurately presents reality for what it is.

We do cling to hope of eternal happiness, but we don't ignore the harsh realities of this world.

And we have this perspective on life because the Bible has this perspective.

In Luke 13, the Lord Jesus Christ discussed two situations, both tragedies, and both sort of summing up the kinds of tragedies that people face--in verses 1 & 2, there's an atrocity--Roman governor Pontius Pilate had apparently executed some Galilaeans while they were offering sacrifices to God. In verse 4, the Lord mentioned what we might call an "accident"--a tower fell and killed 18 people.

He didn't deny these events, and when Luke recorded the Lord's words, he didn't sugarcoat them or whitewash them to make the tragedies sound better than they were.

They were tragedies.

And the Lord Jesus faced them and discussed them.

"Knowing God for eternity, being with God for eternity, this is everlasting life. So what is perishing? Perishing is the opposite of that. He said in John 3:16 'not perish, but have everlasting life.' What is the opposite of being with God for eternity? What is the opposite of spending eternity in complete and perfect and abounding happiness? It would be being separated from God, in absolute, complete, total darkness, sadness, sorrow, grief, torment."

"Jesus didn't want us to be without a warning, and so He said, 'Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.' What's the good news couched in this verse? The good news is, if you repent, then you shall not perish. If you change your mind about your sin, your breaking God's Law, if you change your mind about God--change from the perspective that He is wrong to the perspective that He is right and I am wrong--and change your perspective about who you're trusting in."

See the show notes for Scripture references, links to help victims of the Lahaina fire, and recommended reading.

🎙️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 and take part in our Launch Team (Oct. 24-26) to receive a free Reading Log pdf and a chance at winning your choice of three books from the lists in our show notes!

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

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Hi, Dad!

Do you have good intentions for reading to and with your family, but don't know where to start? Or maybe you have lots of ideas, but struggle to come up with a plan you can follow consistently? I don't know about you, but ever since I was a teenager, I have always felt that I had too many books I wanted to or needed to read, and since becoming a dad, too many books to read to my family.

Today I'm sharing a simple method for managing your books: creating a reading list so that you can set yourself up for success. Sometimes we just need to have a clear plan and post it somewhere we'll see it regularly. Join me as I discuss how to build, maintain, and use your reading list!

Let's go find the treasures--in books!

Nathan 

1. List all the books you need to read.

2. List the books you want to read.

3. List books in order of importance.

"This order…is intended and intentional. The reason I list Scripture first should be obvious: I have to walk with God first and foremost, I have to know Him. My heart has to be filled with Him before I can properly fill all the other roles that I play in life."

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." - Prov. 4:23

4. List the books you want to read to or with your family according to audience.

5. Record the date you finish reading a book (or listening to an audiobook)

6. Bonus Tip: Remember that books are tools.

[See more details in the show notes, linked below.]

Books

📖 Did Adam Have a Bellybutton? By Ken Ham

📖 God of the Aurora, by Bruce Hamilton       

📖 The Titanic’s Last Hero, by Moody Adams   

📖 Shew Thyself a Man, by Eldon Martens

📖 The Lamb, by John Cross

📖 101 Favorite Stories from the Bible, by Ura Miller

📖 I Can Read with My Eyes Shut, by Dr. Suess

Not mentioned, but also reading with my wife:

📖 Person of Interest: Why Jesus Matters In An Age of Doubt, by J. Warner Wallace

📖 Enjoying Intimacy with God, by J. Oswald Sanders

And with our 13-year-old:

📖 Then Darkness Fled, by Stephen Mansfield   

"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." - 1 Corinthians 10:23

🎙️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 and take part in our Launch Team (Oct. 24-26) to receive a free Reading Log pdf and a chance at winning your choice of three books from the lists in our show notes!

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

💡 See the show notes at https://refreshpublishing.com/build_maintain_and_use_a_reading_list/

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"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul…"

…so the Bible is enough, right? It's actually a waste of time to read or listen to any other books…right?

Listen to the episode to get the full explanation of each point below:

1. The Bible refers to other books for historical verification. See Joshua 10:13, 2 Samuel 1:18, 1 Kings 11:41.
   

🎙️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 and take part in our Launch Team (Oct. 24-26) to receive a free Reading Log pdf and a chance at winning your choice of three books from the lists in our show notes!

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

💡 See the show notes at https://refreshpublishing.com/003-isnt-the-bible-the-only-book-we-need/

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Hi, Fellow Dad!

Wouldn't you feel great if you could spread a nutritious, delicious feast for your family several times a week? You can--but with something other than food. On this episode of Treasure Box Books Podcast, we discuss some practical, simple ways you can do that, using books!

We're publishing this episode about a month before Thanksgiving, and I'm already feeling excited about digging in to the smorgasbord we set out for our family and guests each year. Thankfully (pun sort-of intended), in Hawaii we don't have to wait until Thanksgiving for big feasts, because a typical Hawaii church potluck--or any get together for practically any occasion--is a lot like a Thanksgiving feast (even though we call them by the not-so-exciting term "potluck").

In today's episode, we're going to think about ways we can spread a feast (of instruction and inspiration) for our families.

Mahalo no ka hoʻolohe ʻana i kēia lā!

(Hawaiian: Thanks for listening today!)

--Nathan

📖  New City Catechism, by Timothy Keller (we use this as a guide, but having some doctrinal differences, I adjust its content to reflect my understanding of scriptural teaching as I use it to teach my family)

📖 The Power of Christ’s Prayer Life, by Charles H. Spurgeon

📖 The Attributes of God, by A.W. Tozer  

📖 From This Verse, by Robert Morgan

📖 God of the Aurora, by Bruce Hamilton (finished since recording this episode, now reading another missionary biography . . . keep watching for a future episode featuring an interview with Pastor Hamilton!)

📖 The Cruelest Miles, by Salisbury and Salisbury (finished since recording this episode)

📖 Indescribable, by Louis Giglio  

📖 Did Adam Have a Bellybutton? by Ken Ham

📖 New City Catechism by Timothy Keller (review)          

We usually listen to an episode of the Brinkman Family Adventures audio drama on the ride home from church. They release a new episode each Wednesday.

📖 Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends, by the Mally family

Although we often don't read a book on Friday nights, we still gather to pray together before bedtime.

📖 Amazing Grace: 365 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions, by Kenneth W. Osbeck

📖 Fun with Bible Quizzes, by J. Vernon Jacobs

"If the crowns of all the kingdoms of Europe were laid down at my feet in exchange for my books and my love of reading, I would spurn them all."--Francois Fenelon

🎙️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 and take part in our Launch Team (Oct. 24-26) to receive a free Reading Log pdf and a chance at winning your choice of three books from the lists in our show notes!

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

💡 See the show notes at https://refreshpublishing.com/002-spread-a-feast-of-knowledge/

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Hi, Fellow Dad!

Have you ever scanned the shelves of a real or online bookstore and wondered where to begin? Have you ever prayed for someone to come alongside and be another voice of wisdom in your child's life?

In this pilot episode, my wife joined me at the mic to discuss what's ahead for you here on the Treasure Box Books Podcast!

We share how this podcast can help you search out the books that are just sitting on shelves waiting to be discovered and then share those bountiful riches with your own family!

We also give a quick list of just a few authors and books that have changed our lives, and also discuss how good authors are like faithful companions and wise guides.

I pray this first episode will encourage you in your fatherhood journey! Thank you for joining in!

🎙️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 and take part in our Launch Team (Oct. 24-26, 2023) to receive a free Reading Log pdf and a chance at winning your choice of three books from the lists in our show notes!

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

📖 The Incomparable Christ, by J. Oswald Sanders.

📖 The Knowledge of the Holy, The Pursuit of God, by Aiden Wilson Tozer.

📖 All of Grace, The Soul-Winner, and Morning and Evening, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (he also wrote about 147 other books).

📖 God's Crime Scene and Person of Interest, by J. Warner Wallace

📖 Mansfield's Book of Manly Men, by Stephen Mansfield

📖 If and Toward Jerusalem, by Amy Carmichael

📖 A Chance to Die; Passion and Purity; God's Guidance: A Slow and Certain Light, by Elisabeth Elliot

📖 What is a Family? and The Hidden Art of Homemaking, by Edith Schaeffer

📖 Loving the Little Years and You Who: Why You Matter & How to Deal With It, by Rachel Jankovic

📖 Stepping Heavenward, by Elisabeth Prentiss

📖 Inside, Outside, Upside Down, by Stan & Jan Berenstain

📖 Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey

📖 Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

📖 Paddle to the Sea and Tree in the Trail, by Holling Clancy Holling

📖 The Little House and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, by Virginia Lee Burton

📖 The Adventures of An Arctic Missionary Series, by Gloria Repp

📖 The Secret Church, Night Preacher, The Bible Smuggler, etc., by Louise Vernon

[list continued at https://refreshpublishing.com/001-introducing-treasure-box-books-pilot-episode/]

"That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous." - Proverbs 2:20

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Hey, Dads!

⚔️ Do you want to inspire your children with stories of real heroes, and with characters from the greatest story ever told--the word of God?

🛠️ Do you want to equip your children with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding for life in the world, to face the challenges in whatever work God calls them to do?

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Do you desire to live and learn together with your family, using good books and real-life experiences to build relationships that will last a lifetime, all while serving others for the glory of God?

I'm your host, Nathan Ching,  a redeemed child of God, a happy husband, dad of a homeschooling family, and lifelong lover of good books.

As a young man, I realized that reading, beginning first with the Bible, then other books, unlocked my understanding. 

And when I prayed about how to train my children for God, I became convinced that reading to and with them would be an essential element in helping them to delight in God, believe Him, and do His will.

While I can't claim to have perfected the art of leading my family, I am happy to say that the Lord has taught me practical, useful lessons--lessons I hope will serve you, dads, as you lead your families.

My mission in this podcast is to equip you with real hope and practical help as you seek to lead your family in God's way, relying first on the Bible and then gleaning from the treasures in great books--treasures readily available to those who will search them out, because there are treasures to be found in books that simply can't be found anywhere else.

If you're ready to uncover instructive, inspiring books to read with your family, to build strong family relationships, and to prepare your children for life and eternity with great books & activities, then join us for the Treasure Box Books Podcast!

🎙️If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe so you can listen to next week's episode.

✍🏻 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 and take part in our Launch Team (Oct. 24-26) to receive a free Reading Log pdf and a chance at winning your choice of three books from the lists in our show notes!

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

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