0:00

And he said to the parents imagine yourself

0:02

sitting at the heavenly banquet table and

0:05

you're looking around and heaven is

0:07

beautiful and God is there , jesus

0:09

is there , and your mother and your father

0:11

are there , your aunt and uncle , cousins

0:13

, family , friends , and you're

0:16

looking around the table , but you

0:18

don't see your children .

0:27

Welcome back to the Coffee and Bible

0:29

Time podcast . For

0:35

those that may be listening for the first time , our podcast is an offshoot from our main platform , youtube . Our

0:37

channel is called Coffee and Bible Time

0:39

, where our goal is to help people

0:41

delight in God's word and

0:43

thrive in Christian living is

0:46

to help people delight in God's word and thrive in Christian living . We also have a

0:48

website and storefront with Bible studies , prayer journals , courses and

0:50

more . As

0:53

Christian values face increasing

0:55

challenges in our world today , parents

0:58

often worry about how to instill

1:00

a strong spiritual foundation in

1:02

their children . In today's episode

1:04

, we have invited Lee Ann Mancini

1:07

, author of the new book Raising Kids

1:09

to Follow Christ Instilling

1:11

a Lifelong Trust in God , to

1:14

talk with us about how

1:16

to teach and guide children to

1:18

become effective disciples who

1:21

want to follow Christ and live

1:23

by his word . Without

1:25

guidance in building a firm foundation

1:27

for our children , they may struggle

1:30

to understand what is truly important

1:32

in life , potentially leading

1:34

them away from their faith and Christian

1:36

values . So join us

1:38

as Leanne and I discuss

1:40

incorporating strategies into

1:43

our parenting for the next generation

1:45

to anchor their lives in Jesus for

1:48

now and eternity . Lee Ann

1:50

Mancini hosts the award-winning

1:52

podcast Raising Christian Kids

1:55

. She shares expert godly

1:57

advice , biblically-based wisdom

1:59

and insightful tools for

2:02

parenting children to bring them closer

2:04

to Jesus . Leanne is also

2:06

an award-winning Christian children's

2:09

author and executive

2:11

producer of the animated series

2:13

Sea Kids . Leanne

2:16

is an adjunct professor at

2:18

South Florida Bible College and Theological

2:21

Seminary . She received her

2:23

BA in Religious Studies

2:25

from Regent University , her master's

2:28

degree in Christian and Classical Studies and

2:30

Biblical Theological Studies from

2:32

Knox Theological Seminary

2:34

and a master's in

2:36

Christian Studies from Trinity

2:39

Evangelical Divinity School , right

2:41

here , close to where I'm located . Leanne

2:44

and her husband , Guy , have two

2:47

adult children and make their home

2:49

in South Florida . Please

2:51

welcome Lee Ann .

2:54

Thank you for having me , Ellen . Oh , you could have left

2:56

out all those credentials . I

2:58

never know what bio anyone's going to use

3:00

, but yeah , no , I'm so happy to be on your

3:02

show . Thank you .

3:04

Well , I'm delighted to have you

3:06

here . As a mom myself , of course

3:08

, this is one of my very most favorite

3:10

topics and , for

3:12

Christian parents , our

3:15

children , as you say in the book , are

3:17

the most valuable gifts that God

3:19

has given us , and wanting

3:22

our kids to know Jesus is one of our

3:24

highest priorities in

3:26

life . Yet , based

3:28

on some of the statistics that you quote in

3:31

your book , this just doesn't

3:33

seem like it's happening

3:35

. So , give our listeners

3:37

some insight into what

3:40

you found when you were doing that

3:42

research , to understand the statistics and

3:45

how that's

3:47

impacting

3:49

children as they're being raised

3:52

.

3:53

Well , thank you , Ellen . I started

3:55

researching about five years

3:57

ago for this book and at that time

3:59

, 40% of

4:01

children in middle school were walking away

4:03

from their faith and it was , I believe , 65%

4:06

in high school and college . So

4:09

I started researching why is this happening

4:11

? What can we do ? I felt the call

4:13

from the Lord to do this because I love to

4:15

research and I love to teach and I love to share

4:17

information . And

4:20

then I started finding this

4:22

information and sharing it on the podcast , the

4:24

Raising Christian Kids podcast

4:26

. Well , let's go

4:28

forward now to where we are . And recently

4:30

George Barna wrote

4:33

a book called Raising Spiritual Champions

4:35

, and

4:37

in their research they found that teenagers

4:40

between the ages of 13 to 14 from

4:42

Christian homes that

4:44

70% of them don't

4:46

believe Satan exists or he's real

4:48

, 84%

4:51

believe we're not born into sin and

4:53

need a Savior and

4:56

90% believe there's no such thing

4:58

as absolute moral truth . And

5:01

then parents , most

5:04

Christian parents , really only have a 2%

5:06

biblical worldview , a real

5:08

biblical worldview . And

5:10

then I mean , after I read these statistics , I

5:12

was like in tears when I heard that the

5:15

children's pastors 53%

5:19

believe in the possibility of reincarnation

5:21

, possibility of reincarnation

5:23

, 63% believe in that

5:26

there's no absolute moral truth . Now

5:28

these are children's Christian pastors

5:31

, and this one is when I

5:33

really started . The

5:38

tears started coming rolling out of my eyes because I was just so shocked . 50% believe

5:40

that Jesus possibly sinned while he was on earth

5:42

.

5:43

Oh no .

5:44

In his human form . So

5:47

George Barna says in his book also

5:49

that we're on the precipice of irreversible

5:52

destruction . So

5:55

now I can understand why God had me doing this

5:57

research and my book

5:59

came out like three months after his book

6:01

. And my book just really says , hey

6:03

, yeah , we have a problem , but

6:06

there's so much we can do and

6:08

we can do it organically , day by day

6:10

, lovingly , to transform

6:13

our homes and to help our children

6:15

have a worldview that

6:17

adheres to biblical principles and

6:20

who will love and adore Jesus all

6:22

of their life .

6:24

Who love and adore Jesus all of their life , absolutely

6:26

. One

6:33

of the things that you mentioned was that parents need

6:35

to be strong spiritual leaders , and it's interesting that the

6:37

research there indicating so many things

6:40

that are not consistent with

6:42

what core Christian

6:44

values are . I

6:47

really find it so interesting

6:50

that your book then is

6:52

able to address some of these things

6:54

. Is that kind of why you consider

6:57

it sort of an urgent read for Christian

6:59

parents today ?

7:01

Yes . Well , in my research I also

7:03

found that there's a lot of parents out there

7:06

who maybe they weren't churched . You

7:09

know they don't understand . You know

7:11

the Word of God and they need

7:13

help . They want to raise their children , but they

7:15

also need to learn . You know

7:17

God's Word . So this

7:19

book not only helps parents raise

7:22

their children well , but it helps to educate the parents

7:24

as well as to what you

7:27

know God's Word says . A lot of

7:29

parents will rely on Proverbs

7:31

20 , train them up in the way they should go

7:33

, and they will not depart from that . Well

7:35

, we know that that's not a promise , but

7:39

we understand that

7:41

in Deuteronomy 6 , verses

7:43

4 through 9 , the Shema is

7:46

the directives given to parents to

7:48

raise their children , and it says when they rise

7:51

up , when they walk along the path , when

7:53

they lie down , impress these biblical

7:56

directives . Impress means to mold

7:58

, to brand , to mark , to live out , and

8:01

so the book gives you a lot of

8:03

examples of how to

8:05

organically , day by day , live

8:08

out your life for

8:10

Christ and let your children see you doing

8:12

that . Because

8:16

you know more is caught than taught and

8:27

it just really helps parents and ministry leaders and grandparents raise their children

8:29

to love and adore Christ as if he is living in their home , right there , because

8:31

that's how we're supposed to be living Absolutely

8:33

.

8:33

And I want to talk about

8:36

. You had mentioned that

8:38

planting seeds from the

8:40

time they're in the womb to three

8:42

years old , and

8:45

that really struck me because

8:48

I feel like , at least from my own self

8:50

, some of the things that I read that

8:53

you had recommended in there

8:55

, I was doing but I didn't realize

8:57

I could be so much

8:59

more intentional about it . So tell us about

9:02

how you can even impact

9:04

your children at that very young age .

9:08

Well , thank you , Ellen . God's

9:10

Word says in Psalm 7:86

9:13

, teach even to the children yet

9:15

to be born . And

9:18

Psalm 5:16 says

9:20

yet you desired faithfulness

9:23

. And even in the womb you taught me wisdom

9:25

in that secret place . So what does that

9:27

mean ? Well , in researching

9:29

, I found that at 18

9:31

weeks of pregnancy , the fetus can hear

9:33

sounds . So you

9:35

could simply volunteer at your

9:37

church nursery . First of

9:39

all , they need volunteers , and

9:42

let your baby hear the children singing

9:44

Jesus loves me . This I know , and

9:47

continue to volunteer even after

9:49

they're born . Bring them with you , let them

9:51

hear the sounds of singing praises

9:53

to Jesus and talks about Jesus

9:55

, and on their first day when they attend

9:58

, there'll be no tears because they're

10:00

used to that environment . So

10:02

that's just something you can do . You know very

10:04

, very early . Then I

10:07

talk about you're feeding your

10:09

infant . You know they scream when they're hungry

10:11

right , we remember those days . They scream when

10:13

they're hungry . Well , as soon as you put the

10:15

bottle in their mouth , they start cooing . Simply

10:18

say Johnny , Jesus

10:20

loves you , he loves Johnny

10:23

. What you're doing is you're connecting that

10:25

name of Jesus with his needs being

10:27

met . Or you have

10:29

a six-month-old looking in the mirror and they're giggling

10:31

and they're happy looking at their reflection

10:34

. You can say Samantha

10:36

, Jesus loves Samantha , Samantha's

10:38

beautiful and Jesus loves

10:40

Samantha . Now you're connecting the name of

10:42

Jesus with their happy emotions

10:45

and then they're

10:48

a toddler . Instead of saying let's take

10:50

a nap , say let's take

10:52

a Sabbath's rest , and then you

10:55

go and you say a prayer to Jesus and you

10:57

go to sleep . Well , they don't

10:59

understand the true meaning of Sabbath . But what you're

11:01

doing at that time is you're building a building

11:03

of vocabulary and a category in their mind

11:05

for the term Sabbath . So

11:08

when you start talking about the real meaning of

11:10

Sabbath between ages four and seven

11:12

, you're planting seeds into

11:14

rich soil to grow deep

11:16

roots . There's

11:19

just so much we can do . The

11:21

research has indicated that we

11:23

never know when a child really grasps a

11:25

biblical concept . So we should use

11:27

the words sin , salvation , redemption

11:30

. Use those biblical

11:32

words , those large words , and

11:36

make sure your child this is

11:38

so important understands every

11:40

word of the Bible verse that they're

11:42

memorizing . You

11:45

know what does it mean ? Hallowed

11:47

be thy name . You know honor

11:50

your father . What does honor mean ? Because

11:52

these children will repeat these verses but

11:54

they may not know what each word means . So

11:57

there's just so much we can do . We can have fun

11:59

doing it also with our children . There's

12:01

a lot of suggestions in the book of fun

12:04

ways to teach the Word of God .

12:07

And that's truly , I think , one of

12:09

the wonderful aspects

12:12

of your book . Are these just practical

12:14

things that parents can do

12:16

. One of the things that you

12:18

mentioned was this scare

12:21

that you had with

12:23

an image that Jonathan

12:25

Edwards , the North American revivalist

12:28

preacher from the 1700s

12:30

, used . Tell us about that

12:33

and how it impacted

12:35

you .

12:36

Well , when I was researching the book , I probably read

12:38

over 200 parenting books . I read everything

12:41

I could get on biblical parenting

12:43

or children's spiritual formation

12:45

, and I even went back into some of the

12:47

older books and I

12:49

found a quote from

12:51

Jonathan Edwards , as you said , as a 1700

12:54

revivalist preacher for the first big revival

12:57

, and he wanted to scare parents

12:59

. And he said to the parents

13:01

and I don't believe in scaring parents , but

13:04

you'll get the point of this when you hear

13:07

the story of where he was going with

13:09

this and he said to the parents

13:11

imagine yourself sitting at the heavenly

13:13

banquet table and

13:16

you're looking around and heaven is

13:18

beautiful and God is there , Jesus

13:20

is there , and your mother and your father

13:22

are there , your aunt and uncle , cousins

13:24

, family , but

13:29

not your kids . You don't see

13:31

them sitting at that heavenly banquet table

13:34

and you know where they are if they're not there

13:36

. And

13:38

when I read that it just shook me to the core because I never

13:41

thought about my children never being in heaven

13:43

with me . And

13:45

so I think , when you think about what

13:47

the end result could be

13:50

, it just motivates you to do all

13:52

you can right now to

13:54

help teach your children to have

13:56

that lifelong faith and

13:59

trust in God . We do

14:01

the best we can . You know I say we're

14:03

parenting practitioners . There's

14:06

no perfect parent , but

14:08

we do the best we can with what we're giving and

14:10

it's never too early and it's never too

14:13

late . So I don't want parents

14:15

to feel guilty if they haven't done a lot of the

14:17

things that are suggested in my book , because I

14:19

didn't do half of them , or more than half of them probably

14:21

, but you know it

14:23

. Just you do the best you can with the

14:25

knowledge you're given .

14:27

Yes , absolutely , and

14:29

you also talk about the role of prayer

14:31

, and you know obviously

14:35

this is something you know

14:37

the actual work of conversion

14:39

can only be done by the power of the Holy

14:41

Spirit . Tell us about prayer

14:44

and its impact and sort

14:46

of also allowing God

14:48

to work in this process

14:51

.

14:52

Well , I think prayer is our most effective

14:55

and important tool . It connects us to

14:57

the source . When our children

14:59

see us praying all the time , they

15:01

will want to pray , and

15:03

I try to teach the children or I

15:05

taught my children when they were young we

15:08

have to have a relationship with God . He needs

15:10

to know that we love him , we adore

15:12

him and we can go to him for whatever our needs are , we can go to him and

15:14

give thanks . Needs are , we can go to him and give thanks

15:16

. Well , you can't call him on a cell

15:18

phone , you can't send him an email

15:20

, you can't write him a letter , but you can

15:23

pray to him and he hears our prayers , and

15:25

so prayer is the most impactful

15:28

tool we have to

15:30

help transform our children's hearts and

15:32

minds and for God to guide us

15:34

on how to do that . So I

15:36

have a lot of examples in the

15:38

book of parents how

15:41

they can answer their children's questions and

15:44

how they can pray with their children

15:46

, giving them the words to say , because

15:49

a lot of parents are unchurched

15:52

and they're not sure how to do any of this

15:54

, and so this book

15:56

will really help them .

15:58

I'd love that . That's so

16:01

important and really something

16:03

I guess that I hadn't thought through that

16:05

there could be a lot of people reading

16:08

this book that don't know how

16:10

to do it , so that extreme level

16:13

of practicality is so incredibly

16:15

helpful . Well

16:17

, let's move

16:19

on to where our children are

16:22

school age now and

16:24

, with some of them , in the public school

16:27

system . What is

16:29

your advice to parents who

16:31

are struggling with what's

16:34

being taught in the school system ?

16:37

Yes , I highly suggest

16:39

homeschool or Christian school . But

16:41

I understand in the book I say that

16:44

some people can't do that . You know

16:46

, 80% of our children attend a public

16:48

school . So the parents

16:50

have to just be doubly , have to

16:52

double down and be diligent in understanding what

16:54

is being taught in the classroom

16:57

and , if possible , ask

16:59

for the lessons ahead of time . If

17:01

you can find out , you know what they're

17:03

going to learn , and sit down with your children

17:05

and prepare them Right away

17:07

. We need our children to understand that there's two worldviews

17:10

.

17:11

There's our biblical worldview that we believe

17:13

Jesus and holy spirit

17:16

and his word , and then the other

17:18

worldview is man's worldview and

17:20

all the other religions and what they believe why

17:22

do you think , leanne , that

17:25

having a strong

17:27

spiritual foundation is

17:29

so important to

17:31

fight against the anti-Christian

17:34

culture , whether the

17:37

child is at school or

17:39

somewhere else doing other activities

17:41

?

18:37

Well , you know , our spiritual

18:39

foundation is hopefully

18:41

anchored in Christ , in

18:43

Jesus , and the

18:45

knowledge we gain from his word

18:48

and understanding the

18:50

world around us can

18:53

help us learn how to navigate

18:55

an evil world and stay strong

18:57

in our faith . A

19:00

spiritual foundation is everything you

19:03

know , Lisa Miller , I had

19:05

her on my show . Dr Lisa Miller and

19:08

the scientists have indicated

19:10

that 28% I

19:12

believe it's 28% of

19:14

our DNA , our DNA

19:16

that determines our eye color , our

19:18

hair color 28%

19:20

of our DNA is spiritual

19:22

. So

19:25

where does our spiritual

19:27

foundation or formation

19:29

or ideas lie With

19:32

what we've been taught to believe , to be

19:34

true and what

19:36

works ? You know , a worldview

19:39

in a child , a

19:41

worldview starts to formulate around 15

19:43

months of age and is solidified by 13

19:45

years of age , age

19:52

and is solidified by 13 years of age . And a worldview has to answer four questions

19:54

to be logical and consistent and dependable and true . It

19:57

has to answer where do we come

19:59

from Morality

20:02

, how do I determine between

20:04

right and wrong , A purpose

20:06

, why am I here ? And destiny

20:09

, what happens when I die ? And

20:12

so , when you teach your children

20:14

, young , what

20:16

a worldview is , what your

20:18

worldview is as a Christian

20:20

family , what your spiritual

20:23

formation is as connected

20:25

to the Word of God and to Jesus . This

20:28

will anchor them for the rest of their lives

20:30

and help them when they go out into

20:32

this ever-increasing anti-Christian

20:35

humanistic culture that we see ourselves

20:37

living in and pray for revival

20:40

. God can change anything

20:42

. Let me just say

20:44

also that you know God's Word says that

20:46

our children are arrows

20:48

in our quiver . Well , what

20:50

is an arrow used for ? First of all , it

20:52

has to be made precise , it

20:54

has to be perfect , and

20:57

that arrow is aimed to kill the

20:59

enemy . And

21:01

our children are our future

21:03

. You know the four pillars

21:05

of society academia , the

21:08

government , the media and the church

21:10

. We need to have Christians

21:13

placed in these four pillars

21:15

of society , and

21:17

so this is what we have to do

21:19

as parents . I kind of like

21:21

to say we're like the modern day , Rosie

21:23

Riveter . Remember Rosie Riveter from

21:25

World War II ? Remember Rosie Riveter from World War II ? The only

21:27

way they could win World War II was calling

21:30

the parents and asking them to roll

21:32

up their sleeves and get to work and

21:34

help fight the war . That's

21:37

what we're doing . We're all Esthers

21:39

, Okay . We're called for a time

21:41

such as this to equip our children

21:43

, and to equip them well

21:46

, because it's about their salvation

21:48

and the preservation of

21:50

our faith .

22:03

Yes , absolutely . And for many parents who have done

22:06

their best and poured into their kids , like

22:09

you've said , and then they find that their kids do go off

22:12

on some other tangent . And

22:14

what advice do you have to

22:17

those parents ? I know I

22:19

feel like I always come back to God's

22:21

timing and it seems like there's

22:24

a time in a young adult's

22:26

life where they're , you know , transferring

22:29

this ownership from being

22:32

taught to owning it themselves . Tell us

22:34

about how all of that works and what

22:36

encouragement you can give to parents .

22:39

Well , I like to say please

22:41

don't let , don't

22:43

have any guilt that you haven't done what you

22:46

thought you should have done , because

22:48

I didn't do half the stuff that's in this book when I

22:50

was raising my children and they're both believers . And

22:53

I like to give the example . Erwin Lutzer

22:56

talks about the Egyptian

22:58

tombs , where they found

23:00

4,000-year-old seeds in these tombs

23:02

and they took the seeds and they planted

23:05

them into soil and they gave them sunshine

23:07

and water and they grew . You

23:16

know , god's word says it never returns

23:18

void . And Joel , he talks about how he can restore with the

23:21

locust heavy . So say you have a teenager now and he's just mom, you know , I

23:23

don't want to go to church , I don't think we need to

23:25

go to church , I

23:27

don't believe in it or whatever it may be . You

23:30

know , you simply sit down and

23:32

you say look , son , we haven't

23:35

been doing some of the things that we should be doing

23:37

and we're going to sit down and write a family

23:39

mission statement right now . We're going

23:42

to work on that together . You're going to help us , and

23:44

we're also going to write a disciplinary

23:46

contract and

23:48

set out what we expect

23:51

you to obey and what the consequences

23:53

are if you don't obey and

23:55

if they're involved in these contracts

23:58

, they're more

24:00

likely to adhere to the stipulations laid

24:03

out because they were involved . And

24:05

then you say to them and here's the three reasons we're doing this , and these are

24:07

three reasons we're doing this . And these are three reasons

24:10

teenagers cannot argue with . We're

24:12

doing this because we have to , you

24:15

know , adhere to what God has called us to do , and

24:17

he's going to be holding us accountable as parents

24:19

. We're doing this because

24:21

we love you and we're

24:24

doing this because we want to protect you . And

24:27

those are three things that teenagers cannot push back upon . We're not saying

24:29

we're doing this because we want to protect you . And those are three things that teenagers cannot push back upon . We're not saying we're doing

24:31

this because I'm the parent , you're the child and this

24:33

is how it's going to go down . That doesn't work , and

24:35

lecturing teenagers doesn't work . And

24:38

what parents have to understand too . I have like almost

24:40

two chapters . I have two chapters of

24:43

almost well , there's two chapters

24:45

about disciplining and

24:48

, once you have a disciplined child , how you can work

24:51

beyond that to incorporate the values

24:53

you want to incorporate in your family

24:55

. But here's

24:57

the thing Children really don't have rights

25:00

except for food , shelter , clothing

25:02

, you know and maybe , of course , love

25:04

, but I'm just saying basic rights . Everything

25:07

they have after that is

25:09

privileges such as getting the

25:11

keys to use the car , having a

25:13

cell phone , using a computer

25:16

, going out with their friends . Those

25:19

are all privileges . And

25:21

you will see how fast they turn around

25:24

when they realize that they don't hear to the stipulations

25:27

and they don't obey

25:29

, and the consequences are they lose

25:31

their privileges . They

25:33

get the message right away . It works

25:35

.

25:38

Yeah , it sure does . Are

25:40

there some specific Bible

25:42

characters whose parents

25:45

you would say adhered to

25:47

the commandments of Deuteronomy

25:49

6 , 4 through 9 ?

25:52

Yes . So I'd like to say what

25:54

does Paul , Timothy

25:57

, Saul , Jeremiah

26:00

, David , what

26:02

do they all have in common ? If you

26:04

read in the Bible , they were taught from infancy

26:07

. They were taught

26:09

from when they were very young , and

26:12

so that's why it makes

26:14

the teenagers a lot easier

26:17

if you start early and again , it's

26:19

never too late . We want to make sure people understand

26:21

that it's never too late . But these

26:24

men , the Lord was the

26:26

anchor to their souls from the very

26:28

beginning , because their parents were diligent

26:30

to teach them that's

26:34

so amazing that it

26:37

can have such a profound impact

26:39

from such a very , very young age

26:41

.

26:41

And at the same time , boy , when they're

26:43

that young they're not talking back to you . You

26:46

can really tell

26:48

them everything you want to

26:50

say . Well , Lee

26:53

Ann , as we start to kind of wrap things

26:55

up here , your

26:57

book Raising Kids to Follow Christ

27:00

takes a

27:03

deep dive into scripture . It also

27:05

is filled with practical

27:07

advice for

27:10

the parents that are out there listening

27:12

. What's your biggest advice for

27:15

them ? Or even caregivers

27:17

right , there may be some grandparents

27:19

that have a profound role

27:23

in a child's life .

27:26

Well , for little ones , I think what's important

27:29

is their playtime , because that's where

27:31

children learn . Look

27:34

at the area in which they play their bedroom

27:36

or their playroom and does it look more like Destiny

27:38

Land or Disneyland ? Make

27:41

sure you have an area where they can

27:43

play biblical Legos . There's

27:45

biblical Legos out there , fruits

27:47

of the Spirit , puzzles and games and

27:50

toys . Another area where they

27:52

can simply sit in a beanbag chair and read

27:54

their Christian children's books and

27:56

have Christian music playing softly

27:58

in the background while they're playing . Have

28:01

an area where they can play dress-up

28:03

and , instead of Disney costumes , have biblical

28:06

costumes and

28:08

have them have an area

28:10

where they can , instead of tea party

28:12

, have practicing communion

28:15

. Have a where they can practice church and

28:17

preaching to their toys and teaching their

28:19

toy to their toys . There's

28:22

so much we can do and we can do it

28:24

and it's fun and it's exciting

28:27

and got , and in the book I have tons

28:29

of suggestions like that . And

28:31

then um , for the older children

28:33

, just simply remember not to lecture

28:36

and if you listen to

28:38

the small stuff now , they will tell you the big

28:40

stuff later . So always have that line

28:42

of communication open , not

28:50

being so judgmental , but be like a coach , walking alongside them , encouraging them

28:53

and teaching them and coaching them . There's

28:55

just so much we can do . We just have

28:57

to do it .

28:59

Yes , I think the intentionality

29:01

and , like you said , just have to do it

29:03

is the key . Well

29:05

, Lee Ann , you offer so much more

29:08

that people can delve

29:10

into in your book . How can people find

29:12

out more information about you and

29:15

the book as well ?

29:16

Oh , thank you . Well , my website

29:19

, raisingchristiankidscom

29:21

. We have a ton of free

29:24

resources that

29:26

parents can print , and

29:28

we also have on the podcast

29:31

. We have a section called Tips from the Experts

29:33

, where we have experts 15 minutes

29:35

. They share their tips

29:37

. We have a section

29:39

of episodes that

29:41

deal just with discipline and

29:43

a section that deals just with apologetics

29:46

. As you know , in the book I have a whole chapter on apologetics

29:49

because we want to teach our children how

29:51

to defend their faith in a loving manner

29:53

also , and they need

29:56

to have a heart transformation . They need to believe

29:58

because they believe

30:00

it to be true , not because they're told

30:02

it's true . We don't want to be little

30:05

pharisaical laws . We want them to have a heart

30:07

transformation . But there's just so much in the book

30:09

and on my website and

30:11

all my proceeds my book , my

30:15

scripture bear we have a scripture bear that

30:17

plays eight Bible verses for little ones

30:19

my Seed Kids

30:21

, which can be seen on Right Now Media

30:23

, pure Flix , answers TV and

30:26

my Seed Kids books . All the proceeds

30:28

go towards my nonprofit , Raising

30:30

Christian Kids . Pew

30:33

Research has indicated that 66%

30:35

of Christian families make less than $30,000

30:38

a year . They can barely afford

30:40

necessities , let alone a

30:42

Bible or a parenting book

30:44

or a Bible study or a

30:46

children's book . So

30:49

all that money that I make goes

30:51

towards keeping that room stocked and

30:53

working with churches to give the items

30:55

to these parents for free .

30:58

Oh , that's so beautiful , Lee Ann . We

31:01

just had a baby shower for my daughter , Ashley

31:04

, this past weekend . Someone gave her the

31:06

bear , so

31:08

cute , isn't he cute ?

31:09

He's so cute .

31:11

So cute . I love him . Oh my

31:13

goodness . Wow , that's so cool . Well

31:16

, Lee Ann , before we go , I

31:18

want to ask you some of our favorite Bible study

31:20

tool questions . What Bible

31:23

is your go-to Bible and which translation

31:25

is it ?

31:27

Well , you know , I as a professor

31:29

, I used to teach apologetics at the college

31:31

and that was one of the big topics

31:33

and after doing a lot of research , I

31:36

prefer the NIV was

31:39

one of the big topics and , after doing a lot of research , I prefer the NIV , and for other

31:42

reasons . If someone wants to reach out to me later I can explain it to them . But I love this

31:44

, this one . It's called Spirit

31:46

of the Reformation Study Bible

31:48

. It's just , I

31:51

mean , it's chock full of all kinds of

31:53

additional information in that Bible

31:55

, so I like that . I don't even think you can buy it

31:57

anymore . It's an NIV version , but that's

32:00

the Bible I like to go to . And

32:03

the other question I know there was two

32:05

more you had in there .

32:06

Yes . Do you have any favorite journaling

32:09

supplies or anything that you like

32:11

to use to enhance your Bible study ?

32:13

experience . Well , I love

32:15

to you know , highlight

32:17

, of course , and put

32:19

little tabs for whatever I'm

32:21

studying that week . I

32:24

like to take notes on the side when

32:26

I do my research for the podcast , for my solo

32:28

episodes . I do a lot of that , but

32:31

I know your third question kind of ties

32:33

into that .

32:33

if you want to ask me that , what

32:36

is your favorite app or website for bible

32:38

study tools ?

32:40

I love Logos . It's

32:43

a phenomenal tool . I had to

32:45

purchase the program when I was

32:47

in seminary and

32:50

in there , uh , there's a tool

32:52

in logos where you can actually

32:54

click on the Bible verse and

32:56

put notes , type in your notes , share

33:00

websites or other articles

33:02

. So when I want to research

33:05

something , I want to research a certain

33:07

Bible verse , I go in Logos , I click on

33:09

that Bible verse and then I have all

33:11

this , all my notes and all

33:13

the additional resources , at

33:15

my fingertips .

33:16

Notes and all the additional resources at my fingertips . Ooh , okay , we

33:18

use Logos too and I

33:21

love that tip . That's a great tip , okay

33:23

, and truly an incredible

33:26

, credible software for those who are

33:28

ready to take a

33:30

very deep dive into your Bible

33:32

study . It's a most

33:35

excellent resource . I will study its most excellent

33:37

resource . Well , Lee Ann , thank you so much for being here

33:39

to share about this very

33:41

important topic our children and

33:43

their spiritual well-being . We

33:45

appreciate your insights so

33:48

much , thank you .

33:50

Well , thank you for having me , E llen , it's

33:53

a pleasure to be here .

33:55

Thank you , and for our listeners , pick

33:57

up a copy of Lee Ann's book

33:59

Raising Kids to Follow Christ

34:02

. We will have a link in

34:04

our show notes . We

34:06

love you all . Thank you for listening

34:08

. Have a blessed day .