Christian Parent, Crazy World LifeAudio

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and according to the CDC, our kids are facing a mental health crisis. Consider these recent statistics:

 

*Suicide & homicide rates in youth ages 10 to 24 are the highest they have been in decades, since 1968.

*42% of adolescents are feeling sadness and hopelessness, up 50% from 2011 (57% are females).

*22% of all students have considered attempting suicide, up from 36%.

*Youth and young adults (ages 10-24) account for 15% of all suicides, an increase of 52.2% since 2000.

*Suicide has become the second-leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24.

*46% of adolescence ages 13 to 17 say that social media makes their body image worse.

 

Parents are justifiably concerned, and often they don’t know where to start when a child is struggling mentally.

 

Catherine’s guest in this episode is Dr. Bill Senyard, a mental health expert who specializes in helping parents reconnect the critical bond with their child to address the foundation of their mental health.

 

Every child has two primary needs from their parents:

 

1. They need to feel CONNECTED.

 

2. They need to feel like they are ENOUGH.

 

A child must know that their parents have their back, and they must know that they are loved no matter what. If this critical foundation breaks down, a child will become disconnected from their parents and others. They will suffer in all of their relationships and in their mental health.

 

Bill shares how to reestablish that connection through attunement. If one in every three interactions with our kids attune to their foundational emotional needs, we can reconnect with our child and build a strong mental foundation for life.

 

Dr. Bill Senyard’s bio: Bill’s career has taken him from being a Chemical engineer, a strategic management consultant, and a co-owner of an Inc. 500 high-tech company to fulltime church ministry where he served multiple congregations as a Lead Pastor for over 35 years. He is a popular conference speaker in the US and Canada as well as abroad. He has written over a dozen non-fiction books and workbooks on a wide range of important topics including, how Christians can effectively and Biblically forgive others, how frustrated parents of teens can be “good enough parents” and most importantly, God’s love for the unlovable. Bill is the creator of The Good Enough Parent, a phenomenal curriculum that has a ton of free resources for parents.

 

Bill’s Website

Good Enough Parent Curriculum

Attachment Theory For Teens Simplified (video)

Bill’s Book: Tale of the Unlikely Prince

 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

 

John 3:16

Romans 8:1

Ephesians 3
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The problem of pain has plagued humanity since the beginning of time. Many great apologists have grappled with the reality of suffering, endeavoring to form a theologically sound answer to life’s hardest question.

 

In this poignant exchange, a couple of moms wrestle with pain and suffering from a distinctly maternal point of view. Catherine and her guest from across the great pond, Ruth Jackson, have a conversation that is real, raw, and refreshingly honest.

 

Miscarriage. Postpartum depression. Premature death.

 

When suffering these heartbreaking realities, the temptation is to ask WHY… and yet answering the WHY doesn’t meet our deepest need.

 

The Christian faith does offer an apologetic for suffering, but more importantly our faith tradition presents a God who came to earth and was broken on our behalf. He is intimately acquainted with suffering. He meets us in our grief. And when we weep, He weeps with us.

 

As believers in Christ, we know who suffered for us. We know who suffers with us. And we know who will wipe away every tear and make all things new.

 

RUTH JACKSON'S BIO: Ruth is a producer and youth specialist for Premier Christian Radio's Unbelievable radio programme and podcast, which brings Christians and non-Christians together for dialogue. ue. Ruth studied theology at Oxford University before working at the BBC’s flagship children’s television show Blue Peter. She then moved to the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, where she helped set up the youth apologetics strand Reboot. Ruth contributed to Hope Rising 365, a book for young women. She also plays bass guitar in award-winning all-girl rock ‘n roll band The Daisy Chains.

Ruth’s Instagram

Premier Christian Radio’s Unbelievable

Unapologetic Podcast

 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

 

Episode 66: How Does a Good God Allow So Much Evil and Suffering in the World? w/ Dr. Douglas Groothuis

Article: “Joy To The World” by Ruth Jackson

Article: “God Is Good but This Isn’t” by Catherine Segars

 

SCRIPTURES REFERENCED:

John 11:35

Isaiah 61

Isaiah 49

John 1

Habakkuk 3

Lamentations 3

Psalm 56:8

Psalm 84:4-7
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In the last episode, Catherine highlighted the five primary apologetic approaches for defending the Christian faith. While varying greatly on inception points, strategy, philosophy and subject matter, all of the approaches agree on the superiority of one defense.

 

That is—EXPERIENCE.

 

A person’s experience with God is powerful and preeminent. Offering a personal testimony of how God has transformed your life is the one defense that no one can dispute, because it is your experience. A personal encounter with God solidifies one’s faith, making it rational, robust, and enduring.

 

So how can we have a practical encounter with God?

 

Catherine walks us through 10 practical ways that we can experience God:

 


Make God your priority (engage with God’s Word, worship, and prayer daily).
Plant yourself in the local church.
Practice honest reflection and repentance.
Fast regularly.
Shake up your schedule with sacrifice.
Get involved with a mission or ministry.
Go on a mission’s trip.
Go on a nature walk.
Start a spiritual journal.
Read a biography on a missionary or great Christian leader.

 

The items on this list are not revolutionary, but implementing them are. Start with the first three, which need to be a part of every believer’s daily discipleship, and then choose a few others to try. As you commit to prioritizing God, you will experience Him in new and exciting ways.

 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

 

Resource on church wounds: Episode 44 – Have You Or Your Kids Been Wounded in the Church?

Driven By Eternity: Make Your Life Count Today and Forever by John Bevere

Fasting: Open the Door To a Deeper, More Intimate, More Powerful Relationship with God by Jentezen Franklin

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boon

A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliott

The Intercessor  (Reese Howell) by Norman Grubb

The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun

Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes by Dave and Neta Jackson

 

SCRIPTURES REFERENCED:

 

Matthew 6:21 & 33

Hebrews 20:25

Psalm 62:5-8

2 Tim. 1:6-7
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Catherine offers a powerful message worthy of CP/CW’s 100th episode by revealing the #1 factor in maintaining a vibrant, lifelong faith, which corresponds perfectly with the #1 prayer every parent should pray over their kids. The answer to this question should interest us as followers of Christ personally and as parents.

 

In her apologetic studies, Catherine discovered one defense of the faith that every believer is qualified to employ. She begins by summarizing the five primary approaches for defending the Christian faith. They are the:

 

1. Classic Method – a 2-step approach that begins with natural theology (the knowledge we acquire about God without Scripture or special revelation) to prove Intelligent Design and then proceeds to establish God as that intelligent being.

 

2. Evidential Method – 1-step approach that relies heavily on evidence, in particular miracles, to prove the existence of God.

 

3. Cumulative Method – a flexible method that utilizes various arguments and approaches to present an overwhelming case for the existence of God.

 

4. Presuppositional Method – a method that presupposes God’s existence due to the effect that sin has on our capacity to think and reason.

 

5. Reformed Epistemological Method – a method that de-emphasizes proof or evidence and focusses on the way that people actually acquire beliefs.

 

These approaches vary quite a bit, but they all agree on one very important factor—that is experience. Having an experience with God is reason enough for believing in Him. Every believer can have a rational, justified faith by experience alone. And every follower of Christ can offer a powerful apologetic by simply sharing their experience with God.

 

So what is the #1 factor in maintaining a lifelong faith?

 

Experiencing God.

 

And what is the most important prayer every parent should pray over their kids?

 

“Lord, please help my child to have a powerful encounter with You.”

 

Tune in next when Catherine offers 10 practical ways that you and your kids can experience God.

 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

 

Five Views on Apologetics, Steven B. Cohen ed.

Signature in the Cell by Dr. Stephen Meyers

C.S. Lewis Quote

Richard Dawkins Quote

John 9 – Jesus heals the man born blind
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Many people look at the Christian faith as just a religion of do’s and don’ts.

 

Is it?

 

This is a question we need to be very clear on as parents., for ourselves and for our kids. If our children think that the faith is just about all the things we can’t do and all the things we have to do, then they don’t really understand what Christianity is all about. And they probably won’t stick around. They will become a part of the majority of kids who are leaving the faith when they leave the nest.

 

God never intended for our relationship with Him to be a labor-intensive checklist that is more of a burden than a delight. If this is how your kids approach the faith, chances are at some point they will chuck it for a belief system that doesn’t make them feel like they must constantly perform to be acceptable. 

 

So what are all those do’s and don’ts about in Scripture?

 

Catherine explains that the do’s and don’t are about protecting us, not making us acceptable to our heavenly Father. Christ’s atoning work on the cross makes us acceptable to God. The don’t list isn’t comprised of a bunch of good stuff that God inexplicably doesn't want us to do—it contains what leads us to bondage. And God’s overwhelming heart is not to condemn us; it is to free us.

 

Scripture shows how Christ is the Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep who are doing the do’s to go after the one sheep being wounded by the don’ts. The Gospel of John depicts God as a passionate father who longs for his lost, don’t-doing child to come home. The list of do's and don'ts in Scripture are an expression of God's love for his children, his concern to protect his children, and his desire for them to thrive.

 

Enjoy the re-airing of this favorite early episode of CP/CW and tune in next week for a very special 100th episode of the show!

 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

 

The tree of knowledge of good and evil: Genesis 2:15-17

Church of the Highlands: Freedom Curriculum

The Parable of the Lost Sheep: Luke 15:1-7

The Parable of the Lost Son: Luke 15:11-32
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The youth exodus is a very real concern for Christian parents. Much of CP/CW’s content is aimed at assuaging this falling away from the faith in our youth.

 

But what does a parent do when they have a child who is questioning or has left the faith? How do you parent the prodigal child?

 

Catherine answers these questions with hard-earned, first-hand experience by offering these vital guidelines:

 

1. Love your child unconditionally, regardless of what they think, say, or do.

2. Rid the obstacles in your child's life in prayer.

3. Recognize and respect what stage of parenting you are in: Caregiver, Cop, Coach, or Counselor.

4. Prayerfully establish Godly boundaries. Blessings come from boundaries.

5. Apologize for mistakes. Humility is a bridge builder.

6. Do not try to convince or convict your child. That is the Holy Spirit’s job.

7. Do not coerce or control your child. That is how the enemy works. 

8. Remember that your child does not need a sermon. They need an encounter with God.

 

Laced throughout this advice are keen insights and critical direction on how to build a strong relationship with a teen or adult child who is on the prodigal path. There are things that can help to draw a child closer to God, and there are things that may seem right but are, in fact, counterproductive. They may push a child further from God.

 

When a child questions the faith, we must patiently answer their questions. If they leave the faith, we must love them with no strings attached and fervently pray for them to have an encounter with God. Loving our kids like Christ while not compromising truth is the most important way we can minister to them in a place of wandering or doubt.

 

Joining Catherine in the hosting chair is Laurie Christine, an author, podcast host, Biblical Parenting Coach, wife, and mom of four loud, adventurous boys. Her podcast, Redeeming the Chaos, invites moms of boys to join her on the wild, wonderful adventure of raising courageous boys and connecting them with Christ Her new devotional book for boys, Rise of the Enemy, was released on Amazon last year.

 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

 

EPISODE 14: How To Battle for Your Kids in Prayer

 

Get Catherine’s Prodigal Bundle including a Scripture Prayer List for Children Who Have Left the Faith: Subscribe HERE
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