The Home and Hearth Podcast Rebekah Hargraves: Blogger, Podcaster, Author

On today’s re-release of a previous solo show, we are tackling the topic of how to raise your littles in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. My prayer is that you'll come away from this episode feeling equipped and encouraged, knowing that raising your littles in this way does not have to be complicated.
What I Chat about in Today’s Episode: ~Ephesians 6:4 and what is interesting about the word "nurture" coming before the word "admonition"
~The crucial foundation of nurture and why our training of our children in theology and right living must first come from a place of humility, tenderness, care, patience, gentleness, slowness, and nurture
~What we can learn from bamboo about the importance of having a strong foundation and why it is ok when our training takes a while
~The negative impact that raising children up legalistically, overly strictly, or in a domineering way can have on children
~How raising our children up in the tender nurture of the Lord gives them a more accurate picture of who their Heavenly Father is
~How failing to raise your children first in the nurture of the Lord can lead to your provoking them to wrath
~What raising our children up in the admonition of the Lord can look like practically on an everyday basis (as we're shown in Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
~Why the theological training of our children need not be complicated and instead can and should be simple - thereby showing them how applicable, relevant, and practical God's Word is to every aspect of our everyday lives
~The importance of refusing to overly shelter our children but to instead prepare them well for real life in age appropriate ways
~Why we want to raise our children not to be mere yes-men, but to instead be able to think for themselves, be critical thinkers, and interpret God's Word for themselves, applying it to every situation in life
~Equipping our children to have a faith of their own rather than piggy backing off ours, so that when we are one day not here, they will still be able to stand firm
~Practical books, media, practices, and other resources to aid you in your parenting and raising your children in the admonition of the Lord
~The power and importance of having lots of gospel conversations with your kids (and examples of some of the types of conversations we regularly have in our home)
~And more!
 
For full show notes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast

Terry Crist is a husband, father, pastor, and the author of the new book, “Loving Samaritans: Radical Kindness in an Us vs. Them World“. He has a heart for inspiring people to follow Jesus and love others well, and that comes through really well in our conversation today.

 
What We Chat about in Today’s Episode:
~Terry’s new book, what led him to write it, and what readers can expect
~How a love for the church does not negate our passion to call the church up to be her best - that that is actually an important part of loving the church well
~Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4 and what we can glean from it
~How Jesus’ whimsical, loving, gracious interaction with the woman at the well enabled Him to touch on the tricky topics of sexuality, religion, politics, power, cultural identity, and more in a way that caused her to open up to Him in conversation; how this is a model for us for cultural engagement
~The folly of making assumptions about people as opposed to asking them questions and getting to know them and why they do what they do; getting to know them as individual persons as opposed to groups; the wrong decisions we make when we fail to do this
~Jesus’ model for us that all people are worthy of love and respect, time and attention, of being heard, and of hearing truth without insult
~Asking the question of who the samaritans are in our world and what we may have gotten wrong about them
~Divisiveness now being viewed as a virtue in our day; what our call is instead - to love people on both ends of the ideological spectrum
~Fear and the Pharisaical problem of a “fragile righteousness” and how it can lead to the dangerous desire of eradicating the “other”; understanding that our righteousness is not our own but rather the gift of Jesus’ own righteousness and will not be tarnished when we go into the world as He has called us to
~Asking “Where does the Spirit want me to go today?” as a way to model the way and ministry of Jesus; walking through your day with your heart and eyes wide open to where Jesus is already at work and joining Him there instead of thinking it’s all on us
~Going from religious, dogmatic strangers to compassionate, understanding neighbors and why this change is so important
~Being in it for the long game and understanding that people are worthy of love and affection even if they never come to Christ
~The importance of having both biblical orthodoxy (truth) and biblical orthopraxy (how we’re living out that truth)
~What Pastor Terry would say to those who are afraid that their children will become corrupted by the culture
~The power of the ministry of “withness”
~The problem with being a culture warrior and how it keeps us from from being kingdom ambassadors sent on a mission with a message of peace
~Daniel as a model for cultural engagement
~And more!
For full shownotes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast

As we find ourselves in the middle of yet another election year, I felt it to be the right time to re-visit a podcast episode I first recorded and released 4 years ago during our last presidential election year.  Today we will be addressing again the topic of the most important thing for Christians to remember this election year.  I pray this episode will prove to be helpful and encouraging to you.
What I Chat about in Today's Episode:
~A post ("The Most Important Thing for Christians to Remember This Election Year") I wrote back in 2016 during the last presidential election
~What our name-calling, personal attacks, hand-wringing, and political anxiety reveal about our hearts and the true condition of our faith
~The emphasis we as believers are too often placing on debate over love; how this is very different from the call we are given in the Word
~A survey of Scripture to see what our ultimate call is and what the most important thing is for us to remember and live out this election year
~How our love for America is crowding out the most important thing - love for God and love for others 
~The reality that our ultimate goal is not first and foremost to 'save America', but to fulfill the Great Commission; that our ultimate goal is not to make patriotic Americans, but to make disciples of Christ
~The way our lambasting our fellow believers in Christ over political differences is hindering our witness and our ability to live out the Great Commission
~It being love - and not being our political viewpoints-  that proves we are Christ's disciples
~How Paul tells us that truth without love is worthless
~The sobering, convicting words spoken by Christ to the church at Ephesus in the book of Revelation and what His message to them says to us today
~How grace and truth, mercy and truth, love and truth, are always paired together in the Scriptures when describing the character of God - it is never one without the other - and neither should it be with us
~The importance of being slow to speak and quick to listen, seeking to understand where the other person is coming from
~The impossibility of our wrath, anger, and hatred ever producing the righteousness of Christ in the lives of others
~The politicide going around today emulated by a Twitter thread hoping for destruction to come to Trump voters; the importance of asking ourselves as conservative Christians if we are guilty of the same thing towards Biden voters
~And more!

Head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast for full shownotes.

Kristen Lavalley is a wife, mom of 5, writer, and author of the brand new book, Even if He Doesn't: What We Believe about God When Life Doesn't Make Sense. She is passionate about helping people who have been harmed by the church or walked through pain that has left them reeling and with theological questions. Our prayer is that you will come away from this episode feeling seen, understood, loved, and helped in whatever you may be walking through.

 
 
What We Chat about in Today’s Episode:
~Kristen’s new book, what led her to write it, and what readers can expect
~The importance of engaging honestly with your pain and your beliefs and how doing so can actually save your faith - as it did Kristen’s
~Understanding that questions and doubts can actually be invitations to know God better, not automatically a scary thing that will result in you losing your faith
~The concept of the slippery slope and why it should be our aim to help those who find themselves there
~Kristen’s own experience in being able to see the goodness of God in some of life’s hardest moments
~The importance of being teachable and allowing God to re-define your beliefs and viewpoints according to what actually is true about Him
~The importance of practicing the presence of God and how impactful this is in the hardest of times
~Defining God’s goodness as He defines it, and not according to how we think goodness looks or is defined
~Coming to the place of being able to learn what God is really like, not just how we want Him to be
~Understanding that it is a mercy when God allows our hard circumstances to refine how we view Him and enable us to get to know Him better
~The problem with having a transactional view of God
~Faith over formula
~Realizing that it is a theological red flag when you are constantly being surprised by the goodness of God to you
~Understanding God’s Word emphasizes His love - not His wrath!- for His kids; the importance of knowing that it is His *kindness* that leads to our repentance
~The truth that there is comfort at the feet of Jesus, even if there aren’t always answers
~How to love and serve well those who are suffering
~Knowing that you are safe in the love of God
~And more!
 
For full show notes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast 

During this Valentines week of love, we are journeying back to the podcast archives and addressing the topic of love, the importance Scripture places on it, and how God's Word defines it. I hope you will walk away from this chat feeling well equipped to better understand and live out love in a culture and time that is very confused.
What I Chat about in Today’s Episode: ~The topic of love, and why it is such an important topic for believers, especially, to grasp
~The importance of understanding the Bible's definition of love
~The extremes that are on both sides of the spectrum and seen in the church and culture at large: 1) the idea that as long as you speak truth, you are ok and it doesn't matter how you present it because that is the most loving thing you can do and 2) the idea that love means you approve of and accept everything anyone does; why these are both wrong and unbiblical
~The primary call of a Christian - to love; why it is important to understand this and how we are falling down on our job
~Love as the supreme thing
~Paul's definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13
~How Paul's clear definition of love makes it clear that your presentation DOES matter, your motive DOES matter, and just "speaking truth" is not enough
~How Paul's clear definition of love makes it clear that loving someone does not mean you approve of and accept everything they do
~Paul's emphasis in Ephesians 4 on speaking the truth in *love*
~The importance of others being able to tangibly feel our love for them - even if and when we disagree
~A deep dive into Ephesians 4, 1 John 3, 1 John 4, John 13, and 1 Corinthians 13
~Love and boundaries
~The sobering reality that if we do not love others, the love of God is not in us, either
~Our call to love everyone, with no exceptions
~And more!

Elizabeth Urbanowicz is the  founder of Foundation Worldview, where her passion is on display for creating resources to equip parents to be able to help their kids carefully evaluate all the ideas that are regularly coming at them so that they can understand and enjoy the goodness and beauty of biblical truth. Our prayer is that you would come away from this episode inspired and equipped to raise your kids in a biblical worldview and with love for others.
 
What We Chat about in Today’s Episode: ~How Elizabeth first put this passion to work with the children she was teaching at her school
~The importance of equipping our kids to be critical thinkers and to be able to evaluate, on their own, what they are hearing on a daily basis
~The importance of not underestimating just how much our children truly can understand, even at young ages; what to do and how to start equipping your children on these worldview topics
~How Foundation Worldview came about
~How the resources are set up and how parents can implement them at home either as a part of their homeschool or in a supplemental way to their child’s education elsewhere
~Equipping our kids to know whether someone is sharing something that is objectively true vs. something that is just their own personal preferences or feelings
~Equipping and inspiring our kids to have time in the Word on their own (and to want to, as opposed to it just being a box to check!); the importance of teaching our kids the importance of context in Scripture
~How to raise your kids with a strong, biblical worldview in a crazy time like this without losing hope or feeling overwhelmed
~Understanding what full discipleship actually is
~The importance of prioritizing your relationship with your children; the impact that this has on their worldview
~The importance of knowing how your children give and receive love and how knowing that impacts our ability to grow in relationship with our kids
~Addressing our kids’ presentation of truth and raising them with the importance of speaking the truth in *love*
~Training our kids in the importance of listening well and asking good questions
~Clarifying our purpose, priorities, and goals in each season of parenting
~And more!
Head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast