The Journey: PCA Parent Podcast Dan Panetti

Guests: Holly Hamilton, Sandy Leydig, and Joel Gordon
 
Raising Spiritual Champions: Nurturing Your Child’s Heart, Mind, and Soul
By George Barna
 
Section ONE - The Importance of Children
Section TWO - The Four Principles of a Disciple
Section THREE - Families and Churches in Partnership
 
Section One - The Importance of Children
 
Chapter 1 - Making the Most of Your Life
Most young adults (54%) admit they often feel anxious, depressed, or unsafe
The Great Commitment is your promise to God that you will apply yourself to carrying out those challenges - with His authority, in His power, and for His glory
Parents have PRIMARY responsibility for the total well-being of their children - education, discipline, protection - but the most vital aspect of their development is spiritual formation.
 
Chapter 2 - Realigning Our Course Trajectory
Many embrace the label of “spiritual but not religious”
LESS than 1% of thirteen- and fourteen-year-old Americans have a biblical worldview
 
Parenting Tactics
Prioritizing spiritual development
Establishing inflexible Bible-based priorities and boundaries
Discipling each child
Influencing the choice of their friends
 
CONSISTENCY is the single, most important attribute…
 
Chapter 3 - Disciple-Making, Yes-But Why Disciple Children?
 
Who has the greatest impact/influence on our kids - the arts and entertainment media industry…Act of repetition
Peer acceptance

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

 
Guests: Len Munsil, President, and Dr. Jeffrey Green, VP of Academic Affairs and chief academic officer, at Arizona Christian University (ACU)
 
Transforming Culture with Truth
In Transforming Culture with Truth, Arizona Christian University President Len Munsil explains how the principles and values that built Western Civilization are under assault, and how a decaying and divided culture can be transformed through biblical truth. In this second edition, Munsil applies his incisive analysis to the most pressing cultural issues we face as a nation, and offers both hope and practical wisdom to the next generation of Christian leaders as they seek to advance God’s Kingdom in an increasingly hostile culture.
 
Worldview training and development address concepts of personal spiritual development as well as how our faith intersects with culture!
 
Recommended resource: Raising Spiritual Champions: Nurturing Your Child’s Heart, Mind, and Soul by George Barna
 
Parents, don’t get discouraged in the training of your children - parenting is hard work…it’s a journey, a marathon, not a sprint…stay faithful and prayerful - and look to partner with solid Biblical institutions like PCA and ACU.
Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Guests: Shannon Lichty, Trudy Reed, Jillian Bryant, PCA’s FPS State 1st and 2nd Place teams
 
Twenty-five years ago, Shannon Lichty brought the FPS program to PCA. Along with several others who have invested in making this program a resounding success, Shannon has invested her heart and energies into countless PCA students both in the classroom and through FPS. To learn more about PCA’s FPS program, check out this page on the PCA website. To learn more about FPS in general, check out: Future Problem Solving Program International
Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Guest: Giovanni Capriglione, Texas State Representative, District 98
 
Barna’s research has shown that nearly 3/4th (72%) of parents are worried about or concerned with AI’s impact on their children - but also that only 17% have actually taken steps to learn more about AI - so, basically parents are afraid and under-informed
 
One concern expressed about AI is the potential likelihood of decreased social connection, adding to the epidemic of loneliness and isolation this generation is already facing
 
AI is more complex than “if/then” commands - it is a system that can be trained to use data for specific purposes
 
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Rep. Capriglione’s bill (HB 2060) into law creating the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council that will study the use of AI in state government
 
AI collects data points - the average person has at least 100,000 data points collected on them - which means that AI can know you better than you know yourself! Digital privacy laws are being passed so that people can begin to see the information that has been collected about them.
 
The best way to protect yourself is to reduce the amount of information that AI can collect on you - be aware of this
 
Social media has one goal - to make sure you don’t put your phone down - the more you scroll, the more data that is being collected about you!
Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Guests: Emerson Seal, Elizabeth Teague, and Sevyn Trogdon (PCA Freshmen, Class of 2027)
 
Sevyn’s dad runs a discipleship ministry called Kingdom Focus Coaching.
 
The girls share their thoughts about some of the more memorable moments at PCA Lower School including: the Kindergarten Circus, sea animal project, transportation day, Invention Convention, Let George Do It, and the Boosterthon Fun Run! Their favorite part of school was definitely their teachers!
 
Things that their parents did to help them grow in their faith:
Going on ministry service projects and opportunities with their parents and actually seeing God at work
Leading by example - living out your faith so that your kids can see that it is truly important to you and your family - has such a significant impact on your children
Kingdom Education is the working together of the church, the home, and the school working in concert to train up a child in the way they should go - and “church” isn’t just a Sunday morning activity, but being involved in a variety of opportunities including PSO for sports, MidWeek on Wednesday evenings, student choir, etc. For more information, check out the Prestonwood Student Ministry page and the Prestonwood Student Worship page.
Helping your kids navigate “friendships” and building quality relationships by being a good friend and surrounding yourself with godly individuals who can challenge you to be the best person you can be. Also, remember to maintain good relationships with non-Christians to be a light and encouragement pointing them to Christ!
Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Guest: Kristin Dysart, M.Ed., MS and US Guidance Counselor, PCA North
 
PCA isn’t just a “college prep” educational institution - the Biblical worldview and academic rigor of PCA is designed to equip students for success in life, which includes college for those who desire to attend.
 
Kristin references a Christianity Today article that differentiates between the “price” of a college education and the “cost” - which dives into the cost of young people being indoctrinated in a worldview that is contrary to solid and orthodox Biblical teaching. In the article, Dr. Henderson points to a “strong link between a young person’s choice of a college and their short-term and long-term commitment to Christian faith.” Here is a summary of that article.
 
To learn more about Hope College’s “Hope Forward” initiative featured on Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast, click here.
 
What should parents instill in their children as they mature on their journey at PCA - here are some recommendations:
Allow your children to fail and to learn from their mistakes
Stain your children with the Word of God
Ground your children’s identity in Christ
A connection to you as a parent is more important to your child’s development than connections to their peers
Train your children to be responsible for their actions
Be intentional about the conversations you’re having with your children.
 
Good resource as you consider where your son/daughter should attend college:
Where You God Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania by Frank Bruni
Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!