The Journey: PCA Parent Podcast

Inside Out movie discussion (1 of 2)

Guests: Jane Matthews, Julie Hildebrand, and Gabe Boyd

 

For video of this podcast, check out PCA’s YouTube page.

 

We started our discussion with the first Inside Out, which was released in 2015. This movie from Pixar looks at the various emotions that make up our personality - for the movie, they chose Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust. 

 

From a parenting perspective, the movie is filled with excellent content for meaningful conversations with your children. The situations are powerful and the changes and challenges that Riley faces are moving.

 

We hope that our discussion helps you, as a Christian parent, engage with mediums like mainstream movies in a significant way with your family. Our discussion of Inside Out is not an endorsement of the movie, its content or message, but a realization of the powerful influence of movies in our culture and an opportunity to present you with insights about how to utilize these resources to equip your family from a Biblical worldview.

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

Raising Spiritual Champions Book Discussion (3 of 3)

Guests: Holly Hamilton, Sandy Leydig, and Joel Gordon

 

For video of this podcast, check out PCA’s YouTube page.

 

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 Three - Families and Churches in Partnership

Working together, parents and their faith community can be a dynamic and potent force for the kingdom of God, leading to transformed lives among the young people in the church’s families.

 

Chapter 8 - Parents Must Manage Media Exposure

• Exposure to media is the MOST significant shaper of a person’s worldview

• Parents consciously fill the role of media gatekeeper

• Large doses of media consumption change the configuration and capacity of the brain - for the worse
  • Acceptance of parental authority drops

• Four M’s of Media Management
  • Monitor media use
  • Minimize media use
  • Moralize media content
  • Model media standards

 

Chapter 9 - Where is the Local Church?

• Churches, like most service-based organizations, are responsive to the expressed needs and desires of their user base. Face it, parents do not clamor for real discipleship experiences for their children, and churches have not done much to push back on that blind spot.

 

• The most effective churches provide:
  • Teach parents to understand and own the role of spiritual mentor to their child
  • Offer support and assistance needed for parents to fight the spiritual war that surrounds their children

 

• Good churches look to PARTNER with parents…

 

• A WORD about Christian schools…
  • Public schools are no friend to Christ
  • A Bible-based Christian school can be an enormous help to a parent who is striving to raise a spiritual champion and partnering with parents in seeking to defeat the prevailing culture that dismisses biblical truths and lifestyles

 

Chapter 10 - Fight for Your Children

• You must MODEL for them the life of a spiritual warrior…

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

Raising Spiritual Champions Book Discussion (2 of 3)

Guests: Holly Hamilton, Sandy Leydig, and Joel Gordon

 

For video of this podcast, check out PCA’s YouTube page.

 

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 Two - The Four Practices of a Disciple

1. Making a life-defining commitment to be a disciple of Jesus
2. Accepting the biblical principles and commands that lead to becoming a disciple
3. Adopting the lifestyle of a disciple - obedience through application of beliefs
4. Inviting personal accountability and stability - through assessing what matters, reinforcing growth, and celebrating disciplehood

 

Chapter 4 - Disciple-Making Practice #1

• Being a genuine disciple starts with obedience.
• Why obey His teachings? Because He has provided them so that we may flourish in life.
• Obedience therefore demands knowledge of Scripture
• A different way of describing a disciple is someone who thinks like Jesus, which enables them to act like Jesus, producing someone who therefore lives like Jesus.
• Spiritual Commitments:
  • Serving Christ
  • Building a solid relationship
  • Investing personal resources
  • Implementing a solid plan
  • Using proven practices

 

Chapter 5 - Disciple-Making Practice #2

• Biblically speaking, discipling a child is meant to be done by the child’s parents

• How WORLDVIEW develops
  • Experimental process
  • Imitating their parents

• List of DIFFERENT/COMPETING worldviews…
  • 94% of adults have a syncretistic worldview - a blending of views from two or more of the comprehensive worldview systems

 

Chapter 6 - Disciple-Making Practice #3

• An equally important undertaking is to promote the fledgling disciple fully, and passionately integrating those beliefs into a Christlike lifestyle.
  • The expansive impact of those attributes is an example of why discipling someone is not a quick process.

• Spiritual fruit begins with evidence of personal transformation

 

Chapter 7 - Disciple-Making Practice #4

• Accountability system
• Find a spiritual mentor
• Must be taught the importance of consistent SELF-EVALUATION
• Introduce young followers to the still, small voice of the Lord…
• Measurement tools
  • Worldview Assessments Spiritual Gifts
  • Personal Strengths Personality Attributes
  • Spiritual Growth and Maturity

 

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

 

Raising Spiritual Champions Book Discussion (1 of 3)

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!

The Importance of Worldview Training in Spiritual Formation

 

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!

FPS - 25 Years Elevating PCA's Learning Experience

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!

AI: The Good, the Bad, and the Things Parents Need to Know

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!

POV: Three Freshman Students Appreciate Their PCA Journey

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!

Train Up a Child in the Way They Should Go

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!

Protecting Texas Children from the Porn Industry

Guest: Matt Shaheen, Texas State Representative, District 66

State Representative Matt Shaheen led the efforts in the last legislative session to pass laws requiring age verification for access to “adult” [porn] websites (for more information, see House Bill 1181). The law requires that users verify that they are over 18 years old. A couple of months ago, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a challenge to the Texas age verification requirement. Responding to that decision, several porn sites have blocked all uses from Texas. Several other states are passing similar legislation in efforts to protect children from sexually explicit material.

Common Sense Media released valuable research called “Teens and Pornography” which found that 73% of teens aged 13 to 17 who participated in the survey have watched pornography online and more than half (54%) reported that their first exposure to pornography occurred around the age of 13. The report also revealed that a majority of teens who indicated that they’ve viewed online pornography have been exposed to what has been labeled aggressive and/or violent forms of pornography.

And remember that this year is a Presidential Election and the General Election is coming up this November. Christians Engaged is a wonderful organization to help you get informed and engaged as a Christian citizen in our great country.

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