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Over the last few months since Talking with Your Kids about God came out, I’ve heard from a lot of parents who especially love the conversation guides provided in the book. Every chapter has one of these guides to help parents have a conversation with their kids about that chapter’s content. There’s an easy conversation starter to get kids thinking (“Open the Conversation”) and several questions to help you dig in deeper (“Advance the Conversation”). For parents with younger kids, it can be enough to just use the question from “Open the Conversation” to hit a couple of key points from the chapter on the way to school in the morning!

One of the most valuable parts of each chapter’s conversation guide is in the section, “Apply the Conversation.” This section features a quote from a skeptic that pertains to the chapter’s subject. This gives you and your kids the opportunity to practice applying what you just learned by developing a response. I didn’t provide sample answers to these in the book, as they’re intended to get you thinking on your own! 🙂 However, I’ve received so many requests for sample responses that I’ve started to write them and I’ll be sharing them here on the blog in five separate posts over time (one post for each of the five book sections).

Today I’m sharing sample responses for Part 1: The Existence of God (6 chapters). I want to emphasize three things before you read these.

First, there are a lot of possible ways to effectively respond to any of these skeptics’ quotes! Don’t consider these answers to be the “right” answers.

Second, all of these responses are based on the chapter content itself. There’s much more that could be said, but I’m only including concepts based on what your kids would learn from reading the chapters.

Third, encourage your kids (if old enough) to try writing their own response after you talk about the chapter’s content. Writing responses really helps kids to flush out their thoughts and process the material. With my daughter’s permission, I’m sharing her response to the chapter 2 skeptic in that section below as an example.

 

Chapter 1: What Can We Learn about God from Nature?

Skeptic’s Quote 

Atheist author Dan Barker says, “I am an atheist because there is no evidence for the existence of God. That should be all that needs to be said about it: no evidence, no belief.” Based on what you learned in this chapter, when someone says there’s “no evidence” for God, what questions could you ask to clarify what that person means?

Sample Response

Evidence is a body of facts that require human interpretation. In other words, evidence itself doesn’t say anything. Humans can all look at the same evidence and come to different conclusions due to factors like our varied assumptions, available information, and motivations. As such, there will always be multiple possible explanations for the evidence we see in the world around us. With that as context, I’d like to ask a few questions about what you mean when you say there’s “no evidence” for God.

First, when you say God, are you referring generally to the existence of any supernatural being, or are you referring specifically to the God of the Bible? Second, when you say there’s no evidence for God’s existence, are you saying that there’s no evidence that could possibly be relevant to the question of God’s existence, or that there’s no evidence which you believe is best explained by the existence of God? Finally, what kind of evidence would you expect there to be if a supernatural being existed?

 

Chapter 2: Where Did the Universe Come From?

Skeptic’s Quote

In an online forum, a person asked how atheists can argue that the universe came from nothing. An atheist replied, “Personally I do not claim that the universe ‘came from’ anything at all and it did not ‘appear.’ The universe just is…it needs no creation story.” Based on what you learned from this chapter, how would you respond to this person?Continue reading

When I think back to Easter as a child, I remember year after year in Sunday School coloring cross pictures, making empty tomb crafts, having Easter-themed snacks, and singing celebratory worship songs. There is no doubt I learned that Jesus was raised from the dead after dying on the cross three days before.

But as an adult, I look back on those experiences and realize how much more today’s kids need to understand about Easter given the world they’re growing up in. We can’t take for granted that knowing what the Bible says about the resurrection is enough for kids to have a confident faith when they’re surrounded by a culture that calls such a belief ridiculous. There’s so much more to learn than what kids are getting from their resurrection crafts.

I could write a lot about this, but I’ll narrow it to the three most important conversations about Easter that Sunday Schools and parents rarely have with kids.Continue reading

Famous physicist, cosmologist, and author Stephen Hawking died this week. He was widely known as one of the most brilliant scientists of our time.

He was also widely known as an atheist.

In fact, many of the most famous scientists today are atheists.

This point has not escaped the attention of skeptics who often promote the idea that science and God are in conflict. As supporting evidence of that supposed conflict, skeptics often claim that virtually no scientists believe in God. More specifically, they back up their claim by citing a 1998 research study that showed 93 percent of the members of the National Academy of Sciences (an elite scientific organization in the United States) don’t believe in God. That finding caught the media’s attention and it’s been continually quoted ever since as a known fact about the relationship of religious belief and scientific professions.

For example, atheist neuroscientist and popular author Sam Harris has written:

Although it is possible to be a scientist and still believe in God — as some scientists seem to manage it — there is no question that an engagement with scientific thinking tends to erode, rather than support, religious faith. Taking the U.S. population as an example: Most polls show that about 90% of the general public believes in a personal God; yet 93% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences do not. This suggests that there are few modes of thinking less congenial to religious faith than science is.

My purpose in this post isn’t to dissect Stephen Hawking’s personal religious beliefs. I only refer to him here because his death has once again raised this subject in popular discussion. My purpose is also not to dissect whether God and science conflict (I address this in multiple chapters of Talking with Your Kids about God). My purpose instead is to look at the question of whether it’s true that scientists don’t believe in God and the implications of the answer.

While we know that truth isn’t determined by vote, statistics get people’s attention—and young people especially trust “expert opinion”—so it’s well worth our time as parents to explore this question. When your kids ask why scientists don’t believe in God (because they’ve heard that’s a foregone conclusion), this is the discussion you need to have.Continue reading

There’s an incredible book that came out at the end of last year by renowned apologists Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell: Evidence That Demands a Verdict. It’s the kind of book that I can honestly say belongs in every Christian parent’s home as the ultimate apologetics reference tool. At over 700 pages, it covers evidence for the Bible, evidence for Jesus, evidence for the Old Testament, and evidence for truth with detailed chapters that present the key information you need to know in convenient outline form.

Your child heard at school that Christianity is a copycat religion from early pagan myths? No problem, turn to chapter 11 and you’ll quickly see the response broken down into a discussion of the nature of mystery religions, how they contrast with Christianity, and five reasons we know those religions didn’t influence Christianity.

Your child thinks miracles just aren’t possible? Got it. Go to chapter 31, which will outline the nature and characteristics of miracles, the purpose of miracles, and responses to the five most common objections raised against them.

I could go on, but you get the point. This is like an encyclopedia of apologetics and you should have it on speed dial in your home if you don’t happen to be an expert apologist.

Sean graciously agreed to answer several questions about his book for an interview today. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have him tell you more about this resource! Be sure to visit and subscribe to his excellent blog as well for many posts and videos that will help equip you with an understanding of apologetics.

 

1. Evidence That Demands a Verdict is the “completely updated and expanded” version of the classic book by the same name. For those parents who might be unfamiliar with the original, can you explain what Evidence is?

Sure! Evidence was the first book my father [Josh McDowell] wrote in 1972 after he compiled the evidence for the Christian faith. He originally set out to disprove Christianity, but was surprised at the remarkable evidence for three things in particular: (1) the reliability of the Bible, (2) the resurrection of Jesus, and (3) the deity of Christ. After becoming a Christian, he began speaking on the evidence at churches and universities and people kept asking him for his notes. He put together a small packet, maybe 15 pages, and it sold like crazy! He then knew there would be an audience for the book Evidence. This updated version is about 70% new material. We kept the same format, and the same basic approach, but there’s just so much new evidence than merely two decades ago when he did the last update. In fact, my dad says there is a “tsunami” of new evidence since he first wrote the book.Continue reading

In response to the latest tragic school shooting, social media is on a warpath against anyone who dares to offer “thoughts and prayers” for the situation.

Popular articles feature headlines like, “Everyone Is Finally Realizing ‘Thoughts And Prayers’ Are Not Saving Our Kids” and “People Sick of ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ Demand Action After Florida School Shooting.”

The hashtag #thoughtsandprayers is trending on Twitter, with scathing tweets about how worthless thoughts and prayers are.

My own Facebook newsfeed is filled with similar posts and comments.

Scrolling through these articles and social media posts, I can’t help but wonder how many people who make such comments understand the Christian worldview and the role of prayer within it. The online commentary often reflects a serious misunderstanding of what Christians believe.

With that in mind, I’m writing this post for two reasons. First, if you’re a regular reader of my blog, this is an important subject to discuss with your kids. The war on “thoughts and prayers” is one they need to understand given the unfortunate frequency with which this subject is arising. Second, I hope non-Christians will take the time to read this and better understand why being “sick of thoughts and prayers” because shootings still happen doesn’t make sense if you know what Christians believe.

Let’s start here: the phrase “thoughts and prayers” lumps two completely different things together.

The “thoughts and prayers” verbiage became part of our cultural lexicon because people wanted a way to request help and/or care from a mixed audience of religious and non-religious listeners. But just thinking something—no matter how charitable those thoughts may be—does nothing. This is something that Christians and non-Christians should all be able to agree on. “Sending thoughts” is simply an expression of solidarity with no practical consequence.Continue reading

In case you missed it from what I’ve shared on social media in the last couple of weeks, my first book, Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side, is on ebook sale at Amazon for just $2.39! The sale ends tomorrow (1/30).

Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side walks you through 40 of the biggest faith challenges facing kids today. It covers questions about God, truth and worldviews, Jesus, the Bible, and science (age of the Earth, evolution, and intelligent design questions). It’s an “apologetics 101” for Christian parents–equipping you with an understanding of how to teach your kids to make a case for and defend their faith. It was an Evangelical Christian Publisher’s Association Christian Book Award finalist in 2017 (New Author category).

My new book, Talking with Your Kids about God, is only $9.24 (paperback) on Amazon right now too. That means you can get the ebook version of Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side and the paperback of Talking with Your Kids about God for less than $12! There’s no overlap between the books; they are meant to be complementary tools. Whereas Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side covers a broad scope, Talking with Your Kids about God equips you with a deeper understanding of all the key conversations you need to have with your kids specifically about God (you can see the full table of contents here). Talking with Your Kids about God is the natural next reading step after Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side, but they don’t have to be read in that order.

I’m starting work on the next in the series, Talking with Your Kids about Jesus, next month! That book–you guessed it–will dig deeper into the conversations every Christian parent must have about Jesus today. I pray all of these books together will give you the “ultimate Christian parenting toolbox” for raising kids with a confident faith in the midst of this challenging secular world.

Regret.

It’s something I often hear from parents who are heartbroken that their teen or adult kids have walked away from Christianity.

Whether it’s through one of my online book read along groups, private emails, blog comments, Facebook messages, or at speaking events, when parents reach out to me about their kids walking away from faith, their words are laced with painful sadness and a sense that they in some way failed.

My kids are still young (ages 9 and 7), so I haven’t faced this myself, but I relate to these parents because I have so often experienced my own sense of parenting failure.

I haven’t shown enough patience, and I see them exhibiting their own impatience.

I haven’t given them enough conflict resolution skills, and I see them argue constantly.

I haven’t spent enough time showing them how to serve others, and I see them lacking perspective on how to live out their faith.

As a parent, there are so many I haven’ts. And there will always be, because none of us are perfect. We cannot flawlessly deliver all that our kids need. But there’s something about I haven’t that implies opportunity.

I haven’t implies I haven’t yet.

When our kids leave home, however, those I haven’ts will cement into regretful I didn’ts.

As Christian parents, there should be nothing more important to us than raising our kids to know and love Jesus. How could there be something more important if our kids’ relationship with Jesus has eternal implications? Yet we have to recognize that we don’t control whether or not our kids become Christ-followers. The heavy burden of I didn’ts that so often comes with a child’s rejection of faith must be tempered with grace and placed at the foot of the cross.

At the same time, parents with kids still at home can’t ignore the fact that there is much we can do to help our kids develop a lasting faith. We are called to actively disciple our kids (Deuteronomy 6)—not to sit back and see what happens. We should focus on what we can control and give the rest to God.

With that in mind, there are many regrets we can purposefully avoid. They are things that we largely have in our control and that we should be able to reasonably identify as responsibilities long before I didn’t becomes a reality. Here are five you don’t want to have if your kids walk away from faith. Unfortunately, they are five I hear from parents far too often.Continue reading

I’m a sucker for New Year’s resolutions. When Christmas passes and I see the end of my yearly calendar, a wave of excitement washes over me and I bust out my computer to start planning for a new and improved year.

Whether you enjoy making resolutions or not, there are probably areas in your family’s spiritual life you’d like to better develop. There’s no time like a new year to take a good look at what those things are. In fact, I’d suggest there are (at least) 7 resolutions every Christian parent should have. Use this list as a springboard for reflection on what you’d like to see happen in your family’s spiritual growth this year.

And don’t miss number 3, where there’s a special announcement!

 

1. Read the Bible and pray daily.

Yes, I know. This first one is pretty predictable. We all know that Christians should be doing these basic spiritual disciplines on a daily basis. But let’s face it: It’s really easy to get off track. In the midst of getting our kids through the school year, we tend to prioritize what we view as necessities—like packing lunches—over things that are “optional.” As Christians, however, we should hardly see the time spent with God as optional. Need a good motivator? Require yourself to pray the following at the end of every day you don’t make time for Bible study and (deeper) prayer: “Dear God, I didn’t need to read the Bible or pray today. Amen.” I say that lightheartedly, but it’s a good way to remind ourselves how absurd it is to see spiritual disciplines as optional.

Resolving to read the Bible and pray daily requires that we answer two basic questions: when and what. For when, pick a time when you’re alert and can look forward to it. For me, this means the morning. I love snuggling up with the Bible at night before bed, but frankly I just fall asleep in the middle too often. I’m just not a night person. In the new year, I’m going to set my morning alarm 30 minutes early to create this time.

What is how you’ll use the time. For Bible reading, I’m going to start a new “through the Bible in a year” plan, which requires 3-4 chapters each day. I recently received a gift book called My Year in the Bible: A Memory Journal, which I’m going to use with my reading. I’m not a journaling kind of person, but this is a great little book that tells you what chapters to read each day and gives you space to write a few notes with each reading. I’m using it to jot down any interesting points or questions. Whether you want to read through the whole Bible next year or study individual books in depth, have a plan that you’ll look forward to.Continue reading

I haven’t blogged in a few weeks because I’ve been especially busy since the release of Talking with Your Kids about God. Speaking events and interviews take a lot of time! But it’s been a truly encouraging few weeks, as I’ve had the opportunity to hear from the first readers how the book is already impacting the discipleship of their kids and grandkids (you can read almost 70 excellent reviews on Amazon!).

One of the best parts of the book release experience has been my launch team—a group of people who agreed to read a pre-release copy of the book in exchange for their honest review and to help share about the book on social media. These early readers were passionate about getting the word out after reading it. This led to several of them in our Facebook group asking something to the effect of, “I’ve shared with my personal circle, but how do we get more Christian parents—in churches everywhere!—to understand the need for this knowledge? It seems so hard to get people to care about seriously discipling their kids.”

It was both heartening and discouraging to hear the question. It was heartening because it indicated that they felt the sense of urgency I so passionately wanted to convey in the book. It was discouraging because it reminded me of the challenge I have known so well over my years of writing and speaking—it’s tough to get most Christian parents interested in getting equipped to train their kids with an understanding of apologetics (the evidence for the truth of Christianity).

I’ve reflected a lot on this challenge and could say many things about it, but I wanted to share just one reason for it today, as it relates to moms especially: Christian moms often look for encouragement more than guidance.

If you do a survey of popular books, blogs, retreats, and conferences targeted at Christian moms (and reflecting the market demand for this kind of content), you’ll see a predominant theme of general life encouragement. These messages:

 

Help us find joy in the midst of our “messy” lives (a favorite descriptor).

Let us know it’s normal to be overwhelmed by laundry.

Inspire us to feel we’re doing an important job with our kids, even when cleaning.

Encourage us to find release from various “traps” in our lives.

Demonstrate how we can make the most of small moments in our day.

Confirm that finding balance is difficult.

Relieve our fears that we’re not as good of a parent as we should be.

Remind us that comparing ourselves to other parents is a bad thing.

Let us know we don’t have to be perfect.

 

These messages are all important. I know what it’s like to feel discouraged by the day-to-day parenting life, both as a working mom and as a stay-at-home mom. I really do. There is a need for these messages.

But when the predominant messages moms consume are words of general encouragement, we create a self-indulgent culture focused on increasing our satisfaction with life rather than our effectiveness as Christian parents.Continue reading

I’m so excited to finally say that Talking with Your Kids about God is now available! (If you’re new to the blog or otherwise haven’t had a chance yet to learn what the book is all about, click here for details.)

You can find it at Lifeway and Barnes & Noble stores across the country, as well as at Amazon.com and ChristianBook.com. Additionally, Direct2Church.com is offering 50% off orders of 20 copies or more—perfect for your church, private school, homeschool group, conference, camp, or any other organization.

Here are three quick pieces of release day news you need to know (including how to win one of a bunch of free copies!):

1. Early reviewers have had all kinds of great things to say about the book! You can read several reviews already from those who received advance review copies at Goodreads.com and BarnesandNoble.com (Amazon didn’t open for reviews until this morning).

2. A free downloadable 10-week small group study guide will soon be available. If you’re leading a small group in the winter or spring, please know this is coming and consider using Talking with Your Kids about God!

3. I’m launching an 8-week author read along of the book in a private Facebook group! Would you like to read my book in community with like-minded Christian parents? Would you like to do that without having to get a babysitter? Would you like to be able to ask me questions about what you’re reading as you go? Would you like to have accountability for keeping up with your reading and implementing what you’re learning at home? All of that is exactly what the read along is for, and much more. I did this with the release of my first book and over 400 people joined! Don’t miss out on this unique learning and fellowship opportunity. Read on for details, and how you can win a copy of the book by joining the group today (it’s totally free!).Continue reading