How Do We Help The Next Generation Thrive In Their Faith

www.rushchurch.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of Rush Hour. This is a Rush Church podcast, and I'm with my friends Brittany and Ashley. And we've been talking about lots of things today already. We might involve you on a few of our topics

Warm Welcome And Florida Banter

SPEAKER_05 0:16

that we've been talking about. But yeah, we're glad that you're listening. We're glad that uh you uh found us and we talk all things rush church events, things that have happened, things that are going to be happening, and once in a while we talk about the Bible and some Christian topics as well. So, how you guys been?

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Great. I just got back from Florida.

SPEAKER_05 0:37

Yeah, what is it with you people?

SPEAKER_04 0:39

How many times have you guys gone to Florida to sleep into the podcast? You've been to Florida once.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

I mean I've been twice. You've been twice, right? It seems like more because Ashley goes more.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

Oh, okay. Yeah, but I was born and raised there, so I'm allowed to visit my I guess that's a fair point.

SPEAKER_05 0:54

So they've been to Florida three times combined since we've been started a podcast in October. Right? All right. I have not been to Florida, I've only left the state once since to go to Kentucky.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

So you should do a podcast research down to Florida. Yeah. You should research something.

SPEAKER_05 1:12

Well, we don't have a budget for that, but you know, do we maybe that'll change?

SPEAKER_02 1:17

We can we can find sponsors.

SPEAKER_05 1:21

You want to sponsor our podcast?

SPEAKER_02 1:22

You want to sponsor our podcast?

SPEAKER_05 1:23

Russia, we're gonna take a world tour. Oh sponsor our trip to Israel, and we'll report back from the whole plan.

SPEAKER_03 1:32

Okay, and found that one.

SPEAKER_05 1:34

Walk the places that biblical people walked, and that would be amazing. It'd be pretty fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

We should set a goal. Yeah, okay. That's our goal. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 1:43

Yeah, and 10 years from now, hopefully.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

Frush hour on the road.

SPEAKER_05 1:45

Frush hour on the road around the world. Okay. Cool. Well, that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Right.

SPEAKER_05 1:53

Back to No, we're not going anywhere. Just stay here and talk about stuff. So, what are some things coming up people should know about? Do you have anything?

SPEAKER_03 2:04

We have Trivia Night. Yep. I know that's coming up on March 14th. Yeah. Yeah, 6 p.m. Child care provided. Darren's really excited. He's been preparing the questions.

SPEAKER_05 2:17

Yeah, he's putting all the questions together.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

Yeah, putting all the questions

Church Events And Trivia Night Details

SPEAKER_03 2:20

together. Ten rounds. One special round this year. I'm super excited about. But you won't round unless you come.

SPEAKER_05 2:26

A bonus round or like a few years.

SPEAKER_03 2:27

No, it's like one of the ten isn't is new to us. It wasn't it wasn't he didn't do it last year. All right. So it'll be exciting.

SPEAKER_04 2:34

Well, I know the answers to this one.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

I don't know. Maybe you might.

unknown 2:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

No, I don't know. I don't know which round he's gonna do it in. I just know it's two for us this year. It's really gonna be cool. I'm excited about it. But yeah. Teams of six. Bring a dish. Bring a dish. Yes. This is potluck style. So bring a dish to share. Can be something savory, sweet, you know, whatever you'd like, a side dish. I think last year we smoked wings. I'm gonna try to get him to do that again. I love his smoked wings, they're just so good.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Yeah.

unknown 3:08

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 3:09

Sounds good. Yeah. I'll probably show up too. I know a lot about stuff. Actually, the last time I was in trivia, my team won, and Darren was on my team. Right.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

I'm the worst trivia person ever.

SPEAKER_05 3:19

Levi was on my team too.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

But I just like to play games.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

That's right.

SPEAKER_05 3:22

We did men against women. It was husbands versus wives. Oh, that's fine. But yeah, this is just for fun. Not competitive. Just come hang out, answer some trivia questions.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

But there's a trophy.

SPEAKER_05 3:36

Well, never mind. There's a trophy involved. So Ashley's gonna want to win and then dance.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

No, I'm not participating.

SPEAKER_05 3:42

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:42

That's yeah. But Darren did we did decide that the trophy is kind of like the traveling trophies, like we do, but because other people come outside from our church to this event, the trophy is actually going to get placed at the church with the team's name on it, and you'll all walk away with like a smaller trophy. That way, each year we can see what team. So come up with the team name.

SPEAKER_05 4:06

We got to build a trophy case for Rush Church now. So we'll have to join a bunch of competitions and just put it up on the mantle in the foyer.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Yeah, put it up over the fireplace.

SPEAKER_05 4:16

We'll just put it up, you know. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

It's a trophy.

SPEAKER_05 4:19

Beautiful. Anything else coming up? Announcements.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

You have stuff coming up.

SPEAKER_05 4:23

Oh, yeah. Youth stuff for students. Paintball camp, girls camp. Sign ups are available at housemeal.org. This Sunday, the 22nd of February, we have a House Mill guest showing up. He's gonna talk a little bit about camp and do a quick presentation in service for everybody to know more about camp, what it's for, kind of

Youth Camps, Trips, And Student Updates

SPEAKER_05 4:40

just what they do. And so that'll be fun. But sign up for those things, seventh through twelfth grade. Ohio Teens for Christ is $50. It's in Columbus at Easton. That is April 3rd and 4th. It's a Friday, Saturday, overnight. And $50 plus food money, so keeping it relatively cheap as I possibly could. And there's really good worship and speakers. Uh, it's a really good time, and it's pretty close. So we will carpool there and hopefully get some people signed up for that. That's about all I have for students. Just those main things happening. Brittany, you got anything?

SPEAKER_02 5:17

No, dude. We haven't talked about the Super Bowl. Right?

SPEAKER_05 5:20

Yeah, we did.

SPEAKER_02 5:21

Oh, we did, and we talked about Ashley winning. I did. Yes. Yeah, I forgot about that.

SPEAKER_05 5:26

You won the chili cook-off.

SPEAKER_03 5:27

Chili cook. Like, wait, I won the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_05 5:29

I won the Super Bowl prediction.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

We won the Super Bowl prediction. She had to take him to coffee.

SPEAKER_05 5:32

Yep. Buy me coffee.

unknown 5:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

Can I just give you like $2 right there?

SPEAKER_03 5:38

Darren told me, because he listened to it while we were sitting in the airport over the weekend, and he said, Ashley, you actually had the closest prediction. Just splip the teeth. And I'm like, oh man.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

We got the numbers right.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

I thought the big fruits were gonna win.

SPEAKER_05 5:54

Yeah. Classic. Anyway. What do we want to say about the question box?

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Oh yeah. The question box. I thought it went really well. I mean, we had questions in there.

SPEAKER_05 6:07

Tell people what it is.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Well, I forget what we said about last time, but I made a box that you can put ideas in for either this podcast or if you've noticed on our social media, we started doing this morning rush where we interview. I don't know if interview is a word, but ask a question to Cody or John right now and let them answer it. So we just want to know what you want to know.

SPEAKER_04 6:32

Oh, yeah. I can tell by your face, you were really like smart idea.

SPEAKER_05 6:41

Um we want to know what you want to know. Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

Tagline. You know how John loves those. Yes, he does.

SPEAKER_05 6:49

But yeah, if you see it, it's up back to the back to the box. We have paper and pens in a little small box over by the coffee bar Sunday mornings. I put it over. So please write down your Bible questions, faith questions, church questions. We got some random questions in there too. People want to know where I buy my shirts from. Yeah. That was one of the questions I pulled out of the box.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

Do you want to answer it right now or do you want to answer it a different place?

SPEAKER_05 7:12

What do you mean? Where I buy my shirts at.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Where do you shop at?

SPEAKER_05 7:14

Where people buy their clothes. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

I just you have some pretty interesting shirts.

SPEAKER_05 7:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Like your suits.

SPEAKER_05 7:21

Oh, do you like my suits? My Christmas suits, my light up Christmas suit. And then I have my disc golf shirt. I'm assuming.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

I'm assuming that's what they're talking about.

SPEAKER_05 7:28

Not your I had on my disc golf shirt this past Sunday with the tropical leaves and the disc golf has really colorful. So yeah, where do you think it's one of my most colorful shirts, but the rest of my closet's pretty much blue, gray, and black.

SPEAKER_04 7:39

It's my actually what I have right now.

SPEAKER_05 7:44

So, but yeah. If you're wondering where I get my clothes, same place you do, online. Or if I see something cool in a store. So the suits, like one time I was on a mission. Alright, we were on, I was at a camp in high school. Uh we used to go to a summer camp called Centerfuge, and it was a college kind of thing, and we'd spend all week at the college campus, and anyway, it was Christian camp. But one of the one of the years I went, we did some like service projects in the area, and we went to the thrift store and like helped them declutter and sort things and do all these things. And I saw this suit. It was fantastic. It looked like an old couch from the 70s that somebody just took the things off and made a suit out of it.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Oh my word.

SPEAKER_05 8:21

And I was like, look at that! And I put it on, it fit me perfectly. I was like, I'm buying this. It was like seven dollars. And so I wore it all the time. It was my suit. And then after that, I was like, I need some more crazy suits. Yeah. That one shrunk over time, so I couldn't wear it anymore.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Well, probably nobody wore it. It was just on a hanger before.

SPEAKER_05 8:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

Shrunk up. I shrink everything in the dryer.

SPEAKER_05 8:42

I'm I was just I I was in high school, so it didn't fit me eventually anymore. It didn't actually shrink. Uh anyway, that was a joke.

SPEAKER_03 8:49

Um Darren used to be in. I

Question Box Launch And Lighthearted Q&A

SPEAKER_03 8:54

got it, but I didn't want to say it.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

You did get it. No. Yes, I did. Is this the first time ever that I didn't get the joke? I did.

SPEAKER_03 9:06

Right, yes, I knew that. Okay. Yeah. No, Darren used to be I know by your response. I was like, he used to get all the Hawaiian shirts. Like when I first met him, he was in Hawaiian shirts everywhere. Like the brightest colors. I'm like, who no? I like I totally changed his wardrobe. Yeah. And now all of a sudden, guess what's back in style? Hawaiian shirts. Yeah. Like all the kids want them. And I'm like, you know how many your dad had?

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Threw them all away.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

Yep. Got rid of all of them.

SPEAKER_05 9:37

So yeah, my wardrobe is, you know, I like it. There's some other people in our church who got good tropical shirts. And who are some other people that like to wear fun clothes? Not like any never mind. We'll just uh not saying anybody else's clothes aren't fun. Everybody dresses nicely. So but yeah, I do like my shirts. I have a pineapple shirt that I like, a flamingo shirt, and my disc golf shirt and my suits, obviously. But so yeah. Other questions somebody asked.

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Wasn't there a question about like the emu war or something? Yeah. The Great Emu War.

SPEAKER_05 10:11

The Great Emu War of 1932. If you haven't heard of it, you should look it up because it's a real thing. It's in Australia. In 1932, the Australian government went to war with the emus, the birds of Australia, and they lost.

SPEAKER_03 10:25

So the birds lost or the people lost?

SPEAKER_05 10:28

People lost. Okay. They lost to the emus, but you can go look that up. It's a fun story. I told somebody that the other night, a small group, and they were like, What? I was like, Yep. Emu war 1932 in Australia.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_05 10:40

And I think Amber Carnes was like, my Australian friend has never told me about this before. Like, well, you better tell them to tell you about the emu war because it's important. But yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:50

Speaking of small groups, how is that coming along? Good. Did we get any interest for starting groups?

SPEAKER_05 10:54

We've got some groups that are starting.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

Yeah, we had a great meeting on it. Lots of great ideas. That's good. Still room for more. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:03

Always.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

So yeah, I got I got two. I got an invite while I was gone for one, and I also got a request to start one. Yeah. So I'm I'm looking forward to it. I told her, I said, let me let me be creative and think about what I can do. Because obviously I don't want to overextend my schedule. Yeah. But yeah, I'm I told Darren, I said, people want to be my friend. Yeah. That's fun.

SPEAKER_05 11:25

Of course.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

Of course.

SPEAKER_05 11:28

Anyway. So small groups are going good. If you have any ideas or you have one that you would like to see or you'd like to start, we we do offer, you know, help for those that want to start leading a group. And that's what kind of we do. And Jim Hoffman's really passionate about it, and he wants to make sure you have everything you need to make sure the groups go well. And uh they are the goal of these groups is to help grow the kingdom of God. And you can do that in all kinds of different ways. So but yeah, had our small group the other night. It was fun. Uh, I got to lead and talk about the Bible, which I love to talk about the Bible. So if you ever have questions or want to talk about it, put it in the box. Don't ask me. Don't ask me. Just write it down. Put it in the box, and then we'll talk about it on here or other platforms. But so yeah. Oh you went to the Daytona 500, didn't you? I did. How'd you like that? You love NASCAR?

SPEAKER_03 12:30

Okay. I love racing. I do. But you know, you can only see so much from your one seat.

Daytona 500 Recap And Family Moments

SPEAKER_03 12:36

So like you see them when they zoom past you, and then you're like, okay, where are they now? You know, like it's just so far away. But no, I had a blast. Okay, good. I did. I loved I got sunburned, actually just sitting directly in the Florida. Number 45, Reddit. Reddit, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:54

Nice job.

SPEAKER_03 12:55

Yeah, 45-1. It was crazy. The finish line, like he wasn't even he wasn't even first and second, like number 22, I believe, or 21, was in the lead the whole time and led most of the race, anyways, and then got crashed out right before the finish line.

SPEAKER_05 13:11

Yep, the guy that won. The guy that won only led for like half a lap.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and he comes out and wins all that matters. But the coolest thing, well, first of all, the Thunderbirds were my favorite part of the whole weekend is seeing those just zoom. I mean, you never felt more America than that right there, is just watching those Thunderbirds. Cool. But then also my coolest thing that I got to do was actually sign the track. You got to sign the what's this, what's the black and white, the checkered finish line? Yeah, Darren. I got to sign it. So my name was we had special tickets to be able to go down on the track, and that's why I got to see like Miranda Lambert. Like it's steep. Yeah, you had to like like my shins were burning. Those inclines, you don't realize how no, and that wasn't even the steepest part of the track either. Like the turns are the most steep of the track, and I'm like, oh my word. So yeah, it was crazy, and it was huge. Like once you're on it and you're looking in the the the stand, I mean it's massive. But yeah, that was that was cool bending down and signing that.

SPEAKER_05 14:17

What'd you sign?

SPEAKER_03 14:18

I signed my name and then aka mama bear because that's what Gage Ham named me that, so I can't go by anything.

SPEAKER_04 14:24

You should have wrote it like all the way across the like meal is big. Really big. Man, you can't take up the whole thing. You see it from TV, like the Ashley Phillips across the checkered board. Wow, that'd have been great. That would have been. They probably would have stopped either. If you like started drawing this big A, you're like, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:44

What is she doing? Oh well, I'm glad you had a good time. I used to be really into NASCAR, but not anymore.

SPEAKER_03 14:50

Well, I I was that was it. Like when I was in and into NASCAR, I was a Gorn fan. That's how long ago I was a NASCAR fan. And then I switched to Earnhart once I got married because I wasn't allowed to be a Gorn fan in that family.

SPEAKER_05 15:03

No one should be anyone.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

So now I barely know who he races anymore.

SPEAKER_05 15:09

I couldn't tell you.

SPEAKER_03 15:10

I knew Jimmy Johnson. That was about it.

SPEAKER_05 15:11

He still races?

SPEAKER_03 15:12

He does. He was this. I mean, he didn't he participated in the 500 and then next year's 500 is his last race.

SPEAKER_05 15:19

He's gotta be like almost 50. Anyway. Yeah. I don't know. But old people like NASCAR is yeah, but very cool.

SPEAKER_03 15:27

It's a great time.

SPEAKER_05 15:28

All right. So today we're gonna talk a little bit about switching gears. Ah, switching gears, masks.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

So witty.

SPEAKER_05 15:37

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

He did it.

SPEAKER_05 15:40

Alright, so we had a the thing we're gonna talk about real quick before I get into the

Big Topic Shift: Raising Kids In A Non‑Christian Culture

SPEAKER_05 15:44

Bible topic for today. We were thinking about like putting something on a wheel and spin it and randomly picking something, but then I was like, well, gotta make the wheel noise. Right.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

And and I think we should have a competition who could make the best wheel noise.

SPEAKER_05 15:58

Alright. So we're just gonna each gonna give you our wheel noise. So like close your eyes and picture what a wheel sounds like. Picture like a like a wheel, like a random wheel that you spin to pick a winner. You know, like on the prices right or something.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Right.

SPEAKER_05 16:12

But you don't have to do the not a not a digital wheel, but like an actual like ticking wheel at the top.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

Yes. Yeah with a little ticker on it.

SPEAKER_05 16:18

I think Ashley should go first.

SPEAKER_03 16:19

Okay, here's my wheel. I'm spinning it.

SPEAKER_05 16:24

Your wheel is laughing. So that probably is not.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

Okay. There you go. That's my wheel.

SPEAKER_05 16:37

That was a good wheel. Brittany, do you have a wheel? This is what a wheel should sound like. It should sound like this. Better not have ruined my wheels now. Brittany, do you know what a wheel sounds like?

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Give it your best shot.

SPEAKER_04 17:03

Nope. She cannot do it. All right. You lose.

SPEAKER_05 17:31

Yours was like a firework or something for me.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Okay, well, I might win. It's true.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

It's true. But if all of your friends just vote for you because of your friend, it doesn't count.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

All of my friends, if you're my friend, vote for me. No matter what.

SPEAKER_03 17:44

Email Cody who you think was the best wheel sound for you.

SPEAKER_05 17:46

And if you say Britney, I'll know that you're dishonest person. All right. Today we're gonna talk a little bit about raising kids in a world that isn't Christian, I guess you call it topic. Kind of just some tips and things that we see that we can talk about, like as families, what can we do to make sure we're doing our best as parents and as families with kids. So if you're a grandparent, this counts for you too. If you're a parent, if you're an aunt or not, if you're around, if you're if you have a big family and you have kids and people that are growing up, we need to talk about how to do our best to help them through this world that is not very Christ-like sometimes. Right. I guess is how you would word this whole thing. So just some just some tips, just some things that we noticed or we've put together and talked about the scripture. And so what's one of the first things that you guys want to bring up on from our list here?

SPEAKER_03 18:45

Well, I love your your model Christ-like behavior. I mean, I think that's that's huge when it comes to raising kids, is they they soak in everything that we do as parents. They see how we act between our spouse, they see how we treat others,

Model Christlike Behavior And Admit Mistakes

SPEAKER_03 19:01

you know, they see they see every part of our lives for the most part and how we behave. So if we're if we are Christ-like, if we're the image of God to them, I think that that's definitely a huge stepping stone to make sure they follow that path as well.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

Yeah. And I think that we're involved in so many things with our kids. Some we realize, some we don't, you know, like I might just be driving down the road and not be somebody cuts me off in traffic and I'm not modeling Christ-like behavior. My kids are gonna see that. Or the way that I discipline them or their siblings, you know, they might be like, oh, that was a little harsh, that was too much. I coach a lot of youth sports and I try to use a Christ mindset model, even if that's even if I'm not even bringing up Christianity at all. For them to be able to handle conflict and things like that. I try to teach them that way. But yeah, I agree. Just modeling it.

SPEAKER_05 20:08

Yeah, I think the idea of children learn more from what they see than what they're told. Uh it has to be both. Uh you have to tell them. But if you tell them and you don't show them, then it would doesn't really it doesn't really take effect, I don't think. You can talk about something all you want to, but if you don't live out the things that we talk about, doesn't do any good. And so for for kids, you know, whether we're talking about teenagers or small kids, all this can kind of apply to any age, children that we're raising, trying to help them through the world that we live in. As adults or or grown-ups or more mature people in the faith in their lives, so this can apply to you know any Christian who has children in their lives in some way, I guess, not just parenting. Right. Right?

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Right.

SPEAKER_05 20:58

But we can talk about you know, it's specifically for parents too. Yeah. But this is the idea of helping as a church, young people or kids to navigate through the world. Because we look at the world and we're like, man, it's really difficult for you know adults, and it's also difficult for kids growing up. So, how are we going to handle this? How are we going to um do our best to make sure that they succeed and we get to show them Jesus and things like that? One thing I've noticed in youth ministry, so my stuff's about teenagers, I guess you'd say, but kids they want authenticity, they want something that's real and genuine, and kids will be able to tell when it's not real. They'll be able to spot when you talk like a Christian or talk about Jesus, but you don't show it. Yeah. You don't you don't live it out. And so I always thought yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

No, I just was like when we were talking earlier, like Admitting your mistakes. I think that that's kind of goes along with what you're saying. Like having that realness to where I can make a mistake with my kids or other kids and be able to admit it. I apologize for it. You know, not this whole like I'm big, you're small, right? Do what I say. I made a mistake. Oh well, I'm in charge. Kind of thing. I just think being able to to do that, to demonstrate that

Explain The Why Behind Biblical Commands

SPEAKER_02 22:31

is really important.

SPEAKER_05 22:32

Yeah. I think my next point was like we gotta be able to tell them the why behind all these things. Like, live like this, do these things, be like Jesus, but then then we gotta be able to be like, well, why should we do that? You know, focus on the intent of scripture rather than just the rules with kids growing up. That's for anybody. Why does God care about how we treat our neighbors? So we can preach all we want about Jesus says, love your neighbor. Jesus says be kind. Why? Why is that important? Why does Jesus want us to be kind? Why does Jesus want us to be loving to our neighbors? And so you can help kids by really explaining a little bit of the why behind the rules that we give or the commands that we have. So we don't want the Bible to just be a bunch of rules that we have to follow because the church told me to or because my parents tell me to do these things. It helps when you're like, especially your parent. Like Timmy, my kids have always asked, like, well, why? Why can't I do that? Let me explain it to you because if you do that, you're gonna end up hurt or you're gonna end up, you know, in a bad situation. So same thing with these the idea of what the Bible tells us to do. We have to be able to be like, Well, this is why it tells us to do that. And I think that'll help kids and and understand more. And so ask and let them ask questions. Let them, you know, well, why does God do this? Or why does Jesus tell me to do it this way? And we have to be able to want to answer those, even if we don't know the answer. Find somebody that does. That's why we have church. So yeah, what else is on here that we can talk about? Model Christ-like behavior.

SPEAKER_03 24:12

I think real quick on that one too. I forgot something that really hit me this past year. My oldest told me when she was on break from school that she was like, Mom, she's like, I never I never see you read your Bible. And I was like, What? She's like, you never do like I never see you read your Bible. Well, what it was was to me, I grew up as my devotion time was my time. I didn't do it in front of anybody else. I found a quiet place, and that's where I did my my Bible reading, my prayer time, my worship time. And I was like, You're right. Like I was like, I was I was like, you're right. I I don't. So that doesn't mean I don't do it. It's just I don't do it in front of you guys. So that has been a change in in my you know, in my mindset that okay, it's okay if I'm not in my room or if I'm not, you know, at a coffee shop or whatever. I want to do it in front of my children so my children see me reading my Bible also. You know, I love walking in Haley's room and seeing her study her Bible, you know, and all her highlighting and all her note-taking. Like I that brings joy to me. Yeah. And so I'm like, duh, you need to do the same. Like let them see you do it too.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

I actually got a giant, not a giant, but a Tupperware thing that I put all of my notes and all of my stuff that I need that I use during my study. And I did the same thing actually, because I was doing it. I was going down to the basement alone. You know, they were doing whatever and they knew where I was going, but they weren't there with me. Right. And I took it all up and put it in the living room right dead smack in the middle of everyone, which sometimes it gets a little loud, you know. But they are they're pretty respectful now that it's been, you know, to where they're at least quiet or reading with me, right? Which is great.

SPEAKER_05 26:09

So I wanted to read Deuteronomy

Let Kids See Your Faith Habits

SPEAKER_05 26:12

chapter six, verses starting to verse four. And I think this can kind of help us as we want the best for our kids and want the best for the youth in our church. And so it says, Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. And then in verse 7 it says, Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads, write them on the door frames or your houses and on your gates. And if I had to sum up, you know, if I had to give somebody parenting advice, or how if you want your family to be Christ-centered or Christ-focused and do your best to set them up for success in the faith, I would go to that and be like, if you want to know how, this is how you do it. And I think it's how to integrate God into everyday moments, and it doesn't have to be anything too complicated, but when you take that verse and you apply it to today, it could be things like when it says sit in your house. So like mealtime conversations, try to have times where you're, you know, in intentional about having conversation about faith and about Christ. You know, it could be conversations around the dinner table, it could be a time you set apart, you know, at the end of the day, wherever that is. But I think it's important to maybe even read the Bible together. Like you said earlier, like if we bring that to, I mean, we can read the Bible on ourselves, on our phones and and all that stuff, but if you bring out a Bible and you set it down, you're gonna read this as a family. That might be a good thing to do. It says, so that verse talks about while you're in your house, when you're walking down the road, so we could like we don't really walk a lot of places, we don't well we drive a lot of places. So use your time in the car on the way to school or on your way to practice or on your way to our busy schedules that we take our kids to all these different things. Use the time to talk about what's going on in their life and what are they what are they dealing with, and how can we apply Jesus to some of these things and bring the bring the conversations

Deuteronomy 6: Faith In Everyday Moments

SPEAKER_05 28:32

to a faith-centered point, I guess you say. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_03 28:37

Yeah, yeah, I love that. I know on the on the mornings driving to the school before I our bus throughout as as the worship team, we're part of this devotion, like daily devotion on worship. And so I always play it in the car all the way to school, and I just it's just Carter and I and I it's just a nice reset, you know, before you start your day. Yeah. So it's something short, quick, but when you're doing it with your children or in front of your kids or you're having them listen, also, it sinks in, you know. Yeah, it does it, it it sinks in more than you realize it does. Like the other day, Haley had an interview with someone, and she they asked her, like, what do you want to do with your future? And she's like, Out of nowhere, I said, I want to go into ministry. And it like it like shocked her. She's like, I didn't, I wasn't planning to go into ministry. Like she's planning to be a full-on aesthetician. That was her, that was her plan. And all of a sudden she's like, but mom, like, I just felt like God was saying, No, you're going into you're going into ministry. She's like, I've watched you and dad be ministry from the day that I was born. You know, they were always, we call them behind the scene kids, like they were always with us, watching us everything we do. And so they grew up in it. So that was just really cool to see, like they they do watch you. The kids that you know, and even if you're a volunteer at the church, if you're teaching them in kids' backyard, or if you're on the worship team, or if you're helping a hospitality, like the kids are watching everything you do.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

Did you weren't there on Sunday? How many kids that I had helping me Sunday morning?

SPEAKER_03 30:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

I think I had seven or eight kids in aprons.

SPEAKER_03 30:14

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

Helping Sunday morning.

SPEAKER_05 30:15

Just wheeling stuff out to the book, and you're refilling stuff.

SPEAKER_02 30:18

It was it was awesome. Most of the time I notice right now Rosalyn is in third grade, Axel's in middle school. That age right now, I feel like when we are in the car or we're having those conversations, it's a lot of conflict resolution. Like I'm helping them, you know. Oh, this person said something really bad about me, or this person is bullying me, or this person maybe they didn't treat well, you know, in the situation because they got upset. And so I feel like during those conversations, that's a lot what we're dealing with, just trying to, which I don't always know how to navigate with their ages. Cody might know better. But we know that we know as adults that we're gonna be set apart from all of our friends, you know. I mean, like there is gonna be that divide when you are trying to live a certain way versus living the way the world wants you to, which is so hard for that age. Yeah, that is so hard for them because you want them to go, oh, I hope you have a hundred friends, and I hope that everybody gets along with you and that you never have any problems, and you're trying to teach them like it's probably gonna be like this for a while, and the better that you handle it now, you know, yeah, the easier it'll be as you grow up.

SPEAKER_05 31:57

But yeah, it's just I like in this verse it says, These commandments I give you today are to be pressed on your hearts, impress them on your children. So the the it starts with us. Right. We have to we have to we have to do them, we have to be living for Jesus, we have to be doing our best if

Car Rides, Conflict Resolution, And Identity

SPEAKER_05 32:15

we want to be able to impress these things onto other people. So we have to, you do have to have times where you read the Bible for yourself, and it's about feeding yourselves, and then you can be examples to your family. Don't forget, you know, it's not just gonna happen. You have to have have some you have to fill yourself up by having time and taking your faith seriously if you want your kids to take their faith seriously. You know, we can say all we want. Well, I want my kids to know Jesus and I want them to be in church. And well, if you're not building your relationship with Jesus, if you're not staying connected, like our last podcast we talked about, then you can't show anybody how to be connected to Jesus yourself themselves. So I think that's important to know. And and you know, we sometimes we think of faith, getting deeper in faith is like you have to listen to like a 30-minute lesson, or you have to go to a class or hear a sermon, but you can integrate God into these everyday moments in the car before bed at the dinner table. Everyday moments in your life, you can be just asking simple questions that lead to a faith topic, or what would Jesus say about this, or what what since since you love Jesus, how would that change how you're gonna respond in this situation? So it's intentional, and and so we have to be intentional about how we are choosing to act, and you know, maybe you turn the radio off in the car for five minutes on your way somewhere and you have conversations and you or you put phones away at the dinner table. I know we've probably heard all this stuff before, but if if we're not intentional about it, it's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

Right.

SPEAKER_05 33:52

We can talk about it all we want, but if we really want to do the best for teenagers and kids in our lives, then we need to be intentional about it ourselves. And so, and then I I like the idea of moving from learning about Jesus to acting like him. You go from, I know all this stuff about him, but I gotta put it into action. We gotta actually do the things, and so maybe as a family, you find ways to act like Jesus better and you go serve places, you go volunteer places, or you have conversations about well, what would Jesus do if his friend said this to him, or if you had a group of people and they were doing this, how would Jesus handle that in that situation and why?

SPEAKER_01 34:31

Right.

SPEAKER_05 34:31

So I know we kind of think like they're just kids and they don't really understand the deep parts of that, but they know more than we think they do, and they'll they understand, like you know, and they're getting fed so much from the world, social media, all that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 34:46

Like, I would rather you guys as parents, us as parents, let us be the feeding first. Like, let us feed into them what they need to hear and understand and be like. Let us be louder.

SPEAKER_02 34:59

Just an hour on YouTube can fill their brain with a bunch very quickly.

SPEAKER_05 35:03

Yeah. I mean, I can get lost in YouTube for an hour. My brain gets filled with what happened.

SPEAKER_02 35:10

You turn it off, you're like, what was that? What did I just listen to?

SPEAKER_05 35:13

I'm in my 30s and I can discern things sometimes, but even sometimes I'm like, is that real? Is that what for a you know, there's just so much growing up, there's just so much content now. It's kind of my another point that I wanted to bring up is you know, instead of just shielding kids from the internet, instead of just trying to protect them from it all the time, we should probably teach them how to use it the right way. Teach them to view content through a biblical lens. Because it it there's no stopping the internet now.

SPEAKER_03 35:44

Right.

SPEAKER_05 35:45

It's it's they're on tablets, they're on screens at school, they do less. I mean, yeah, and so I don't think you can just well don't get don't do this and stay away from the internet, but y it's impossible in the world that we live in. So let's start teaching our kids how to do things on the internet the right way. And when we see things, well, what the Bible says about this. Look through.

SPEAKER_03 36:06

I love what you said.

SPEAKER_05 36:07

You said a godly lens, a biblical

Teaching A Biblical Worldview Online

SPEAKER_05 36:09

lens, a biblical worldview.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 36:11

And I think that's that's one of my goals in youth ministry is to form a biblical worldview so they can see everything in their world. There's so many things like sports and school and family and friends and relationships and all these different things that form our worlds that we live in. How do we see it in a biblical sense? It's not just, you know, the question isn't like, will my child have a worldview? It's which worldview are they going to have? They're gonna you need to shape how they see things through uh Jesus, I guess you could say. So yeah, we want to shield our kids, we want to protect them from the internet, but we did we can't just say, Well, I'm gonna protect them and they're not gonna get on it. They're gonna get they're gonna be on it, they're gonna be online. Let's coach them through how to be online. Maybe we need to do that better ourselves as adults, because sometimes we're not very good at it either.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:05

But I think that's something to talk about and worth considering moving forward as we have these conversations about raising kids in a world that isn't very Christ-like, teaching them how to deal with things, coaching them through how to use different tools like AI and like social media and the internet and things like that. So social media shapes identity and how, you know, we should teach kids that their value doesn't come from how many likes they get, their value doesn't come from how many times somebody saw their post.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Right.

SPEAKER_05 37:34

Or things like that. That's gonna change all the time.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:38

You can't ground your identity in these things, but that's I think that's all people, but especially teens and kids in today's world, they're growing up in it. And so as a youth pastor, I'm kind of trying to find ways to help in that area, I guess you'd say. But yeah, that that that was just the thing I wanted to talk about, internet, social media. And maybe, you know, you give 'em if you if you do have kids that have phones or they're on devices and they have video games and stuff, you you have no screen time, like a family, like, you know, at dinner time, no screens, or a time set apart 15, 30 minutes in the evening where nobody's on a on device, and you just do something else together. And so I'm not saying I do all this myself or that I'm uh, you know, I'm sure you guys something we're all working on. Yes. And these are just things that even as we're talking about them here, I'm like, I could do that, I could do that better. But yeah, I think it's just these conversations have to be ongoing, they have to continue, and we have to really be intentional about what we're doing with students and kids these days. And how do you guys view the church in this role? Do you see the church playing a role in Definitely? Okay. Yeah. Because what's what's the role of the church or a youth ministry or a kids program?

SPEAKER_03 39:03

I mean, I feel like our role is to support the family. Like, we're here as a resource. We're not, we're not your only, like your children shouldn't be getting Jesus just from

Screens, Social Media, And Healthy Rhythms

SPEAKER_03 39:13

us. It should be an ongoing thing, but we are definitely a resource. We're a support. We want to hold your hand, guide you through these things, you know, be a prayer partner with you. You know, let us know if you're struggling with something or if a kid needs to talk. You know, that's definitely a hand in hand. We're called a community. You're not called to do this on your own.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

Yeah. I've well plenty of times. I mean, now kind of on the other side of it, but before just having some other outlet for my child other than me.

SPEAKER_03 39:46

Right.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

Which is nice.

SPEAKER_05 39:49

Yeah. So I think that's the correct way to see the church when it comes to raising kids and children's ministries and youth ministries, is they shouldn't be the only place that they're getting their you know biblical knowledge, or they shouldn't be the only place where they're learning how to be like Christ. It starts in homes. And so, yeah, is it's youth group and children's ministry are good support things for your family. It shouldn't be their only place where they're getting fed biblical things and biblical warriors. It has to start at the house, and then you know, you go to youth group or you go to a children's thing and you get extra bonus bonus times. But and so, yeah, I I think for those that are really serious about wanting their kids to to know Jesus, it starts in the house. That's their main source of growing in their faith in their families. And so the church is there to support and help and and add on to that whenever we can. But yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:55

Yeah. And I would also say that like two things. One, don't don't underestimate the power of prayer. I mean, the amount

Church’s Role: Support The Home First

SPEAKER_03 41:02

of prayers that my mom said for me growing up as a teenager. Like, I I know God had his protection over me because of the cries that my mom put out, you know, just from the walk that I was going down to where I am now. Like, prayer is a powerful thing. And pray for your kids, you know, speak life over them.

SPEAKER_02 41:24

Yeah. I think that sometimes, you know, kids go through their highs and lows as they grow up and they go through we were talking to a therapist one time, and she's like, the bigger they get, the bigger the problems get, you know. So that might seem like a lot of turmoil when they're young. And there was definitely times I needed timeouts when they were young as a parent. And then even now as they're older. And I kind of go through these, you know, sometimes I'm really in the situation with them, you know, and I'm I'm trying my best to model and guide. And then there's times where I actually will take a step back. And it is literally just here's the boundaries of me loving you and taking care of you. And the rest is prayer. Yeah. Because I have to recharge myself before I can handle those situations. I mean, all kids are different, right? You know, some kids are really easy and some kids are not so easy.

SPEAKER_01 42:28

Right.

SPEAKER_02 42:29

Probably the same with parents. Some parents are really easy.

SPEAKER_04 42:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:34

But all situations, like it doesn't have to be just with your kids. Like if you're, you know, dealing with conflict in any other situation or things that are hard or heavy, that's just where I tend to go to.

SPEAKER_05 42:48

And to to close us out here, we're almost done. We've been going for a little while, but the idea of you can only do what you can do as a parent. Right. The idea of did I do enough? Or is it my fault that my kid didn't choose the right thing? Or well, no, it's the same way with everything. Our our like our job as Christians is to go tell the good news. It's not our responsibility if they say yes or not to it. We're just messengers. And as parents and people that have kids in our lives, we've set the example and we do what we can do. We're we're we're faithful and we're present and we show up and we do our best in the moments to help and show them, you know, why Jesus is the best choice. You can't make the choice for them. And then it can really hard sometimes, especially in ministry, and then especially as parents, too. I mean, you know, but that that's what we're called to do, you know, and raise up a child in the right way, and they won't depart from the path. Well, that's a that's a proverb, right? Proverbs aren't promises, those are just you know probabilities.

SPEAKER_01 43:49

Right.

SPEAKER_05 43:50

Usually that's how it's gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 43:51

Right.

SPEAKER_05 43:54

Yes, it's their choice, it's their they're the one making the choices, but we can do our part to make sure they're Set up for success, set up for making the right choices, and they're not always going

Prayer, Boundaries, And Parental Limits

SPEAKER_05 44:05

to. They're they're your your kids gonna make mistakes. And as parents, we make mistakes and we do, but we we just that's why it's so important to be intentional with these things.

SPEAKER_03 44:16

Don't feel guilty if they shouldn't feel guilty mess up or if they don't if you're doing the right things, right?

SPEAKER_05 44:22

If you are being intentional, yeah if you're setting up for success. So sometimes we maybe we're not doing those things, and we should be doing some of those things as parents, as people that are leading younger generation.

SPEAKER_02 44:34

So I think that we have to remember that when we sat here, probably the I think it was like the first podcast, you know, and told our testimony, my kids are gonna have their own testimony.

SPEAKER_03 44:49

Right.

SPEAKER_02 44:50

And I'm not the one writing it.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

Right.

SPEAKER_02 44:53

So as much as I would love, as much as I would love to be like, okay, go over here and then do this, and then that's not my choice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:01

And we tell them. We tell them this is what you should do. I've done this, yeah, been there. And at the end, at the end of the day, it's not our we don't have control over the other people's choices, choices that people make. But we can make sure we did our best to be present and faithful to what we're called to do. And so that would be my encouragement for anybody listening who's got kids in your life or teenagers or your children, or to be intentional about it. If you love Jesus and you want your family to do the same, then take the steps needed to make it happen. Will it always turn out? Maybe. It'll be more likely than not if we do those things. But yeah. Anything else I'm missing or we didn't talk about?

SPEAKER_02 45:44

I feel like we could talk about this.

SPEAKER_03 45:45

We could have we could talk about all day. But it's yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:49

Hopefully that was helpful.

SPEAKER_03 45:50

We're here to help. If there's anything we can do to point you in the right direction, just let us know.

SPEAKER_05 45:55

Put it on a piece of paper and put it in the box so that we can talk about it and discuss things. So yeah, one of the questions in the box was why does purple taste like bananas? I have no idea how to answer that. So I don't know. Whoever wrote that, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_03 46:10

I'm sorry that you think purple tastes like bananas. Because it tastes like grape and everybody knows it.

SPEAKER_05 46:16

I don't like bananas and I don't like grape-flavored things. So grape-flavored things are my favorite. I love grapes.

SPEAKER_03 46:23

Oh, I love everything grape.

SPEAKER_05 46:24

Grapes are good. The the thing themselves, but grape flavoring. No, it's terrible.

SPEAKER_03 46:30

Oh, no. Grape anything. Anything grape. You can bring me anything grape and I will love it. Nice.

SPEAKER_05 46:34

Well, you're allowed to be wrong. So let's pray, and then we'll be done with this episode. Lord, thank you so much for this day. Thank you that we have opportunities to have these conversations. I pray for those listening who are parents or grandparents or anybody that has children in their lives, that we set the example, that we are intentional about how we live, how we talk, how

Encouragement, Intentionality, And Next Steps

SPEAKER_05 47:00

we react, and we're intentional about wanting them to know who you are, and that you know what's best, and that you love them, and that you love us. And so, yeah, thank you for these conversations. And we're blessed and thankful that we get to have them be with us this week, whatever's coming. And yeah, we just love you. Thank you for Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 47:23

Amen.

SPEAKER_05 47:24

All right. Well, we've talked about a lot of stuff today. Trivia, wheel sounds, parenting, revival. Vote for me. I think we anyway. Thanks for listening to Rush Hour. We'll see you next time. Have a good one.