Making Biblical Family Life Practical

If Christianity values self-denial, self-sacrifice, and love for others, how should we think of the competition and even stylized "combat" of modern athletics? Is it appropriate for a Christian to take part in competitive sports? Is there some contradiction between faith in Jesus and loyalty to a team? Leading into Super Bowl 50, we'll take a look at what the Bible says about athletics and competiton ... PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS 00:50 - Should Christians avoid being involved in competitive stuff? 03:27 - The New Testament talks about the Christian walk in terms of competition and even warfare 04:44 - Winning, not at all costs, but in the right way and by the rules 06:30 - Moms may dislike competition for other than doctrinal reasons 08:00 - Boys seem to love competition 10:00 - When does competition cross a line and become bad? 14:00 - Considering how sports will impact your family life 16:39 - Athletic ability may be a gift to some in your family 19:30 - Competition is not always and only athletics 20:20 - What did the Puritans say about games and sports? 21:43 - Competition to motivate in school 22:50 - What can you do if there's no homeschool athletic 25:50 - Being a Christian in church and on the field Want to read more about a Biblical view of sports and competition? CLICK HERE and order Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching and Appreciating Boys

  "I'm hungry, Mom!" or "What's for dinner, Honey?" - two statements that strike dread in your heart? We tried the once-a-month cooking plan and came to dread it! Instead, Melanie created her own plan which can help you save time and money but offer more flexibility in your menus - and less destruction in your kitchen! CLICK HERE for downloadable ideas to save time and trouble in the kitchen!  VISIT our FACEBOOK page!  

    The Church is God's people gathered together, but we know even God's people have remaining sin in their lives - and sometimes, that can make a good church turn bad, or even toxic. This episode we talk with Andy and Kendra Fletcher of Homeschooling IRL about how to recognize, respond, and recover from a church which has fallen into bad doctrine, bad practice, and bad relationships! PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS 2:28 - Sometimes toxic churches and healthy churches look the same 4:36 - Churches that lose focus on Christ and fail to minister to inquirers or immature or new believers 6:10 - Staying in a bad situation to try and reform it from the inside 8:50 - "Good" things that distract the church from its true focus 9:30 - Recognizing God's grace in believers and churches which aren't like us and ours 10:30 - "Gospel amnesia" happens 13:15 - When do you decide to leave, and how do you leave without being destructive? 18:34 - "Hope-shifting" and the idols Christians set up 23:00 - Abusive churches 26:45 - Healing takes time - expect it!

We can even see it on our website traffic - Christmastime is New Phone Time! A lot of families, especially with teenagers, received new cell phones, tablets, phablets, and laptops recently. Have you talked with your young people about the traps that come with these very useful devices? Do you have a plan to protect your kids from accidental exposure to internet porn? Are you teaching your teens to discern between good and evil - and choose good - when they're online? This episode we talk about all this and more! RESOURCES WE MENTIONED [ CLICK HERE ] for a free trial of our favorite filtering/accountability software "Ten Ways To Keep Your Family From Being Devastated By Porn and Predators" - our most popular blog post ever! "Five Things You Need To Know About Your Boys & Internet Porn"

How do you celebrate New Year's Eve and -Day? Is it a major revel, or a time of sombre reflection? Or is it a joyful middle, with time for thought and time for fun, too? We talk about our annual two-day observance of the changing calendar in this episode of Making Biblical Family Life Practical! RESOURCES WE MENTION Billy Graham's Q&A page on the subject Jonathan Edwards' resolutions Woody Guthrie's somewhat different resolutions Some notes on our annual family review and brainstorm meeting Why Hal keeps a journal, and some things which make it even better

Recently, Harvard University's Office for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion published a "Holiday Placemat for Social Justice" to help freshmen have "productive conversations" with family members over holiday dinners (story reported by The College Fix). Sounds like a recipe for indigestion ... Even without SJW talking points, some people come to the feast loaded for bear. And as homeschoolers, we're probably used to hearing pointed or even confrontational questions at family gatherings. Is there really a productive and God-honoring way to defend our convictions and deflect hostile interactions ... at Christmas dinner? How can we avoid both the unpleasant relatives and the possibility of becoming one ourselves? Can we ease the return of our college students, young adults, or military members after long separations? We're talking about difficult people at the holidays - and how to love them.

We love Christmas for so many reasons, but one thing we look forward to the most is the baking -- and since we're a large family, we do a lot of it. If you've got the recipes, the trick becomes how to manage it all - what to cook when, deciding which child should help with which thing, and keeping the creative destruction from annihilating your kitchen! This episode, Melanie shares some of her secrets for filling a home with sweet aromas and memories that linger even longer --

Photo: Neil McGuire / Gratisography  Whether you allow it or not, whether you encourage it or don't, it seems that boys will naturally gravitate toward games and toys relating to fights, force, and war. If you don't provide them, they'll make 'em - to a boy, even a banana becomes a weapon. What do you think about this? Is this anything to permit in a Christian home? Can anything good come of it? Or should we accept it as normal and seek to train it for godly use? We take a brief look into a very big subject - boys, violence, and war!

So what's on your Christmas list? No, not "What do you want?" but "What are you going to give?" There truly is a joy of giving, and this week, we talk about things we've given our kids - and sometimes, our whole family - that have given lasting enjoyment and good value, too. Join us as we're discussing how to choose gifts that are fun and build character! RESOURCES WE MENTIONED We have a new gift guide for the boys on your list - CLICK HERE to see it!

This Thanksgiving-week episode looks at the mandate to be grateful - it's an expectation and a command in the Bible to be thankful people, people who aren't marked by discontentment, grumbling, and strife. We've probably read and memorized lots of verses about that ... but how can we teach it to our family? How can we live it ourselves? In a fallen world full of uncertainty and fears, can we find beauty, delight, and joy? Emphatically YES - join us and find out!

Even in a highly secularized world, the holidays are times when non-religious people often lower their guard against God's truth. One way we reach out to our neighbors is with the old custom of caroling from house to house. It's a great time of fellowship, too, and our friends and church-fellows look forward to this annual event! This episode we talk about the hows and wherefores of singing the Good News to your neighbors.     RESOURCES WE MENTIONED: How we went caroling over the Internet when the rain started outside ... [CLICK HERE] Episode 104, Preparing For Christ-Centered Holidays ... [CLICK HERE] Christ-Centered Christmas - a unit study, cookbook, song sheet, and holiday inspiration! (Get the companion volume, Christ-Centered Thanksgiving, FREE - CLICK HERE! )

  As the holiday season comes into view, we're reminded that Thanksgiving doesn't make any sense if we don't focus on the One we're thanking -- even more so, for the annual celebration of His birthday! But all the business and busyness leading up to the celebrations themselves often distract us from the meaning of the holidays. This episode, we're talking about re-centering our family holidays - and having more fun with them, too! Original Release: Monday November 9, 2015 - 9:00 pm Eastern Resources we mentioned: Pollyanna - a fun way to learn to be grateful Christ-Centered Thanksgiving - our ebook full of unit studies, recipes, and planning charts (get it free with a newsletter subscription!) Highlights: 2:30 – Celebrating holidays is established in the Bible (Exodus 12) 4:55 – Feasting is Biblical, too (Nehemiah 8) 7:25 – Thanksgiving is specifically about thanking God 9:30 – The history of Thanksgiving and why it's important to talk about 18:09 – How to manage the holidays so you celebrate, remember, and teach, too

  We think homeschooling is a great choice for nearly everybody, but what about a family with special needs? Should an "uncertified" parent even think about teaching a special child? Or can they not only succeed but excel at home educating a student with health issues, or developmental delays, or academic gifts, or sensory processing challenges? Our special guests are Chris and Heather Laurie of Special Needs Homeschooling - they're doing just that, and has a message of practical help and God-centered hope for families with special situations!

One thing we've seen since we started this ministry is how often families encounter the same questions, the same problems. You're not alone, and this episode we talk about several questions we've heard recently! Show Highlights 1:31 - What do you do when fellow church members are hostile toward your parenting decisions? 5:40 - How do you manage bullying, including in your own home? 10:47 - When should you begin handing over personal responsibility to your budding adult kids? 15:24 - What should I do, now that I caught my 10-year-old watching sex on YouTube? 20:09 - What's your decision process for extracurricular activities, especially for younger kids? 23:13 - How do you survive parenting an active little boy?

Every child is going to tend to be more emotional than his grown up parents - or his grown up self - will be. But what about here and now, when you have a child who seems to be in a constant state of meltdown? Is this normal? Is there anything to do about it? Is it a matter for discipline, or a call to mercy? Join us for this episode when we'll share some perspective and some tips for dealing with a really emotional kid!