Six Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Doing

Last updated on: August 16, 2016 at 2:09 am By Stephen Mattson

As a parent, there are many things I love about Christianity and want my children to fully embrace as they get older. But I also don’t want them to pick up some of the bad habits Christian culture has a tendency to instill, and here are six things I wish Christians would stop doing: Arguing: Instead of having a reputation as being peacemakers, promoting reconciliation, and working towards unity, Christians are known for being loud, argumentative, petty, and contentious. Unfortunately,... Read more

Two Crucial Elements in Christian Parenting: Love & Agency

Last updated on: August 15, 2016 at 8:49 pm By Cindy Brandt

Faith without doubt is dogma. It’s airtight, stale, and leads to death of the spirit. These are the hard lessons I have learned through the suffocation of faith shifting angst, breathing again only when I let my doubt poke holes into the box I had neatly housed God. A vibrant faith requires a healthy accompaniment of doubt so that our faith is always tested, transforming brittle doctrinal living into a resilient spirituality. Doubting our faith is never a display of... Read more

A Different Sort of Mommy Blog

Last updated on: August 8, 2016 at 8:30 pm By Cindy Brandt

I am a mother and I am a blogger, but I have felt completely foreign to the world of parenting blogs. I know many mom blogs are run by diligent, hard working mothers who are hustling on top of their grueling child care duties to connect with other mothers and bring in a side income. I admire their tenacity in making space for creativity and putting words and pictures and crafts out there in the scary internet world. I have... Read more

The Bread of Blessing or the Stone of Original Sin

Last updated on: August 2, 2016 at 11:10 am By Guest Contributor

Who, if your child asks for bread, would give him a stone? As parents, we are responsible for feeding our children. We are responsible for feeding their bellies and feeding their spirits and feeding their need for affection and security and love. As parents who are also people of faith, we are responsible for feeding them beliefs they can live by, a faith they can walk by, a love they can dwell in. The spiritual teachings we give our children... Read more

5 Things Christian Parents Can Tell Their Children about Politics

Last updated on: August 1, 2016 at 11:04 pm By Stephen Mattson

There are few greater opportunities for parents to express the importance of faith than within the midst of a national election. Faith and politics will always be connected to each other, and each elicits strong emotions, but here are 5 truths Christian parents should teach their children: No Politician—or Political Party—Owns God Despite the constant rhetoric spewed about who is the most “Christian,” “Godly,” and “moral,” the reality is that no candidate or political party has the market cornered on... Read more

A Little Child Will Lead Them: Child Protection and the Kingdom of God

Last updated on: July 28, 2016 at 3:02 am By Ryan Stollar

Wolves will live at peace with lambs, and leopards will lie down in peace with young goats. Calves, lions, and bulls will all live together in peace. A little child will lead them. . Bears and cattle will eat together in peace, and all their young will lie down together and will not hurt each other. Lions will eat hay like cattle. Even snakes will not hurt people. . Babies will be able to play near a cobra’s hole ... Read more

Critiquing Shepherding a Child’s Heart (Part 1)

Last updated on: July 25, 2016 at 6:47 pm By Cindy Brandt

As I am writing my book on Raising Children UnFundamentalist, I find it has become necessary to engage with conservative Christian parenting literature. Progressive Christianity has, by and large, rejected and ignored conservative parenting ideas but it remains a crucial task for us to address the problematic theology underlying popular Christian parenting literature as well as provide constructive dialogue moving forward. Unless we come to a clarity on what it is we are rejecting, it will be difficult to heal... Read more

Notes on -Isms:

Last updated on: June 21, 2016 at 2:21 am By Caris Adel

*a peek into my school/curriculum planning notebook* Things I want my kids to learn next year. Sexism in history voting rights – equal rights – pay scale, Hillary’s logo cost difference in women’s items restriction of women – Angelica Schuyler’s line objectification Title 9/sports Weaker sex legal status Pandora Roman law/women = children Eve/theology/Blue Parakeet in media resources Racism in history Black Chinese Japanese Hispanic Irish – History of White People book Muslims Native Americans – sports/media reservation... Read more

Talking About Race With Children: The Worst Advice I Ever Gave

Last updated on: July 20, 2016 at 8:01 am By Guest Contributor

Image: Pixabay Several years ago, as a newly-hired education consultant working for the Department of Human Services, a preschool teacher approached me with a question. “How do I talk to kids about race and tolerance?” Being completely unschooled in this topic, I answered this: “I wouldn’t worry too much about direct teaching. I would focus more on making it a non-issue. Little kids are so open and accepting naturally. We don’t have to teach them to be non-prejudiced, we just... Read more