Help your family celebrate Christmas, with a historical twist, by looking at the early church's thoughts about Christmas.

In this podcast Dr. Ricketts and Dr. Skinner explore some of the current trends to help families stay focused on Christ’s birth at Christmas. They will take a look at some thoughts of the historical and early church surrounding Christmas celebrations and how/why/where some of them developed.

Listen to the podcast now.

God’s grace truly is amazing. Instead of giving us the punishment we deserve, Jesus laid down His life for our sins. Instead of condemning us, He freed us from sin’s grip on our lives. We absolutely don’t deserve that. And we can do nothing to earn it. As Christian parents, we are so grateful for the grace of God, and we want our kids to understand it, too. Explaining grace to a child is one of the biggest things you will do as a parent. We want them to accept the salvation Christ freely offers.

In the second chapter of Romans, the apostle Paul talks about what draws people to Jesus. After describing all the things people have done to reject God, he asks, “Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” (Romans 2:4, emphasis added). Read More

Americans spent 38 percent less time with friends and family members this Thanksgiving than they did in years past, a stark example that the amount of hours we spend with other people has plummeted. The so-called “loneliness epidemic” is actually not so new. But God didn’t want Adam to be alone and He made us for community. Read More

Is sex before marriage a sin? At some point, every youth worker hears a version of that question. Teens and young adults often struggle with issues of mental and physical purity. And when they sin by having premarital sex, they need help dealing with heartbreak and forgiveness.

Read on to consider how you’ll answer kids who ask, “Is sex before marriage a sin?” Plus, ponder how you’ll respond to someone who’s heartbroken after having premarital sex. Read More

Last November, I chaperoned a group of Champion Christian School youth leaders to the ACSI re:CONNECT Student Leadership Conference. I expected speakers to talk about trade publication biblical models of leadership geared for teenagers, and specifically I expected the focus to be on traits, or behaviors of leaders. I guessed that there might be sessions on self-awareness similar to Manz’s (2001) reflections on Matthew 7:1-6 that emphasized self-reflection before judgement. Instead, with our group of highschool students, I sat through session after session about biblical values. I think I heard the term leadership used once during the whole conference. The design of the conference was to consider, define, and defend biblical values in a post-Christian world. Read More

Every year at the end of January school choice becomes a topic of yellow scarves and celebrating the ability of parents and students to choose which kind of education best meets their needs. Many people around the country find it exhilarating, but for most, they just miss the whole issue. It is a shame, but it happens with hundreds of issues each day in our media-driven culture.

However, one of the voices that continues to be generally absent in this conversation is the evangelical protestant church. Now, I am not naive.... Read More