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Apologetic Parenting

Titles are in alphabetical order.

Keeping Your Kids on God's Side
40 Conversations to Help Them Build a Lasting Faith
by Natasha Crain

It’s no secret that children of all ages are regularly being exposed to negative criticism of Christianity as they spend time at school, with friends, or online. The result? Research shows that by the time they become young adults, at least 60 percent are turning away from Christianity.
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It doesn't have to be that way. 

It shouldn't be that way.

The secular world is asking tough questions about Christianity, but there are compelling answers available. The problem is that kids aren't being equipped with those answers because many parents lack the knowledge themselves.

If you don't feel prepared to have these deeper conversations about faith with your own kids, this book is for you.

In Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side, you’ll be introduced to 40 of the most important faith challenges facing Christian kids today. Each chapter clearly explains what skeptics are saying and provides a concise, easy-to-understand response you can discuss with your children. 

Keeping Your Kids on God's Side will help you become the confident Christian parent God designed you to be.
From Harvest House Publishers. Available from hundreds of Barnes & Noble and local Christian stores, or from the online retailers below.

Click here to listen to Natasha discuss her book with AMBrewster.
​Click here to view book in Amazon.

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Talking with Your Kids about God
30 Conversations Every Parent Must Have
​by Natasha Crain

You know how important it is to raise kids who love God. But in today’s increasingly skeptical and hostile world, how can you prepare them for the challenges and doubts they will inevitably face? What should you discuss and how should you discuss it?

In a friendly, parent-to-parent voice, Natasha Crain brings clarity to these answers by walking you through thirty essential conversations about God that parents and kids must have.

Natasha’s first book, Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side: 40 Conversations to Help Them Build a Lasting Faith, introduced parents to key faith challenges in the subject areas of God, Truth and Worldviews, Jesus, the Bible, and Science. Talking with Your Kids about God begins a series of books that now take parents deeper into those individual subject areas. The next book in the series, Talking with Your Kids about Jesus, will be released next year.

Organized so that each chapter builds upon the last, this book provides a cumulative learning experience appropriate for multiple settings: homes, church classes, youth groups, small groups, and homeschools. Every chapter has a conversation guide, and content is adaptable for use with kids from elementary age through high school.

​Click here to listen to Natasha discuss her book with AMBrewster.
Click here to view book in Amazon.

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The Biggest Story:
How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden
by Kevin DeYoung

Once upon a time there lived a man and a woman. They were the happiest people on the planet.
True, they were the only people on the planet, but they were still terrifically happy.
Unfortunately, things didn’t stay happy and wonderful for long . . .
The Bible is full of exciting stories that fill children with awe and wonder. But kids need to know how all those classic stories connect to Scripture’s overarching message about God’s glorious plan to redeem his rebellious people.
In The Biggest Story, Kevin DeYoung—a best-selling author and father of six—leads kids and parents alike on an exciting journey through the Bible, connecting the dots from the garden of Eden to Christ's death on the cross to the new heaven and new earth.
With powerful illustrations by award-winning artist Don Clark, this imaginative retelling of the Bible’s core message—how the Snake Crusher brings us back to the garden—will draw children into the biblical story, teaching them that God's promises are even bigger and better than we think.
 
Ages 5-8 (read to me)
Ages 8-11 (read to myself)

Click here to view book in Amazon.

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Mama Bear Apologetic: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies
by Hillary Morgan Ferrer

*Foreword written by Nancy Pearcey*

"Parents are the most important apologists our kids will ever know. Mama Bear Apologetics will help you navigate your kids’ questions and prepare them to become committed Christ followers.” —J. Warner Wallace

"If every Christian mom would apply this book in her parenting, it would profoundly transform the next generation." —Natasha Crain

#RoarLikeAMother

The problem with lies is they don’t often sound like lies. They seem harmless, and even sound right. So what’s a Mama Bear to do when her kids seem to be absorbing the culture’s lies uncritically?

Mama Bear Apologetics™ is the book you’ve been looking for. This mom-to-mom guide will equip you to teach your kids how to form their own biblical beliefs about what is true and what is false. Through transparent life stories and clear, practical applications—including prayer strategies—this band of Mama Bears offers you tools to train yourself, so you can turn around and train your kids.

Are you ready to answer the rallying cry, “Mess with our kids and we will demolish your arguments”?  Join the Mama Bears and raise your voice to protect your kids—by teaching them how to think through and address the issues head-on, yet with gentleness and respect.

Click here to view in Amazon.

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A Faith to Grow On
important things you should know now that you believe
​by John MacArthur

"Now that you believe…" - this is the next step in a child's spiritual development after accepting Christ. John MacArthur helps kids understand basic elements of faith, such as: What should we do when we don't understand God? Is there a special way to pray? What if I tell someone about Jesus and nothing happens? As he did in I Believe in Jesus, MacArthur takes difficult-to-understand topics and presents them in a way kids can grasp. A Faith to Grow On presents foundational doctrines of the Christain faith in short devotional readings for young believers.

​Click here to view book in Amazon.

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The Ology
​by Marty Machowski

In the cellar of the old stone cathedral, Carla and Timothy uncover a life-changing treasure, a carefully wrapped ancient book known as The Ology. What adults might describe as a beautifully illustrated storybook of systematic theology, the kids discover to be a story of adventure, mystery, and wonder that leads them to the truth about God, themselves, and the world around them.

Truth is for kids, not just for adults! So The Ology gives kids of all ages a beginner s theology book to help them understand who God is and how we, as his children, relate to him. Arranged within a traditional systematic theological framework, each truth in The Ology is also connected to the larger redemptive story of Scripture. The doctrine of God, for example, is presented in the larger framework of creation, where the attributes of God are on display and easier to understand. Designed for six-year-olds through preteens, this flexible resource includes built-in adaptations for use with younger or older children, so that entire families can enjoy it together.

Read The Ology to preschoolers, read it with grade-school kids, and let older kids discover the hidden truths by reading the corresponding Scripture passages for each section. However you read it, The Ology will give your children a gift that will last a lifetime a solid foundation of life-changing biblical truth that will point them to the God who loves them and gave himself for them.

A beginner s book of systematic theology in the form of a beautifully illustrated storybook.
Clearly explains life-changing theological truths with everyday examples and simple language that kids can understand.
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Uses illustrations, analogies, and word pictures to help kids understand God, the world, and themselves.
Designed for six-year-olds through preteens, with built-in adaptations for use with younger or older children, so that entire families can enjoy it together.

​Click here to view book in Amazon.

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Everything a Child Should Know about God
by Kenneth N. Taylor & Jenny Brake

A systematic theology for kids. Introduces who God is and what he has done in history in terms a 3 year old can understand and anyone can benefit from. A delightful, beautifully illustrated hardcover edition that features clear questions and answers on each page. This is one of the best early childhood resources we know of to "train up your child in the way they should go."

Click here to view book in Amazon.

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Big Truths for Young Hearts
​by Bruce Ware

Equips parents to guide their young children through all major doctrines in an understandable, chapter-a-day format.
Sure, it's easy to teach your children the essentials of Christian theology when you're a theology professor. But what about the rest of us?
With Big Truths for Young Hearts, Bruce Ware, (you guessed it!) a theology professor, encourages and enables parents of children 6-14 years of age to teach through the whole of systematic theology at a level their children can understand. Parents can teach their children the great truths of the faith and shape their worldviews early, based on these truths.
The book covers ten topics of systematic theology, devoting several brief chapters to each subject, making it possible for parents to read one chapter per day with their children. With this non-intimidating format, parents will be emboldened to be their children's primary faith trainers-and perhaps learn a few things themselves along the way.

​Click here to view book in Amazon.

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General Parenting

Titles are in alphabetical order by author.

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Age of Opportunity
​by Paul David Tripp

The teenage years often present difficulty for parents. As a person passes from childhood into adulthood, the transition can be tumultuous.

But we should be shocked and saddened by the cultural cynicism toward these years. They are viewed as a chaotic period to be survived. Teenagers are portrayed as objects that need to be controlled and restrained. This view is wholly unbiblical. 

In Age of Opportunity, Paul David Tripp reveals what Scripture has to say about parenting. Instead of trying to control behavior, God gives us the opportunity to expose our child's heart.

You don't have to fear this stage of life. Age of Opportunity will give you biblical wisdom and goals for walking alongside your child.

Discover the exciting possibilities about parenting your teens.
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Click here to view book in Amazon.

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Anger, Anxiety, and Fear
by Stuart Scott

"Anger, Anxiety, and Fear" is an excerpt from a larger work called "The Exemplary Husband" and provides a biblical counsel for individuals who struggle with anger, anxiety and fear.

​Click here to view the book in Amazon.

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Parenting
by Paul David Tripp

In the midst of folding laundry, coordinating carpool schedules, and breaking up fights, many parents get lost. Feeling pressure to do everything "right" and raise up "good" children, it's easy to lose sight of our ultimate purpose as parents in the quest for practical tips and guaranteed formulas.

In this life-giving book, Paul Tripp offers parents much more than a to-do list. Instead, he presents us with a big-picture view of God's plan for us as parents. Outlining fourteen foundational principles centered on the gospel, he shows that we need more than the latest parenting strategy or list of techniques. Rather, we need the rescuing grace of God—grace that has the power to shape how we view everything we do as parents.
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Freed from the burden of trying to manufacture life-change in our children's hearts, we can embrace a grand perspective of parenting overflowing with vision, purpose, and joy.

Click here to view book in Amazon.

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From Pride to Humility
by Stuart Scott

"From Pride to Humility" is an excerpt from a larger work called "The Exemplary Husband" and deals with resolving conflict and communication problems from a biblical perspective.

​Victory Academy for Boys assigns this booklet to the student's parents as part of their Parent LifeWork.

​Click here to view the book in Amazon.

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Shepherding a Child's Heart
​by Tedd Tripp

Shepherding a Child’s Heart is about how to speak to the heart of your child. The things your child does and says flow from the heart. Luke 6:45 puts it this way: “…out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Written for parents with children of any age, this insightful book provides perspectives and procedures for shepherding your child’s heart into the paths of life.

In this revised edition of Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Dr. Tedd Tripp not only draws on his thirty years experience as a pastor, counselor, school administrator, and father, but he also shares insights gained in many years of teaching this material in conferences worldwide, providing more valuable help for parents.

Click here to view book in Amazon.

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