Everyday Theology + Questions Kids Ask

Rachel C Swanson is an author and is a mom of three. She joins us today to help us understand what sin is and how to raise kids who confess sin and ask forgiveness quickly. I love how this conversation so simply leads into a conversation about the Gospel and our need for rescue from sin that can only be done through a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross and rose again, paying the penalty for sin. Read more show notes at www.marycwiley.com/podcast/what-is-sin.

Why are there children who go to bed at night hungry? Why do earthquakes or tornados destroy entire towns? Micah Fries is here to answer our tough question today of "Why do bad things happen?"  Listen in as we talk about how sin has invaded every piece of life on earth, how we shouldn't sanitize Bible stories, and how we can parent kids who love God's Word. Read more of the show notes at www.marycwiley.com/podcast/why-bad-things-happen

Dan Darling is the Vice President for Communications for the ERLC, and is the author of multiple books. He is a graduate of  Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dan and his wife Angela have four children and live in the Nashville area. In this episode, we discuss human dignity, God's image in people after the fall, and how this truth should affect the way we treat others and think about others. Listen in now. Read more at http://www.marycwiley.com/podcast/in-gods-image

In this episode, we talk about the need to discuss Bible stories without avoiding hard things with age appropriateness, God calling Aaron's family to move to the US from Canada, and how we just never know what is going to come out of our kids' mouths. We talk about how weird it must have been for Noah or others in the Bible to obey God, and how we must do the same, even when it seems weird. Read more show notes at www.marycwiley.com/podcast/strange-things

Brittany Salmon (Masters in Intercultural Studies and pursing a PhD at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) joins me to talk about the Holy Spirit and shares a ton of encouragement for those moments when you totally botch a conversation with your kids and when you are busy and struggle with balancing all the plates that you have spinning.  Read more show notes at www.marycwiley.com/podcast/who-is-the-holy-spirit

Brian Dembowcyzk (Managing Editor of The Gospel Project and dad of three) answers this question often with his kids. His daughter has a limb difference and a prosthetic, so she deals with feeling different or being told she is different often.  Reminding kids that sin has effected every element of our lives, including our bodies is a great way to remind them of the gospel message.

Don’t think, “Oh it would never be my child that struggles with this.” If they come home from college or from some class with new questions and new ideas, don’t panic. Helping kids understand the need to own their own faith and remind them of God's love for them seen in Him sending Jesus to pay for our sin. Read more show notes at www.marycwiley.com/podcast/why-follow-jesus

Brandon shares with us about the internal and external evidence that supports the reliability of the Bible. We also talked about how miraculous it is that the Bible has be preserved through rulers requiring that all manuscripts be burned within their empire, through generations of people, and through all sorts of other challenges pre-printing press. Read more show notes at www.marycwiley.com/podcast/is-the-bible-true

Sin separated us from God, and only Jesus' sacrifice could fix this separation. Jesus was completely sinless, so He was the only suitable sacrifice to pay for sin before a holy, perfect, sinless God. Jesus died so that we could have a relationship with God forever, but also so that we could have that relationship now with abundant life in His presence.  Read more show notes at http://www.marycwiley.com/podcast/why-did-jesus-have-to-die

ith Genesis 1 as our foundation, we see that not only are our children created in the image of God, but everyone is – everyone from different ethnicities are created by our Creator God, so if we can start there, then everyone is equal. From there – Jesus died on the cross for every tribe, tongue, and nation and has tasked us to go and make disciples of all nations. And one day we’ll be worshipping together. Read more show notes at http://www.marycwiley.com/podcast/diversity

Micah Fries joins us to help us how to teach kids about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are One. It would be easy to move into believing that we actually serve three Gods (tritheism) or to believe that God is One, acting in three different ways (modalism). Either of these take us to a place we don't want to be - so how do we explain that God is three Persons? Read more show notes at http://www.marycwiley.com/podcast/how-can-god-be-three-in-one

Is God happy? Is He happy with us? The word "happy" is in the Bible 85 times. Over and over again, He says that He is happy and this He is happy with us. Of course, we are sinners and of course we need the justification of Jesus, but if we trust Jesus, God see His child when He looks at us. Ultimately, He sees Jesus' work on the cross. He is a smiling, happy God, and He sings over us. Read more show notes at http://www.questionskidsaskpodcast.com/is-god-happy?