Good parents make sure their kids are prepared. That’s why we obsess over car seats, bike helmets and sunscreen. It’s why we pack lunches and track down soccer gear. It’s why we spend hours driving them all over town searching for supplies for big, school projects.
We try to prepare our kids because we love them. We want to give them every advantage against the challenges life throws their way.
Yet, when it comes to our kids’ spiritual lives, how well have we prepared our children to face the future? Will they be able to handle challenges to their faith? Do they know how to answer questions and articulate what they believe and why?
If you’re not sure about the answers to those questions, you definitely need to check out an amazing new book called Keeping Your Kids On God’s Side by Natasha Crain. It’s a guide for parents to help our kids answer difficult questions about their faith.
I’ve been following Natasha’s blog for the past year and when I saw she was writing this book, I requested an advanced copy to review because I knew it was going to be awesome. I was not disappointed.
Over the course of the book, Crain tackles forty hot-button questions, grouped within five major conversations:
- Conversations about God
- Conversations about Truth & Worldviews
- Conversations about Jesus
- Conversations about the Bible
- Conversations about Science
As our culture grows increasingly hostile towards faith, these questions will become more important than ever before. Our kids are going to need to learn to think critically and express their beliefs in a reasonable way.
Crain writes, “We have to stop winging our Christian parenting and start getting in shape to prepare our kids for what’s ahead.”
And prepare us she does. Keeping Your Kids On God’s Side covers all the big challenges to faith, including everything from the creation and evolution debate to how we know we can trust the Bible as a reliable historical manuscript.
Throughout the pages of this book, you’ll explore questions like:
- How can Christianity claim to be the only path to God?
- Why does a good God allow suffering?
- What evidence is there that God created the universe?
- How can Christians believe miracles are possible?
These are deep waters for sure, but Crain never lets it get boring. The author has a unique talent for taking deep and complex issues and putting them on a shelf that we can all reach. The chapters are concise and easily digestible. With tangible illustrations from everyday life, she makes this material so accessible that you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to get it.
However, I also appreciated that while Crain keeps the chapters short, she includes plenty of references and links for anyone who wants to learn more.
The fact is our culture is shifting, and we can either ignore it and let our kids flounder in a sea of skepticism or we can do what good parents do and prepare them to face the challenges that will come their way.
In twenty years of Children’s Ministry, I have never read a book I would recommend to every parent . . . until now. Buy this book. Read it. And get ready to go on an incredible journey of faith and reason with your kids.
P.S. If you’d like to read this book with a group, be sure to check out the author’s private Facebook group by March 1st where she’s going to be doing a read along with her fans and answering questions along the way.
Disclosure: As I’ve already stated, I received a free copy of this book to review, but the opinions in this review are my own. This book is fantastic!
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