What do you mean my church can’t raise my kids for me?? Family ministry expert Rob Rienow joins Phil and Skye to talk about the importance of discipling kids at home, and gives practical advice for doing just that. Plus, what do Richard Dawkins and The Bible Answer Man have in common? They’ve been DE-PLATFORMED! And a new theory suggests our increasing political extremism may be caused – at least partly – by the decline of mainline Protestantism?? Crazy!!
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Rob Reinow said that ‘doctrine is a unifying factor’, and said that their church statement of faith was 8 pages long. Since you both seemed to agree with him, are you saying that the average guy in the pew has to agree with everything the pastor/leadership of the local church says about even the secondary issues? On the essentials, I would totally agree, but on the non essentials/secondary issues, I think that is totally wrong. I’m with CS Lewis. If I had to agree on everything, I’d have to start my own church be the only member. I’m just an average guy in a pew, and the secondary issues has never been a problem. I really hope I totally misunderstood what the three of you were saying, otherwise I’m in big trouble.
I too read the Vox article. It gelled with a lot of what I witnessed throughout the 2016 election season as a high schooler in NE Iowa, an area that swung heavy to the right between Romney and Trump. An area that traditionally is Methodist and Lutheran (like since the 1860s), these denominations have hemorrhaged in Iowa, especially in the last 30 years, so that the younger generation locally (30 and under) is primarily nominally mainline Protestant. My peers have retained a vague Moral Therapeutic Deism (perhaps still affiliated with the mainline, perhaps not) that actually gels quite well with Yrump’s “Make America Great Again” that heartens back to a nondescript moral past that is high on sentiment and low on specific moral standards (alcohol and drug use is common amongst those I went to school with) , especially when set against the perceived cold technocratic indifference of Clinton and the off-putting overreaction to Trump by the far Left . I think this same force was behind their support for Obama in ’08 and ’12-the sense of moral importance on electing a black president, the more friendly tone Obama took towards rural voters, aligned well with MTD. And like it or not, these voters are the future of the rural electorate, and I have a hard time seeing them switching back to the Democrats in the future as long as the Left continues to vilify patriotism, religion, or, frankly, whiteness, because this attacks the center of identity of this young group.
I really enjoyed this podcast. As a parent of three kids, I identified with the challenges Rob presented around how best to guide them spiritually. I was encouraged to hear that many parents and families struggle in this area. Rob’s description of doing family worship resonated with me and I am encouraged to continue my own “fumbling” way towards spending time with my kids in God’s Word and in prayer on a regular basis no matter how imperfect it may be. Thanks for continuing to provide this forum for interesting and encouraging discussion on very practical issues.