December 23, 2025 • 7 mins
The prince of this world offers many memberships to our kids, in an attempt to rob their Christian identity. The most common is seeing yourself as belonging to a unique generation that is superior to past generations. The benefit of this club is you don't have to follow the boundaries or values held in the past. At best you ignore your citizenship in the kingdom, at worst you deny it.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ethan (00:02):
Raising joyful children in an angry world, a podcast
dedicated to faithful parentsnavigating their families
through a stormy culture
This is raising joyful childrenin an angry world.
I'm your host, Paul Osborne.
Well, it's Christmas Week 2025,and this will be the last
podcast for this year.
And I wanted to touch on asubject that I've been running
into quite a bit inconversations with people around
(00:25):
my neighborhood and coffee shopsand in especially when I go to
what I call the writer'smeetings, these meetings.
Whether they be the children'sliterature or fiction writing,
what we will often do is eachperson will read a little piece
of what they've written and thenwe critique one another.
And one of the things that Ihear largely from people in
(00:46):
their twenties and thirties whowould be a childbearing age and
raising kids, and even in theirforties, is they'll say
something like this, the phraseyou used in the story, and then
they'll name the phrase, nobodyin my generation would know what
it means.
Now, nevermind the context ofthe time and place, the story is
happening, or the quest that thecharacter is on.
(01:09):
No.
The value of the words andphrases must be in the
contemporary vernacular becauseit is of the ultimate
importance.
And the thing that reallystrikes me about this statement,
and I hear this often is thatit's not so much that the person
even is expressing theirpreferences or even say
(01:30):
something like, well, I mighthave to stop reading the story
if that kind of term might stopme.
But the person holds a beliefthat their reaction not only
speaks for themselves, but theyhave an authority to speak for
an entire generation.
You, you can see, can you seehow this is like, you gotta do
it on my terms.
And by the way, I representeverybody that is my age and my
(01:54):
generation.
The inflation of that ego andthe demand for it.
I would suggest that if youbelieve you hold such an
authority, man, there's a realgap in in how you were raised.
And I could go on about this,but it is counterproductive.
Even in the literary world tobuilding the brain muscles to go
(02:18):
and look up words and be abetter reader and learn and
build your vocabulary.
But as a Christian, this iswhere I really think this gets
scary.
That if you hold this view, thateverything must be framed in
contemporary conversationalstyle.
Well, you're walking into aworld.
That will not benefit yourchild's faith.
(02:39):
In fact, they will be in dangerof holding strange and strong
beliefs about whatever it is,generation X or Y or Z, and they
will begin to use this againstyou.
Oh, I get what your boundary is.
Your mom, dad.
Yeah, but you see, that's foryour generation.
This is what took place in thesexual revolution in the 1960s.
(03:01):
Christianity has to be able todeliver and has to be understood
as timeless wisdom that appliesto our current life, and it has
to understand that God istimeless and eternal.
He.
Is the thing, the supreme being,in other words, he is and never
(03:23):
changes.
He knows all from the past.
He knows all about the future.
He is, as the creed says, theGod the Father Almighty, who
speaks to all generations.
So when you get into these kindsof conversations and you start
to demand teaching and worshipand language, and it has to meet
(03:46):
this modern vernacular.
I fear we end up building a wallthat blocks a lot of faith's.
Great wisdom.
Because at the same time you'resaying to the heart and the
mind, the child, well, you know,these are the filters you have
to have and, and if you say themand you believe them, then they
(04:07):
will adopt them.
I think we end up putting thewrong question at the port of
entry.
The wrong filters, the screen ofmodern.
Thinking has a way of preventingthe important words of wisdom
and, and leaving them out and,and this then leads to
destructive ideas that get inthe second thing that happens.
(04:30):
When you start down this path,you know, this is my generation,
and see, we think this way andyou, you start down this path,
well, you end up creating asocial construct, which is a
fancy word, but what youactually are doing is you are
creating segregation of peoplebased on age.
And it's not any different thanthe segregationist who created
(04:50):
it by race or ethnicity orgender.
And segregation leads to amindset that this is my
identity.
I identify because I'm aparticular generation and I put
a, a letter or some alphanumericidentity behind it, instead of
I'm identifying myself as aChristian.
(05:13):
This segregation also, it thensays, well, you elders, you
teachers here.
You, you are in a differentgroup, so you, you're not with
me.
And, and suddenly you start tobreak down the entire
understanding of the, of theChristian family and, and what
we are all about and thetimelessness and all of the
(05:35):
attributes of God.
We end up giving the devil atool to dismiss teaching that is
not served on the plate ofpreference.
The devil says, oh, that's notyour preference.
You don't have to listen to it.
You don't have to hear it.
And, and all of this ishappening at the same time that
this modern invention of socialmedia is.
(05:57):
Driving this kind of same allyou see people in your group,
people in your friend's space,people that use whatever social
media app you use.
Old people use this one, youngpeople use this one, and all
this stuff is being a massivedriver of anxiety and a mental
health crisis in our country.
(06:18):
When the child reaches theirteen years, I will tell you they
are going to use this conceptagainst you, and they're gonna
do it regardless of what you do.
So don't hear that.
This is like if you do it, butif you do it, I think they'll
use it more.
Because they're gonna see youand your authority, and your
boundaries and your beliefs andyour faith, as something that
(06:39):
has authority to only people inyour 20 year age group, maybe
even less than that.
So for 2026, let's be carefulabout.
My generation and oh, I've gottamake something that only applies
to the kids.
Let's push kids to understandclassic stories.
Let's push them to push theirvocabulary higher.
(07:01):
Let's push the Bible stories.
And yeah, I think we have to saythem meaningfully and we gotta
try to tell them sometimes in aI.
Entertaining way, but sometimesyou just gotta get down and
accept that this is what theeternal God, the Father Almighty
has through the Holy Spirit,given us through His word.
(07:21):
And we will benefit from it forall generations.
Any rate, that's my rant for theend of 2025.
I hope the audience has a MerryChristmas and a blessed New
year.
Paul (07:34):
The ultimate battle for the heart and soul is a fight
for identity.
Our king invites our kids toknow who they are, what to
believe, and where they belong.
Paul (2) (07:47):
Until next time, let's remember the words for theirs is
the Kingdom of Heaven.
Raising joyful children in an angry world, a podcast
dedicated to faithful parentsnavigating their families
through a stormy culture
This is raising joyful childrenin an angry world.
I'm your host, Paul Osborne.
Well, it's Christmas Week 2025,and this will be the last
podcast for this year.
And I wanted to touch on asubject that I've been running
into quite a bit inconversations with people around
(00:25):
my neighborhood and coffee shopsand in especially when I go to
what I call the writer'smeetings, these meetings.
Whether they be the children'sliterature or fiction writing,
what we will often do is eachperson will read a little piece
of what they've written and thenwe critique one another.
And one of the things that Ihear largely from people in
(00:46):
their twenties and thirties whowould be a childbearing age and
raising kids, and even in theirforties, is they'll say
something like this, the phraseyou used in the story, and then
they'll name the phrase, nobodyin my generation would know what
it means.
Now, nevermind the context ofthe time and place, the story is
happening, or the quest that thecharacter is on.
(01:09):
No.
The value of the words andphrases must be in the
contemporary vernacular becauseit is of the ultimate
importance.
And the thing that reallystrikes me about this statement,
and I hear this often is thatit's not so much that the person
even is expressing theirpreferences or even say
(01:30):
something like, well, I mighthave to stop reading the story
if that kind of term might stopme.
But the person holds a beliefthat their reaction not only
speaks for themselves, but theyhave an authority to speak for
an entire generation.
You, you can see, can you seehow this is like, you gotta do
it on my terms.
And by the way, I representeverybody that is my age and my
(01:54):
generation.
The inflation of that ego andthe demand for it.
I would suggest that if youbelieve you hold such an
authority, man, there's a realgap in in how you were raised.
And I could go on about this,but it is counterproductive.
Even in the literary world tobuilding the brain muscles to go
(02:18):
and look up words and be abetter reader and learn and
build your vocabulary.
But as a Christian, this iswhere I really think this gets
scary.
That if you hold this view, thateverything must be framed in
contemporary conversationalstyle.
Well, you're walking into aworld.
That will not benefit yourchild's faith.
(02:39):
In fact, they will be in dangerof holding strange and strong
beliefs about whatever it is,generation X or Y or Z, and they
will begin to use this againstyou.
Oh, I get what your boundary is.
Your mom, dad.
Yeah, but you see, that's foryour generation.
This is what took place in thesexual revolution in the 1960s.
(03:01):
Christianity has to be able todeliver and has to be understood
as timeless wisdom that appliesto our current life, and it has
to understand that God istimeless and eternal.
He.
Is the thing, the supreme being,in other words, he is and never
(03:23):
changes.
He knows all from the past.
He knows all about the future.
He is, as the creed says, theGod the Father Almighty, who
speaks to all generations.
So when you get into these kindsof conversations and you start
to demand teaching and worshipand language, and it has to meet
(03:46):
this modern vernacular.
I fear we end up building a wallthat blocks a lot of faith's.
Great wisdom.
Because at the same time you'resaying to the heart and the
mind, the child, well, you know,these are the filters you have
to have and, and if you say themand you believe them, then they
(04:07):
will adopt them.
I think we end up putting thewrong question at the port of
entry.
The wrong filters, the screen ofmodern.
Thinking has a way of preventingthe important words of wisdom
and, and leaving them out and,and this then leads to
destructive ideas that get inthe second thing that happens.
(04:30):
When you start down this path,you know, this is my generation,
and see, we think this way andyou, you start down this path,
well, you end up creating asocial construct, which is a
fancy word, but what youactually are doing is you are
creating segregation of peoplebased on age.
And it's not any different thanthe segregationist who created
(04:50):
it by race or ethnicity orgender.
And segregation leads to amindset that this is my
identity.
I identify because I'm aparticular generation and I put
a, a letter or some alphanumericidentity behind it, instead of
I'm identifying myself as aChristian.
(05:13):
This segregation also, it thensays, well, you elders, you
teachers here.
You, you are in a differentgroup, so you, you're not with
me.
And, and suddenly you start tobreak down the entire
understanding of the, of theChristian family and, and what
we are all about and thetimelessness and all of the
(05:35):
attributes of God.
We end up giving the devil atool to dismiss teaching that is
not served on the plate ofpreference.
The devil says, oh, that's notyour preference.
You don't have to listen to it.
You don't have to hear it.
And, and all of this ishappening at the same time that
this modern invention of socialmedia is.
(05:57):
Driving this kind of same allyou see people in your group,
people in your friend's space,people that use whatever social
media app you use.
Old people use this one, youngpeople use this one, and all
this stuff is being a massivedriver of anxiety and a mental
health crisis in our country.
(06:18):
When the child reaches theirteen years, I will tell you they
are going to use this conceptagainst you, and they're gonna
do it regardless of what you do.
So don't hear that.
This is like if you do it, butif you do it, I think they'll
use it more.
Because they're gonna see youand your authority, and your
boundaries and your beliefs andyour faith, as something that
(06:39):
has authority to only people inyour 20 year age group, maybe
even less than that.
So for 2026, let's be carefulabout.
My generation and oh, I've gottamake something that only applies
to the kids.
Let's push kids to understandclassic stories.
Let's push them to push theirvocabulary higher.
(07:01):
Let's push the Bible stories.
And yeah, I think we have to saythem meaningfully and we gotta
try to tell them sometimes in aI.
Entertaining way, but sometimesyou just gotta get down and
accept that this is what theeternal God, the Father Almighty
has through the Holy Spirit,given us through His word.
(07:21):
And we will benefit from it forall generations.
Any rate, that's my rant for theend of 2025.
I hope the audience has a MerryChristmas and a blessed New
year.
Paul (07:34):
The ultimate battle for the heart and soul is a fight
for identity.
Our king invites our kids toknow who they are, what to
believe, and where they belong.
Paul (2) (07:47):
Until next time, let's remember the words for theirs is
the Kingdom of Heaven.
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