WEBVTT 00:02.579 --> 00:05.062 [Steph]: Hey friends, welcome back to the Christian parenting podcast. 00:05.163 --> 00:13.955 [Steph]: I'm Steph Thirling, and today's conversation is one that I think every parent needs right now, because culture is loud, it's fast, and it's honestly a little bit exhausting. 00:14.555 --> 00:19.943 [Steph]: I am sitting down with two of my Denison Ministries, teammates and friends, Connor Jones and Micah Tomasella 00:20.303 --> 00:30.477 [Steph]: They host the Culture Brief podcast, which is part of Denison Forum, where they help listeners navigate the constant stream of headlines, trends, and big cultural moments through a biblical lens. 00:30.457 --> 00:38.106 [Steph]: Conner is the director of performance marketing, and Micah is the director of advancement here at Dennis Industries, and both of them are in the thick, apparent, and little. 00:38.186 --> 00:40.869 [Steph]: So they are living in the same tension that we are. 00:41.170 --> 00:43.853 [Steph]: So we talk about how to decide what's worth paying attention to. 00:43.873 --> 00:55.907 [Steph]: How to enjoy fun parts of culture without turning them into idols, and how to have conversations with our kids that don't turn into lectures or debates, even when the information moves faster than 00:56.242 --> 00:58.264 [Steph]: And so my family doesn't get mad at me. 00:58.385 --> 01:01.388 [Steph]: I would like to clarify one thing that I mentioned at some point. 01:01.889 --> 01:09.238 [Steph]: And that is, at the Minnesota Vikings, have, in fact, been to four super bowls all in the 70s, but they've just never won one. 01:09.698 --> 01:16.787 [Steph]: So I never claimed to be a sports expert here, and that is definitely obvious, but just for the sake of my family, there you go. 01:17.628 --> 01:24.696 [Steph]: Okay, if you've ever felt overwhelmed, unsure of what to say, or tempted to just avoid it all, this episode is for you, so enjoy it. 01:31.274 --> 01:34.098 [Steph]: Hey Connor, and Micah , welcome to the Christian parenting podcast. 01:34.118 --> 01:35.700 [Micah]: Hey, Steph happy to be here. 01:35.900 --> 01:36.701 [Steph]: I'm very glad to have you. 01:36.721 --> 01:37.002 [Micah]: Welcome. 01:37.322 --> 01:39.385 [Micah]: I just said welcome to you on your own podcast. 01:39.425 --> 01:41.608 [Steph]: Well, that's because you have your own podcast. 01:41.688 --> 01:44.311 [Steph]: And so maybe I'm a guest here. 01:44.471 --> 01:44.912 [Steph]: I don't know. 01:44.952 --> 01:46.414 [Steph]: This is who knows. 01:46.674 --> 01:47.956 [Micah]: No, we're your guests. 01:47.976 --> 01:49.158 [Micah]: Welcome right back, sister. 01:49.358 --> 01:49.758 [Micah]: Welcome. 01:49.818 --> 01:53.143 [Steph]: It's just a great little happy Dennis and ministries family here. 01:53.323 --> 01:57.629 [Steph]: So tell everyone who you are and how you're part of Dennis and ministries. 01:57.829 --> 01:59.391 [Steph]: And then about your podcast that you host. 01:59.371 --> 02:02.734 [Conner]: Yeah, uh, I'm Connor Jones, uh, Micah is over here as well. 02:02.795 --> 02:12.905 [Conner]: We are the co-hosts of the Culture Brief podcast with Denison Forum, which is under the umbrella of Denison Ministries, which if you've been around long enough listen to this podcast, Christian Parenting, great organization. 02:13.245 --> 02:15.668 [Conner]: Fantastic brand is also part of Dinnison Ministries. 02:15.688 --> 02:17.430 [Conner]: So we are, you know, we're all co-workers here. 02:17.530 --> 02:22.635 [Conner]: We all work for Denison Ministries, and very grateful to do that work with Steph and grateful to just be on this podcast with her. 02:22.655 --> 02:23.556 [Conner]: But Culture Brief is 02:23.536 --> 02:28.100 [Conner]: A Denison Forum show where Micah and I each week dive into news and into big things happen in the culture. 02:28.140 --> 02:36.789 [Conner]: We like to say that we're navigating the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, technology, pop culture, entertainment, anything with that. 02:37.089 --> 02:39.211 [Conner]: And we do it all basically from a Christian perspective. 02:39.231 --> 02:41.874 [Conner]: And we try to just dive into it and engage culture with scripture. 02:42.094 --> 02:42.594 [Micah]: Yeah. 02:42.614 --> 02:42.855 [Micah]: Yeah. 02:42.875 --> 02:43.335 [Micah]: Absolutely. 02:43.375 --> 02:48.580 [Micah]: I mean, we love doing the podcast and we love being able to release episodes weekly. 02:48.620 --> 02:50.522 [Micah]: So we record on Wednesdays. 02:50.502 --> 02:54.170 [Micah]: then we released them early in the morning on Thursday every single week. 02:54.531 --> 03:07.701 [Micah]: You can find this culture brief on anywhere that you listen to podcasts, we're on YouTube, all those different types of things but we get to work with staff and that's wonderful and there's definitely a lot of intersection into what we're speaking into when it comes to culture. 03:07.681 --> 03:21.148 [Micah]: when it comes to dealing with that, applying God's word to it, thinking through it, processing it and being kind of like real about the questions that we have when difficult times come or when there's a lot of things that are just seemingly outside of our control, which is just a whole lot of everything that's swirling around right now. 03:21.509 --> 03:24.795 [Micah]: There's just a lot of crossover and some glad we're finally getting to have this conversation stuff. 03:24.775 --> 03:25.476 [Steph]: Yeah, me too. 03:25.536 --> 03:28.440 [Steph]: And you guys have been friends for longer than even co-workers. 03:28.821 --> 03:30.583 [Steph]: And then now you have your own families. 03:30.643 --> 03:32.386 [Steph]: So just give us a little, tell us a little about your family. 03:32.426 --> 03:33.728 [Steph]: So we know where you come from. 03:34.128 --> 03:34.409 [Micah]: Yeah. 03:34.429 --> 03:34.629 [Micah]: Yeah. 03:34.649 --> 03:34.849 [Micah]: Yeah. 03:35.770 --> 03:38.735 [Micah]: So it's as Connor said, hello, my name is Mike Thomasella. 03:38.975 --> 03:40.217 [Micah]: I am married. 03:40.757 --> 03:41.899 [Micah]: That's my beautiful wife Emily. 03:41.919 --> 03:43.341 [Micah]: We have two daughters. 03:43.321 --> 03:51.789 [Micah]: they are toddlers, they are running around everywhere and we love them so much and it's just been such a blessing and I do get to work for the ministry specifically. 03:51.849 --> 04:12.028 [Micah]: I'm the director of advancement for Denis some ministries so I get to represent the ministry at various functions and amongst donors and relationships and really a large part of my job is helping raise funds for our organization now and in the future and I love every part of working for the ministry and even more importantly I love being a husband and dad to my girls. 04:12.008 --> 04:20.827 [Conner]: Yeah, I've got a beautiful wife as well and we have our one and a half year old son and he's just enjoying this Christmas season right now getting to see his eyes light up with all the lights and everything going on there. 04:20.887 --> 04:21.628 [Conner]: It's it's fun. 04:21.989 --> 04:25.016 [Conner]: It's also wild and we are just loving learning how to be parents. 04:25.056 --> 04:27.621 [Conner]: And so I, you know, have leaned into Christian parenting resources for that. 04:27.601 --> 04:29.544 [Conner]: But yeah, Mike and I, we went to college together. 04:29.865 --> 04:32.109 [Conner]: We both met our wives at college at the same school. 04:32.389 --> 04:35.394 [Conner]: And we've just done life together for, I guess, a decade or so. 04:35.795 --> 04:37.498 [Conner]: And then we both ended up here working here. 04:37.538 --> 04:39.701 [Conner]: And so it's been fun to be able to do this work together. 04:39.721 --> 04:46.673 [Conner]: But also this podcast together, because we have just been doing life together and talking about cultural things honestly for well over 10 years. 04:46.653 --> 04:47.795 [Conner]: Yeah, it's crazy. 04:48.055 --> 04:51.280 [Micah]: A decade and Connor, tell them what you do for the ministry. 04:51.420 --> 04:53.183 [Micah]: I think what you do is very interesting. 04:53.703 --> 04:57.148 [Conner]: Yeah, I get to do direct, I'm the director of performance marketing. 04:57.168 --> 05:00.153 [Conner]: So the whole idea of just growing these brands trying to reach more people. 05:00.714 --> 05:03.197 [Conner]: You know, Christian parenting's got exciting things coming down the line. 05:03.217 --> 05:08.144 [Conner]: And so launching some of those products or newsletters or offerings or podcasts and videos and being on YouTube. 05:08.465 --> 05:13.993 [Conner]: That's all under my realm and I just love doing it so fun and getting to reach more people with this great work that the ministry's doing. 05:13.973 --> 05:21.829 [Micah]: Yeah, and Connor, just to be clear, and Steph too, if you're wondering, when I said that I think what Connor does is interesting, I wasn't being sarcastic at all. 05:22.170 --> 05:22.411 [Micah]: Okay. 05:22.711 --> 05:23.212 [Micah]: I really do. 05:23.252 --> 05:24.615 [Micah]: I think it is interesting. 05:24.916 --> 05:30.488 [Micah]: I'm not sure how it comes off being recorded, but Connor, I think you're interesting in what you do is very interesting buddy. 05:30.508 --> 05:31.750 [Micah]: Well, I appreciate that Michael. 05:31.770 --> 05:32.151 [Micah]: Thank you. 05:32.131 --> 05:37.922 [Steph]: appreciate both of you and the work that you do to make Christian parenting happen and your podcast too. 05:38.042 --> 05:39.284 [Steph]: I love listening culture brief. 05:39.464 --> 05:40.306 [Steph]: It's really interesting. 05:40.326 --> 05:45.295 [Steph]: You guys do spend, like you said, time, and talk about the intersection of faith and culture. 05:45.535 --> 05:46.377 [Steph]: And 05:46.677 --> 05:49.041 [Steph]: And that's a really interesting topic and idea. 05:49.121 --> 05:54.091 [Steph]: And obviously, I cover a lot of cultural things through a parenting lens on this podcast in different capacities. 05:54.291 --> 06:01.584 [Steph]: But I feel I was thinking about it preparing for this and I feel like sometimes we can use the word culture as though it's almost like a bad word. 06:01.885 --> 06:05.852 [Steph]: Like we talk so much about culture, what's culture saying versus scripture? 06:05.932 --> 06:07.355 [Steph]: And how do we live against culture? 06:07.475 --> 06:09.158 [Steph]: And that's not necessarily 06:09.138 --> 06:17.013 [Steph]: bad and there's a reality to that, but then also there's a reality to not everything in culture is terrible and the world is the world that we live in. 06:17.053 --> 06:21.662 [Steph]: So there's a how do we balance all those things and that's what's overwhelming as a parent. 06:22.123 --> 06:24.348 [Steph]: And so that's what we want to talk about a little bit today. 06:24.428 --> 06:31.281 [Steph]: So let's just start with when there's like a big cultural moment happening which feels like it's every single day these days. 06:31.261 --> 06:35.631 [Steph]: like a headline that everyone's talking about or some viral story or whatever. 06:35.751 --> 06:38.557 [Steph]: How do you decide what's worth paying attention to? 06:38.918 --> 06:39.961 [Steph]: What is interesting? 06:40.001 --> 06:46.435 [Steph]: What might be important versus that something that just is noisy in your ear and you could probably just scroll past. 06:46.415 --> 07:11.477 [Conner]: Yeah, I think that's a great question, you know, I think when we're looking at things we're going to cover on the podcast or even just things I want to talk about in the household with my wife like here's what's going on a culture here's this big thing that happened in the news today, you know we're thinking like is this going to have an impact on culture at large is this going to have an impact on me and my family is it going to impact my faith there's things like you know AI a lot of people are concerned about AI as part of culture with is that going to impact my job down the line is that going to impact the economy it could be. 07:11.457 --> 07:28.318 [Conner]: the government shut down when it shut down for a month and a half earlier this year that impacts a lot of people so thinking about that what's the grander impact of this going to be and is this cultural thing potentially going to be destructive down the line and we need to prepare for how to discuss that how to spiritually approach that and this could be again. 07:28.298 --> 07:30.583 [Conner]: Is that going to be something destructive down the line? 07:30.603 --> 07:34.711 [Conner]: Do we need to start having conversations from the logical and scriptural standpoint of how to approach something like that? 07:35.012 --> 07:44.130 [Conner]: I think you know anything that we know will have a grander just impact on us and our faith in our lives We're definitely want to talk about yeah, I think 07:44.110 --> 07:50.337 [Micah]: I think you approach it from, from two different perspectives now that we have a year under our belt of hosting this podcast. 07:50.417 --> 07:54.621 [Micah]: We, you know, our audience is really good at engaging with us when it comes to culture brief. 07:54.641 --> 08:01.208 [Micah]: And so, you know, we hear from them what they're going through, what they're thinking through, whether if that's from them sending an email or something on social media. 08:01.268 --> 08:09.477 [Micah]: So there's definitely a way that we process through the news of, it's not just, hey, here's what I'm interested in, here's what Conor's interested in, here's what we're going to talk about. 08:09.457 --> 08:38.063 [Micah]: If you go listen to the podcast a lot of times, maybe not most of the time, but really if we have the time, we are talking about things we might prefer personally not to talk about because we're talking about some sort of violent conflict or we're talking about some disease or we're talking about the same political topic over and over and over again, but that's what culture is hitting on and that's what Christians are being inundated with and that's what our kids are being inundated with is they're growing up as these same cultural stories over and over and over and over again and we have a decision to make and oftentimes where we're hit with 08:38.043 --> 08:39.265 [Micah]: Okay, what is truth? 08:39.506 --> 08:45.538 [Micah]: Okay, now I understand what truth is, here's what God's word has to say about it, whatever it might be, but what on earth can I do about it? 08:45.558 --> 08:57.081 [Micah]: And that's what Connor and I really try to lean into, is always giving a spiritual application, always giving a spiritual challenge, and inviting God into our news consumption, something that we do, and something that we encourage our audience to do. 08:57.061 --> 09:16.401 [Micah]: So I think at first it was, okay, what are we interested about talking, you know, what are we interested in talking about Connor and for the most part that was pretty much on the forefront in culture but then over time we have really learned and grown in that ability to say, you know what this is exactly what we need to speak through talk about because in all reality we're struggling with how to wrap our minds around this issue. 09:16.841 --> 09:21.786 [Micah]: I think about the floods in the Texas Hill Country earlier this year. 09:22.762 --> 09:25.248 [Micah]: devastating, especially for those of us here in Texas. 09:25.268 --> 09:29.878 [Micah]: Everybody was connected to someone who was affected, who lost someone, who lost a kid, potentially. 09:29.918 --> 09:41.445 [Micah]: And so those moments are, well, there's absolutely nothing that we should be talking about than this right here and how God is still moving and working through that situation, how dire desperate it may seem. 09:41.425 --> 09:41.766 [Steph]: Yeah. 09:42.347 --> 09:51.667 [Steph]: So, when you're thinking about big cultural things, big news events, there are things like the flood in Texas, which are devastating and upsetting, or what just happened in Australia. 09:51.687 --> 09:53.170 [Steph]: And those are things that we need to talk about. 09:53.551 --> 09:58.000 [Steph]: But then there's also on the flip side, the fun things, but... 09:58.790 --> 10:09.317 [Steph]: For me, I was recently talking to someone about retogging about the eras tour because the docking series just came out and so now it's like, remember how amazing and culturally significant that was that was incredible. 10:09.538 --> 10:12.105 [Steph]: That's probably not your thing, but you guys like sports. 10:12.847 --> 10:14.892 [Steph]: So how do you? 10:14.872 --> 10:17.635 [Steph]: Like, be all in into things that you love. 10:17.655 --> 10:19.137 [Steph]: Like, you guys love your Texas sports. 10:19.317 --> 10:19.698 [Steph]: I know that. 10:19.878 --> 10:20.959 [Steph]: I do love Taylor Swift. 10:21.280 --> 10:22.001 [Steph]: That is factual. 10:22.021 --> 10:23.843 [Steph]: But how do we enjoy culture? 10:23.963 --> 10:29.810 [Steph]: Enjoy the fun parts culture without having it become an issue where it's like an unhealthy idolizing of things. 10:29.830 --> 10:31.712 [Steph]: Because I think that's a concern for parents. 10:32.113 --> 10:35.817 [Steph]: It's okay for you to be a fan of someone or a fan of a sport soon, but let's not turn it into an idol. 10:35.797 --> 10:58.345 [Micah]: You know, I think about Romans 12, too, when you ask that question, it says, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what's the will of God, what is good, and what is acceptable, and what is perfect, ultimately in my own personal journey, the only way that I can make sure that I'm actually renewing my mind, and I'm not just, 10:58.325 --> 11:02.110 [Micah]: being tossed to and fro by whatever's happening, good or bad in the culture. 11:02.451 --> 11:04.414 [Micah]: I go back to, I go back to scripture. 11:04.454 --> 11:11.724 [Micah]: It's the one sure fireway to hear from God every single time, day in and day out moment by moment, go back to prayer, slowing things down. 11:11.744 --> 11:27.066 [Micah]: And so I try to look through, look for things in those lens of, if I'm seeking God, not perfectly, if I'm seeking after him in full faith, trusting him to take care of me, take care of my family, to give me discernment, praying specifically, and I don't have to fear 11:27.046 --> 11:32.492 [Micah]: I don't have to fear certain things that maybe I don't understand or I don't know, people that I don't understand or I don't know. 11:32.512 --> 11:37.417 [Micah]: I don't have to be upset when somebody's talking about something that I disagree with or maybe I'm not interested in. 11:37.477 --> 11:51.090 [Micah]: So if we really are seeking God, I think that that's actually how we live out being in the world and not of the world, because God's called us to be a part of this world just like everybody else is we're all made in the image of God and he's given us the blueprint. 11:51.151 --> 11:53.593 [Micah]: He's given us the foundation to be able to navigate it. 11:53.573 --> 11:54.675 [Conner]: Yeah, I think Mike is right there. 11:54.815 --> 12:04.168 [Conner]: I'd also just say, you know, Steph earlier, you said culture kind of the word, sometimes gets a bad rap, especially in Christian circles, but I think one thing we can remember is that Jesus literally engaged the culture. 12:04.228 --> 12:06.552 [Conner]: And met the people where they were at, right? 12:06.792 --> 12:08.475 [Conner]: And then later on, we see Paul do the same thing. 12:08.495 --> 12:12.541 [Conner]: He writes to the Corinthians in the Romans differently because they have their own cultures in different places. 12:12.901 --> 12:14.543 [Conner]: Cultures not necessarily bad thing. 12:14.864 --> 12:21.133 [Conner]: You just need to learn how to adjust to your culture and for us in America, that's one thing, but for somebody in China, that's totally different, right? 12:21.113 --> 12:43.307 [Conner]: But for Christians, we all have the same calling to engage culture, whether it is the aris tour or a big movie or some massive album that came out sports for Mike and I big time with sports like checking where your faith is at and having that strong foundation of recognizing that the sports thing or the music thing, whatever it is, is not the biggest thing in the world, what is is your faith. 12:43.287 --> 12:46.071 [Conner]: What is bigger is your foundation on Christ? 12:46.492 --> 12:49.116 [Conner]: Is that what you point back to with everything? 12:49.377 --> 12:52.782 [Conner]: Or do you allow culture to basically shake your foundation? 12:52.963 --> 13:00.134 [Conner]: And this all comes back, you know, Matthew 7 24 through 27 is Jesus declaring that anyone who listens to his teaching will build his house on a rock, right? 13:00.194 --> 13:03.059 [Conner]: And that will be knocked down when the wind's blow and beat on the house. 13:03.359 --> 13:06.204 [Conner]: And he follows it up by saying that foolish people build their house on the sand. 13:06.284 --> 13:06.865 [Conner]: So, 13:06.845 --> 13:08.267 [Conner]: It's a heart check for us. 13:08.347 --> 13:09.509 [Conner]: What is our foundation built on? 13:09.529 --> 13:10.991 [Conner]: Is it built on scripture and teachings? 13:11.171 --> 13:12.232 [Conner]: Or is it built on sand? 13:12.653 --> 13:14.976 [Conner]: We're just some cultural tide wave. 13:14.996 --> 13:20.544 [Conner]: We'll come in either knock down our house on sand or we'll be able to stand strong and say, well, I knew where my foundation was. 13:20.884 --> 13:28.635 [Conner]: No matter what the culture moment is, whether it's devastating story or something fun, such a big tailorist with concerts series and a documentary that comes out about it. 13:28.655 --> 13:28.995 [Conner]: I don't know. 13:29.376 --> 13:31.319 [Conner]: Whatever it is, where's our foundation? 13:31.379 --> 13:32.100 [Conner]: That's what we can ask. 13:32.300 --> 13:33.021 [Conner]: Yeah, it's good. 13:33.001 --> 13:39.231 [Steph]: Yeah, I mean if your if a sports team is fun for you and you just get really excited when they went that's super great. 13:39.572 --> 13:41.455 [Steph]: If it are really sad right? 13:42.036 --> 13:49.568 [Steph]: I mean, yes, do you remember when the Vikings played the Cowboys a few years ago and it just like ruined my family's mood for a whole year. 13:49.588 --> 13:54.756 [Micah]: But I wasn't like I mean, I mean the the Cowboys just lost to the Vikings. 13:54.736 --> 13:59.200 [Steph]: Well, I'm talking about a few years ago, and they lost with them vacations last by like 50 points or something. 13:59.321 --> 13:59.681 [Steph]: Yeah, third. 14:00.201 --> 14:05.827 [Micah]: But I was at, I was at the cow was game when the Vikings came in and completely shattered our playoff chances. 14:06.067 --> 14:10.031 [Micah]: So you guys are not in it still for not like making it. 14:10.492 --> 14:19.280 [Steph]: And you can be sad, but if it doesn't ruin your whole entire life, then maybe your foundation is not the cause or if I didn't, if you ruin my, it didn't ruin my whole entire life. 14:19.641 --> 14:20.001 [Micah]: No. 14:19.981 --> 14:24.024 [Steph]: If you're a Vikings fan or a Minnesota sports fan in general, you just shouldn't have that. 14:24.125 --> 14:25.225 [Steph]: This is your foundation. 14:25.586 --> 14:28.548 [Micah]: I don't know why Cowboys fans have such high expectations. 14:28.588 --> 14:32.712 [Micah]: It's been 30 years since we've ever sniffed any championship or done anything whatsoever. 14:32.752 --> 14:34.013 [Micah]: So anyway, I digress. 14:34.193 --> 14:36.995 [Steph]: Think Vikings ever have, but this is how much I know about sports. 14:37.136 --> 14:39.377 [Steph]: We've never done anything cool. 14:39.718 --> 14:41.279 [Steph]: We've never even been to a Super Bowl, right? 14:41.479 --> 14:42.140 [Micah]: I'm sorry, Steph. 14:42.820 --> 14:43.361 [Micah]: Oh, sorry. 14:43.381 --> 14:43.761 [Micah]: I don't know. 14:43.821 --> 14:46.784 [Micah]: I guess, you know, the Vikings have not won. 14:46.844 --> 14:49.566 [Micah]: I guess I just don't know if they've been to a Super Bowl or not. 14:49.546 --> 14:52.390 [Steph]: someone screaming into their car right now as they're driving. 14:52.430 --> 14:54.893 [Steph]: But here I am, this is me, you guys. 14:54.913 --> 14:56.215 [Micah]: Brad, talk it dead. 14:56.616 --> 14:57.537 [Micah]: You know something like that. 14:57.777 --> 14:58.398 [Steph]: Yeah. 14:58.959 --> 15:19.266 [Steph]: Well, okay, so when we're talking about culture, especially as parents, but even just within like your family group or within friends who might have a different world view than you do, like how do you talk about cultural events through biblical lens without turning conversations into like a lecture or debate? 15:19.246 --> 15:21.169 [Conner]: Yeah, I think it's a great question. 15:21.189 --> 15:21.950 [Conner]: That's a great question. 15:22.050 --> 15:37.651 [Conner]: And you know, my son's too young for some of this yet, but you're you're talking about this with your your children's staff at the age they're had and they're engaging with so much stuff going on in culture and even you're right with our friends and people at church and we're not how do we engage that I think probably 51 lays out a great just piece of wisdom. 15:37.691 --> 15:42.958 [Conner]: It says a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stores up anger so approaching things gently. 15:42.938 --> 15:46.284 [Conner]: Recognizing that people will see things totally different than you different perspectives. 15:46.404 --> 15:49.469 [Conner]: Everybody's got value in their opinion So here are them out ask questions. 15:49.509 --> 15:50.952 [Conner]: Why did you think this way about that? 15:51.052 --> 15:53.516 [Conner]: What was your opinion here if you're talking to a kid? 15:53.556 --> 15:57.804 [Conner]: You know really approaching them gently saying what do you how are you processing this thing that happened? 15:57.824 --> 15:59.186 [Conner]: Whether it's a big story for instance. 15:59.347 --> 16:03.073 [Conner]: I know so many parents had to approach the conversation about the Texas Hill Country floods 16:03.053 --> 16:12.227 [Conner]: or about Charlie Kirk's death, things like that in this past year that we're probably hard conversations, but it's better to approach it than to not and let there just be an elephant in the room that nobody's addressing. 16:12.588 --> 16:28.572 [Conner]: I'd say as a parent or as the person leading a conversation lead out, ask questions and then offer wisdom and truth, point it back to scripture and let your child or your friend or whoever see that you've got something that you can turn to where you can always find answers and that may not be directly 16:28.552 --> 16:30.094 [Conner]: answering exactly the way you'd hope. 16:30.154 --> 16:32.858 [Conner]: Like, there's not going to be scriptures about what to the White House do this week. 16:32.878 --> 16:37.885 [Conner]: We don't have exact answers, but there is so much great scripture about all kinds of things. 16:38.105 --> 16:44.634 [Conner]: And we can find an answer in just about anywhere, you know, about just about anything and find scriptures that we can apply. 16:44.654 --> 16:46.457 [Conner]: And that's what I can try to do each week on culture brief. 16:46.477 --> 16:49.321 [Conner]: Like, there is not exact answers on how to approach a terrorist attack. 16:49.441 --> 16:53.066 [Conner]: But there are so many scriptures about God can redeem anything. 16:53.286 --> 16:56.871 [Conner]: And so we're able to take 16:56.851 --> 16:57.953 [Conner]: to small things too. 16:58.153 --> 17:00.136 [Conner]: Why is that movie not worth your watching? 17:00.376 --> 17:02.219 [Conner]: How do you approach tape-op demon hunters? 17:02.239 --> 17:04.182 [Conner]: That's something Christian parenting this did this year. 17:04.322 --> 17:05.163 [Conner]: Should Christians watch that? 17:05.183 --> 17:18.403 [Conner]: That was a great question and I think you guys answered it so perfectly and you applied scripture to that question to something that people needed to know and were looking for guidance on of something so big and crucial in culture at the moment that everybody wanted to engage with. 17:18.383 --> 17:26.770 [Micah]: Yeah, that's good Connor, you know, and specifically and answering your question about like not turning into a lecture or debate, Connor gave a great script. 17:26.830 --> 17:28.952 [Micah]: Scripture, I want to give one more James 119. 17:29.072 --> 17:33.857 [Micah]: Know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. 17:33.897 --> 17:35.818 [Micah]: I think that's just a really great foot print. 17:35.838 --> 17:46.888 [Micah]: I also think about the principles of like in marriage or even like approaching your kids or certain relationships the right time, tone, and turf, and how you're approaching a conversation, the right environment, the right tone of voice 17:46.868 --> 17:54.100 [Micah]: using the right time, actually, to be able to have that conversation probably not right when they wake up or right before they go to sleep. 17:54.180 --> 17:57.306 [Micah]: You know, like, when tensions are going to be high, when they're going to be grumpy, like, whatever it might be. 17:57.326 --> 18:10.328 [Micah]: Maybe when you're going to be grumpy, I think something else to keep in mind is especially when it's like debates in the culture with friends or family members, I'm going to kind of preclude the conversations that maybe you're having with your teenager, staff, 18:10.308 --> 18:13.492 [Micah]: or a parent out there that's like, their kids really go on through something. 18:13.773 --> 18:23.445 [Micah]: I'm going to preclude that from this, but for the most part, I think with a lot of these conversations, we're going to be doing ourselves and the other person that we're engaging with a favor if we stop taking it so personally on purpose. 18:23.465 --> 18:31.276 [Micah]: I think if we make the conversation about ourselves, whatever the debate might be, I've got to convince them to view it the way that I view it. 18:31.656 --> 18:35.602 [Micah]: And then if not, I'm reacting in an irrational way, XYZ. 18:35.962 --> 18:36.703 [Micah]: Well, why? 18:36.683 --> 18:59.113 [Micah]: I mean, I would just go into those conversations and say a quick breath prayer when you know it's going to be kind of heated any difficult conversation and follow scripture right be quick to hear slow to speak slow to anger actually listened to their point of view and if you don't need to make it about yourself and you don't need to make it so personal then just don't I think a lot of the difficulty that we've seen in our country as a whole and why there's this debate against 18:59.093 --> 19:08.465 [Micah]: culture in the church and our flesh and the spirit and all these different things like those are real things but at the same time our American culture is just really leaned into if you don't agree with me you hate me. 19:08.886 --> 19:19.600 [Micah]: If you don't see things the way that I see them you know you are shattering my identity I wouldn't give yourself that much credit and I wouldn't let that other person have such a foothold in your heart mind either. 19:19.580 --> 19:21.504 [Steph]: That's a really good point. 19:21.524 --> 19:27.274 [Steph]: And I think when you ask questions and get curious about somebody else's point of view, you can learn so much. 19:27.475 --> 19:35.129 [Steph]: And you can also affirm how you feel, you know, be like, okay, now I understand why this person making this way, I still feel the way I do. 19:35.470 --> 19:40.339 [Steph]: And I feel even better about you know, like, and that's how you have to agree with everyone all the time. 19:40.319 --> 19:41.923 [Micah]: questions are disarming too. 19:42.364 --> 19:54.352 [Micah]: I think whenever you're in some sort of a conflict like if you can truly take a humble posture but still ask questions because you're trying to understand but it also helps the other person fully explain and understand what they're saying in the first place. 19:54.793 --> 19:57.058 [Micah]: It typically leads to a more productive discussion too. 19:57.259 --> 19:57.720 [Steph]: Yeah. 19:57.700 --> 20:02.887 [Steph]: The other day, actually on Sunday, Harriet, who's nine, asked me a question, and she's almost 10. 20:03.428 --> 20:11.860 [Steph]: She, it was a theological question, so not cultural, but I think it applies, because I just looked at her and I was like, how deep do you want to go here? 20:12.200 --> 20:16.626 [Steph]: Because I could talk to you for a long time about this, or do you want just like a short easy answer? 20:16.706 --> 20:18.108 [Steph]: She's like, I want a short easy answer. 20:18.289 --> 20:19.470 [Steph]: So I gave her a short easy answer. 20:19.831 --> 20:22.034 [Steph]: And then she was like, actually, I need a little more. 20:22.294 --> 20:23.556 [Steph]: And just then we went a little more. 20:23.536 --> 20:25.299 [Steph]: And then she wanted more and more and more and more. 20:25.319 --> 20:28.025 [Steph]: And so I finally, before I got to luxury, we were on our way to church. 20:28.045 --> 20:29.127 [Steph]: And it was a theological question. 20:29.167 --> 20:31.050 [Steph]: So like, why don't you ask Pastor Brian? 20:31.251 --> 20:31.772 [Steph]: What do you think? 20:32.132 --> 20:32.653 [Steph]: So she did. 20:33.014 --> 20:33.976 [Steph]: She went up to Pastor Ryan. 20:33.996 --> 20:35.479 [Steph]: And then she went and found Pastor Josh. 20:35.579 --> 20:39.527 [Steph]: And she like hunted them down in the sanctuary to go ask them her question. 20:39.547 --> 20:42.572 [Steph]: And then by the time she got all three of our opinions, she was satisfied. 20:42.973 --> 20:43.975 [Steph]: She was like, good. 20:43.955 --> 20:47.399 [Micah]: So you must be so proud and you know what? 20:47.760 --> 20:55.590 [Micah]: The fact that she, I mean, again, I know she's only almost 10 right, but like, and I'm sure that's how she answers it when you ask her how old she is. 20:55.650 --> 20:57.753 [Micah]: I'm sure she says almost 10. 20:58.033 --> 21:10.249 [Micah]: But even that process that she's going of like approaching mom, listening to your advice, approaching a trusted spiritual leader in her life, God, Lee, if we could apply that framework as adults, I 21:10.229 --> 21:20.688 [Micah]: I think that we would find the truth a little bit quicker, rather than jump into chat GPT or Google or just the first person that we could find, if we actually rely on some wise counsel, and that's exactly what your daughter Harriet's doing. 21:20.728 --> 21:22.131 [Micah]: So who does to use Steph? 21:22.311 --> 21:25.437 [Steph]: Well, you know, that was one great little parenting moment. 21:25.417 --> 21:26.778 [Steph]: They're all perfect, you guys. 21:26.958 --> 21:27.919 [Steph]: But it was fun. 21:27.939 --> 21:31.062 [Steph]: It was fun to see her take ownership of a question. 21:31.123 --> 21:39.731 [Steph]: And I think it really does apply to so many things, in parenting and in life of, okay, I can just answer this for you, or I can go to chat GPT, or I can learn to dialogue and engage with people. 21:39.831 --> 21:43.615 [Steph]: And I think right now, more than ever, it is so important to teach our kids how to do that. 21:43.955 --> 21:45.657 [Steph]: Because it's easier, you're not to. 21:45.677 --> 21:51.222 [Steph]: I think the most relational people are going to be the most successful in the future. 21:51.202 --> 21:53.947 [Steph]: and I try to keep that in mind as we're doing so many things. 21:54.448 --> 21:55.790 [Micah]: Yeah, 100% agree with that. 21:55.810 --> 22:06.489 [Steph]: Yeah, but Connor, I also liked your point that it's better to address something with our kids than to just ignore it and let there be an elephant in the room because they're going to find out eventually. 22:06.550 --> 22:12.400 [Steph]: You know, when I was younger before at the age of social media, we got our culture news from the school bus. 22:12.380 --> 22:16.726 [Steph]: Well, if we got it all, if there was something to learn, we learned it from us. 22:17.127 --> 22:19.450 [Steph]: But now we have, I mean, my kids write the bus. 22:19.470 --> 22:24.377 [Steph]: So they have the bus, and they have technology in phones and all the things. 22:24.698 --> 22:34.832 [Steph]: So often, our kids will hear something at the same time we do or before we do, or they hear it, maybe we'll hear at the same time, but then they go to school and then we have to like wait to talk to them about it. 22:34.872 --> 22:36.835 [Steph]: So how do you 22:36.815 --> 22:48.717 [Steph]: respond if your kids come home with something with maybe like a preconceived notion or like I heard this and it's totally blown out of proportion or totally not factual like how how do we manage that And information moves so fast. 22:48.977 --> 22:50.160 [Conner]: Yeah, I mean you're right. 22:50.200 --> 22:59.076 [Conner]: We're just just no way we could ever know everything that the kids are seeing right like we can't keep up with everything they're seeing on social media and maybe in the news or heard in the classroom or yeah on the school bus 22:59.056 --> 23:05.447 [Conner]: They're going to come home with the information and we just have to expect that like we can't expect to have this like information vacuum around them that they're never going to hear it. 23:05.507 --> 23:06.509 [Conner]: Also, you're right. 23:06.529 --> 23:08.031 [Conner]: We have to be ready to respond to things. 23:08.071 --> 23:22.636 [Conner]: I think this comes all the way back to the foundation statement where, you know, if it's topic specific, we can do our own research, but what if they catch you off guard and they just are asking about these things like, I heard about this and this and this and it sounds extravagant and maybe there's some truth to it, but maybe it's a hyperbolic in some way. 23:23.017 --> 23:23.578 [Conner]: Well, you just. 23:23.558 --> 23:25.361 [Conner]: You just kind of point them back to that foundation. 23:25.381 --> 23:25.822 [Conner]: I was talking about. 23:26.263 --> 23:31.812 [Conner]: If you're raising them in a house and it sounds like Harry is being raised perfectly in this household where her foundation is so long. 23:32.434 --> 23:33.175 [Conner]: Absolutely. 23:33.515 --> 23:41.289 [Micah]: That's exactly what Steph tries to she hosts her Christian parenting podcast and has all of these loyal listeners because she gets on there and she's like, I'm doing this perfect. 23:41.309 --> 23:42.311 [Steph]: I am perfect. 23:42.331 --> 23:43.373 [Steph]: Follow me. 23:43.453 --> 23:44.695 [Micah]: Exactly what I'm doing. 23:44.915 --> 23:48.081 [Conner]: Well, you know. 23:48.061 --> 23:50.224 [Conner]: because Harriet came to you. 23:50.564 --> 23:51.745 [Conner]: I think that's a perfect example. 23:51.906 --> 23:53.548 [Conner]: And hopefully our kids will all do that. 23:53.568 --> 24:04.621 [Conner]: They would rather seek out the guidance and advice of mom and dad and we have a scriptural basis rather than chat, GPT or a friend or a new source or a social media person who's influencing so many other people. 24:04.962 --> 24:05.863 [Conner]: What's different about them? 24:05.963 --> 24:07.605 [Conner]: Hopefully their differences that foundation. 24:07.825 --> 24:10.749 [Conner]: They're well founded on Christ and they're coming to the right place. 24:10.969 --> 24:17.697 [Conner]: They're right source for actual biblical truth and how to how to approach a theological subject 24:17.677 --> 24:18.358 [Micah]: Mm-hmm. 24:18.378 --> 24:22.183 [Micah]: Steph, it really is a good question and Connor, you kind of hit the nail on the head there. 24:22.524 --> 24:27.330 [Micah]: My only other thought would be, as parents, we just, we really have to practice what we preach. 24:27.851 --> 24:36.883 [Micah]: Like, I don't think, I mean, you know, even at work and in relationships and with other family members, like in a church, you know, there's Christian parents or not, like if 24:36.863 --> 24:47.494 [Micah]: You know, people raising their kids these days, whether they're believers or not, I really believe the majority of them, 95% of them, hey, you can come to me and talk to me about anything. 24:47.615 --> 24:48.936 [Micah]: I want you to come to me. 24:48.996 --> 24:50.277 [Micah]: I think they're all gonna say that, right? 24:50.297 --> 24:52.139 [Micah]: That's a parenting inclination. 24:52.340 --> 24:54.021 [Micah]: I wanna be that source of truth from my kid. 24:54.322 --> 24:58.927 [Micah]: I don't want them learning from social media and the school bus, you know, all of that. 24:59.327 --> 25:06.735 [Micah]: But just like when you're having a conversation with your kid or maybe even your spouse, hey, anything that's going on, I wanna be here for you. 25:06.715 --> 25:10.621 [Micah]: I want to give you that space to be able to kind of process through things with me. 25:10.962 --> 25:25.905 [Micah]: You can say it, but if over and over again, they're being met with quick answers, frustration of they're being met with, well, no, this is wrong and because of this, and there's just not really much space to process, I think before you know it, they will stop coming to us. 25:25.885 --> 25:30.652 [Micah]: And I just think that we have to be really careful about that, that we can say that we want to create that environment. 25:31.113 --> 25:43.692 [Micah]: But when it comes down to it, let's just pray and ask the spirit for strength, that when that time comes, no matter how stressful the day's been, we can put our phones down, put the stress as a side, and just be in the moment with our kids whenever they bring those things up to us. 25:43.672 --> 25:53.584 [Conner]: Yeah, and instead, if I think that's part one of it, I think there's another part too, where it's like, how do we ourselves get equipped to actually answer correctly, especially when it's something in the news or politics or culture? 25:53.965 --> 26:00.413 [Conner]: I think we have to check our own selves and say, are we getting our information from the wrong places, and from secular places? 26:00.813 --> 26:06.240 [Conner]: It's not necessarily wrong to get something from a secular spot, but you shouldn't expect the correct answers on everything. 26:06.340 --> 26:12.868 [Conner]: If you are only going to new sources or influencers or social media pages that don't have their heart set on Christ, their foundation isn't a whole different place. 26:12.848 --> 26:15.491 [Conner]: So what's their heart posture and where are we going? 26:15.731 --> 26:17.953 [Conner]: That's part of what Dinnison Forum is trying to do. 26:18.093 --> 26:26.702 [Conner]: That's our mission at Dinnison Forum is provide a place that can be trusted with biblical truth and engage in engaging culture and news and politics. 26:26.722 --> 26:37.473 [Conner]: Like that's why so many people come to Dinnison Forum every day to seek out answers that are totally different than you're going to find on CNN or Fox News or social media page or chat to B.T. 26:37.493 --> 26:38.854 [Conner]: like it's going to be totally different. 26:38.874 --> 26:40.476 [Conner]: And so we have to check our own hearts. 26:40.456 --> 26:48.547 [Conner]: And when we engage with those types of things and find sources that we can really trust, I think it better equips us and help shape our thinking on different topics. 26:48.868 --> 26:50.490 [Conner]: That's the gap that Dennis informed trying to fill. 26:50.530 --> 26:58.281 [Conner]: That's the gap we're trying to fill in culture brief specifically with all these big things that are happening, viral trends and music and movies and stuff that everybody's talking about on culture. 26:58.641 --> 27:01.625 [Conner]: Well, where do you go and how do you engage that with truth? 27:01.666 --> 27:06.312 [Conner]: That's what Mike and I are trying to do each week and we're learning as we go too. 27:06.292 --> 27:28.671 [Conner]: We're having to do a lot of research and learn as we go because it takes a lot of time and so hopefully we're helping fill a gap for people and I think that it's just something that we can all take and you know go to different sources, whether it's an inform or Albert Mueller or focus on the family or Christian parenting, whatever it is there's there's spots you can always go to but we have to we have to make sure our heart postures in the right spot, which means the sources need to have a good heart pressure as well. 27:28.651 --> 27:28.972 [Steph]: Yeah. 27:29.333 --> 27:32.139 [Steph]: It's so important for appearance to be informed. 27:32.219 --> 27:38.534 [Steph]: And I have a tendency to kind of want to like shy away from too many cultural things because I'm like, Oh, it makes me uncomfortable. 27:38.915 --> 27:39.777 [Steph]: I don't want to talk about it. 27:39.817 --> 27:43.084 [Steph]: There's a reason I don't host culture brief and I host question. 27:43.104 --> 27:43.565 [Steph]: You're ending. 27:43.906 --> 27:44.247 [Steph]: But 27:44.227 --> 28:03.805 [Steph]: I do know that I have to do exactly your saying Connor and be equipped with a biblical worldview and know how to discern things that when my kids do come to me, I can guide them because I think it's really important to remember and I have had to remind myself as my kids have gotten older that my 13 year old in 11 year old. 28:03.785 --> 28:07.952 [Steph]: aren't supposed to have a complete accurate biblical world view. 28:08.132 --> 28:09.655 [Steph]: Like they're they're learning. 28:09.775 --> 28:23.818 [Steph]: And so if they come to me and they are talking about something that's happening in culture and they're saying something that was like totally off, my job is not to freak out and lecture them and tell them why they're wrong and how they should know that this is what the Bible says and not, you know, because I was going to shut them down. 28:23.798 --> 28:26.942 [Steph]: And it's not a developmentally appropriate for them to know it all anyway. 28:27.322 --> 28:30.045 [Steph]: I mean, none of us know anything in this side of heaven. 28:30.245 --> 28:42.199 [Steph]: Having the discernment myself and being able to ask curious questions and guide them in a way that hopefully they get like a little closer to the vocal world view at for their age is where we need to be focused on. 28:42.239 --> 28:44.822 [Steph]: Instead of making sure they have it all down perfectly. 28:45.122 --> 28:45.543 [Micah]: Yeah. 28:45.563 --> 28:46.424 [Micah]: That's what I get lecturing. 28:46.744 --> 28:51.730 [Micah]: Well, yeah, I mean, and you don't want to raise a little no-it-alls, that's annoying, you know? 28:52.351 --> 28:53.359 [Micah]: Raisin to be curious. 28:54.286 --> 28:55.758 [Micah]: God's got a plan, you know. 28:56.121 --> 28:56.383 [Micah]: It's great. 28:56.403 --> 28:57.653 [Steph]: Yeah, absolutely. 28:57.802 --> 29:07.171 [Steph]: Okay, so to wrap this up, if you could give just a piece of encouragement to parents or listening who are just feeling like me, like overwhelmed by culture, like, oh, I'd rather shy away from that. 29:07.872 --> 29:08.953 [Steph]: What would you tell them? 29:08.973 --> 29:18.022 [Micah]: Well, I think maybe what I would run to, what I would immediately think is, you know, obviously there's kind of a pace to culture that just feels untenable. 29:18.062 --> 29:26.931 [Micah]: And I'm not, you know, Connor, I would just talking about this, like, on our last couple of episodes on culture brief, it's like, I'm not necessarily sure if the world is any more evil than it's ever been. 29:26.911 --> 29:54.285 [Micah]: If very well might not be, there's been a lot of advancements in life and a lot of areas of the country are actually in the world, or valued more than they've ever been, but but at the same time because we're inundated with so much information because we have the world that our fingertips on our phones now, we're kind of the first parents, these kids, the first set of kids kind of growing up in this fully connected world where we're bearing the 29:54.687 --> 29:58.214 [Micah]: at the beach in Australia, the anti-Semitic attack. 29:58.234 --> 30:05.608 [Micah]: You know, like, we're, we know five minutes later and there's videos and you gotta, you know, choose to guard your eyes and process these things and pray through it. 30:05.628 --> 30:09.074 [Micah]: But, you know, there's just a pace to culture that seems untenable. 30:09.114 --> 30:13.843 [Micah]: There's two scriptures that come to mind that lay a foundation for what I believe about this. 30:13.823 --> 30:24.310 [Micah]: Psalm 127-134, unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor-invane, behold children are a heritage from the Lord, a fruit of the room, of the womb, a reward. 30:24.350 --> 30:30.887 [Micah]: And then, Proverbs 69, the heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. 30:30.867 --> 30:35.475 [Micah]: So, I think parents who are overwhelmed by culture for themselves but also for their kids. 30:35.896 --> 30:47.796 [Micah]: I'm going to go out on a limb here and I'm going to say if you're listening to the Christian parenting podcast, this is probably not the only way that you are intentionally seeking God on how you process through culture and how you're trying to raise your kids. 30:48.177 --> 30:51.643 [Micah]: You're probably seeking a lot of wisdom. 30:51.623 --> 30:53.767 [Micah]: And a lot of different tools to be able to help you with that. 30:53.787 --> 31:01.282 [Micah]: You're listening because you care about your spiritual walk, about your spouse's spiritual walk, or whatever situation you're in, your kids' spiritual walk. 31:01.302 --> 31:10.539 [Micah]: So I would say maybe the answer is not to lean into more effort because I would say probably most people probably put in an ample amount of effort, at least you're listening to this podcast. 31:10.559 --> 31:13.986 [Micah]: It would be to lean more on God's got a plan. 31:13.966 --> 31:38.710 [Micah]: From the foundation of the world God has a plan every hair on your head and your kid's head is Numbered Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever Hebrews 13 eight We've just got to hang our hat on that that no amount of effort is gonna out do God's faithfulness like you just you just can't do it And when you're struggling God is still just so faithful to you and so faithful to your children and when you're doing great. 31:39.051 --> 31:40.412 [Micah]: He's still really faithful 31:40.392 --> 31:49.323 [Micah]: You know, and so that's what I'm trying to remind myself, the concerns that I have personally and for my family and whatever it might be, we all have concerns and anxieties, got to have a plan. 31:49.743 --> 31:52.727 [Micah]: And we got to trust that and lean into that and that should help us sleep well at night. 31:52.767 --> 31:53.007 [Micah]: I hope. 31:53.508 --> 31:53.868 [Conner]: Yeah. 31:54.169 --> 31:54.929 [Conner]: I think you're right. 31:55.250 --> 31:56.812 [Conner]: So many people are overwhelmed by culture. 31:56.832 --> 31:57.713 [Conner]: Honestly, we are too. 31:57.773 --> 31:59.074 [Conner]: We talk about it. 31:59.315 --> 32:00.817 [Conner]: But it is so much information. 32:00.857 --> 32:04.421 [Conner]: We've never in human history is so much information. 32:04.481 --> 32:06.163 [Conner]: It's been right there all the time. 32:06.203 --> 32:10.348 [Conner]: It used to be days or weeks before news reached different people. 32:10.328 --> 32:15.237 [Conner]: And yeah, we're just now reaching the spot where it's every hour, not every day or every week. 32:15.257 --> 32:15.938 [Conner]: It's constant. 32:15.958 --> 32:17.120 [Conner]: So it is so much. 32:17.300 --> 32:21.708 [Conner]: And I think one of the things we can realize is we don't have to immediately have an answer for everything. 32:21.728 --> 32:27.959 [Conner]: I was also going to mention James 119, like you said earlier, Mike, that everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to become angry, right? 32:28.239 --> 32:29.181 [Conner]: Let's slow it down. 32:29.161 --> 32:37.076 [Conner]: One of the things we talk about on Coach Brieflaw times when we are discussing like, how do you just process this information or something that's happened that's so bad? 32:37.137 --> 32:41.345 [Conner]: And the first thing we always try to say is, let's just stop and let's pray. 32:42.126 --> 32:43.268 [Conner]: And let's pray for God's wisdom. 32:43.649 --> 32:51.304 [Conner]: Let's stop and pray for if there's victims in it, if there's something bigger or if there's going to be hurt or heartache down the road with this, let's stop and pray for that. 32:51.284 --> 33:14.102 [Conner]: I think that's the first thing we can always do and then also pray for God's wisdom and discernment to learn how to process through this and how to talk through it and how we should approach it and think about it and then even talk about it with our kids and with our family and the people in our circle of influence right slowing down I think it's huge we don't have to have a perfect answer in five minutes and no social media wants us to think that we have to immediately post our thoughts and there's different. 33:14.082 --> 33:14.723 [Conner]: podcast and whatnot. 33:14.743 --> 33:16.066 [Conner]: They're like emergency podcasts. 33:16.086 --> 33:16.907 [Conner]: Let's talk about this now. 33:17.328 --> 33:22.958 [Conner]: Well, that doesn't allow for a lot of time to really process and even get all the information that you need to process correctly. 33:23.319 --> 33:33.297 [Conner]: So slowing down, and then as I mentioned earlier, just finding people that you trust, resources that you trust, I think will help you, you know, go through that constant stream of news because it is so much find somebody. 33:33.398 --> 33:36.343 [Conner]: So Mike and I, we really rely on Dr. Jim 33:36.323 --> 33:38.146 [Conner]: And he's the founder of this whole ministry in some entries. 33:38.406 --> 33:43.613 [Conner]: He's so wise, he's so gifted and processing through all this big stuff that's happening in culture. 33:44.014 --> 33:45.556 [Conner]: There are so many other people like that as well. 33:45.656 --> 33:51.144 [Conner]: And so, you know, finding people who have that gifting and have that wisdom to discern everything happening in the world. 33:51.484 --> 33:58.534 [Conner]: I think it's a great just resource we can use, but ultimately comes back down to our own faith, our own foundation, and slowing down a processing with God. 33:58.514 --> 33:59.636 [Steph]: Those are such good reminders. 33:59.656 --> 34:05.845 [Steph]: Thank you guys so much for being here and for sharing with us and just for everything you do for the Ministry and at Culture Brief. 34:06.245 --> 34:15.679 [Steph]: I'm going to link everything in the show notes that people can find your podcast and listen to you every week and I definitely encourage people to do that because just love what you guys are doing and I just thank you again for being here. 34:15.659 --> 34:16.420 [Micah]: Thank you, staff. 34:16.440 --> 34:17.141 [Micah]: Thanks for having us. 34:17.182 --> 34:21.529 [Micah]: We appreciate you so much in the ministry that you do day in and day out happy new year to everybody. 34:21.849 --> 34:24.233 [Conner]: Yeah happy new year guys and thank you so much. 34:24.454 --> 34:39.118 [Conner]: This was a fun conversation and so much to just go through with parenting and we're excited just for the next years of our own parenting stage Mike and I are like, 34:39.436 --> 34:40.157 [Steph]: Oh, you will. 34:40.177 --> 34:41.398 [Steph]: You will be things again, guys. 34:42.059 --> 34:43.401 [Steph]: Thank you guys so much for being here. 34:43.421 --> 34:45.723 [Steph]: I just love the reminder that we don't have to panic. 34:46.244 --> 34:49.047 [Steph]: Rush or have perfect answers in just five minutes. 34:49.107 --> 34:54.714 [Steph]: We can slow down, pray, stay grounded in scripture and keep our homes open for conversation. 34:55.395 --> 35:00.661 [Steph]: I'm gonna link the culture brief podcast in the show notes that you can follow, Connor, Micah, and listen each week. 35:00.741 --> 35:01.542 [Steph]: It's really good. 35:01.662 --> 35:02.663 [Steph]: I recommend that you do. 35:03.144 --> 35:09.291 [Steph]: If you're trying to engage the news and culture without getting swept up and fear anxiety or noise, it's a really helpful resource. 35:09.693 --> 35:10.936 [Steph]: Thank you again for being here. 35:10.976 --> 35:13.963 [Steph]: May the Lord guard your heart in mind when the world feels loud. 35:14.424 --> 35:21.660 [Steph]: May he give you wisdom that is steady, peace as deeper than the headlines, and discernment that comes from walking closely to him.