Do you really need one more book to read? In our home, we have well over 300 books stacked on our shelves. Between homeschooling and a husband who is a perpetual student of theology and apologetics, the thought of one more book about pushed me off a cliff. I would rather play a game of Uno with my kiddos, or I find myself drowned by the beautiful and endless demands of being a mom. So reading just never makes it into my daily routine. In fact, it rarely even crosses my mind. But we need resources to help us raise our kids. We need resources to help us help our kids navigate a culture that is rapidly changing. Our kids have more questions than ever before, and they are asking the tough questions at a younger and younger age. I cannot ignore the world they are growing up in, and they cannot escape it. So I need to prepare and equip them- even if I don't think I have the time.

We need resources that help parents equip kids to handle challenges to their faith, to be Christ in a broken world, and to tackle cultural intolerance with a biblical worldview. But let's be honest, most of those resources are super meaty, and you need a dictionary close by as you read.

If there was a resource that answered all the tough questions, but in a way that the rest of us could not just comprehend, but apply, that is a book you would make time to read. Well, consider your resource found. Natasha Crain, in her new book, Talking with Your Kids about God, does precisely that. She takes the time to teach us parents the topics and then, in turn, equips us with questions and answers so we can confidently have these conversations with our children and prepare them to be lifelong disciples of Jesus. As parents, we spend a ton of time, energy, and money caring for the physical and emotional needs of our children, are their spiritual needs any less important?

"To care for the physical needs of others while ignoring their spiritual needs is like giving a hamburger to a hungry man sitting on train tracks and not telling him a train is coming. The Bible calls Christians to care for both physical and spiritual needs, and ignoring either puts people in serious danger." - Natasha Crain

What's Inside

This book is unique. It is more than a book; it is a training tool. It is broken down into five parts, and inside those parts, there are a total of 30 conversations. Each conversation shares the skeptic's view and the Christian view. Each of these conversations is just that- conversations. They are meant to spark discussion with your kids, create opportunities to practice and provide teachable moments. Natasha tackles the obstacles and defines all the terms we need to know and includes space to apply the material you just learned. Her dedication to explaining the content goes above and beyond making you truly feel confident you can handle these conversations and teach them to your children.

This is not a book you read just once. Nor is this a book that will collect dust on a shelf or serve as a coaster on your coffee table. You will read it again. And again. This is a book families can grow with. You can, at first read it for content and discussion, but then as your children grow and learn you can equip them and encourage them to further the discussion. They can even read the book and then lead the discussions. Think about the future for your family. The opportunity you will have to watch your children grown up knowing what they believe and being able to defend it clearly and gently. When statistics show that the majority of high school students are walking away from their faith, you can be encouraged that starting at any age can truly equip your child to not only know and walk with God but be ready to defend their faith and witness to others.

Talking with Your Kids about God: 30 Conversations Every Christian Parent Must Have is a go to resource for every Christian parents bookshelf. Crains easy to understand narratives offer simple explanations to complex problems. Parents are guided to encourage their childrens critical thinking skills to draw their own conclusions. In a culture that demands absolute evidence that God exists but yet expects complete acceptance of its own fallible theories (such as evolution) Crain walks the reader through taking the evidence that we can see and comparing it to each possible solution to derive at the most probable explanation- that a loving God is behind every aspect of life as we know it. Suggested conversation starters and follow-up questions to help take the discussion deeper will assist parents in equipping their children to intelligently discuss the existence of God with any skeptic. Likewise, parents are equally challenged as Crain presents genuine questions posed on her blog about the topic of each chapter challenging parents to consider how they would respond if the same question were posed to them. Exceptional tool for families!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. A review was not required but was voluntary and contains my own thoughts and opinions regarding this literary work.

I so appreciated this book. It is more than a book on apologetics. Natasha not only talks about the importance of knowing what we believe- but how then shall we live that faith out. She brought it in for a landing with the importance of our faith causing our actions. Thats what Christianity should look like.

I have struggled for so long with the division in the Church between the Truth side and the Action/Justice side. It not only stains our testimony to the world, but it feels like each side is grabbing half of Jesus and pulling Him apart- all the while claiming to be the Real Jesus. Jesus never made a choice one for the other. He is always All Truth and All Grace All the time.

Thank you, Natasha Crain, for bringing such a balanced and practical book on apologetics- good for conversations with children, but also with adults!

Talking With Your Kids About Godis a beautiful way to begin to think through and develop conversations that will help you find clarity in explaining faith to your child. As society becomes more skeptical and disdainful of our faith, it becomes even more important for us to be able to articulate why we believe. We must think more deeply about the big arguments against God, because when we do, not only can and will our faith be built, but we will also be able to help others think more about their point of view too.

It's not about winning or losing a fight. It's about bolstering our faith by building our understanding of who God is on a greater level. InTalking With Your Kids About God, Crain focuses on 5 main areas:

the existence of God

science and God

the nature of God

believing in God

the difference God makes.

Each of these sections will help you think through the arguments for and against faith in that particular area. Crain has also provided several key points, questions for conversation and a question that will help you apply what you've learned. This book is written for parents, by a parent, so that you can build a natural conversation with your child. As I was reading, I was thinking about how it might be helpful even in forming homeschool conversations. This book gives a high level of information regarding the topics at hand and then shows you how to break them down into conversation with your children. This book is going to be an invaluable tool as I seek to teach my daughter how to think about, grow in and understand her faith.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. This review is my own, honest opinion.

Talking With Your Kids About God: 30 Conversations Every Christian Parent Must Have by Natasha Crain is a collection of basic apologetics lesson for Christian parents to walk through and discuss with their children. This is not a book to just hand your kids and walk off, leaving them to fend for themselves. Instead this is a very well laid out action plan for talking to your kids about the tough questions - when you may of may not have the answers yourself.

Natasha's emphasis is on beginning young and reinforcing your kids' knowledge banks before these issues are allowed to become issues. Talk to them and teach them the basic "why's" behind their beliefs - before the secular world starts to question them and make them doubt their own beliefs or abilities to provide a defense.

Each of the 30 questions starts with a brief but detailed explanation for you, the parent, to read so that you can understand both sides of the issue and provide your child with a more personal and in-depth discussion.

Having armed the parent, Natasha then goes on to provide a simple conversation guide for each topic. Here, she walks you through several questions or main points to raise with your child, while providing ideal answers and Biblical evidences in order to help you steer the ship in the right direction. She also provides a real-life application example for you and your child to review when these evidences would be the proper defense, and how they should go about utilizing their knowledge in a constructive and assertive manner.

So what are these 30 questions? Divided into 5 parts, each part focuses on 6 foundational questions for your child to know. Starting with a defense of the existence of God, Natasha walks you through such issues as "Where did the universe come from?" and "How much evidence do we need to be confident God exists?". Part two covers science and God, with questions such as "Can science explain why people believe in God?". In part three, "The nature of God", Natasha reveals "What does it mean that God is just?" and five other thought-provoking questions. The fourth part is all about believing in God, and covers issues such as "Do all religions worship the same God?". And lastly, part five discusses the difference God makes, including "What is the meaning of life?".

I would recommend this book not only for Christian parents wanting to prepare their kids for engagement with the secular world, but also for those adult Christians who would like to investigate the basic of apologetics and don't know where to begin, or would like to be able to learn the simple answers as to the evidences behind what they've been taught to believe. 5/5 stars.

*Disclaimer: I received a complimentary print copy of this book from the publisher, Baker Books, for the purpose of this honest review. All opinions are my own.