Latest / Equipped for Impact / A Summer Reading List for Christian Families

Transcript

A Summer Reading List for Christian Families · Equipped for Impact

0:08
Nate: Welcome to Equipped for Impact, the podcast designed to assist Christian parents, leaders and educators to raise up the next generation to stand firm in their faith and influence their world.
0:19
Nate: For Christ, we're your hosts.
0:20
Nate: I'm Nate and I'm Lewis, so let's get started.
0:24
Nate: And today we're diving into one of our favorite topics, and that is books.
0:30
Nate: Oh, yes, that is right.
0:31
Nate: How many times have we mentioned books on the last 18, 17 episodes?
0:37
Nate: It's a lot.
0:38
Nate: So we decided to devote a whole episode to a summer reading list.
0:43
Luis: And this actually came at the request of some people too, right, like I think.
0:47
Luis: I believe so I think early on there were some listeners who reached out to us in person and just indicated hey, you guys mentioned a lot of books and we know you guys are readers and so do you have like a Put together a reading list?
1:00
Nate: And in fact we have a list that we use here at the school we share with families.
1:05
Nate: So we will drop that in.
1:06
Nate: That's more kids-focused, but there's a whole page at the end of books for parents and kind of more adult books.
1:14
Nate: So this episode first of all we should note this is going to be our last episode for the summer.
1:19
Nate: We're going to take a summer break and we'll be back in the fall, august or so.
1:26
Nate: We'll come back with new episodes.
1:28
Nate: So this is kind of like rounding out season one for us.
1:30
Luis: Yeah, yeah, and part of that is just the nature of who Nate and I are.
1:34
Luis: That's right.
1:35
Luis: So you know, we are educators, and so a big part of our audience probably listens to us on their way to school, on their way home from school, and so, and so we, we're taking a break, we're giving them a break.
1:49
Luis: Now, I guess I don't know that we'll really take a break, because we'll probably record episodes in July that will be released in August, but I think the plan will be to kick back off right around the time that school starts back, that's right.
1:58
Nate: So we'll be getting those out for you and if you need something to listen to while you are mowing the grass, you can go download some of our old episodes, re-download them, listen again or get some audio books that we're about ready to recommend to you.
2:13
Nate: So summer's right here.
2:15
Nate: I know you're going out and doing lots of things and it might be sitting at the beach, chilling in the backyard, just enjoying a quiet evening at home, and you don't want to be having the brain rot of Netflix.
2:30
Nate: So we're going to recommend some intentional reads for you when it comes to discipling your children, when it comes to engaging culture thoughtfully, but also just some fun reads, because fiction is really important, I think, for just developing your imagination.
2:49
Nate: It can give good connections with your kids.
2:52
Nate: So, Lewis, let's start with that first category.
2:54
Nate: We're going to pull up our Goodreads accounts.
2:56
Nate: We're going to look at books where we've read in the past, but let's talk about books to help parents grow in discipleship.
3:04
Nate: So you want to do you know, you do one, I do one, and we'll just kind of go through that direction.
3:09
Nate: So what would be your top book for parents to help them grow in discipleship?
3:14
Luis: Man, there's a lot.
3:15
Luis: I would say probably a good one to start is probably the five love languages of children.
3:24
Luis: Brandy and I read that together, yep, and we read that as parents and we did it as part of our nightly devotion.
3:35
Luis: And so we talked about that book, but it was really cool to see because we've got to see.
3:40
Luis: So if you're not familiar with the five love languages, that's Gary Chapman and it's the idea of we all have these love languages.
3:49
Luis: There's five of them, I believe.
3:53
Luis: It's physical touch, time, quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation.
3:59
Nate: Words of affirmation.
4:00
Luis: And then gifts, Gifts yeah, so those are the five, and so it was really cool reading that book and then talking to each other and saying like, hey, that's that's this daughter, or hey, that's this daughter.
4:10
Nate: And it and it's actually or even yourself, like you can see it within yourself.
4:14
Luis: And so and so.
4:15
Luis: For us it was really cool because because it changed how we discipline our children, because one of my daughters it's very clear that one of her love languages is physical touch, right, and so we believe in spanking.
4:28
Luis: Sometimes spanking is necessary, but I had to be very careful that when it came time to spank this particular daughter that I was careful with how I did it.
4:38
Luis: Maybe if I spanked her and had a conversation, or maybe I didn't spank her but I explained that I was going to spank her because spanking her it impacted her differently than it did another daughter who doesn't have a physical touch as one of her gifts.
4:55
Nate: Right, and that's a good segue into what I would recommend, which is Ted Tripp's Shepherding a Child's Heart.
5:01
Nate: Shepherding a Child's Heart.
5:02
Nate: It's a longer read but it's a really good one, and he lays out very biblically the idea of shepherding, not just for behavior modification but for actual life change from the inside out, and he talks about spanking in there and the way you do it.
5:19
Nate: There's a way to do that that no one would think of as abusive, right, If you're discussing like what did one would think of as abusive, right, If you're you're discussing like what did you do?
5:27
Nate: Like why did you do it, and now the actions have consequences, and like you walk through those steps and um, so that's a really great read.
5:35
Nate: Pick that one up If you've not.
5:36
Nate: Shepherding a child's heart.
5:38
Luis: And this next one that I would recommend.
5:40
Luis: It's not a it's not a discipleship book, but it's one that I would recommend reading.
5:45
Luis: It's called Ten who Changed the World by Daniel Aiken.
5:50
Luis: He writes about ten missionaries that changed the world.
5:55
Luis: Some of these missionaries you may know, Some of them you may not know, but I read this for one of my classes and I've used them in conversations with my daughters and sermons.
6:05
Luis: But if, if, if, you want to have introduced your children to missionaries and 10 missionaries who made a big impact for the kingdom of God, you can't go wrong with the 10 who changed the world by Daniel Aiken.
6:18
Nate: Awesome, uh, and, and another one I would throw in there.
6:21
Nate: This is maybe this is one that will will switch categories for us.
6:25
Nate: Because switch categories for us?
6:26
Nate: Because it kind of straddles both the discipleship and the engaging culture.
6:30
Nate: But it would be Josh Mulvihill's Biblical Worldview, what it is, why it matters and how to shape the worldview of the next generation.
6:40
Nate: So that really is, if you're just kind of looking for a crash course we've used that term biblical worldview a lot, but it's a very good crash course on you know what it is and how you can actually shape the worldview of your child.
6:54
Nate: And so I would say that would be like if you've never read anything on worldview, that's a good primer to get you started.
7:01
Nate: It has, you know, kind of some theory and then moves into the practical side of that.
7:07
Nate: So that's Biblical Worldview by Josh Mulvihill.
7:10
Luis: You know, I've actually never read that book.
7:12
Luis: You've not.
7:12
Luis: I own it and it's on my list to read.
7:15
Nate: We have given it out from the school here.
7:17
Nate: Yes, yes, and you've never read it.
7:19
Luis: Now I've read I think I've read enough of it like just parts of it but I've never actually read the full book.
7:27
Nate: To be fair, if you're listening to this and you have read a lot on worldview and biblical worldview and you're a voracious reader, you've read a lot of those things you'll be disappointed by Mulvihill's book because you get into it and you're like, wow, this is really basic.
7:40
Nate: But if you've never read anything and you're like, where do I even start?
7:47
Luis: That's your book.
7:47
Luis: It's going to be a good, good read for you.
7:49
Luis: But I think that's what makes Mulvihill such a good writer and such a good book to read Because another book that I would recommend and I actually haven't finished this one Brandy and I are reading through this one together.
7:56
Luis: It's called 50 Things Every Child Needs.
7:58
Nate: Before Leaving Home.
7:59
Nate: I've read it.
7:59
Luis: Good book and and so it's like a checklist right.
8:04
Luis: Everything that he talks about are things that his parents, so he talks about how his parents sat him down as he was getting ready to graduate high school and just this whole idea of things that they wanted him to know.
8:16
Luis: But parents, I would recommend that as a book.
8:19
Nate: It's not even just spiritual things.
8:20
Luis: It's like very practical things like small engine repair.
8:23
Luis: Yes, yes, yeah.
8:25
Nate: We changed the oil yesterday on my riding lawnmower, oh okay, and so I had my daughters help me and get their hands all greasy and oily Get out of here really.
8:36
Nate: So it's just basic things of changing oil.
8:38
Nate: It's not really that big of a deal, but those are discipleship moments.
8:42
Nate: So it's like, okay, do that, and then we're going to have fun riding the lawnmower around the house a couple of times do a couple laps for fun, but that is one of those things in the 50 things they need to learn.
8:52
Luis: Impressive man like yeah, I mean I know, like I know I give you a hard time because you don't let your kid order their own.
8:56
Nate: That is not true.
8:57
Nate: Where do you come up with that?
8:58
Nate: I'm kidding, I'm kidding.
8:59
Nate: But we do eat breakfast for dinner.
9:01
Luis: But I mean, well, yeah, but I mean the fact that you had them change like oil, yeah, I mean like that's a big girl move right there.
9:08
Luis: I mean they, you know and riding lawnmower.
9:10
Nate: It's not that hard, no right, but yeah, you know, but it's.
9:12
Nate: It's not a car, yeah, but it's something I've never changed oil in a lawnmower.
9:17
Luis: Okay, so well there you go.
9:18
Luis: So I mean, like, do you mow your own lawn?
9:20
Luis: I do not.
9:20
Luis: Okay, I did not see.
9:21
Luis: That's one of those things like it is I'm gonna keep mowing my grass.
9:24
Nate: I love like seeing the straight lines as you make progress through the grass.
9:29
Nate: It's just one of those things.
9:30
Nate: It's like therapeutic, so I will do that.
9:33
Luis: We had a lawnmower when we first got married and we had every intention of mowing our own lawn, like we didn't want to be one of those people that had somebody do our lawn, um and but I never did it, and partly it was just because it wasn't something that I enjoyed doing and it just became one of those things where it was like, would I rather do it or would I rather have somebody else do it, and we had a few people that that did it um, and so I just, I just never, you never, mowed the lawn.
9:57
Nate: I never mowed the lawn.
9:57
Luis: There you go well my wife did you know.
10:00
Nate: She enjoyed it for a little bit, but then she's like I'm not gonna mow the lawn if you know there it is highly likely that someone is listening to this recording right now who is currently mowing their grass?
10:10
Luis: Like that's when I listen to.
10:11
Nate: My podcast is while I'm mowing the grass.
10:14
Luis: I think another book that would be really good to have, and this would just be to just kind of build off of this idea of worldview.
10:23
Luis: There's two books from two different authors from two different spectrums.
10:27
Luis: Now, these are old books that I read.
10:29
Luis: One is called Radical by Dave Pls.
10:30
Luis: Now, these are old books that I read.
10:30
Luis: One is called Radical by Dave Platt, which is a really good book and it just talks about living a radical life.
10:38
Luis: Another book now.
10:39
Luis: I want to recommend this one with caution because the book is really good and there's some really good stuff in the book.
10:46
Luis: However, the author is not in line, biblically, with a lot of my positions, but it's still a good book.
10:51
Luis: However, the author is not in line biblically with a lot of my positions but it's still a good book and I would encourage-.
10:54
Nate: You can learn from people that have different perspectives.
10:57
Luis: The name of that book is called the Irresistible Revolution Living as an Ordinary Radical, and that book was written by Shane Claiborne.
11:03
Luis: Now, if you're familiar with Shane Claiborne you know that him and David Platt are on different lines.
11:07
Luis: But I read both books probably within six months of each other and they're both good books.
11:16
Luis: But I would encourage you to check them out and just kind of along that lines of worldview changing the culture, engaging the culture.
11:25
Nate: Yep, Kind of another thing thinking of.
11:28
Nate: Maybe not that we agree with everything in it, but we've already recommended it several times, and that's Jonathan Haidt's Anxious.
11:34
Luis: Generation.
11:35
Nate: If you've not read that.
11:36
Nate: It's a thicker book.
11:38
Nate: It would be a good one to pick.
11:39
Nate: But he is.
11:39
Nate: He even says in there he is an atheist.
11:42
Nate: So you know, remember that as you're reading through it.
11:55
Nate: But that would be a good book to pick up.
11:58
Luis: Now you're probably wondering like, are these books that I can read with my kids?
12:02
Luis: Maybe?
12:02
Luis: I mean, you might be able to Some of them, some of them you may not be able to, it just may not be.
12:06
Luis: And so and so now let's talk about some, some, some good books that you can read with your children.
12:20
Luis: I am a big Ted Decker fan, okay and so, and so, parents, I would say anything.
12:23
Luis: That's Ted Decker and he writes for young children, but he also writes young adults, and he also writes, writes adults, adult books, yeah.
12:30
Luis: But I would say, if you want to get into Ted Decker, he is a Christian novelist and so all of his books are not written with the Christian story, but a lot like CS Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia.
12:46
Luis: It's a story, but you pull out the elements from the Bible, yep, and the ones that I would start with would probably be the Circle Trilogy.
12:55
Luis: It's actually not a trilogy anymore.
12:57
Luis: I think there's four books now.
12:58
Nate: Is that the green, white?
13:00
Nate: They're all colors, right.
13:01
Luis: They're all color right, so black is the first one.
13:04
Luis: Red is the second one, white is the third one, but he's come out with a fourth one since there, and that one's called Green.
13:12
Nate: Spoiler alert it actually loops back around.
13:15
Luis: It loops back around.
13:15
Nate: yes, I got the audio version of all four and it actually starts with Green and it confused me to no end.
13:24
Nate: So start with Black.
13:27
Nate: Start with black.
13:27
Nate: Black is the first one which has a green cover.
13:29
Nate: Yes, it's confusing, so start with black and then read it in that order.
13:33
Nate: Black, red, white, green, but I would say anything, ted Decker would be great to read with your children and with your kids.
13:39
Nate: There are several series that he has that your kids can read or you could read together, like if it's maybe they're younger and they're not quite at that reading level, but you could read out loud.
13:50
Nate: There's a and they found dragons is a series that's a good series.
13:55
Nate: There's several other journey to impossible places, so those are great, like those Ted Decker books.
14:00
Nate: Yeah, I would echo, echo that.
14:02
Nate: Another one if you think about Christian, you know Christian novels, fiction, fantasy type novels, and it's one that I stumbled upon, actually because of our school's library, um, but it's called the wing feather saga by andrew peterson.
14:16
Nate: That one is awesome, um, like, even as an adult, like I was reading it and we had the copy from our school library and my daughter and I were like stealing it from each other so that we could keep reading.
14:29
Nate: Um, but it is a great book.
14:31
Nate: It's kind of like it's got a lot of Narnia feel to it, even Lord of the Rings.
14:34
Nate: It's about three kids and their mom and grandpa who are kind of on this epic quest.
14:40
Nate: There's a lot of great worldview themes in it, but it's not like overt and in your face like some, christian fiction can be like cheesy.
14:48
Nate: Have you read?
14:49
Luis: The Winged Fathers?
14:50
Luis: I have not.
14:50
Luis: You should pick that one up.
14:51
Luis: Add that to your list, it's a really good one to read.
14:54
Luis: Now I think, didn't your daughter like read all of the books like in like one weekend or something, not a weekend?
15:00
Nate: but it was quick.
15:01
Luis: Okay, that's what I thought, and they're not short books, so it was like it was captivating.
15:06
Nate: Yes, it is captivating and she is a reader, like you know.
15:09
Nate: She's big.
15:10
Nate: My oldest is really big into reading, my youngest is getting into it and my youngest has read this too and it should have been way above her reading level.
15:18
Nate: But you know we worked through that as a family.
15:21
Nate: It's a great series.
15:24
Luis: And Luke, there's probably some books that you're thinking like well, are there some books that I can read that are just short, that are just fun to read?
15:32
Luis: Maybe you can just take some time to get some books.
15:37
Luis: One of my favorite books to read that is really short now it's not written from a Christian perspective, but I think there's a lot that can be pulled out is the Giving Tree, and so that's a book that I actually, even as an adult, I go back and reread quite often.
15:53
Luis: It's a short book.
15:54
Luis: There's a good story there, but I've actually used it to actually teach from a biblical perspective.
16:00
Luis: And so just because a book's not overtly Christian, or even if it's not written by a Christian author, doesn't mean that you can't redeem it right.
16:08
Luis: So when we talk about shaping a biblical worldview doesn't mean that you can't redeem it right.
16:12
Luis: So when we talk about shaping a biblical worldview, it's about redeeming things that may not be Christian so that we can get the good stuff out of it.
16:16
Nate: Right, right, which I mean kind of going back to the Christian side.
16:20
Nate: We all know CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.
16:22
Nate: Those are pretty good quick reads.
16:24
Nate: I remember reading them as a kid, thinking they were huge books, and now I see them and I'm like, oh man, those are pretty small, yeah, um, but some maybe lesser known ones of of his.
16:39
Nate: If you're into sci-fi, he actually has the space trilogy, um, I think, out of the silent planet is the first one, and again there's gonna be there's gonna be some worldview elements in that.
16:44
Nate: it is kind of got a christian perspective, but it's.
16:47
Nate: It's kind of a lesser known like narnia takes the cake for him, but but that if you're into kind of a lesser known Like, narnia takes the cake for him, but that if you're into kind of space sci-fi ideas, that's a good trilogy to pick up.
16:57
Luis: And parents.
16:58
Luis: Here's a book that I would recommend reading with your kids, and there's different versions of it now, but if you can read the original one Now, I would highly recommend reading the original one written in a modern English translation.
17:09
Luis: But that would be Pilgrim's Progress.
17:11
Luis: We read that as a family a few years ago and then we watched one of the prime movies that was made out of it Highly recommend, and it's not a long book, but it's a great story and it's one that you can read.
17:24
Luis: Like I said, I would encourage you to find the original Pilgrim's Progress, but make sure that you get a modern English version of it.
17:34
Luis: And then there's also like there's a little Pilgrim's Progress that was written by Helen Taylor.
17:39
Luis: I've not read that one, but it's a kid-friendly format of Pilgrim's Progress.
17:44
Nate: Gotcha and then, kind of to round out, you think we can each give one more.
17:48
Luis: I think so yeah.
17:49
Nate: So to kind of round out the just for fun, totally like this one really.
17:53
Nate: I mean I'm sure you could have discipleship conversations out of it, but we read actually we did read it out loud as a family so we'd take turns reading it last summer while we were on vacation.
18:04
Nate: It's a two-part series the Wishmaker and the Wishbreaker and it is, I mean there were some things in there that was like, okay, we're going to have to skip a page or two.
18:12
Nate: So not a full, wholehearted endorsement, but it was just a fun.
18:17
Nate: Like it's a kid that gets a genie and he goes on a quest and it's like it's got silly parts my kids loved.
18:23
Nate: There's sections where it's like silly and like you kind of have to get some voices to really make it fun and so it's just something like that.
18:31
Nate: Again, we've talked before about just showing up and spending time together.
18:34
Nate: That was a fun series.
18:36
Nate: You know, it's two books that we read over the summer as a family out loud, and that was a good one to read.
18:42
Luis: That's really cool.
18:43
Luis: I'm going to give you one that's probably not a family book.
18:47
Luis: This is probably a mom and dad book, and this is a book that I highly recommend.
18:53
Luis: In fact, a lot of times I gift it to people.
18:54
Luis: Now let me be clear.
18:55
Luis: It's not written from a Christian perspective.
18:56
Luis: In fact, I don't think the author is Christian, but it's a phenomenal book written by Randy Posh, and it's called the Last Lecture, and this is a man that's dying of pancreatic cancer and it's a book version of the last lecture he gave.
19:12
Luis: He was a professor at a university and was it like oxford or something?
19:17
Luis: or I thought it was a big name, yeah it was big and so, um, I read that book probably every two or three years.
19:22
Luis: If you've never read the last lecture, highly recommend it again.
19:26
Luis: It's not written from a christian worldview and, like I said, I don't think think Randy was a Christian, at least he never indicates that he is.
19:35
Luis: But the content of the book and a lot of even what I've done as a dad, as a husband, just as a person, I've gleaned from the last lecture and I've redeemed it from a Christian worldview.
19:48
Luis: I've redeemed it from a Christian worldview Like there's I mean, there's a phenomenal story that he tells in there about him getting a brand new car and how he pours Coke in the back seat, and just it's a phenomenal story, and so the Last Lecture would be a book that I would recommend that you read this summer.
20:04
Nate: Good, a good legacy kind of book idea.
20:07
Nate: Well, as we wrap up, just kind of a couple of tips.
20:09
Nate: We just threw a bunch of recommendations to you.
20:12
Nate: We'll link all of those in the show notes and that'll take me a while to get all those links, but I'll link all of those in the show notes as we go through.
20:19
Nate: But just some practical ideas, right, summer is a busy time.
20:22
Nate: It doesn't really slow down from the school year, but it's just different.
20:26
Nate: It's a different kind of busy.
20:27
Nate: So just some, some ideas is like you, a different kind of busy.
20:34
Nate: So just some ideas is like just schedule your reading time.
20:36
Nate: Find a time that you're going to read, whether it's first thing in the morning or before bed.
20:39
Nate: Get audio books, you know.
20:40
Nate: Get an audible.
20:41
Nate: They probably have a free, you know, three months or something for the summer.
20:45
Nate: Like, if you're not on audible, get it for for a little bit.
20:48
Nate: And get some of these books, read it in the car on a road trip.
20:51
Nate: Just make it a part of your rhythm over the summer so that you can read some and and you can start with some from this list Yep, and what?
20:59
Luis: I would recommend, too, is is keep it simple.
21:00
Luis: Right so, right, so, so, uh, maybe choose one book that you read for yourself and one book that you read with your family.
21:07
Luis: Yeah, um, don't don't be like me.
21:09
Luis: I think I was telling nate, before we started recording this episode, that I'm reading 20 books right now now, now that sounds really like good reads, like like that sounds crazy reading you know, but some of those books I'm reading for for my classes, some are for fun, some books that I read a little bit here or there, so it doesn't have to be crazy, it could just be one right.
21:25
Luis: Just because we've thrown a lot at you and there's some really cool apps that you can use to make it fun.
21:30
Luis: Like, I use an app called Bookly that I have on my iPhone that lets me track how much I read every day, and so I consider the goal of reading 15 minutes a day, or how much time I want to read each month, and so something like that.
21:45
Luis: And then I think the third part of it is as you're reading, ask your kids what stood out to you.
21:52
Nate: These are discipleship opportunities.
21:53
Nate: Yes, absolutely.
21:54
Luis: What do you think this character learned?
21:56
Luis: How does this point us to God?
21:57
Luis: I didn't even touch on my favorite book series, but I'm a big fan of the Giver by Lois Lowry, and so there's a whole series there, but again, not a Christian book, but one that I've read me, and if I were to read it with my children, it would be books that I would ask questions like what stood out to you?
22:14
Luis: What do you think this character learned?
22:15
Luis: How does this point us to God?
22:17
Nate: Yeah, so that's great.
22:18
Nate: Well, hopefully you know that's an encouragement to you guys.
22:20
Nate: You got something as we press pause on the podcast, not literally.
22:24
Nate: Please finish this episode.
22:26
Luis: Finish this episode.
22:26
Nate: Right, but we press pause for the summer.
22:28
Nate: You've got something to read to keep you going, maybe some audio books to keep it, but remember even the books you read with your family.
22:36
Nate: That's discipleship, that is formation and it's a way that we can make sure that we are equipped for impact to help disciple our children.
22:45
Nate: So if you've got some books that you want to recommend, shoot us an email.
22:50
Nate: Podcast at waynechristianorg.
22:52
Nate: We'd love to hear it.
22:53
Nate: We'll share them, maybe we'll read them, Maybe we'll give you a shout out on the next episode when we come back in August.
23:01
Luis: And, as we wind down for the summer, thank you everybody that's listened to our podcast.
23:04
Luis: So, whether you've only listened to one episode or whether you've listened to all 18, we have enjoyed doing them and we're going to keep doing them during the summer and we'll hopefully come out with some new content for you as we come back in August.
23:17
Luis: It's been a lot of fun.
23:18
Nate: Yeah, that's right.
23:18
Nate: And if you enjoyed it, please give us a rating, a review.
23:21
Nate: Wherever you listen to these.
23:23
Nate: That will help these get promoted within the secret magic of the algorithms of wherever it is Apple Podcasts, spotify, amazon Music, a couple of you on Audible.
23:36
Nate: We see that.
23:36
Nate: We see you listening on Audible, but like it, review it, whatever.
23:38
Nate: Share it with other parents who would find these resources helpful.
23:42
Nate: If they find it.
23:43
Nate: They've got a whole 18 episodes to listen to before we kick back off in August.
23:48
Nate: So be sure to hit that subscribe so you don't miss when we relaunch for our next season in August.
23:54
Nate: And thanks for joining us today.
23:56
Nate: Until next time, keep leading the next generation to stand firm in their faith and influence the world for Christ.