Do We Really Need It?

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

January 3, 2022 by Laura Leave a Comment

Do We Really Need It?

In “Do We Really Need It?,” Episode, #151, Meredith Curtis reveals the challenges that Christians face as wise consumers trying spend money for the glory of God. “Just do it!” Nike shouts! Do what? you wonder, confused. Advertising slogans dazzle and repel us from billboards to glossy magazine pages, from sides of buses to television commercials to internet ad pop-ups. How do parents, teens, and children combat advertising that leads us in the wrong direction? How can we separate our desires and wants? And our good desires from evil desires? Meredith helps us sort through these murky waters with biblical principles and practical wisdom.

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Show Notes

The Power of Advertising

Culture heavily influenced by Advertising
Advertising dictates how we decorate & celebrate holidays
New product promotional ads

How Advertising Works

Advertising appeals to both good and evil desires
Products will often be linked to a universally desired thing (happy marriage, mate, fast car, admiration, athletic skill)
Target certain segments of society
Most companies targeting homeschooling families are not homeschoolers themselves
Many homeschooling companies targeting Christian homeschooling families are not Christians.
Advertising isn’t always honest

How Jesus Responded to Advertising

Satan advertised the Kingdom of Darkness to Jesus (see Matthew 4)
Satan advertised food while Jesus was fasting and challenged him to test God
Finally, Satan offered Jesus wealth and power.
Jesus resisted using the Word of God as a weapon of Truth.

Our New Way of Life

Imitate Jesus in responding to advertising. Respond to lies with truth. Respond to insinuations with reality.
Don’t fall into the trap of having advertising dictate what and when you purchase.
Seek God about your needs and desires.
Work/talk together as a family to apply truth to advertising and felt needs.

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Resources

Government: God's Blueprint/Man's Agenda by Meredith Curtis

A Special Thank You to Our Network Sponsor: Courageous Movie

From the Kendrick Brothers, creators of the No. 1 box-office movie WAR ROOM and OVERCOMER, comes the remastered re-release of COURAGEOUS Legacy, in theaters September 24. Celebrating 10 years of impact on families and fathers, this updated version of the film includes new scenes and an enhanced look and sound.

Filled with action-packed drama, COURAGEOUS Legacy will once again have viewers laughing, crying, and cheering as they are challenged and inspired by everyday heroes who long to be the kinds of dads that make a lifelong impact on their children. Protecting the streets is second nature to these men. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That’s courageous.

Check out the trailer here!

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Filed Under: Finish Well Tagged With: buy, Christian, Education, family, Finish Well, homeschool, Jesus, Laura Nolette, Meredith Curtis, Parent, save, shop, stewardship, store, teen

Teaching Kids About Money – MBFLP 223

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

April 5, 2019 by Hal and Melanie Young Leave a Comment

Today we’re talking about one of those most practical of all topics – money, and particularly how you teach your young people about it. This was easier with the older kids because with the older kids, I mean, you get a job, start a business, make a budget, save money, easy. You can’t tell your five year old to go get a job.

So how do you teach these young kids to manage money? How do you teach them to take it seriously?

We do need to take it seriously because of the things we noticed when we were researching our book on marriage. The Holmes-Rahe Stress Test, something psychologists developed years ago, ranked major life events in their order of impact on your health. The death of a spouse is number 1. Number 14 was “financial issues,” but everything above number 14 had a financial impact of some sort. It touches every aspect of our lives and you know, it’s something that we need to be intentional about teaching, starting from very early, to be stewards of what God’s given them.

So what does that look like?

Part of it is just teaching them what money is and what it’s about. For example, we teach our kids that money is like a voucher for work. That’s a concept which we don’t think everybody has really thought through. We’re in the business of writing and publishing books, but we can’t take box loads of books down to city hall to pay our electrical bill. They’re not going to be impressed because they don’t need books. You need money because money is a voucher – we get a check for the month for the work we do and we take it to the bank and when we use that money to pay other people to their work,

That’s an important principle to get to the children to see that every piece of money that passes through your hands, somebody worked and did something productive. Either they did some labor or they produced something for sale, and that that piece of money represents certain amount of their work, time, and effort.

It’s really super important for young kids to grasp because you know when you connect it, when you can say, okay, well dad had to work for this money. What he did earned the money that we’re spending. That makes it real and helps the child understand that spending is not just, “Oh, Daddy has this wonderful magic card and we just hand it to the merchant and they give us hamburgers.” … (listen to the whole thing below!)

This episode brought to you by

Evangelical Christian Credit Union

Special Thanks to Our Network Sponsor -TimeforLearning.com

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Filed Under: Making Biblical Family Life Practical Tagged With: Budgeting, money management, stewardship, teaching young children

MBFLP – Saving Money At Christmas

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

December 1, 2014 by Hal and Melanie Young Leave a Comment

It’s the most commercial time of the year, the Christmas shopping season. For some businesses, the sales for these few short weeks make up for months of sluggish economy. For many of us, though, our own personal economy isn’t ready for big spending … as much as we might like to! This episode, we talk with Candy Foote of “Strategic Shopping” about fun, creative, and low-cost ways to enjoy the season while still putting gifts around the tree — and not running up the credit cards. You don’t want to miss this one!

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Filed Under: Making Biblical Family Life Practical Tagged With: bargain, budget, christmas, Gifts, shopping, stewardship

MBFLP – Cheap Family Travel

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

March 31, 2014 by Hal and Melanie Young Leave a Comment

Think of family travel and you probably think of vacation. But what other adventures could your family undertake if you could save 40 to 60% on the cost of “conventional” travel? Could they join Dad on business travel? Plan the ultimate field trip? Make a mission week a family project? Last year Hal and Melanie took their family on the road for over 30,000 miles–and this episode, they share their secrets for finding the best deals on airfare, lodging, and even how to save on routine gas fill ups!

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Filed Under: Making Biblical Family Life Practical Tagged With: airfare, business, camping, family, hotels, Ministry, savings, stewardship, travel