Raising Kids Without Fear

The world our kids and grandkids are growing up in can feel loud, cynical, and openly hostile to faith, and that pressure hits parents where it hurts most. When you’re watching culture shape their values in real time, it’s easy to spiral into fear about who they’ll become and whether they’ll ever build a lasting relationship with God.

Today I slow that fear down and replace it with something sturdier: the wisdom of Proverbs 22:6 and a story that proves God can work through the messiest seasons. I tell the early life of a teenager who hated church, mocked preachers, and wanted anything but the ministry. He loved baseball, resented being forced into services and Bible camp, and made it clear he wanted nothing to do with “church people.” That young man was William Franklin Graham, better known as Billy Graham.

We talk about the gap between childhood and adulthood, that confusing stretch where kids can wander, rebel, or look like they’ve forgotten everything they were taught. I share why that season isn’t always the end of the story and how consistent, loving direction can plant truth deep enough to endure. If you’re looking for Christian parenting encouragement, biblical guidance for raising children, and practical hope for anxious grandparents, this short episode is for you.

Transcript

Welcome And Five-Minute Start

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mack. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and let me help you start your day right. Good morning everybody. It's good to have you here with me today.

Worry For Children And Grandchildren

SPEAKER_00 0:26

And today I want to talk about our children and our grandchildren. When we see what's happening around us in our world every day, it's really not unexpected that we would find ourselves being concerned about what the world will be like for them. How can they ever build a relationship with God and stay on track with it in the world that they face today, which is in so many ways anti God? But let me encourage you this morning that instead of being overwhelmed with the fear of what might happen, let's take a hold of what God's word encourages us with, and that's to teach our children to raise them up in the way that they should go, because when they get old they will not depart from it.

The Story Of A Church-Hating Teen

SPEAKER_00 1:07

I want to tell you a story today about a young man who experienced that. He was brought up in the way that he should go, and he rebelled against it so strongly, and yet in the end, it's the way that saved him. Listen, you will enjoy it. It seems there was once a young man by the name of Will Franklin. He grew up hating church and absolutely everything about church. He loved almost everything else in life, but to him church was nothing that he wanted to be a part of. His earliest memories were filled with the torture of going to church every Sunday, having to sit there quietly and behaving through the service. He just couldn't stand it, and he hated everything about it. He hated the preaching, he hated the music, he hated sitting there, and he hated not being able to go and play baseball with his friends because that was one of his favorite things to do. In fact, Will wanted to be a professional baseball player. It's been said about him that until he discovered girls, baseball was Will's entire life. Apparently Will's childhood would have been completely carefree if it wasn't for one thing, and that was his mother, always wanting him to go to church. Will's mother went to church every time the doors were opened, and she expected him to come with her. She wanted him to build a relationship with the pastor and with the other people of the church, but Will would have nothing to do with it. Will's family grew concerned about him, so they decided to send him to a summer Bible camp. Will didn't want to go. In fact, he did everything possible to keep from going. But finally his father laid down the law Will was going to the Bible camp. So he reluctantly agreed to go, but he made it very clear that he was not going to like it. To relieve his boredom while at camp, Will would often gather friends around him and mock the preachers who had been speaking. He would make fun of their styles and their tone of voice and how they would thump on the pulpit. He often said that there were two occupations that he would never fulfill. One was being a preacher and the other was a mortician. Both seemed to be pushing everybody into the next life, and there was too much in this life to enjoy, like drag racing his father's car, which he did one night for a total of three hundred miles. And then there was baseball. He absolutely loved baseball. Everybody said what a shame. He was basically a nice young man, but so defiant when it came to the important things, like church. Will absolutely hated church and anything to do with the ministry. You know it's really kind of funny how the Lord doesn't seem to care about our background. Because if he wants you, he's got you. And for the rest of his life Will would certainly agree that as a boy, he was really nothing special. He was just one of thousands of youngsters at the time who were trying to race Babe Ruth into the Hall of Fame. He was a youngster who'd made up his mind that he would do anything but preach. He was just an average young fellow who knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted to be a baseball player. And by the way, this baseball player's full name is William Franklin Graham, better known to most of us as Billy

Proverbs 22:6 And The Return

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Graham. Yes, that Billy Graham. The verse I referred to at the beginning of this podcast is found in Proverbs chapter twenty two and verse six. It says direct your child onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. One of the things that we need to remember is that there may be a time between when they are our children and when they get older. There may be a time of rebellion or a time of wandering, or just simply a time when we are very afraid for them and what's happening in their lives. But God's promise is that if we teach them, if we direct them, if we pour into their lives when they're young, that when they get older they'll realize the truth and they will come back to Him. And then God can do some amazing things in their lives. Maybe not to the scale of public impact of Billy Graham, but certainly to the scale of the change within the heart and the life of the person. That's what truth planted into children

Courage For Parents And Closing

SPEAKER_00 5:24

can do. Don't live in fear for what your children will face, but give them boldness and strength to hang on to the truth no matter what they face, and God will be with them. Have a great day, my friends. We will talk again tomorrow. Thank you for joining us today, and I invite you to join us every Monday to Friday, right here at Starting Right with Danny Mack.