{"id":302141,"date":"2010-11-01T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-01T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/courage-in-the-face-of-adversity\/"},"modified":"2010-11-01T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-01T15:00:00","slug":"courage-in-the-face-of-adversity","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/courage-in-the-face-of-adversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Courage in the Face of Adversity"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What courageous thing have you done lately?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-11-01.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"23.86M","filesize_raw":"25021932","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2850],"tags":[4829],"podcast_series":[7765],"cwp_profile":[3052],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302141","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character-development","tag-courage","podcast_series-growing-together-in-courage","cwp_profile-barbara-rainey","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/302141\/courage-in-the-face-of-adversity","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302141\/courage-in-the-face-of-adversity","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"7zPsxtug0e\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/courage-in-the-face-of-adversity\/\">Courage in the Face of Adversity<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/courage-in-the-face-of-adversity\/embed\/#?secret=7zPsxtug0e\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Courage in the Face of Adversity&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"7zPsxtug0e\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var 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lately?","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-11-01.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Courage is something that seems to be in short supply in our day.\u00a0 Are you raising your children to be courageous young men and women?\u00a0 Here\u2019s Barbara Rainey.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 In almost every situation when we are called upon to be courageous, there is something at stake.\u00a0 It may not be your life.\u00a0 If your kid is on the playground and he\u2019s being bullied, well he has an opportunity to stand up and be courageous and stick up for what he believes.\u00a0 It could be your reputation.\u00a0 It could be a number of things but there is always some level of risk involved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Monday, November 1st.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 How can we raise our sons and daughters not to be foolish, but to be courageous?\u00a0 We\u2019re going to talk about that today.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 Thanks for joining us.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to talk to your wife here for just a minute, if you don\u2019t mind.\u00a0 She\u2019s in the studio with us, and I just want to talk with her for a sec.\u00a0 Is that okay?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s fine.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Hi, Bob.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Hi, Barbara.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I had a way to introduce her that was going to be spectacular, but that\u2019s okay.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, save it.\u00a0 We\u2019ll have another opportunity for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Alright.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Welcome, by the way.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you, Bob.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s nice to have you here.\u00a0 I just think we need to prepare our listeners, and you can do this for us.\u00a0 If our listeners ever wind up having dinner with you and Dennis in any kind of a setting. . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 (laughter) You\u2019re not going to do this.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to tip off our listeners and tell them. . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 We got it.\u00a0 They should be prepared for the question that they are going to be asked at the table, don\u2019t you think?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, they should.\u00a0 Yes, they should.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Because if it comes at you just random, out of the blue, it\u2019s hard to zero in.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 But I can\u2019t think of a meal I\u2019ve been near with you guys in the last five years. . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Hey, look . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 where this question has not been asked.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Here\u2019s the deal.\u00a0 We get together with other people, whether it\u2019s a table for four . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Last Saturday night, we had a group together and you asked the question, didn\u2019t you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I did.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 He did.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think there were eight of us at the table (or seven \u2013 Barbara wasn\u2019t there), and I made this statement.\u00a0 I said \u201cWhy should we bore ourselves with ourselves and have small talk. . .\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 About trivial things that don\u2019t matter.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, you know, it\u2019s just easy to have two people talking at a table . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Excuse me.\u00a0 I was talking to your wife.\u00a0 Can we go ahead and continue?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 So I asked a question. . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Tell everybody.\u00a0 What\u2019s the question?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 I will tell the question, if he\u2019ll let me.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It really helps people get to know the people they\u2019re having dinner with.\u00a0 You may be having dinner with a friend . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Will you excuse us?\u00a0 We\u2019re trying to have a conversation here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is hilarious, watching you two.\u00a0 I think you were brothers, separated at birth, and now you\u2019re getting back into each other.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 No, he was born in St. Louis.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, that\u2019s true.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I was born down near Branson, a long ways away.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I am the younger brother, and I\u2019ve been picked on my whole life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(Laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo at dinner, what is the question anybody around the table is going to get asked?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 He loves to ask the question, \u201cWhat is the most courageous thing you have ever done?\u201d\u00a0 It is a difficult question to answer, although it is fascinating.\u00a0 There are some people who know instantly what the answer to the question is, and they are often really ready to share it because they know so quickly what the answer to it is.\u00a0 But there are others who sit at the table and they ponder and they think, and a frequent comment is:\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve never done anything courageous in my whole life.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut Dennis always pushes back and says, \u201cNo, that\u2019s not an answer.\u00a0 I\u2019ll bet there is something that you have done that\u2019s courageous.\u201d\u00a0 And after they think about it for a while and listen to some of the other answers, they come up with something.\u00a0 We\u2019ve heard some amazing stories.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Here\u2019s my question.\u00a0 Most of the time when you\u2019re at a table and everybody goes around and they share, by the time the meal is over, at least a few people, and usually Dennis, haven\u2019t had a chance to share their story, have they?\u00a0 I mean, have you heard him share the most courageous thing he\u2019s ever done?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Sure.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Because all my friends from last Saturday night said, \u201cWe never got to hear Dennis\u2019 most courageous thing.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Did they rat on me?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, they did.\u00a0 So I want to know.\u00a0 Where did you come up with that question in the first place?\u00a0 What made you even think of it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 Truthfully, some day I may end up writing a book of people\u2019s answers to this question, because you really don\u2019t hear the kind of answers that you\u2019d think you\u2019d hear.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had the standard answer of a former governor of the state of Arkansas, not Mike Huckabee, but Frank White.\u00a0 His most courageous thing was flying in a plane that was riddled with bullets.\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember what war.\u00a0 Maybe it was the Korean War, but he flew that thing back crippled, and arrived and landed safely.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI remember I had a guy say he walked into an apartment where there was a guy with a gun, holding everyone up, and the guy attacked him.\u00a0 He said, \u201cI didn\u2019t even think!\u00a0 I just did what was instinctive.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI\u2019ve had other things that occurred on battlefields, and you would think that is what you\u2019d get, but the most frequent thing that someone says has to do with being courageous around their parents, doing something in response to taking a stand, being a man, standing up to his father and saying, \u201cNo, Dad, I\u2019m not going to do that.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to be my own man.\u201d\u00a0 Or a young lady [standing up] to her mother or to her father.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s really fascinating:\u00a0 relationships in life demand a lot of courage, because courage isn\u2019t the absence of fear, it\u2019s doing something in the face of fear.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Of course, the reason I bring it up is because you have been working for many months now on putting together a devotional for families around this subject.\u00a0 A year ago you did a devotional around the subject of gratitude, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And it was a seven-day devotional, actually seven stories, designed to stimulate conversation, in that case around gratitude.\u00a0 When you sat down and said, \u201cOkay, the next one I\u2019m going to do is going to be on courage,\u201d why that?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, I think families need to talk about courage.\u00a0 I think our children are faced with situations at school all the time that demand that they take a courageous stand, whether it\u2019s standing up to a bully on a playground, or refusing to give in to peer pressure as a teenager, our kids are facing lots of situations as they grow up where they need to exhibit courage of one kind or another.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI think it\u2019s a topic we don\u2019t think to talk about a lot with our kids.\u00a0 We talk about doing what\u2019s right, we talk about telling the truth, but we don\u2019t really put it in the context of that being a courageous decision or a courageous action.\u00a0 I think by focusing on it that way, it really helps to crystallize why it\u2019s important and why we need to be courageous.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You\u2019re not just talking about children being courageous, though.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 No, I\u2019m not.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You also have in mind as these things are being read aloud at the dinner table, or maybe just between a husband and a wife, that the adults will take a step up, too.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s correct.\u00a0 The stories are not just for children.\u00a0 They are stories that children can follow, and listen and understand, but they are stories that I hope will also capture older teens and moms and dads, because it\u2019s a topic that the entire family needs to think about and talk about and discuss and say, \u201cWhat does this look like for us?\u00a0 Where can we be courageous as a family and as individuals?\u00a0 What does that look like?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Personally, I think we are living in a new day . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 I agree.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 When husbands and wives, moms and dads, and perhaps grandparents, I think are going to be forced to take courageous stands as never before as true followers of Christ.\u00a0 I really believe this.\u00a0 I think the battle is coming to us, and if we don\u2019t know what our core convictions are from the Scripture and what we truly believe . . .\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBarbara and I wrote a book called <em>Parenting Today\u2019s Adolescent<\/em>, and in that book we talked about near-beliefs \u2013 not quite beliefs, they are near-beliefs.\u00a0 They are things we would change our mind about if perhaps we were confronting a dangerous situation.\u00a0 But near-beliefs aren\u2019t going to float and aren\u2019t going to fly in this culture.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 No.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You\u2019re going to have to have some serious convictions and you\u2019re going to have to accompany those convictions with courage.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Do you think we live in a day \u2013 and I\u2019ll ask your wife this, since she wrote the book.\u00a0 Is that okay?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Why are you asking me?\u00a0 (Laughter)\u00a0 You completely took over at the beginning.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And our listeners are just saying, \u201cThank you for that,\u201d so do you think we live in a day where we lack courage?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think we do.\u00a0 I think our prosperity has numbed us.\u00a0 I think the ease of our lifestyle has taken away lots of opportunities to be courageous.\u00a0 I mean, survival for so many centuries required courage every day from people.\u00a0 Yes, there are people who are still struggling to survive today in our country, but for the majority of Americans, life is pretty easy.\u00a0 I think our opportunities to display courage have been reduced or maybe made lesser just because of the kind of environment that we live in.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re not living in a war-torn country.\u00a0 We\u2019re not living in a country where people are starving around us, and we have to decide \u201cDo I share what tiny little bit of rice I have with this person over here next to me?\u201d\u00a0 We don\u2019t have those kinds of opportunities to display courage.\u00a0 They are more subtle and there are fewer of them.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Courage may appear in the PTA meeting.\u00a0 It may occur with another set of parents whose values you may differ with as you raise your children and you have to take a stand.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It may be in the choices you make of what kind of movies you\u2019re going to rent, what kind of places you\u2019re going to go.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Where you are going to say \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d to a teenager who is pushing back.\u00a0 That takes courage.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, it does.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It really does, Bob.\u00a0 I think the verse for the day that we really don\u2019t hear preached much anymore is Romans 12:1-2.\u00a0 When I was first growing, and first really gave my life to Christ and started seriously following him, I just kind of felt like a bunch of people in the Christian community were camped out in Romans 12:1,2.\u00a0 They just talked about that a lot.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd the reason is, it\u2019s talking about really fully yielding yourself to be used by God fully, and not being conformed to the world.\u00a0 I fear today there is a lot of conformity when there needs to be courage to stand against those messages.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLet me just read this passage.\u00a0 Paul says, \u201cI appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.\u00a0 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI think conformity goes with the flow.\u00a0 It says, \u201cYeah, you know, I\u2019ll just go along.\u00a0 We\u2019ll just cave in to peer pressure here.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 And people say, \u201cOh, it\u2019s not that bad.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that big a deal.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s real easy to compromise and to settle for less.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 And if there\u2019s ever been a day when families ought to be talking about courage . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 and parents ought to be demonstrating courage, it\u2019s today.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, I agree.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Because this culture is in the process of robbing individual moms and dads, husbands and wives, and I believe singles, of their moral courage.\u00a0 So they cave in, and the easiest thing to do?\u00a0 Go with the flow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You knew the soap box was going to come out here, didn\u2019t you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, I guess I did.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I mean, when you started writing this, didn\u2019t you know?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 She was writing this thing, and she\u2019d send me . . . we would be in the same house, just a few rooms away from each other \u2013 our house is not that big \u2013 and I\u2019d get an email.\u00a0 She\u2019d say, \u201cRead this,\u201d and I\u2019d nearly come out of my seat, I\u2019d be so excited.\u00a0 I really think this topic is the topic of the day for Christian families.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to cost you to be a Christian family.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 How do you envision this devotional \u2013 and this is a part of a series.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You want to do a whole series of devotionals around character qualities or character traits to reinforce these themes with families, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Correct.\u00a0 The reason that I\u2019ve designed them the way I have is that when we were raising our children there was nothing available that would span the ages of all of our kids.\u00a0 We had six kids, so when the youngest was five the oldest was 15.\u00a0 Well, finding something that would appeal to a five-year-old and a 15-year-old is a tall order.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 And secondly, when you did find some kind of devotion that you could read or some king of family activity, every day it\u2019s a different topic.\u00a0 It\u2019s very random and very scattered.\u00a0 There are no visuals either.\u00a0 Most devotional books are just little tiny words on a piece of white paper, and it\u2019s not very interesting to look at. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo I wanted to create something that would appeal to children of all ages, as young as five and as old as eighteen, and the parents.\u00a0 I also wanted it to be topical, so that for a week you\u2019re talking about gratitude, over and over and over.\u00a0 And then another week you pick up the book on courage, and for a week you as parents are talking to your kids about the topic of courage.\u00a0 And when you repeat any kind of instruction, it\u2019s going to last longer.\u00a0 So when you\u2019ve got this opportunity to repetitively talk about a particular topic, you\u2019re going to make a little bit more headway in your kids\u2019 lives.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I loved the <em>Book of Virtues<\/em> when it came out, because it did take those character qualities and gave poems and stories and gave historical accounts.\u00a0 We spent a lot of nights where we were thumbing through . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 We had it too.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 But I also remember that I zeroed in on a handful of the stories that became some of our favorites, and others I\u2019d just flip by.\u00a0 What you\u2019ve done in isolating seven stories is, you\u2019ve kind of done the pre-sifting and say \u201cLook, these are seven powerful, compelling examples of different aspects of courage.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 In fact, if these stories don\u2019t light your fire, your wood is wet.\u00a0 It is really wet, because the stories she tells in here are of people who showed huge heroism in the face of obstacles, and in some cases at peril of their own lives.\u00a0 I think, Bob, today these are days are when we need to talk about the chest and the heart that people have and call that heart out and say, \u201cYou know what, you can take a stand there.\u00a0 You can take a stand for Jesus Christ and do what\u2019s right.\u00a0 You know what?\u00a0 It may cost you if you do.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I was talking to Barbara and you kind of interrupted her.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to apologize.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think he\u2019s liking this topic.\u00a0 What do you think?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 A little passion here on the subject.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, there\u2019s a reason for that, too, and you know what it is.\u00a0 I\u2019m just finishing up work on a book to men.\u00a0 It is about how men can step up courageously to be God\u2019s man.\u00a0 Personally, I just think this topic is really a hot topic.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 So, I\u2019m sorry, what were you starting to say there, Barbara?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(Laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Of the stories \u2013 and you had to read dozens of stories \u2013\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Lots of stories, yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Pick one of the ones that you selected and tell me why you picked it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, let me say this first, generally.\u00a0 I wanted every single story that I included to be compelling and memorable, so it\u2019s really hard for me to say which one is my very favorite, because they are all so different.\u00a0 But they just capture your imagination, and you have to have that if you\u2019ve got a five- or six-year-old listening to a story.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to have something that is going to capture their imagination and is going to make them sit up and pay attention, even if they don\u2019t understand all the words.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 So tell them the \u201cWhite Rose\u201d story.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong><em>\u00a0 <\/em>The White Rose.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 So you\u2019re telling me if I said to you that you could only pick one story to keep \u2013 of all of the stories you read you could only pick one to keep, you just couldn\u2019t do it, could you? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 It would be really hard.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 A lot of our listeners know that Bob has a tremendous root of bitterness toward me because I occasionally will ask the question. . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Occasionally?\u00a0 All the time!\u00a0 \u201cOut of all of the memories that you\u2019ve ever had, which one would you keep?\u201d\u00a0 So I just thought I\u2019d throw it out, and it\u2019s impossible, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 What\u2019s the \u201cWhite Rose\u201d story?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 <em>The White Rose <\/em>is a story about a young woman named Sophie Scholl.\u00a0 She had three or four brothers and sisters and grew up in Germany.\u00a0 She was about 15 years old when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany.\u00a0 By the time she got to the University as an entering college freshman, things had really changed in the country and the war had begun and things were really, really difficult.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tShe banded together with her brother, who was a couple of years ahead of her, and a friend of her brother\u2019s to form this little society, this little organization that they called \u201cThe White Rose.\u201d\u00a0 As college students \u2013 this is part of the reason that I love this story \u2013 here you\u2019ve got these three college students who dared to take on the government of Germany.\u00a0 They opposed the Third Reich and Hitler, the most evil man of the 20<sup>th<\/sup> Century, or one of them anyway.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI just think it\u2019s remarkable that you have these three twenty-somethings who dared to push back on the evil of their day.\u00a0 And I think it is instructive for our kids.\u00a0 I want my kids, who are adults, to read this because I don\u2019t think they know the story of Sophie.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t before I started working on this.\u00a0 But her life inspires me.\u00a0 That she at 20, 21 and 22 \u2013 those three years of her life \u2013 was willing to put her neck on the line, literally, is a stunning story and it\u2019s one that we need to be familiar with, because it\u2019s inspiring.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Many of these are neck-on-the-line stories, I mean it\u2019s life or death.\u00a0 There\u2019s something about courage that it is really called to the front when you say, \u201cOkay, I could lose my life, but I\u2019m not backing down.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s right.\u00a0 And a number of them were in situations where they could have lost their lives.\u00a0 Some did and some didn\u2019t.\u00a0 But many of these situations that these people found themselves in were life and death.\u00a0 And often times we are called upon to be courageous in a very hard situation.\u00a0 If your kid is on the playground at school and he is in a situation where someone is bullying him or her, he has an opportunity to stand up and be courageous and stick up for what he believes or what the issue is that they are having this little tiff about.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, in doing all this research for this, I realized that in almost every situation where we are called upon to be courageous, there is something at stake.\u00a0 It may not be your life.\u00a0 It could be your reputation, it could be your job, it could be a number of things, but there is always some level of risk involved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And Dennis, I think it is maybe easier to be courageous \u2013 this sounds weird \u2013 but sometimes it is easier to step up and be courageous when the stakes are high, but it\u2019s a little harder to be courageous in the smaller acts, because they seem insignificant and we just get passive.\u00a0 Do you know what I mean?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I do.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Barbara:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think that\u2019s right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 As parents, I felt like we were facing issues daily as we raised our teenagers that demanded courage on our part, because we weren\u2019t running a popularity contest with our kids.\u00a0 We realized that we had standards, we believed in the Scriptures.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t want that to crush our kids, but on the other hand, we didn\u2019t want to lower our standards in light of the culture.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI\u2019ll tell you, folks need to find out about the story of The White Rose and what happened to Sophie, because here were three young people who paid the ultimate price.\u00a0 You\u2019re talking about courage that stood, as Barbara said, in the face of the ultimate evil of the 20<sup>th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 Our children are being challenged today, I think, to stand in front of all kinds of evil at school, in sports, in the culture, all kinds of choices.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t teach them how to be courageous, I\u2019m afraid they won\u2019t be.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You know, I was thinking back to an interview we did a number of years ago on the issue of morality and why children don\u2019t seem to know right from wrong.\u00a0 In fact, I think the author had written a book called <em>Why Johnny Can\u2019t Tell Right from Wrong.<\/em>\u00a0 His premise was that we learn morality and ethics and character qualities from history, from story, and from example, from what\u2019s modeled for us.\u00a0 Really, Barbara, what you have provided for us in this devotional for families is a series of the stories. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat\u2019s one component of how we influence our children, how we help them cultivate a courageous heart.\u00a0 These are powerful, compelling stories that work for children from elementary school up.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to read one at the dinner table or at the breakfast table or just when you get together for time as a family in the evening.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe book is out now.\u00a0 You can go to FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 It\u2019s called <em>Growing Together in Courage<\/em>.\u00a0 It is seven devotions for families on this theme.\u00a0 It\u2019s available online at FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 In fact, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s available anywhere else right now.\u00a0 I think the only place you can get it is here at <em>FamilyLife Today. <\/em>\u00a0 Go to FamilyLifeToday.com and order a copy online or call1-800-FL TODAY, that's 1-800 \u201cF\u201d as in Family, \u201cL\u201d as in Life, and then the word \u201cToday,\u201d and we can make arrangements to have copies of the book sent to you.\u00a0 Again, I-800-FLTODAY is the number, or online at FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, I\u2019ll tell you what, it encourages us, it gives us courage, when listeners contact FamilyLife to help support the ministry.\u00a0 We are listener-supported, and we appreciate those of you who will call in from time to time or go online at FamilyLifeToday.com and make a donation to help support the ministry.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou are helping to cover the costs associated with producing and syndicating this daily radio program, having it on a network of stations all across the country, and online at FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 We appreciate very much your partnership with us and just want to say thanks for your financial support for the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe want to encourage you to be back with us tomorrow, when we are going to talk more about how we can help cultivate a heart of courage in our children and in ourselves.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We will see you back tomorrow for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today.\u00a0 Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t2010 Copyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. 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