Amy Medina

@philipnation Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey

Outside of the Bible, what is the one book that has caused the most change, deep reflection, and/or transformation in your life?

@Markins Very positive! My school put on a few of the musicals (my dad once played Psalty!) and we listened to the songs all the time. Many are still in my head.

I’m curious, does anyone remember Psalty the Singing Songbook? Kids Praise music for Children’s Church? If so, does this bring back positive or negative memories for you?

@babyfeverbabe A Little Princess and The Secret Garden (esp. if you can pull off a Yorkshire accent!)

What books should I be most excited to read with my daughter in bed at night when she’s a bit older? Here is my current list: Roald Dahl Anne of Green Gables Tale of Despereaux Harry Potter Little Women Katie Kazoo

@collinhansen Have them over for dinner. A lot.

When we receive applications for fellows at The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, we ask them to answer the question “What's the most important thing should Christians do right now to introduce their neighbors to Jesus?”

@TiffaniMarie483 We had 3 in a bedroom for a while. They loved it! I let them chat before they fell asleep. No one ever got afraid of the dark.

Pretty soon I’ll have four kids and only one bedroom to put them in. Can’t move. We are planning on getting bunk beds. Is this even feasible? I feel so bad about cramming them all into one room.

@philvischer The fact that Wells Fargo sends my 20-year-old daughter credit card applications makes me want to close my account.

Because I reliably pay off my Chase credit card, Chase just informed me I've been "pre-approved for a $75,000 car loan." The fact that they think I would take on SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS IN DEBT to buy a CAR is so offensive to me it makes me want to cancel my card.

@herbitter @racheljwelcher I have this question too. Like, what if you refer to a scene from Narnia but don't quote it?

@racheljwelcher so, "Lewis said something LIKE xxx xxx xxx" is free, right?

Alright, I’m gonna save you some time and money in advance, since I have to tell every single author I’ve ever worked with: If you quote C.S. Lewis in your book, you have to pay PER WORD.

@racheljwelcher WHAT??? I had no idea.

@theramblingfool People take books out of mine all the time! And if certain books sit in there too long, I remove them.

I hate those little "Free Libraries" people put outside their homes. They never have a single book worth reading. They just seem like a way to get rid of bad books wasting space while signaling "I'm a whimsical, interesting reader." I'm willing to be wrong. Am I wrong?

@racheljwelcher Oh sweet baby girl, you need to move to California. I planted seeds this morning. Tell your mom.

It was 46 degrees this afternoon, so we got to go outside! Hilde (age 4), in her joy, wrote the following song. But oh, my poor summer child, who is going to tell her its still February? "Today is the day the best day everrrr...we are going to do so many things...we’re going to plant seeds. What else shall we dooooo? I have lived my whole life in this house. I can’t believe today is the day, the best day ever, the start of summer. I love that it finally happened - SUMMER - I can’t believe it’s finally summer. I’m so excited that we could move to the outside world. The outside world is finally heeeeeere."

@BethMooreLPM I have so much respect for you. You give me hope.

I share this post in earnest and (what may prove a naive) hope that a few people caught in the situation I’m about to describe will hear instead of rushing to the usual tropes, criticisms and caricatures. For what it’s worth, I offer this in good faith. Between 2016 and 2022, I faced a test of the genuineness of my faith so large and consequential, I’m almost at a loss to think of the right adjectives to describe it. It might not have been so big to someone else but it involved so much of my Christian identity, it was all but existential. Well more than that. It was a dying. It is this test that helps me understand why people who seem deeply devoted to the Lord Jesus and hold the scriptures in highest esteem also hold to a system, institution or leader no matter what they do and defend a side or individual to a degree that is baffling. I can tell you why because I had to face every bit of it. Identity, community, camaraderie, what we’ve known and loved, what part of it we still love, the people we loved, the people we still love, reputation, what people will think, how you will be judged and condemned and thrown over to the other side who doesn’t want you either. And to whom you also do not align and would not belong. Friendships. How you will be misunderstood and misrepresented. How adrift and alone you will feel. How disliked. And then there’s this and it would be a mistake to minimize it: your JOB. Your source of income. Your vocation. This is the part of the crisis I most write these words to convey because I think they are most in play for many right now, whether in media, ministry or politics. Let me try to put this in the words that were constantly resonant in my spirit in those years. And to this day. Though you have no other place to go, Beth, and no place to fit and it not only MAY have financial repercussions but WILL have financial repercussions to the ministry and to your family and will also make them targets and none of it will ever look the same or be the same, will you choose what you believe to be right and put everything else in your vocational life at risk? This is what is at risk for many people whose professional reputations and positions are tied up with leaders, institutions and political parties. Mine was, too. The cost is enormous and the options are often untenable. And so there we are. Having to cast ourselves on the mercy of God. Not for a third way. But as THE ONLY WAY. The only truth. The only life. I’ve made multiple errors in judgment. Jumped too quickly to condemn. Spoken wrongly. Remained silent wrongly and confusingly. I never get it completely together. But what I will tell you is that I believe we are meant first and foremost to call out our own house, our own side, and our own identity group for its mind-boggling hypocrisy. These were my people. Evangelicals. Conservatives. Claim what you will but I know who I am: I am pro life from conception to casket. I am pro small government. I am pro godliness and the pursuit of a holy life. I am pro marriage and family and pro-those God calls to remain single and sanctified and I’m deeply thankful for them. I am pro traditional sexual ethics. I am pro love of God and love of neighbor and the dignity of every person as an image bearer of Christ. I am pro love all. I am pro church. I believe in the community of the saints. I am pro Bible study to the death and believe the aim of all discipleship is to know and love and follow and emulate Jesus Christ. I am pro gospel. Dear God in heaven, I am pro gospel. I believe there is one name by whom we must be saved. Jesus. What I am not is pro Trump. Wasn’t pro Clinton. Wasn’t pro Biden. But those were not the candidates many in the world that I loved so much were cheering on. I accept that Donald Trump is my president. I pray for him on a regular basis. I’m a law abiding citizen and pay my taxes. But I believe Trump fosters something in people that makes them lose their way.

@1followernodad Or when they want you to sing along and you don't know the song.

nothing sends a 3 year old over the edge like when you sing along to a song and they didn’t want you to

@techguy @MrDanielBuck Yep. Me too. They finally gave up this strategy and instead told me that I either eat what's on the table, or I didn't eat. Sometimes I chose not to eat and was not traumatized by this. I survived. I eventually grew out of my pickiness.

@MrDanielBuck My parents did that too. I spent hours sitting at the table. Never ate it. Each kid is unique.

One of the best parenting decisions my wife and I have made was simple: Hold the line. Early on, we told our daughter that she had to eat three more bites of her food and asked to be excused She refused. She fussed. She cried. She made us late. Finally, she turned it all off, mumbled "fine," crammed in a few more bites, and politely asked to be excused. Essentially ever since then, she's been a great eater and knows that if she wants to pick a battle about anything, it won't go her way. Parents, you're the adults in the house. Be in charge. Don't give in to tantrums.

@racheljwelcher Sounds like you need to offer her a contract.

A story from my four-year-old: Once there was a Richard and Hilde and they were going on a walk. Mama pushed them in the stroller and they was going to the beach and when they were playing, Richard crawled down a very deep hill and sissy followed him. They went so deep that Mama cried out for Hilde: “Hilde, good job! You caught Richard!” And then Richard was asking for music and Daddy put on some music. And then they lived happily ever after but then they go-ed back home and Richard cried. He wanted to stay at the beach forever, so we said we could build our home at the beach and then every day Richard jumped in the sand and Hilde had a sand fight. And Hilde went into the woods for sticks for a sandcastle and Sissy dug and dug and dug the deepest hole ever, and then they had a sand party! And they danced at a sand party and they buried each other up and they also throwed sand everywhere until Richard was covered in a statue of sand. And Hilde jumped all around and throwed sand having the best time ever, and they went back to the house and, anyway, they lived happily ever after - the end.

@drantbradley I've been a missionary for 20 years and technically, I get paid for it. I raise funds but I still have a salary appear in my bank account every month. It sounds like you are saying that only those in vocational ministry are called?

@AmyEMedina No. That’s not what that passage is about at all. “Good works” are things you don’t get paid for.

I’m not a biblical studies expert. I’m wondering where in the Bible does it take about “calling” in terms of one’s day job? or people saying “I feel called to live in city X?” What verses allow people to make such claims about being “called” to secular, 9-5 jobs from God, etc?”

@drantbradley Can being an accountant or plumber or fire fighter, done to the glory of God, be part of the good works God has prepared for someone to do?

@AmyEMedina Hmm…it’s hard to come to that conclusion given what’s written in 2:8-9 and the beginning of Eph 3. “Includes secular work.” Seems like a potential inference rather than an explanation of the text. 🤷🏾‍♂️

@racheljwelcher Most recently, What are Christians For? by Jake Meador. Worldview, U.S. History, helping me understand how we got to where we are. Hard to describe this book but it's fascinating.

What is the best Christian non-fiction book you have read in years and why?

@HermitFather Practice "do overs." "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said because you were whining. Please try again." And then again and again and again until she gets it right. Parenting three-year-olds means constant correction. It's exhausting. hang in there.

What am I supposed to do to discipline a 3 year old who is INCESSANTLY whining. I’m talking about almost every single waking second of the day. Do you guys (PARENTS ONLY) have any tips for me?

@xwanyex Read lots and lots and lots of books together.

OK, let’s put on our striver parent hats for a second. I have a four-year-old. I’m not neurotic about getting such a young kid involved in a bunch of different stuff, but what things have the highest return for early involvement? What should I be thinking about? Any specific athletics? Piano? I probably don’t care enough about academics to focus on math or anything like that. I’m trying to think of things that will get a big bang for the effort required, things that will pay dividends over the course of his entire life by having started very early.