Raising Christian Kids in a Taylor Swift World - Episode #179

The Burt (Not Ernie) Show

Well, hello to ya today!

Welcome to this fun bonus episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show…where we take a gander at the importance of applying the Bible to our family life.

SUMMIT TICKETS HERE (& be sure to email me at [e-mail] if you sign up!)

It won’t come as any surprise for me to say that your family, your spouse, your children, your siblings, your parents, these relationships are often the ones that we want to focus on, and sometimes those are the relationships that we neglect.

We have a real enemy, and he hates what God loves. In Genesis we see the first family, and we know that God planned for them to be a family with a focus on honoring and living for Him, for the Lord. And so, of course, satan hates the family and works to rip it apart, damage it, thrash it and trash it in any and every possible manner.

We see that all around us in society. And it’s having an impact as a whole.

So we need to continue running our race and fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. It matters how we run, it matters where our gaze lands, or those words wouldn’t be on the pages of our Bibles (in the book of Hebrews, chapter twelve is the exact location).

And while this next bit I’m going to share about wasn’t part of what I’d planned to share, it is timely and fits the exact message of this episode, so I’ll be sharing some of what I shared in a blog post that I published yesterday.

I'm no stranger to difficult conversations with my children.

I've explained and over-explained so many things in the hope that some of what I said would ring true and speak louder to them than the world.

To parody the insurance commercial tagline, I know a thing or two because I've seen a thing or two.

But isn't there always something that crops up, trying to gain access to our children's hearts and minds? Isn't there always?

Yes, indeed there is. And even though my children are all adults now, even though I am no longer actively homeschooling, I continue to speak at homeschool conferences and summits and to groups of moms and women in person and via my podcasts and social media platforms. I still very much want to encourage and support homeschoolers and Christian parents in any way possible.

And today, my messages have been full of parents dealing with an unexpected source of frustration that involves the latest Taylor Swift album...

Here's a quick rundown of what's going on -

A new album was released and so, of course, loads of Swift's fans have been posting all over social media. This isn't unexpected, and certainly isn't the source of frustration so many parents are facing today. These parents have seen their children exposed to this album, which contains plenty of explicit lyrics and anti-Christian themes. But the exposure came via an unexpected source.

Many parents have strict policies for their children regarding what music they listen to and what they see online, which includes who they follow on social media. For example, say your tween daughter has an Instagram account that you monitor carefully, and the accounts she follows have been vetted and are both age and morally appropriate. All of a sudden, these carefully selected Christian content creators begin posting in detail about the latest Taylor Swift album, saying they're coming out of the closet and they don't care what anybody thinks about it, going on to explain why the album is okay to listen to if you are an adult, that it isn't child-friendly, and so on...but sharing the lyrics along with photos and video of their bizarre album-release-dinner-party-ritual-events(I have no idea what to call the release dinner party celebrations that I've seen all over my CHRISTIAN social media feed...so forgive me if my name for sounds weird, but the images I saw were pretty weird so I simply called it as I saw it).

So many young people were exposed to controversial lyrics at the hands of the Christians they follow on social media, and so many of those who posted this content did so while defending Taylor Swift in a way that makes absolutely no sense at all for someone who has chosen to take up their cross daily and follow after Jesus.

And the comments on these posts are equally controversial and surprising. Basically, what I've seen is those who take a stand against this album and its content by saying it's not really what Christ followers ought to be listening to get DESTROYED in the comments by the ample swarm of fans who feel the need to lash out against anyone who dares question their absolute allegiance to the pop star. (Note: they come out swinging against those who declare their allegiance to Jesus in an attempt to justify their allegiance to Taylor Swift as Christians...make it make sense!)

One comment went so far as to say that the lyrics on this album are no more controversial than the story of Lot and his daughters. Well, let's think about that. Genesis 19 is part of a tragedy that took place in the midst of a wicked, fallen society (hmmm, sounds familiar, doesn't it?). Lot's wife looked back at that which the Lord deemed worthy only of total destruction and thus did not make it to the "high ground" with her husband and daughters. Lot fled to (and then away from) the town of Zoar because he had a pretty good idea that the people of that community weren't going to simply let him exist in peace after what went down next door. He took his two daughters and made his home in a cave, away from the populous. The young women did not want to die childless and so they devised a lewd plan and went forward with (get dad drunk and do the unthinkable with dad in order to have children). The names of their children were Moab and Ben-ammi...the very start of the Moabites and the Ammonites, who have a long and tainted history of fighting against God's chosen people, the Israelites. I'm not exactly certain how this commenter thinks that the story of Lot and his daughters comes to her defense regarding the album and its crude, anti-Christian content. If anything, it lends credence to the fact that the album is not fit for Christian consumption.

All of this is what parents are facing today as they face the next battle for their children's hearts and minds.

After replying to messages, praying for parents, muting and unfollowing so-many-accounts today, here I am posting this on my blog as a means of encouraging any parents who are dealing with this sticky situation with their own children (or any other stick situation you may be facing). You are not alone. It may feel like you are, but I promise, based on my DMs, you absolutely are not. And I am praying for you and your family, because this is tricky stuff, explaining why Christians make choices like this, share about those choice, and defend them in ways that, frankly, dishonor the Lord.

I had intended to record a podcast episode today about the world we're raising our children in and the need to be encouraged and shored up in our parenting as Christians...and then, all of this began to play out in my social feed and inbox. So, I prayed, and changed my plans a bit and tomorrow I will be recording an episode for The Burt (Not Ernie) Show that includes some of this controversial hot topic, along with information about an upcoming summit I'm speaking at that has the express aim of encouraging families who follow Jesus. (If you'd like to check out the summit, tickets start at $17 and here is the link - Vibrant Home Life Summit 2024 ).

And lastly, if this post encouraged you, please feel free to share it on social media. Some other parents may just be encouraged by reading it, and it may be helpful to simply know they're not alone in their desire to train up the children in the way that they should go.

Lord bless you today - don't stop doing good and honoring the Lord in your parenting, because you are promised that you will reap a harvest at just the right time, so long as you don't give up!

Now I’ve spoken a lot of times at online summits and in person, and I aim to be selective in when and where I speak, and I don’t say yes to all the things I get asked to do (although once in a while I miss things, like when a speaker request / inquiry from Great Homeschool Conventions somehow landed in my spam folder, and so I didn’t see that in a timely manner and if anybody from Great Homeschool Conventions is listening to this by chance, hit me up again because yes I’ll be a speaker!) Also, check your spam now and then so you don’t miss something awesome like I did!

But I am a speaker for an upcoming event that has been created just for the Christian family. It’s the Vibrant Home Life Summit. Of course I’d love for you to check out my session (which was really difficult to complete, like every time I turned around there were difficulties and it took a lot to get it done, so I have the sense that satan didn’t really want me to speak - which means he doesn’t want any families to be encouraged by the message that I prayed so much about… and so I do think it may be a blessing for you, even though by the time I got it finished I had nearly lost my voice- I have never had that kind of trouble completing a message for a summit or for an in person event, just never happened before.

We go to work, and there’s tension and the worldview that isn’t ours as a disciple of Jesus is in our face all day, and our kids may be dealing with similar things in their daily life. It’s a battle, and it’s okay to say that out loud.

So my friends Christian and Lisa are hosting this summit as a way to link arms, join with other parents who are working toward the same goal as Christians, desiring a Christ centered home. The entire event is about that, specifically, and there will be a lot of encouragement and a lot of practical advice and tips, and all the other things that come with a summit too, like freebies and giveaways with prizes and surprises and the connections and all those things.

It’s about faith and growth and loving your family and raising your kids and honoring the Lord. And so I’m thankful to be part of this event, thankful to be speaking and doing some other things, and thankful to share it with you, because my podcast audience is all about being a disciple who disciples others while grabbing hold of all of God’s promises and believing them. And that’s why I’m sharing this with you today - now the summit includes a goodie bag of things for attendees, it is happening from April 29th to May 3rd of this year, 2024, but there is lifetime access since it’s all online, and one thing I like about it that you can listen to the sessions and that fits with the podcasting world really well. Not everyone likes podcasts, but my people do and I do so that’s how I’m going to check out this summit, I mean I can watch the videos but I’m just gonna do it like a podcast and listen.

There is a price tag of $17 for the summit, but you get the freebies and something like 42 sessions for that seventeen bucks, it’s a really good price.

Consider this your formal invitation to join me and let’s move the Kingdom of our God forward, literally linking arms, spurring one another on toward love and good deeds, reminding each other that we’re not alone, there are lots of us doing life as disciples who want to raise our children well in a world that is hostile to the Good News of Jesus. And if you do grab a ticket with the link, would you send me an email with the subject line “Summit” and I’m working on something new that I would like to share with you when it’s done, it will be early summer when I get it all ready to go, but it will be something I’ll share with you before I release it out into the great big world, and I’ll be sending it your way first and before I start selling it. So like a bonus, sort of, but in my mind I’m thinking of this as more of a share it with you rather than a bonus.

Check out the summit details via the link in the show notes and I’ll update my website the link on my home page and be sure to really consider this as something you invest in this spring, because this world isn’t getting nicer, kinder, more friendly toward believers. We need encouragement, and I’ve been doing that for a long time now, since I started blogging way back in like 2009 or something. This is just one more way for me to do what I do, encourage you. Email me at JanLBurt at outlook.com if you grab a ticket via the link in the show notes or the link at JanLBurt.com and you’ll be hearing from me with something additional to encourage you.

Thanks for joining me for this special bonus episode of the podcast, and next time I’m going to take a look at a specific promise that is huge, and you can expect that episode to drop in just a couple of days, so I’ll see you back here then. Bye bye.