Episode 403: The Importance of a Family Devotion with Michael and Melissa Kruger
Raising Boys & Girls - That Sounds Fun Network
In this episode of Raising Boys & Girls, hosts Sissy Goff and David Thomas welcome Michael and Melissa Kruger to discuss their collaborative wor
Key takeaways
- Family devotions are not just about teaching Bible content but also about building deep relational connections within the family unit.
Main topics
- The importance of family devotions
- Why the Gospel of Mark is ideal for families
Notable quotes
"When you study the Bible together as a family, it knits the family together in a way that's just not achievable in any other way."
Conclusion
Michael and Melissa Kruger's 'The Good News Family Devotional' offers more than just Scripture reading—it provides a
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:04) The Speaker 3 (0:05) city moves fast, but your vibe, that's different. Sharper, smoother, more alive. Speaker 1 (0:15) The new Speaker 3 (0:20) Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel. The new Honda City, all new vibe. Speaker 6 (0:37) Hey friends, welcome to the Raising Boys and Girls podcast. I'm Sissy Goff. Speaker 4 (0:42) And I'm David Thomas, and we're so glad you've joined us for this conversation. Let's dive in. Speaker 4 (0:53) As we're building new rhythms as a family, as the school year starts, we are super excited to introduce you if you've not already encountered the Krugers and the great work they're doing and a really great resource we think could be a gift to your family this school year. Melissa Kruger serves as vice president of discipleship programming at the Gospel Coalition. She's the author of multiple books and speaks at conferences around the country. Her latest book is the Good News Family Devotional, 52 Weeks Through the Gospel of Mark. Melissa and her husband have three young adult children. Michael Kruger is the Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous books, including his latest, the Good News Family Devotional, 52 Weeks Through the Gospel of Mark, which he wrote with his wife. We loved sharing this conversation. with these thoughtful people and parents and are excited to talk about this great resource for families. Michael and Melissa, it's a joy to spend time with you all both. We are so grateful to have this opportunity. And for any families listening who are just hearing about this incredible new book of yours, The Good News Family Devotional, let's start by just having you all describe the heart behind this resource and what led you to create something specifically designed for families to engage together. Speaker 5 (2:21) Yeah, well, thanks, y'all. It's great to be with you guys. Melissa and I are excited to be on the... program. Excited to talk about this book. I mean, this book is near and dear to our heart for lots of reasons. And the number one reason is because we are parents. Our kids are grown now and out of the house, but we've been there in the trenches along with all the parents out there. We know what it's like to struggle with your busy schedules and think about how to get into the Word of God with your family. And so for years, we've been chatting just as a couple. We really ought to create a resource that's going to help families. get through the things that we had to navigate, maybe in a little bit of an easier and simpler way. And so we're thrilled to have worked together on this. Actually, this is one of our few co-authored books too, which is really what makes this book special. Not only is it born out of many years of experience, but it's actually one of the few devotionals that I know of that are written by both a mom and a dad together for families. And that's really one of those things that we think makes it unique. And we're just super thrilled about it. Speaker 7 (3:18) Yeah. And I would just also say, I feel like families right now are so busy. They know that what they want to do, but just they struggle to actually find time to be in the world together. And I feel like we live in a world right now where there's a coach for everything, right? If your kid's playing baseball, you can get a pitching coach. If kids play in tennis, you can get a tennis coach. But then I realized for the most important thing, sometimes I think we don't have the resources we so desperately need. So we kind of just hope this will kind of coach you through family devotions. That's our goal is just to help, you know, because I think a lot of people just don't know where to begin. Sometimes I think that's the hardest step to take is just beginning. So we've tried to make it as easy as possible for parents. Speaker 6 (4:04) I love that so much. And I'm so grateful because you're right. There aren't enough resources out there. And you all chose to center this devotional, particularly around the gospel of Mark. And we would love to know what drew you to Mark and what makes it especially meaningful or accessible for families and kids. Speaker 5 (4:24) Yeah, so Melissa and I have an ongoing fun sort of intermarriage debate about what's our favorite gospel, which gospel is the best gospel, and so on. And so we go around and around on this and just have fun with it. And she's a big fan of the Gospel of John. And who isn't, right? The Gospel of John is such a fantastic gospel, and it certainly is one of the people's favorites. But the reason we chose the Gospel of Mark is because of a number of factors about it that I think set it apart and make it a really good gospel. thing to spend time together in a family devotional. One simple practical thing is that Mark is the shortest gospel. One of the things that happens in devotionals is I think people try to tackle too much. And one of the things in this family devotional is we're not trying to do the whole Bible in a year. We're not trying to do the longest book in a year. We want to introduce our kids to Jesus, to the teachings and activities and ministry of Christ. We want to do it in a way that's sort of straight to the point. and really gets into the text quickly. And the Gospel of Mark is so good at this. Because if you know anything about the Gospel of Mark, it's really what I call an action gospel. It's Jesus is going from story to story to event to event, and the narrative moves along really quickly in the Gospel of Mark. I tell my students this, if it was a movie, it'd be an action movie. That doesn't mean there's no teaching in the Gospel of Mark, but it's a lot of movement forward in real succinct, precise ways. So it really works well. for a family devotional because it's doable, it's achievable, and things are in little chunks. So we're excited to do a study on what I think is a largely overlooked gospel. Speaker 7 (5:53) I basically say we're doing it because Mike won. I mean, that's the reality. He won the case for it. But... In all honesty, I have to say I have fallen in love with the Gospel of Mark after doing this and studying it together and just realized it really is a great place to begin. And I call it a sneaky gospel. I mean, because there are so many stories. The heroes of the stories, obviously, the ultimate hero is Jesus. But the heroes of the story aren't who you would expect. I mean, the disciples keep making mistakes. The religious leaders are never doing the right thing. But you have the hurting, the poor women who keep really pursuing Jesus. And one thing, we were even talking about this last night in a Bible study, and I was like, one of the best cases for the validity of Scripture is just... nobody would have written these stories. You know, I mean, they have to be true because they're not really portraying the writers even in very positive lights, especially the disciples, you know. And so it's, I really hope it will be, like Mike said, an action-packed way for families to study and see who Jesus is. What does he love? What's he telling these disciples over and over and over again? You know, and it's got so many great stories. And what we're trying to do through it is Mike wrote a lot of the devotionals for the parent, actually, to help equip them to know how to answer questions kids will ask. And so I hope it will make it easy for them. Speaker 4 (7:30) Okay, let's build on that. So if a family's engaging it, if they're walking through this devotional together, talk more about what you all hope is happening beneath the surface, not just behaviorally, but spiritually and relationally. Speaker 5 (7:43) Yeah, I mean, at the front end of any Bible study, I mean, I think it's obvious to say that we hope when they're all done, they know God's Word better and that they know the Gospel of Mark better, and maybe more to the point that they know Jesus better. And so anybody who studies these books, we trust, take away those things. But there's another layer to this that I think you're probably hinting at here with the question, which is what happens to a family when they study the Bible together? And this is one of the things that's so critical about scriptural study as a family is it's more than merely learning content. It's more than simply getting the doctrine straight, although all those things are important. But when you study the Bible together as a family, it knits the family together in a way that's just not achievable in any other way. It strengthens the bonds. It builds the relationships. It's a shared experience. We talk all the time about how experiences bring people