Home Fires
57 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 months ago - ★★★★★ - 137 ratingsWe are Abigail Dodds and Tilly Dillehay, and we're here to encourage you to make your homes a wartime outpost of life in Christ.
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Episodes
Farewell Q&A with Jenni and Abigail
January 02, 2024 12:00 - 59 minutes - 68.6 MBOn this final episode of Season 4, Jenni and Abigail do their best to tackle your poignant questions about a myriad of topics. We really needed another hour or two! On a personal note from me (Abigail), thank you for listening this season and bearing with the change of host and having only me on for interviews! Thank you for being gracious and rolling with the changes, despite missing Tilly. And many thanks to Jenni for stepping in so cheerfully. God has been kind! I hope this season bless...
Rosaria Butterfield on the Lies Christians Believe
December 26, 2023 12:00 - 58 minutes - 66.8 MBAbigail welcomes Rosaria Butterfield back to Home Fires to discuss her new book, Five Lies of our Anti-Christian Age. Rather than begin at the beginning of her book, we begin at the end, starting with the Lie #5: Modesty Is an Outdated Burden That Serves Male Dominance and Holds Women Back, then work our way backwards. As you would expect, Rosaria pulls no punches--she is as clear, direct, and forthright as anyone I've ever met, and I love her for it. I hope you will, too. Listening to Ros...
A Tale of Two Mothers
December 19, 2023 12:00 - 55 minutes - 63.6 MBOne question that has come up several times this season from listeners is some variation of: do you have any advice for parenting teens? Another frequent question is: do you have any advice for moms of young children? The good news is that being a godly and faithful mother of teens starts when your children are little. The two questions really can't be pulled apart. In this episode Abigail and Jenni work through a recent talk Abigail gave alongside Tom on parenting teens. They talk about ...
Stability of Soul for an Anxious Age with Joe Rigney
December 12, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 72.9 MBAbigail welcomes Joe Rigney back to Home Fires to talk about his recent online course called Leadership in An Age of Anxiety. We particularly zoom in on the role of women both for good or for ill in how different communities function, such as the home, the church, friend groups, and more. How do we respond when other people are offended? What do we do with our own reactive feelings when the temperature is rising? Joe points us to the Scriptures for wisdom on how to be women with clarity of...
How to Shop Like a Christian!
December 05, 2023 12:00 - 52 minutes - 59.8 MBChristmastime presents a lot of opportunities for shopping! But what's the point of shopping, really? How can we take what is often a wordly grab at materialism and instead shop as Christians--in a way that glorifies God? We explore the heart of generosity that should motivate our shopping and how to avoid the pitfalls of worldliness, asceticism, and buying the false ideologies that some stores sell alongside their products. We hope this episode encourages you in this Advent season! Wh...
Impossible Christianity with Kevin DeYoung
November 28, 2023 12:00 - 56 minutes - 65.2 MBThere are few authors who so regularly produce content that has its pulse on what normal Christians need to here--either by way of encouragement or rebuke or topic. Kevin DeYoung is one of those writers. In his new book, Impossible Christianity, he again finds a way to address a common problem among Christians--the problem of making Christianity impossible in ways that God never intended it to be. Without in any way lessening the clarion call of Christ to lose everything for his sake, Kev...
Education is Discipleship!
November 21, 2023 12:00 - 56 minutes - 65 MBJenni and Abigail talk all things "education." What is education? Is education even the right word to describe what Christians are supposed to be doing with our children while they're under our instruction and care? What are our duties as mothers when it comes to educating and discipling our children? Join us as we lean on God's word, God's truth, God's grace, and God Himself as the foundation for all real "education." And discover with us that this duty to educate our children in the Lor...
Bekah Merkle on Beauty and Interior Design
November 14, 2023 12:00 - 53 minutes - 61.8 MBHow do we know if something is ugly? How do we know if something is beautiful? Is it all just in the eye of the beholder? Why does it matter? Bekah Merkle helps us think about beauty by turning our thoughts to God's thoughts. And very happily for us, we discover that God has given us a vast and wide array of beauty in his created world to observe and imitate. So, while beauty is objective, it is also wonderfully expressed in in more ways than we have yet to uncover. If you avoid decoratin...
Michael Clary on God's Good Design
November 07, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 69.6 MBI’m eager to share this interview with author and pastor Michael Clary about his new book, God’s Good Design. Michael shares some of his personal story, his love for the local church, and what prompted him to write this book (spoiler: struggling young women). He also helps us connect how we’re made to the Scriptures and to our God-given purpose in life. Join us as we consider what worldly ideas masquerade as enlightenment, when in fact we need to unlearn those false ideas about men and wom...
Hospitality Is Skiing Down Hill
October 31, 2023 11:00 - 52 minutes - 59.6 MBToday we're mulling over the hurdles and roadblocks to Christian hospitality. What is it that really keeps people from welcoming others in? Is the problem with our homes or with our hearts? Do some people just have the hospitality gene and others don’t? We take a close look––not just at the hurdles––but the great reward of hospitality. It is such a wonderful inheritance from the Lord to get to spend and be spent for others. Don’t miss the huge blessing hospitality is—not just for those rec...
Introducing Jenni Naselli!
October 24, 2023 11:00 - 46 minutes - 53.7 MBWith Tilly away caring for a new baby, homeschooling littles, working behind the scenes for a new coffee shop endeavor, and generally tending her actual home fires, Jenni Naselli graciously joins Abigail and agrees to be put in the hot seat for an interview. Jenni shares how she came to trust Christ as well as the story of how she met and married her husband, Andy. Get ready to absorb some helpful wisdom as you hear how Jenni's parents carefully and tenderly shepherded her through her you...
Q&A and Farewell Season 3
February 22, 2023 02:01 - 1 hour - 74.9 MBTilly and Abigail team up to answer the great questions you all sent in. They talk about raising girls (friendships, dating, reading, and more), friendships with other couples, hospitality practices, dealing with spousal conflict, and pass right over your questions about head coverings and Christian Nationalism. Fun cap to the season!
Megan Basham on Believe All Women
February 14, 2023 07:00 - 1 hour - 69 MBThis week, Megan Basham joins us to talk about the widely supported claim that inside and outside the church, we should "believe all women." Where did this phrase come from? What does it mean? What does it mean for the local church, the local university, the family, and the justice system?
Preparing Children for Marriage
February 07, 2023 07:00 - 42 minutes - 48.7 MBAbigail and Tilly talk about the kinds of people we want our children to marry. How did our own experiences shape our desires for the kids? What kind of advice does a mother have to offer her son or daughter as they grow up? How can we help prepare them to be and to choose a godly spouse?
Greg Morse and the Hard Words of Scripture
January 31, 2023 07:00 - 51 minutes - 59.3 MBThis week, Greg Morse joins the podcast to talk about the "hard words" of scripture. We read and discuss challenging statements that ask us to make hard choices: to repent or remain in sin, to worship God or worship false gods. Greg's own testimony is an illustration of how the Lord often uses "hard words" to move our hearts and change our lives.
Wisdom and Her Companions
January 24, 2023 15:16 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBTilly and Abigail cozy up and chat about wisdom. What are some of the companion virtues that run in a pack with wisdom? What are counterfeit forms of wisdom that we see today? (I.e., "deep thoughts" of oversharing Christian writers, pragmatism that is really just worldly wisdom, "humor" that is really just scoffing, etc.) They also talk about the delights of wisdom, how scripture directs us to ask for it, because it's a gift. Wisdom comes from scripture, but must be mediated through the w...
Justin Dillehay and Intellectual Virtue
January 17, 2023 07:00 - 57 minutes - 65.5 MBTilly's husband Justin joins the podcast to talk about something he's been trying to train her in for the last ten years: intellectual virtue. How do we become God-honoring thinkers, who are honest, teachable, open to reason, lovers of truth, curious, attentive listeners, just, courageous, studious, and patient? How do we recognize intellectual virtue in other voices that we tune in to? Can we change our minds when the evidence demands that we do so? Can we also protect ourselves from becomi...
Remembering and Rejoicing at Christmas with Jenni Naselli
November 29, 2022 14:32 - 52 minutes - 59.5 MBThis week, we're joined by Jenni Naselli for a relaxed conversation about how our families keep the Advent season. We also touch on the day-after slump, which strikes all and sundry, and the ways to bless others when you're the guest instead of the host. We'll be taking a break for the Christmas season. We'll pick up and finish out Season 3 in the new year! See you then!
Affirmation Practice
November 22, 2022 07:00 - 31 minutes - 35.9 MBToday, Abigail and Tilly talk about how to practice affirmation in the home and in the church. How do you affirm other human people--husband, children, friends, family--without falling into flattery, or even idol worship? Jumping off of Practicing Affirmation by Sam Crabtree, they try to get a handle on how God-centered affirmation can be a tool for building people up and strengthen relationships.
Joe Rigney on Being the Smile of God to Your Children
November 15, 2022 07:00 - 59 minutes - 68 MBThis week, Joe Rigney joined us on the podcast to talk about parenting. We discussed what it means to show our children the Father's pleasure in them by demonstrating our own fatherly or motherly pleasure. We also chatted about sharing interests with our kids, discipline in an atmosphere of fellowship, and parenting special needs kids. (And Jane Austen?!?)
The Abstention Bias
November 08, 2022 07:00 - 50 minutes - 58.2 MBAbigail and Tilly discuss the human tendency to assume that to abstain from something is more virtuous than to partake in it. They relate this to women in the church bumping up against each other's consciences and practices. Why is it that women often take one another's convictions as a personal challenge? How can we allow iron to sharpen iron without being at the mercy of every suggestion made by another family's personal practices?
Confessing Sin to the Folks You Live With
November 01, 2022 06:00 - 52 minutes - 60.6 MBIn episode 4, Abigail and Tilly cozy up in separate states again to talk about confession. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins one to another. What does that mean on the ground? How do we practice the regular confession of sin in our homes and in the church, and what exactly does confession do for us?
Parenting as a Father with Tom Dodds
October 25, 2022 06:00 - 45 minutes - 51.8 MBAbigail's husband Tom joins the podcast to talk about parenting! He shares wisdom from his years growing into fatherhood. Fathers have the unique responsibility to proclaim godly precepts to their kids and to pursue holiness for themselves and their family, in order to prepare godly offspring.
Sloth and the Christian Woman
October 18, 2022 06:00 - 47 minutes - 54.6 MBThis week we discuss the sin of sloth. What does the Bible say about the sluggard? What does sloth it look like on the ground? Is it possible for such busy women to even BE slothful? (Hint: yes it is) Fun times discussing the sin nobody thinks they struggle with.
Welcome Back and Big Life Changes
October 11, 2022 06:00 - 1 hour - 74.5 MBTilly and Abigail settle down in person in a fourth-floor office of Bethlehem College and Seminary to catch up on life. 10 and 20 year wedding anniversaries, graduating children from high school, new hobbies, new responsibilities, new human beings, and why you shouldn't approach the Bible the way Abigail approaches painting a picture of a mountain... nothing is below our notice in this first episode of Home Fires, Season 3.
Q&A: Farewell Season 2
February 28, 2022 14:22 - 1 hour - 79.2 MBTilly and Abigail close out season 2 by answering as many as possible of all the good questions listeners sent in. They talk about: Keeping a home during the single years, the Enneagram, book recommendations, disagreeing with presumed Christians on major issues, raising daughters to think about homemaking, education, and work, maturing in the faith (if you're already reading your Bible), and truths that get them through the difficult days.
Andrew Peterson on Writing and Keeping Place
February 21, 2022 14:06 - 56 minutes - 64.3 MBAndrew Peterson joins the podcast to talk about his newest book, The God of the Garden, as well as the creative process, the Wingfeather Saga, his emotional life, and raising children in a creative home. This was a really fun conversation.
Alistair Roberts on the Dance of the Sexes
February 14, 2022 11:00 - 1 hour - 93.9 MBAlistair Roberts joins us to share some of his thoughts on how the whole Bible attests to the roles and relations of men and women. It's possible that there was more talk about Song of Songs in this discussion than in any previous episode, but it wasn't our fault.
Stories in the Christian Home
February 07, 2022 11:00 - 1 hour - 73.6 MBTilly and Abigail discuss the nature of story, and ways that stories have shaped them and their children through the years. How do we tell our family stories to our children? What stories do we feed them as we seek to shape their loves and characters?
Bonus Episode - Friendship with the Opposite Gender
January 31, 2022 11:00 - 14 minutes - 16.5 MBIn a conversation that was cut for time, Tilly and Abigail chat about friendships with men. What does it look like? What does it not look like? Why the push in Christian circles to reaffirm intimate friendships between men and women who aren't married? How do we relate to one another in the church as brothers and sisters?
Homemaking in Stages with Nancy Wilson
January 24, 2022 11:00 - 55 minutes - 64 MBNancy Wilson joins us to talk about homemaking as a calling that changes shape through the years. The details change quite a bit from when kids are small, to when they're teenagers, to when they leave the nest and the home continues to be a center of ministry. In every stage, homemaking is a calling that requires walking by faith.
Female Friendship in Lonely Times
January 17, 2022 11:00 - 1 hour - 69.4 MBThis week, Tilly and Abigail discuss friendships past, present, and future. How do friendships bless and edify us? How can we be better friends in those seasons when we are tempted to ask, "but who is being a friend to me?"
Social Media and the Heart of Gratitude
January 13, 2022 02:01 - 1 hour - 74.5 MBTilly and Abigail cozy up indoors in separate states to talk about the heart of gratitude, how it is affected by social media, and then social media itself and how to use it. With different social media habits that serve different ends (and different seasons of life), they each have something to share about how social media interplays with their spiritual and social lives.
David Mathis on Humbling Yourself Under God's Hand
January 03, 2022 11:00 - 1 hour - 71.5 MBDavid Mathis joins us in this first episode of 2022 to talk about the scriptural pattern of humble-self. What do we do when God's hand descends and presses us down, stripping us of our possessions, relationships, and dignity? What spiritual practices prepare us to humble-self? How do we talk about our sin before God and others? Are we actually as special as we think we are? (hint: yes and no) We found this conversation incredibly practical and encouraging!
Don't Swerve
December 13, 2021 11:00 - 59 minutes - 67.7 MBIn the last episode of 2021, Tilly and Abigail talk about whether we can know things, and whether we can make confident assertions about any of the things we know. When we women encounter people we disagree with--in person or in the internet world--our instincts tell us to swerve and avoid disagreement. Is there anything we should be willing to argue about this Christmas season? Popular wisdom says the more mature you become, the less you can be sure about. Is this true? Does humility mean b...
Who's Excited for Christmas?
December 06, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 72 MBIn this slumber party style episode, Tilly and Abigail get real relaxed and chat about the things their families do to rev up for the advent season. Why does Christmas get more stale every year for some, and better and better for others? Also, is Abigail going to sing her original Christmas hymn next episode? Does she need a pie cart? Also, why does Tilly's son sit and stare at a train for half hour stretches, and what is a 48-hr shower?
The Productive Household with Steven Wedgeworth
November 29, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 149 MBAre homes just the place where we put our keys down at the end of the day, watch some TV, and fall into bed? Why are the home and workplace such separate realms for most families? Few of us are running a family farm anymore. So what can we do to make our homes a center of productivity, culture-building, learning, and true recreation?
Spiritual Warfare in the Home
November 22, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 154 MBTilly and Abigail talk about how mothers in particular engage in the great battle against "the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Eph 6:12). The home is not located safely behind the combat line, out of danger; rather, the line of combat runs right through the home. Women are in active combat roles, so what are the areas of Satan's attack that might be specific to Christian mothers?
Untethered Empathy with Joe Rigney
November 15, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 82.3 MBAbigail and Tilly discuss empathy with Joe Rigney, author and President of Bethlehem College and Seminary. When we are ministering to one another in the church and home, is "empathy" as it's commonly understood always helpful? How does the sharing of another person's emotions help us to love them well, and how could hinder us in loving them well? How do we discern the righteous response to another person's joy, anger, and grief?
Bread of Life with Abigail Dodds
November 08, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 160 MBTilly and Abigail talk about Abigail's new book, Bread of Life. While each of them (by coincidence!) keep an eye on pumpkin bread baking a few rooms away, they discuss baking and the Christian walk, Jesus as the "what is it" manna, Eve spewing out the word of God in order to accept and digest the lies of the serpent, and four kinds of Bible reading women... this episode is a fun preview of a beautiful, practical, and beautifully written book about Jesus, the bread of life.
Episode 2.1 - Losing Your Home
November 01, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 74.3 MBAbigail and Tilly catch up and tell about the biggest things that have happened in life over the past year. They make no promises at all about the super duper secret planned episodes for season 2, but leave you to imagine all those exciting guests and topics!
Episode 15- A Homey Christmas
December 16, 2020 03:39 - 47 minutes - 41.1 MBIn Abigail's bedroom, the ladies settle into deep armchairs with cups of tea and chat about Christmas. In their most relaxed conversation to date, they manage to talk about a few substantive things... but first they find they must discuss monochromatic Christmas decor, "fencing" Christmas like you would the Lord's table or the marriage bed, and why it's a bad idea to gift gifts to charities in a giftees name. This is the final episode of Season 1.
Episode 14- I Wish I Had Your Home
December 08, 2020 07:00 - 57 minutes - 47.3 MBTilly and Abigail talk about envy. What do we do when others are blessed in ways we aren't? What if they have the family, the talents, the home, the life we wish we had? How do we handle the borrowed glories God bestows on others? Why isn't God as "fair" as we are? In our very first in-person recording, they try to subdue the silliness and get down to business on a topic that both find fascinating and that Tilly has written a book about (Seeing Green, 2018).
Episode 13- The Power of Stories with Barry Cooper and James Cary
December 01, 2020 07:00 - 1 hour - 40.4 MBAbigail and Tilly are joined by two British blokes to talk about stories and the Christian home. How can we tell stories in our homes that will strengthen our faith and plant seeds in our children? What narratives do we tell ourselves throughout the day, and how does this affect our joy? What are the false narratives our culture is telling, and what how does the Great Story contrast with those false narratives? James Cary and Barry Cooper are Reformed Brits with a background in comedy and ...
Episode 12- What is Broad Complementarity? with Kevin DeYoung
November 24, 2020 15:16 - 59 minutes - 37.9 MBKevin DeYoung joins Tilly and Abigail to bring us all up to speed in the conversation about complementarity. Within the complementarian world, there are some who call themselves "narrow" or "thin" complementarians. This camp believes we should be very careful to say anything about different roles for men and women outside the church and the home, where scripture is most explicit in its commands. On the other hand, "broad" or "thick" complementarians hold that if there are different roles for...
Episode 11- Marital Submission in the Home
November 17, 2020 07:00 - 1 hour - 61 MBTilly and Abigail discuss marital submission and settle all of your questions once and for all. But seriously, they talk about the challenge of being a Christian wife who seeks to adorn herself by being submissive to her husband (1 Pet. 3:5). Marital submission is lovely, but it is often difficult. Like climbing on the back of a tandem bike, a woman's role in marriage requires effort and coordination. They discuss the difficult marriage (as referenced in 1 Pet. 3:1-2), as well as the mo...
Episode 10- Technology and the Home with Tony Reinke
November 10, 2020 07:00 - 1 hour - 43.1 MBTilly and Abigail are joined by Tony Reinke to talk about technology. What is technology and how do we approach it as Christians? Is it something eye distrustfully, but put up with? Or is technology a built-in part of God's world, something we as God's creatures can use with his glory in mind? Tony Reinke serves as a senior teacher at Desiring God, and hosts the popular podcast Ask Pastor John, addressing questions of theology, ethics, and Christian living. Reinke currently resides in the ...
Episode 9- Safe at Home
November 03, 2020 07:00 - 1 hour - 39.9 MBTilly and Abigail talk about home as a "safe space." In the midst of a culture that seems to have a lot of new ideas about what constitutes safety and danger, can we think of our homes as the place of retreat? Is it more dangerous to be out in the world with our guards up, or inside the four walls of our home with our guards down? What do older, wiser saints show us about the work of the home and safetyism? On Election Day, when many of us are hunkered down in our "safe space" waiting for re...
Episode 8- The Home Enfleshed with Rachel Jankovic and Rebekah Merkle
October 27, 2020 06:00 - 1 hour - 66 MBAbigail and Tilly are joined by Rebekah Merkle and Rachel Jankovic from the podcast What Have You. They talk about the nitty gritty details of what it looks like to offer your home up to God as a sacrifice of praise. What does it look, smell, feel, taste, and sound like when we preach the gospel through the physical things we do in our homes? Can we do this even when things are crazy? Look for some fun stories about Abigail the fainting goat, and interesting quotes from Bekah, such as "lea...
Episode 7- The Conscience and the Home with Andy Naselli
October 20, 2020 06:00 - 59 minutes - 44.4 MBTilly and Abigail talk with Andy Naselli about the conscience. What is the conscience? What do you do when yours is calibrated differently from your friend's or your husband's? How do you care for your children's sense of right and wrong? How do you care for your own conscience, and what can you do when you realize your conscience has been misguided? Andy is the co-author of Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ and, for children, author of That Little Voic...