Parenting

Parenting and Spiritual Development of Children

What is the single most important factor in the spiritual growth and development of a child?  Education?  A Balanced Diet?  Exercise?  A Good Night’s Sleep?  These are all important, no doubt, but the single most important factor is the child’s parents.  The beliefs, examples, and methods of training that parents employ have more influence upon a child’s spiritual development than any other.  It is for this reason that the LORD enjoins parents with the spiritual growth and development of children (Deuteronomy 6:2).

Key to success in the spiritual growth and development of children is a method of parenting that focuses on spiritually transformational outcomes.  Researcher George Barna has recently weighed in on this issue.  He says:

Parenting by default and trial-and-error parenting are both approaches that enable parents to raise their children without the effort of defining their life.  Revolutionary parenting, which is based on one’s faith in God, makes parenting a life priority. Those who engage in revolutionary parenting define success as intentionally facilitating faith-based transformation in the lives of their children, rather than simply accepting the aging and survival of the child as a satisfactory result.

In other words, to foster the spiritual growth and development of a child, parents must go beyond simple concern for a child’s independence, and focus upon a child’s spiritual transformation.  A child’s independence as an adult is certainly not excluded in this focus, but it is not the final desired outcome for the child’s personal development.  Consider Proverbs 29:15 in light of this: “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”

It is also not surprising that another study indicates that children whose parents focus upon spiritual development, as definitive of successful parenting, are more likely to remain spiritually active as adults.  More frequent spiritual participation as children resulted in more frequent spiritual participation as adults.  Less frequent spiritual participation as children resulted in less frequent spiritual participation as adults.  Of course, such results are not always duplicated in each individual life, but so far as trends and generalities go, spiritual activity and involvement as children influences and brings about spiritual activity and involvement as adults.  Proverbs 22:6 states, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

If one doubt that such parenting practices have the desired effect, just consider another Barna survey: “Young Adults and Liberals Struggle with Morality.”  The survey shows that young adults today are far more likely to engage in immoral behavior than previous generations.

For instance, two-thirds of the under-25 segment (64%) had used profanity in public, compared to just one out of five Boomers (19%). The younger group – known as Mosaics – was nine times more likely than were Boomers to have engaged in sex outside of marriage (38% vs. 4%), six times more likely to have lied (37% vs. 6%), almost three times more likely to have gotten drunk (25% vs. 9%) and to have gossiped (26% vs. 10%), and twice as likely as Boomers to have observed pornography (33% vs. 16%) and to have engaged in acts of retaliation (12% vs. 5%).

Now, what would we consider one of the main differences between the baby-boomer generation and those raised by the baby-boomers?  Would it not be the emphasis upon spiritual growth and development of children?

Our children are important and precious.  They are important, first of all, spiritually.  Each soul is worth more than the whole world (Matthew 16:26).  Their growth and development in that department should be paramount in importance due to this intrinsic worth.

They are important, secondly, for the ongoing growth and development of the family.  The children of today become the parents of tomorrow.  They will act toward their children largely as we have acted toward them.

They are importantly, thirdly, for the growth and development of the church.  The same children we spiritually educate today will be the adults participating in the activities of the church tomorrow.  Those activities will largely be shaped by the activities in which they participated as children.

They are important, fourthly, for the growth and development of society as a whole.  Who wants to live in hell on earth?  Yet, that is exactly the kind of place future generations will occupy given the trends of moral decline today.  May we, as parents, understand and respect the awesome God-given responsibility for our children’s spiritual growth and development, and may we set appropriate goals to so effect that development.

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Ashamed

Not Ashamed of the Gospel

The negative impact of an Anti-Christ society. In the news media and academia there is a “cult of non-belief.”

The “intellectual elite” assumes that stupidity accompanies religious conviction!

About 57% of Americans do not attend church and oppose organized religion.

Embarrassment and shame has been the result with many Christians.

We will be condemned eternally for having shame of God and His gospel!

Mark 8:38 (NASB) – “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Our readiness to spread the gospel requires that we are not ashamed of it. With zeal and confidence we are meant to proclaim the gospel. Rom. 1:15  (NASB) – Thus, for my part, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rom.  – cf. Acts 8:4. Paul was ready because he was not ashamed of the Gospel and all that it stands for!  Rom. 1:16-17 (NASB) – 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” – cf. 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Eph. 1:13; John 17:17; Acts 20:27

Why we should not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. The gospel is the power of God (from Dunamis) (Rom. 1:16). Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” The gospel stands for that same great power that God used to create the world! Psalm 33:9 (NASB) Indeed; The Gospel is the power of an all-powerful God wiser than the wisdom of men (1 Cor. 1:20).

“The world has many religions; it has but one gospel.” It is for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (all nations) (e.g., Acts 8:37) – The gospel comes from an impartial God (Rom. 2:11; Acts 10:34-35). The Gospel is God’s plan on how to become right before God. Rom 1:17 (NASB) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”

Obeying the gospel is the way we can be acquitted or released from sin (forgiven) and regarded as righteous in God’s sight! (Acts 2:38) When we are absolutely convinced that only in the gospel, righteousness before God can be obtained, we will share it with others! (Rom. 3:21-23). The Gospel reveals the plan of righteousness that can be understood.  Romans 1:17 (NASB) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” – cf. Eph. 3:3-5

Only in the gospel, can we learn about righteousness made possible by God. The Gospel produces faith in those who hear it. Rom 1:17 (NASB) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” – Rom. 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

Why be ashamed to proclaim the gospel when there is such great potential? The righteous live by faith (i.e., trust and believe in Christ, not in themselves) and by faith shall live eternally. Rom 1:17 (NASB) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

The Christian (or the righteous) will live by faith.

He will not rely on himself, trust in his good works, and try to earn his way to Heaven (Eph. 2:8-9). His good works demonstrate a living faith (James 2:14-26), but cannot merit salvation alone!

The righteous will believe in Christ and trust in God’s power to save him through the gospel (e.g., Rom. 4:5-8).

A person who lives life “by faith and obedience” to Christ Jesus is justified in God’s sight and thus “will live” eternally.

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The Entertainment of Sin

America is the entertainment capital of the world. Satan has trained millions to derive pleasure from entertainment. He has accomplished it with temptations of sin. It all started with Adam and Eve. Once they were entertained with the idea of becoming like God and relied on their emotions rather than their sense of judgment, Satan caught them completely. Ever since sin entered the world, it has entertained man. Just turn on the television, and millions are entertained with the worst kind of immorality known to humanity every passing minute of the day. What is our reaction? We are entertained. We shrug it off. We close our eyes or turn the channel briefly or fast forward. People want to be entertained today in religion with false worship. With every bombardment of sin we encounter, our attitudes toward sin soften to the point that it no longer affects us; we simply become entertained.

A wise man once said, “It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom” (Prov. 10:23). Paul warns Timothy of those who are “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:4). Paul also said in Second Thessalonians 2:10-12,

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Notice the contrast between lovers of truth and those who are entertained by sin.

Observe the following small article Wendell Winkler records in his book, “Studying Sin Seriously,” concerning this very subject:

Babylon saw it that way, and the handwriting came on the wall. At Rome they saw it that way and faded from power. France followed suit and the moral decay became a cancer. Now America laughs at sin—laughs hilariously. There is an absence of heartfelt sorrow for sin in our country. We need real recognition of sin, genuine sorrow for it and an honest turning away from it—if we are to survive! What is so funny? Are atomic bombs, broken bodies and full sanitariums funny? Are drinking leaders, shady business deals, open gambling, filthy stories and immorality cause for hilarity? Why laugh when the moral fiber of a nation is wretched apart by godlessness? [p. 55]

We need to realize sin may entertain man, but it does not entertain God. We can see His attitude toward sin in the story of the Global Flood. He destroyed the world because they were entertained with sin with the exception of Noah and his family. When Aaron and the Israelites made the golden calf, they “rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play” (Exod. 32:6). While entertained by sin, God shows his attitude toward it, wanting to destroy them. Sin does not entertain God.

We are to “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22). We are to “abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good” (Rom. 12:9). Instead of allowing sin to entertain us, let us treat it like castor oil; only then will our lights shine brightly in this dark and dismal world!

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John 7 – Jesus at the Feast

The Feast of Tabernacles was a reminder of Israel’s journey through the wilderness, and looked forward to the promised kingdom of the Messiah. The Jews lived in booths made of branches to remind them of God’s providential care of the nation for nearly forty years (Lev. 23:33-44). Following the Feast of Trumpets and the solemn Day of Atonement, Tabernacles was a festive time for the people. The temple area was illumined by large candlesticks that reminded the people of the guiding pillar of fire and each day the priests would carry water from the Pool of Siloam and pour it out from a golden vessel, reminding the Jews of the miraculous provision of water from the rock.

But, while this was a joyous time for the people, Jesus was facing death ever since He had healed the paralytic on the Sabbath Day (Jn. 7:1). But, that was not the only difficulty Jesus had. See, his mother, Mary, bore other children with Joseph (Mk. 13:55-56) and so, Jesus had half brothers. And, certainly they knew about the miracles Jesus did, since everybody else did; yet they were still unbelievers (vs. 5). Sadly, here were men going up to a religious feast, yet rejecting their own Messiah! How easy it is to follow tradition and miss eternal truth. The publicans and sinners were rejoicing at His message, but His own half brothers were making fun of Him. No doubt the brothers also knew that the multitude of disciples had deserted Jesus (Jn. 6:66). And, the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him because they were a part of “the world” and because He exposed their evil works. Knowing this, I suppose, is why his brothers went up to the feast in secret (vs. 10).

Now, in the midst of the feast, Jesus stayed behind (vs. 11). But, the Jews (Jewish leaders) were seeking to get rid of him. In vs. 12, the people at the festival also wanted to see him and possibly worship him because they were not up on the latest gossip and were amazed anyone wanted to kill Jesus (vs. 20). Then, there were also the people living in Jerusalem who were looking for Jesus (vs. 25). And so, this debate about his character (vs. 11-13) started with the religious leaders seeking Jesus, while the crowd kept arguing whether He was a good man or a deceiver.

Now, in vs. 14-19, Jesus was there and began to teach openly in the temple. And, the Jews were amazed at what He taught because He did not have any credentials from their approved rabbinical schools. But, his enemies said that His teachings were nothing but private opinions and not worth much. Well, Jesus explained that His doctrine came from the Father. He had already made it clear that He and the Father were one in the works that He performed (Jn. 5:17) and in the judgment that He executed (Jn. 5:30). Now He claimed that His teachings also came from the Father, and He would make that astounding claim again (Jn. 8:26, 38). But does not every religious teacher make a similar claim? How, then, can we know that Jesus is teaching us the truth? In vs. 17, Jesus says, “Try it! If it works, it must be true!” and thus suggesting that if it does not work it must be false? See, the Jewish leaders were attempting to kill Jesus, yet at the same time they claimed to understand God’s truth and obey it.

Now, the leaders wanted to kill Him because He had violated the Sabbath and then claimed to be God (Jn. 5:10-18). But, our Lord used the very Law of Moses to refute the enemy’s argument. See, the Jewish leaders were not honest and evaluated things on the basis of superficial examinations, which is why Jesus called for a sincere devotion to truth (vs. 24) and see what is truth. Well, during this conversation, not only are the festival people involved (vs. 20) and the religious leaders, but now the residents of Jerusalem entered the conversation (vs. 25). They knew that the rulers wanted to kill Jesus, and they were amazed that He was teaching openly and getting away with it! Perhaps the rulers had been convinced that indeed He is the Messiah, sent from God! Then why were they not worshiping Him and leading others to worship Him? Their question (vs. 25) suggested a negative answer: “No, the rulers do not believe that He is the Christ, do they?” They were able to defend their conclusion with logic: Nobody knows where the Christ comes from, we know where Jesus of Nazareth came from, conclusion: Jesus cannot be the Messiah. Once again, the people could not see the truth because they were blinded by what they thought were dependable facts.

At this point, Jesus raises his voice so everyone can hear (vs. 28, 37) saying, you both know me and where I come, but really, you don’t know. Jesus then explained why they did not know him (vs. 29). After this, the rulers sent members of the temple guard to arrest Jesus (vs. 30-32) and did not know that within six months, Jesus would go back to the Father in heaven, and the unsaved Jews would not be able to follow Him. Had these men been willing to do God’s will, they would have known the truth. Soon it would be too late.

Now, this feast was seven days, and on the last day, the priests would march seven times around the altar, chanting Psa. 118:25. It would be the last time they would draw the water and pour it out. No doubt just as they were pouring out the water, symbolic of the water Moses drew from the rock, Jesus stood and shouted His great invitation to thirsty sinners (vs. 37-38). And so, at the feast, the Jews were reenacting a tradition that could never satisfy the heart. But, Jesus offered them living water and eternal satisfaction! So, what was the result of this declaration and invitation? The people were divided: Is He “the Christ” (vs. 31)? Is He the promised “Prophet” (vs. 40)? If only they had honestly examined the evidence, they would have discovered that, indeed, He was the Christ, the Son of God.

The temple officers returned to the Jewish council meeting empty-handed. What stopped them from arresting him? “Never man spoke like this Man!” was their defense (vs. 46). In other words, “This Jesus is more than a man! No mere man speaks as He does!” But again, the leaders refused to face facts honestly but are prejudice (vs. 47). Now, some believed in Jesus, like Nicodemus (vs. 50). No doubt Nicodemus had been doing a great deal of thinking and studying since that first interview with Jesus (Jn. 3), and was not afraid to take his stand. So, the leaders challenged Nicodemus to search the prophecies to see if he could find any statement that a prophet would come out of Galilee. Of course, Jonah was from Galilee; and Jesus said that Jonah was a picture of Himself (Matt. 12:38-41). Perhaps Nicodemus read Isa. 9:1-2 (Matt. 4:12-16) and began to trace the great messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. If he did, then he became convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was the very Son of God.

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Christ Came to Save Sinners

If you were ever looking for a statement upon which you can build the rest of your life; if you really want something that is trustworthy and full of confidence and hope, then you need to look no further than 1 Timothy 1:15: “This is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” In this verse the apostle Paul makes a profound claim: Christ came to save sinners.  We are assured that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23); and as a result, death has spread to all men “because all sinned” (5:12).  Being unable to save ourselves we are in need of a savior.  This is the divine purpose for which Christ came (Matt. 1:21; 18:11; 20:28).

Oh, what love (cf. Rom. 5:6-8)!  But wait, there is a second point Paul makes that is of equal importance: he claims to be the chief of all sinners.  Some believe they are so bad that Christ will not or cannot save them though they repent.  Friends, if Christ can save the chief of all sinners, what in your past is so great that His blood cannot forgive?  If He could save the worst of all, could He not save all? “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).

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