jp
Obama is going to be sworn in with two Bibles. There is all kinds of symbolism with Abraham Lincoln's and Martin Luther King Jr.'s Bibles. Biden is using a Bible that has been in his family for 120 years. I have to say that if a Bible were being used it would never last 120 years, and God intended the Bible to be believed and respected, opened and read, and studied and lived, not collected to be used symbolically. What is the point of having people swear on the Bible when they don't even believe it? How much better would we be in this nation if instead of having public officials lay their hands on a Bible before taking office we expected them to read it, believe it, and live by it or we wouldn't vote them into office in the first place. It always amazes me that we think this means something. If a person believes the Bible there is no need to have them swear with a hand on it, and if they don't it is useless. People could swear on a stack of Bibles, or the original manuscripts (if we had them) and it won't matter at all.
jp
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Most people with any sense would peg Adolf Hitler and others like him as deluded and narcissistic. These two traits are a great danger to the rest of society, and often lead to acts against others by that person. Past studies have shown that the group of young people (18-22 years old) with the highest self-esteem were not those who graduated high school with good grades and went on to college, but those criminals who were imprisoned for their crimes. We as a society have pushed the concept of high self-esteem in direct opposition to what the Bible teaches. We teach each child that he or she is the most special person in the whole wide world and that the world revolves around him or her. As a result of this behavior we have produced an entire generation of adults who instead of having humility and meekness as the Bible teaches are filled with pride and arrogance.
The World says that you have to look out for number 1, and of course you are number one. The Bible says that we should not think of our own things, but on the things of others in Philippians 2:4. The World says you are special, you are the only one, etc. The Bible warns us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought in Romans 12:3. The World says that learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all (remember that song). Jesus said that no one can have a greater love than to lay down his life for his friends in John 15:13. The World says put yourself first. The Bible says that we are to esteem others higher than ourselves in Philippians 2:3. The World says that you are gods. The Bible says that Jesus was equal to God, but gave it up to serve and even die for us, and that we should be like him in Philippians 2:5-8. The World says the more people you have serving you the greater you are. Jesus said that the greatest would be the one who served others the most in Matthew 23:11 and Mark 10:44. The World says you have to toot your own horn because no one else will. You have to be proud of yourself. The Bible says that pride goes before destruction - Proverbs 16:18, that God resists the proud - James 4:6, and that if you exalt yourself it will fail - Matthew 23:12. As with so many other things the World has it wrong and has been teaching all the wrong things. Even in this so-called Christian nation these ungodly attitudes and traits have been being encouraged and taught for more than a generation. Consider this article written by Dr. Keith Ablow and see if you have noticed the results of these things.jp Preparing Children to Survive Behind Enemy Lines (part 3a)
If our children are going to remain faithful to God in a time of trials and persecution there are some things we have to do to prepare them for something we have never faced before. One of those things is . . . Get that Government is not God As I look back at history when there was a hostile government there seemed to always be a group that wanted to be violent. That is not the answer! We need to teach our children to be the best citizens they can be as long as the government does not call on them to violate God’s teaching, and then to simply refuse to submit to those laws. We will look at this further in the section on setting boundaries. One of the most difficult things for a person who is used to freedom to handle is the loss of that freedom and mistreatment or the violation of their rights. As Christians, however, we must remember that being right with God is more important than having rights with government. Jesus taught peace and submission, not violence and rebellion. Not all who have used the name of Christ have practiced what He both taught and practiced. The Old Testament tells of a time of violence and a physical kingdom that fought with physical enemies and material weapons, but Christ’s kingdom is not of this world because if it were His subjects would fight, but they don’t (John 18:33-37). We have mostly failed to take the peace that Jesus left and implant it in our hearts and minds and the hearts and minds of our children. We must understand that as soon as we take up physical weapons to fight for God’s kingdom, we have betrayed what that kingdom stands for and have become traitors to Jesus and friends to the enemy. Gandhi was quoted as saying, “I like your Christ, but not your Christians. Your Christians are not much like your Christ.” When we act like the world and fuss and cuss and fight and kill we are part of the world and not part of Christ’s body, because His body does not behave that way (1 Corinthians 4:12; 1 Peter 2:23). Jesus warned Peter that those who use the sword will die by the sword (Matthew 26:52), and His true followers have been warning others of this same thing for 20 centuries. One case, certainly not the only one, from the 1400's recorded by Hans Grimm in his book The Course Of The Church Through The Centuries: Reiser had warned in vain against trying to protect churches of Christ with the sword. The Taborites, incensed at the betrayal of the common cause, began the two-front war against those who had capitulated in their own camp and against the crusaders on the borders. They were annihilated near Lipan in 1434 as a military force by the combined forces of their opponents, and about the middle of the century they vanished as a reli- gious party also. We need to listen to those warnings. Other religions may call on their faithful to fight, but Christianity is more precious. Christianity is a faith worth NOT fighting for because fighting violates the faith. We are not terrorists. We fight against spiritual enemies with spiritual weapons and because of that we are no threat to anyone as long as we follow Christ. The wisdom of God’s plan for the church is seen in the way it is capable of surviving through times of turmoil and persecution. The autonomy of the local church with local leadership instead of a central government, the peaceful nature, the teaching to be submissive to the authorities, etc. are all things that make the persecution of the church problematic for a government. A group with a national headquarters that depends on that organization to function will be devastated by a law that affects that group, but if the government wants to shut down or cripple the churches of Christ they will have to come to every town to do it. Remember in the first century the church was large in Jerusalem before Acts 8 when Saul began to make havoc of it and they just scattered to other places, that left Saul having to go from town to town trying to get them. The governing authorities are not God and, therefore, they cannot be everywhere and know everything. We need to learn to focus our minds on Hebrews 13:5-6, God is with us we should never be afraid of what man can do to us. We need to pound this fearlessness, the desire to be weird, the courage to walk away from the fight attitude into our children if we want them to win. The child who has to fit in with the group will not stand against the crowd. jp Your children WILL face thing you never imagined! About three years ago in a meeting with some church leaders and teenage boys, one of the boys asked what to most of the older men seemed to be a foolish and ridiculous question. The young man asked what would happen if you married a woman and then found out that she was not really a woman. Some of the men immediately berated him for even asking such a question, but even though at this point it would be a rather rare event and might seem insane, I have seen at least 3 news stories this past year (one today that reminded me of these events) where just that or something similar had happened, and I imagine it will become more common in the future as people become more and more wicked. I know that sometimes teens are just acting out with foolishness, but other times there are real questions and fears that they have that we need to help them deal with in a Christian way.
Instead of ignoring this question, I helped to point them toward a good way to avoid that and many other dangers involved in marriage. While you can not avoid every danger out there, you can limit the possibilities. We often spend all of our time talking about divorce and remarriage doctrine rather than helping our young people prepare for a successful marriage and then helping those who are married to make it work. That is a huge mistake, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I talked to them about the importance of spending a large amount of time getting to know the person before marriage. Meet the family, learn everything you can about their past, present, and plans and hopes for the future. I impressed upon them that it is essential to marry a Christian, but that even that is no promise of clear sailing. Christians have pasts and some of them are not pleasant. They may have been vying with Paul to be chief of sinners before becoming a Christian. Even those who grew up in a Christian home may have been exposed to all kinds of sinful habits that they are still struggling with. Now that homosexual marriage has been legalized in several states there will be problems that will arise in dealing with people who may be converted out of that sinfulness. What do you tell a young woman who was a lesbian and was married to another woman in one of these states, but who now wants to become a Christian and go straight and might want to find a Christian man and marry and have a family? Many would not even know where to begin. Our children may have to deal with these kinds of strange circumstances and no telling what others that we can’t imagine. The first century church had to deal with new problems on a continual basis, and they might have had some similar problems to those of our society. The church in Corinth had members that had come from all kinds of sinful backgrounds including homosexuality, and it was a challenge for them to keep going in the right direction without falling back into their old sinful habits. How can you prepare for something you can’t even imagine? It isn’t easy, but the best way is to have a deep understanding of Biblical principles so that you can apply them to different circumstances. The concept is fairly simple: there are many things that are not mentioned specifically in the Bible, but that violate principles. When we consider addictions such as gambling, pornography, or even drugs we realize that there is not a verse that says, ‘don’t do _______’, but the Bible does teach us not to be brought under the power of anything, 1 Corinthians 6:12. So, why can’t we learn to do the same thing in all kinds of areas of life? We can, but we often don’t because we don’t know the Bible well enough to actually put two and two together to get four. If we will study and learn the Bible’s teaching and principles better we will make better choices. That is the only way to prepare for things that don’t just have a ‘thou shalt not’ verse. jp If our children are going to remain faithful to God in a time of trials and persecution there are some things we have to do to prepare them for something we have never faced before. One of those things is . . .
Get that Government is not God It seems like we as a people are becoming more and more dependent on the government to be there for us, especially the Federal government. I suppose that I honestly lean increasingly toward the libertarian view of things even though there are moral issues involved that I disagree with strongly. The fact is that our government has been growing at an alarming rate and has become truly unsustainable at this point. If something is not done soon the weight of it will fall on the American people and crush them, but this is not even about fiscal problems or bloated programs, or bureaucracy, or the things that people generally talk about when they discuss the problems of government. We are following a path that has led to problems for others in the past. Read one woman’s account of what happened in Austria during WWII. The fact is that there are many people, including some Christians, who have been duped into believing that the government has the right to make laws that it actually does not have the right to make either constitutionally, or according to God’s law. When I asked once, in a Bible class, what we would do if they passed a law that said we couldn’t get together to study the Bible or worship one woman actually said she guessed we would have to quit doing it. Let’s make this clear, no government, not the United States government, not any state or local government, not the United Nations, not a husband, not an eldership, nor any other government is God. Government has no authority except what is given from above, Jesus said as much while on trial with Pilate - John 19:11. In Romans 13:1 Paul reminds us that the government is ordained and authorized by God, not the other way around. Peter and John made it clear that we are to obey God rather than man - Acts 5:29. When discussing Obamacare and the mandate to provide funding for the abortion pill, at least one Christian said since it didn’t affect churches it didn’t matter to us and that businesses had to do what the government said, even non-profit religious charities and Christian colleges. That is not true, and I for one am glad that there are some companies like Hobby Lobby that are fighting it and refusing to obey it. Understand that just because they didn’t try to force it on churches this time does not mean they won’t soon, speak up while you can. I am often reminded of the quote that is attributed in various forms to Martin Niemoeller. There is also a growing percentage of our population that depends on government for day to day existence rather than on God. Money is a tool the government has used effectively in only one way – to get people addicted to the next handout. What if the government completely shut down tomorrow? There would be chaos, theft, murder, and rioting in the streets next week when half the people in the U.S. who get a monthly check and/or other benefits didn’t receive them. What about you? Are you depending on the government or God? Even those in private business might have some serious cutbacks if those on welfare and social security did not get their money to spend. There would be a massive ripple, a tsunami, throughout the economy. Someone took the 23rd Psalm and changed it to reflect the thinking of many who believe “The Government Is My Shepherd”. It has been around for years and there are several variations, this is a recently updated version of it. There is an increasing ignorance about the role of government and the history of our government. People today have completely perverted the founders’ intentions with their talk of the separation of church and state. Originally, the idea was to protect the church, religion, and Christians from the federal government. Read the amendment in the Bill of Rights and you will see that it clearly says that congress(federal government) shall make no law establishing a religion or prohibiting the free practice of religion. There was actually nothing about local laws regarding religion, in fact several of the states had recognized churches. The point was not to allow the entire nation to have only one church as had been done in England. Consider the way that worked in the past, the Mormons were not welcome in many of the established states, so they went west and established their own in what is today Utah. That state is still strongly Mormon, but their laws have changed as others moved into the area, voted, ran for office, etc. There was a time when in Missouri a city was established for atheists. It was named Liberal and the goal was that no church building would be built there. Eventually the founder of the city became a Christian himself according to Wikipedia. Now there are at least 7 religious groups there. You can read more about this failed experiment in an article by Apologetics Press. That is what freedom is about and to some degree what was intended (although the founders had no use for atheism or any religion other than Christianity - for more on these views consider the videos The Silencing of God and America’s Most Pressing Concern available from World Video Bible School). Those kind of things could not happen today. If a group of religious people of one stripe or another decided to have a town of their own and not allow others, it would be attacked in the courts as soon as it was known. It has gotten to the point that if one person doesn’t like it he can scream about it and get any religious thing thrown out of town. You see, the truth is not afraid to stand toe to toe with a lie because it can win, but the lie can’t win in honest debate so it must resort to other means to silence truth and win the day. Today the founders' original plan has been twisted and perverted to protect government and society from religion. As Bible believers, we know that God does not call us to go live in isolation with only other believers, we are to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Both light and salt are more clearly evident in circumstances where there is not much. Turn on a spotlight out in the sunshine and it would barely be noticed 10 feet away, but light a match in the darkness of a cave and everyone there can see it. Put some salt in a salt shaker and you may not notice, but put some on bland vegetables and it makes them edible. Because our country has been one that taught morality and had many religious people of various denominations who were living basically good lives but were confused on certain doctrinal issues, the contrast has often not been that great. We are used to agreeing with our neighbors on 90-95% and debating issues of worship, a doctrine about the second coming, etc. That is not the case anymore. If we will truly live for Christ, not just worship Him on Sunday but truly live as He would live, we will stand out from the crowd, we will shine as stars in a crooked and perverse generation - Philippians 2:15. Think about how different the Amish seem to us. Will we as Christians ever seem that different to our neighbors or will we keep doing what the media and government tell us is normal. Normal is being on the road toward Hell, I don’t want to be normal. I want people to think I am strange, the Christians in the New Testament had people thinking they were strange, not because of hair styles or not having electricity, but because they did not get involved in sinful things. Just because it is legal doesn’t mean it is moral. Government approval is not God’s approval. There can be no doubt in our minds or our children's minds that tempts us to believe that government is benevolent, our provider, all-powerful, or our friend. The government that is at odds with and enemies with God and His Law is an enemy to His people as well. We need to know that wherever we live in this world we are living behind enemy lines and in hostile territory among citizens of the kingdom of our greatest enemy, Satan. So what do we do with a hostile government that looks on us as a danger and that we have finally recognized as a danger? How do we react? We’ll consider that further in the next installment. jp Just a note about a new feature on our site. Be sure to take advantage of the new internal search feature at the top of the page. If you remember a post, but can't remember much about it the search box will help you find it maybe even better than the categories. I just found a quote from several months ago using it for my own research of what we have posted. If you remember a name, a word or a phrase, you can find it if it is anywhere in our archives. Enjoy! If the search box does not appear in the top right corner of the page, you may need to refresh the page or clear your cache. - jp
Also we will start putting initials at the end of the posts to identify the author so there is no confusion. Wow! I just saw that 55% of Americans think that watching TV is a great way to spend quality time with their loved ones. Now I enjoy watching TV occasionally, and we may even have a family movie night with pizza. In fact, we are going to do that tonight, and watch one of the movies we got for Christmas (Either Ten Commandments or One Night with the King), but I am under no impression that this is really quality time. You shouldn’t be either. Quality time is time communicating, learning, praying, worshiping, etc. If sitting in the same room with someone starring at a screen makes quality time then think of all the quality time Americans spend with each other in movie theaters each year with people they have never met.
Adult children don’t look back at their lives and think the thing that really turned my life around was when mom and dad started watching TV with me. That doesn’t mean that there are not some common pleasant memories or inside jokes for the family. I don’t believe as some do that there is no place for recreation or entertainment in family life, but of all the different ways family spends time together TV is probably the least quality of all. I dare say that even playing video games together is better that TV because at least there is some interaction with a game while there is none with TV. The only interaction I have ever seen with TV is telling each other to be quiet, arguing over what is going to be watched, or telling someone to get out of the way so you can see. Not exactly the definition of quality time is it. So, let your brain sleep through a movie every once in a while, but be honest about what is really happening. And, don't forget to check the content first. Could you be comfortable watching with Jesus? jp If our children are going to remain faithful to God in a time of trials and persecution there are some things we have to do to prepare them for something we have never faced before. One of those things is . . .
Train them to Love the Lord This one is incredibly difficult to measure. We all know that Christians should love the Lord and that we should raise our children to love the Lord. We all admit that we should love the Lord more than we do, if we are honest. Unfortunately, there is no love tester that we can connect to ourselves or our children to see if there is enough love to remain faithful during times of persecution, so what do we do? I wish there was an easy answer, a pill they could take or one action that would ensure it, but it is hard. There are several factors that I have seen as I have watched over the years and seen who remained faithful in these peaceful times. These factors may give us a clue to who is more likely to remain steadfast in their love when they are under fire from the enemy. Obviously, regularly and consistently gathering with the church as a family has to be near the top of the list. Sending the kids is not very effective, and occasional attendance won’t work either. Few from those two patterns will ever become faithful. I can remember one mother coming to the elders of a church to beg them to do something about her son who was getting into trouble, the problem was she had never bothered to bring him to church more than once a month for the 15 years before that no matter how much they had pleaded with her. Church attendance is not sufficient alone, but dedication to assemble with the saints unless physically unable helps them understand the position of preeminence that God has and should have in our lives. If parents routinely allow other things to interfere with going to worship God, children will not value worship or God as they should. Dedication is not love. You can’t have love without dedication, but you can have dedication without love. How many people are dedicated to paying their bills? Does that mean they love the bills or the companies that send them? Of course not. There are many who are dedicated to their jobs that they hate and go to work every day either because they need the income and/or benefits for their family, or because they can’t find a better one. There are some who go to church religiously and hate it. They may afraid of Hell, want the reward of Heaven, want approval of someone there, or simply be carrying out their duty, but they don’t love worship, God or the church. No, attendance is not love. You can attend without love, but you cannot love without coming to worship the God you love. The church is Christ’s bride. What would you think of a bride who had not seen her husband all week, yet when he came home she found other things to do and did not spend that time with him? Sounds like a miserable marriage to me. Simply from a knowledge perspective, coming to 4 hours per week of Bible study and worship that really involves about 2 hours of actual learning time will produce the equivalent of a high school education in approximately 95 years. I doubt you will live long enough to get that diploma. Of course knowledge is not love, but knowledge of God and His love for us should prompt a return of love - 1 John 4:19. Some other factors that can’t be forgotten are: * Family devotional time. - Don’t let the kids think that God only lives at the church building. God has to live at your house too. * Individual devotional time. - A leader can’t lead where he is unwilling to go. The closer you get to God, the closer those following you will get to God. * Love. - God loved us to show us what love is or we never would have known. Love your children so they can see what love is. Love your spouse so they can see what marital love should be. Love your neighbor so they can see loving servitude. Love your enemies so they can see how hard it was for God to love us when we were enemies toward Him. Love God so they can see loving worship. Be sure that your loving actions and words are according to the scriptures. * Teach the why. - Why do we go to church? We go to worship God because we love Him. Why don’t we ______? God loves us and has told us doing that would hurt us and Him. Since we love Him we don’t want to hurt him, and since we know He loves us we trust Him not to want us hurt. Tell them why Jesus came and suffered to save us – because He loved us. Tell them why God created us – because He is love and wanted to share that love with beings who could return it. If we spend too much time on the how to and the what to Christianity will be a tradition of rituals that have no meaning and that our children may practice, but without love. * Spend time on God. - Let’s compare the amount of time each week that is spent on some different things. Learning Math - 3 ½ hrs. in class plus homework; The same for other major school subjects; Watching tv (live, recorded, movies, dvd, etc.) - average is 25-35 hours, about 4 hours a day more if you add computers, phones, etc.; Reading or being read to - average 3-4 hours, about 30 minutes a day; Praying? Bible Reading or Study? Talking with parents? How much time does your family spend on spiritual things? Where your treasure is there your time will be also, to turn a phrase. Make religious and spiritual and moral and ethical discussions part of your daily life with your children. It is scary the first time your 5,6,or 7 - year old child asks what “gay marriage” means, but it is an opportunity to discuss the creation and how God made male and female and never wanted 2 boys or 2 girls to try to make babies, etc. It can be a jumping off point to discuss marriage and how there should be 1 man with 1 woman for life and how Christ has one wife, the church. You can discuss how serious it is when someone loves Jesus so much that they want to be part of the church. On the other hand, if you say “we don’t talk about things like that”, they will eventually find out from someone who does talk about it and chances are that person will have many corrupted ideas to share. Remember Deuteronomy 6:1-9 * Ask and listen. As parents we are quick to tell children things they should know, but we are slow to listen to what their thoughts are about things. They don’t understand things that we take for granted and that can be confusing to them when we are talking. They may be embarrassed to admit that they don’t know what we mean when we have just rattled something off and then finished by saying “DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?” It takes a brave child to say “no”. We need to ask them questions that open up the discussion and let us understand what is inside them. Use why, how, what, where, when, who, and which to get them to tell you what they are feeling and thinking. It takes practice, but communication is increasingly important as they grow up. They are going to talk to someone and if it is not you it may be someone you don’t want it to be. Also, if they don’t feel comfortable talking to mom and dad they won’t feel comfortable talking (praying) to God. I know that this just barely scratches the surface, but it will keep us busy trying to do these simple, yet hard things. Did you notice what all of them have in common? Every single one requires your time and effort. That is the key ingredient. The TV won’t teach them to love Jesus, school teachers won’t teach them to love God, even the church can’t do it without your help. It takes time to raise a garden, but weeds grow by themselves. It takes time to raise children in the way they should go, but a child left to himself will bring shame. jp We're still here!
As almost everyone assumed, the whole end of the world predicted by the Mayans came and went without killing us all, unless I died and didn't notice. We all joke about it and it is funny in some ways. Obviously for those of us who believe the Bible and know what Jesus said understand the end of the world cannot be predicted. Matthew 24:36 tells us only God, the Father, knows and if He didn't tell His own son He wouldn't tell the Mayans or some wacko preacher either. That being said, there is a side to these end-of-the-world predictions that makes me sad as a Christian. Peter addresses this problem in the third chapter of his second letter. Verses 3 and 4 explain that there will be people who will mock Christians because Jesus has not returned and they laugh at those who believe He is coming back. As a Bible-believer I believe and expect that you also believe that Jesus is going to return for His bride, the church, to take her home with Him not to live here. Now here is the what saddens me about the whole list of failed prophecies about the end: It encourages and emboldens those who are already tempted to resist the gospel because it confirms for them that the end is not coming. What they fail to do as Peter says is look at the facts of history, specifically, the flood of Noah's day. I would also suggest, that while they are laughing at us because we still believe the end is coming even though we did not believe it would yesterday, they are missing a huge fact that stares us in the face every day. According to the statistics the U.S. Census Bureau and World Health Organization provide . . . this world did come to an end yesterday . . . for over 153,000 people, and it will end today for about the same number. Yes, even on Christmas day it will end for about that many as well. These moronic failed predictions have encouraged millions to enter eternity unprepared, and will continue to do so. Don't be deceived, God is not slack concerning his promise. Jesus will return and we don't know when, so we should be prepared every day. - jp How much of your life focus is on stuff and money, status symbols and image? Probably more than you are willing to admit. Do the things that you and your family have and spend money on help you get closer to God or pull you away from Him. I will make this disclaimer that I have not seen this movie, but I do plan to soon. The reviews that I have seen and the trailer make it look like a great family film that emphasizes the importance of people over things and God above all. I am sure that there are some denominational leanings in it, but the message of God or mammon is certainly a biblical one. Being a father means making some tough decisions and then leading the family the right way. Check out the trailer and the website for yourself. www.standstrongthemovie.com/
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