Think about this quote for a minute: “Anytime we think the problem is ‘out there’, that thought is the problem. We disempower ourselves.” I read this and my first thought was: But there are problems out there. Then I thought about it a little more and realized the author was not saying that external problems don’t exist, rather that the problems we need to address are inside us. If everyone else was just like me there would be problems out there, so I need to work on my problems as a worker, Christian, husband, father, son, etc. In every role of my life there are things I need to do to make my life and the lives of those around me better.

Instead of griping about everyone else it is time for me to do what I can do and leave the rest up to God. Reportedly written in 1100 AD by an unknown monk, the following describes the fallacy most of us make. 

               When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult 
               to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't 
               change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and 
               as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the 
               only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had 
               changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I 
               could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the 
               nation and I could indeed have changed the world."

It is always easier to look for fault and place blame with everyone else, but it is much more effective to take responsibility for ourselves. I think about the recent brouhaha about Victoria’s Secret’s marketing campaign. It didn’t really affect me because I don’t shop there and I don’t go to the mall. It didn’t really affect my wife or my kids because they don’t shop there or go to the mall. If enough people who did shop there and were offended by it would stop shopping there the policy would change instantly. It is convenient to blame the evil corporation that is corrupting young people, but honestly, no business that wants to stay in business (and certainly not a national brand) creates an entire product line without having studied what will sell and what their target audience wants to buy. Sometimes they miss, but most of the time they know what the consumer wants. I can guarantee that some of the people who have screamed the loudest about the problems with that product will not change their own shopping habits or those of their family over the issue, and the young daughters of some of them will be wearing the things they griped about. What about you and me? Not necessarily about this specific thing, but in all areas of life. Do we change the way we live to reflect the principles that we hold to be true, or do we change our principles to fit in with those around us? - 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 . . .
Examining Extreme Examples of Endurance.

Imagine with me what it would have been like to be a faithful Jew in the days of righteous King Hezekiah. He reigned for 29 years and worshiped God with all his heart. He encouraged worship, cleansed the temple, tore down the places of false religion, etc. Going to the temple was a wonderful experience and the priests and prophets were respected. Being Jewish religiously was something honorable and it was shameful to be anything else. That is what being a Christian in the United States has been like for the past century. There have been problems, and being a member of the church of Christ was not quite like being in some of the denominations that were more prominent. Overall however, things have leaned toward morality and virtues for the greater part of the 20th century. We have had laws in place that protected religious freedom and benefitted religion in general.

Now, let’s imagine a different Israel. What would it have been like to have tried to live as a faithful Jew in the days of wicked King Manasseh? He reigned for 55 years and it was a reign of terror. He sacrificed his own son to a false god. If he would do that to his son what do you think he would do to you if you went against him. There is a legend that says that he put Isaiah in a log and then cut it and him in half. Some believe that is referenced in Hebrews 11:37. Second Kings chapter 21 explains that he did more wicked things than the heathen Canaanites that had been destroyed so that the Israelites could have the land. He put idols and altars to false gods in God’s temple, and killed so many innocent people that it says Jerusalem was filled with the blood he shed. How hard would it have been to be a faithful Jew under those circumstances? You could not go to the temple because it had been confiscated by the king for use by false religions. How would you find a priest to perform a sacrifice or anything else the religion requires? Where would you hear the law taught if you did not have a copy of your own, which you probably wouldn’t? How would you find friends who were like-minded? Who could you safely talk to about your faith? If you can imagine what that would have been like, then you can see the direction we are headed in America as we move deeper into the 21st century. 

We are leaving the reign of Hezekiah and entering the reign of Manasseh. Realize that Manasseh did not do all of those wicked things in the first year. I imagine that it deteriorated as the years went by until it hit rock bottom. We should not expect to wake up next Sunday to find the church doors chained, but that is certainly the desire of a portion of society. While the majority would not vote for such a thing today, chances are many would not do much to stop that kind of thing. 

As we move into a time like this we have a choice: we and our children can gripe and moan and whine that we didn’t live in the days of Hezekiah, or we can impress our selves and our children with the Esther factor, that perhaps God put us here in this time and this place because we have an important role to play. I don’t know about you, but I am convinced that the second is the way to live a life that is pleasing to God. If you look to the Scriptures you will find a multitude of accounts of people who were faithful under extreme persecution or in the face of godless surroundings. We look to heroes like Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua and Caleb, Gideon, David, Elijah, Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, Abednego, Jeremiah, Esther, Peter, James, John, Stephen, Paul, and others who triumphed against the wickedness that surrounded them. 

When we look at persecution we have to change the way we look at it. The first century church had an amazing view of this. Notice what Paul says in Philippians and let it sink in. Philippians 1:27-29 says, 

“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether
I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast 
in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;  (28)  And 
in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of 
perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.  (29)  For unto you it is given 
in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;”

Notice verse 29 talks of two blessings that were given to them one was faith which we all know is a wonderful thing from God, but the other is not what we usually think of as a blessing or gift. Look at that verse closely, Paul says that not only has it been given them to believe on Jesus, but also (they get a special gift) to suffer for Him. Have you ever felt that God was neglecting you because He had left suffering out of the list of gifts and blessings that He has poured out on you? I know I never have. If we and our children are going to remain faithful through times of persecution we are going to have to look at persecution as an opportunity to be blessed by God. If we continue to have the attitude that we should never suffer for being Christians then we will quit when Christians begin to suffer.

We are going to have to look at those martyrs in the Old and New Testaments with more than the token respect we have given them in the past, but with a desire to follow in the footsteps of their faith, a faith that rejoiced at being counted worthy of suffering for God - Acts 5:41. In a society full of people who won’t go to worship God because: it is too hot, it is too cold, it is raining, it is dark, I don’t want to bother someone for a ride, I don’t have anything to wear, I don’t want to miss _________(fill in the blank with any tv show, sporting event, etc.), someone hurt my feelings, I was up too late Saturday night, etc., etc., etc.; How would they ever even consider worshiping God if there were some real problem like persecution or breaking the law involved. Someone I went to college with said she thought that if the government tried to take the freedom away that people would rise up and stand for the right to worship like many have over efforts to increase gun control. I hope she is right and I am sure some would, but the majority, I think, would just roll over and go the easy way. There are not many Daniels in the world, but I want to train my son to be like him. There are not many Esthers in the world, but I want to train my daughters to be like her. Who are training your children to be? - 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 . . .
Not only that Government Is NOT God, but also that Submitting to Society Is Satan’s Scheme.

Sorry to go back, but this is a work in progress and I realized that I did not adequately touch on the subject that ended section 3a. That part ended with the idea that wanting to fit in makes it hard to stand against your peers to do what is right. The Bible is really pretty clear about this point. “Do not be conformed to this world”(Romans 12:2), “in the world, but not of the world”(John 17:11-18), “come out from among them and be separate”(2 Corinthians 6:17), “do not be like them”(Matthew 6:7-8), and other passages teach us that if we are going to be right with God then we will not be in agreement with the world.

This is one of the most difficult things that we are called on to do. God created us to be social creatures and with a desire for companionship. He even said it is not good for the man to be alone. He was talking specifically about the man needing a companion and then made him a wife, but we see the negative results of people being isolated from human contact even today. People literally lose their sanity when there is no one to talk to and associate with on a regular basis. 

Even though it is necessary, the pressure from social settings can be overwhelming. The stress that many struggle with is over their relationships with others. The pressure to fit in, conform, to be like others is powerful like a rushing river. Have you ever gone rafting or canoeing, not in a lake or still creek, but in a fast moving river? It is easy to go downstream. It is not terribly difficult to move toward one side or the other as you go downstream. But what about going upstream? Even with two strong young men in the canoe, I remember the near impossibility of even stopping the downstream motion much less moving against that strong current to go back upstream to help someone who had turned over. Now think about the way society rushes down the stream of life.

I see these same kinds of things in social interaction. It is easy to go downstream swiftly, some are paddling to move even faster than the current naturally takes them and seem to be leading the charge. It is not that difficult to move from side to side. We don’t have to do everything just like everyone else to be accepted. A few differences just make us quirky or a little unique. There is usually a wide range of socially acceptable choices. The river is wide and sometimes even splits around an island or rock to come back together farther downstream. As long as you are moving in the same general direction nobody cares. Some try to slow down and fight against how fast things are moving, and they are ridiculed. They are living in the past and need to get with the times. Even though they are the butt of many jokes, they are still accepted as long as they are moving along even if they are going slower. This is where the church in America has been for about 100 years. We as a group have drifted slowly the direction the world has been going, but we have held back and not moved as fast. 

Unfortunately, that is not what God calls us to do. God calls us to move upstream toward Him. Just last night in Bible Class one member admitted that she had been living with her head in the sand about the homosexual marriage issue. If all who claim to be Christians had stood up strongly at the beginning of this surge, it might have been stopped, but now it is like trying to stop a tsunami. That doesn’t mean that we throw up our hands and say ‘if you can’t beat them join them’, but it does sometimes feel like ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’. Being faithful to God and winning the war against Satan is important even if we lose some of the battles, even if we lose our privileges, rights, freedom, or lives, we fight because we want to be on God’s side. He has already won and those on His side will be victorious with Him, 1 John 2:13-14; 4:4; 5:4-5.

God wants a peculiar people, not a people that is not quite like everybody else, but a people that is just weird. We encourage our children to aim for weirdness. In so many areas of life normal is worthless. Why is it most parents don’t encourage their kids to aim for average grades or a career that will bring them an average income. They don’t want their kids on the average team. They don’t want them to be average in their looks. They don’t want them to marry someone who is average. They don’t want average or normal in many areas, so why not encourage them to excel spiritually and not be average. God has a term for the average Christian, He calls them lukewarm and they make Him sick at His stomach , Revelation3:15-16. Someone who has been cooled off and watered down by the world and has become worse than worthless to Him. Did you notice that God even says He would prefer for that person to be all the way cold? 

God calls on us to overcome the world, and makes some precious promises to those who do. Maybe we should spend some time looking at the reward for not being mediocre or being tainted by the world. Several of these are mentioned in Revelation:

* 2:7 - eat of the tree of life in paradise
* 2:11 - not be hurt by the second death (hell)
* 2:17 - eat the hidden manna, get a white stone with a secret name on it
* 2:26 - given power over the nations to rule, receive the morning star
* 3:5 - clothed in white clothing, have name in the book of life and have Jesus confess name before His Father and the angels
* 3:12 - be a (pillar) permanent part in God’s temple and never leave it, have God’s name and the name of His city and Jesus’ new name written on us
* 3:21 - be allowed to sit with Jesus on His throne 
* 21:7 - inherit ALL things, be heirs (sons) of God

In addition to these things, being faithful to Him will bring the blessings of: receiving a crown of life - 2:10, being worthy to walk with Jesus - 3:4, having a door opened for us that can’t be closed - 3:8, having others know that Jesus loves us - 3:9, being shielded from certain temptations or trials - 3:10, sharing a meal with Jesus - 3:20, drinking freely from the fountain of the water of life. On the other hand, those who are fearful and succumb to the world will forfeit all of the things above and have their place in the burning lake of fire and brimstone - 21:8. 

Revelation was written to Christians who faced persecution and were fighting behind enemy lines. These saints were struggling with the temptation to just give in and become part of the world and that makes it a great book of encouragement as we face those same struggles and temptations. Some of them overcame and so can we and so can our children, but we have to see that the things God offers are worth sacrificing the things that Satan and the world promise. Being weird is worth it if there is a payoff, sacrifice is worth it if there is a benefit at the end. We may even have to be looked at as weird by other Christians, remember 600K left Egypt and only 2 made it to the promised land. Somehow I don’t think that Joshua and Caleb just suddenly became weird at the end. I bet they were different all along the way. I hope that more than 2 out of every 600K Christians make it to heaven, but what are you doing to make sure your family would be one of the 2. How many of the Israelites, do you suppose, thought they were just as good as the other Israelites that left Egypt? How many of those average Israelites made it to the promised land? The more I learn about the Bible the more I believe God wants us to be so weird that the whole world is talking about it - Romans 1:8.

I am reminded of a story I heard years ago about a young lady who was going off to college. Her mother was concerned that as a Christian going to a state school she would face some teasing or worse. The mother tried to warn her daughter of the possible dangers that awaited her in a place where most of the people would not be Christians. After listening for a few minutes the teenager tried to comfort her mothers concerns by saying that her mom shouldn’t worry because they will probably never know that I am a Christian. Not much comfort in that, but more truth than we like to admit in many cases. If they can’t tell that you are a Christian, it is likely because you are not. Instead of being like this foolish girl, let’s actually become God’s peculiar people - Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:9. 
jp

     Fathers, have you considered the following passage of scripture, especially verse 12?
2 Timothy 3:10-13  But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,  (11)  Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.  (12)  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.  (13)  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
      Now that you have read it, are you wondering why you are not suffering persecution? Are you living godly in Christ Jesus? Are you preparing your children to face persecution? Take a look at the series we have started entitled “Behind Enemy Lines” to learn more about what to do to get ready for persecution. As a father, you are the captain of your ship, you are responsible for those on board, and you have to do everything you can to make sure they are up to the challenge.
     We need to understand a few things about the persecution Paul speaks of in this passage. 
          1. Not all will suffer the same persecution or the same amount of persecution and certainly not at the same time.
          2. No one, not even Paul, faced continual persecution. We may just be in the calm before the storm. Even Paul had times where he was able to stay and teach and preach for a period of months or even years without problems. When we read the book of Acts and see all the persecution he did face we sometimes forget that it was over a period of years, not a matter of days. We think of it all like a movie or TV show where the hero is out of the frying pan into the fire constantly. There certainly were some sequences in Paul’s life that were one after the other, but we also need to remember that God specifically chose him and actually said that he would have to suffer much for the name of Christ, Acts 9:16.
          3. Some will try to avoid persecution by sacrificing faithfulness to Christ in one way or another. They will not admit such, but rationalize (rational lies) it. Galatians 6:12  As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
          4. The righteous have escaped a large amount of persecution up to now in America for two reasons: 
                a) There has been an atmosphere of desiring to follow God in the history of this country. That has changed. Wicked men are generally cowards and will not strike out when they are in the minority, Proverbs 28:1. They like to get mobs, or do things in secret, through legal trickery, deceit, etc. We are entering that stage in America. The president is doing background checks to make sure that no preacher who leads a prayer at his inauguration has ever preached that homosexuality is a sin! How long before the consequences of speaking the truth on this issue will be life threatening.
                 b) There is a proliferation of denominationalism (many churches) - the more targets there are the less likely you are to be hit - statistically, the centralization of many churches(a headquarters that can be attacked) - the autonomous nature of the Lord's church makes it harder to attack, the increase in using government laws and courts - things are pushed "legally" and many simply capitulate without ever putting up a fight (consider the health care mandate hundreds of businesses owned by those claiming Christianity and hundreds of 'Christian' nonprofit groups are not even objecting to having to pay for the abortion pill), the watering down of the teaching of many churches losing the idea of absolute right and wrong even to the point of not saying Jesus is the only way to heaven (others assume that we are like those churches) we have not yet been targeted in an organized way.

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

    What if...? Consider the school where a child you care about attends. Now, imagine there is a substitute teacher who gives that child some advice. The teacher tells the student "Do not dwell in the past." Imagine what that teacher might say when the same child asks "Who said that?" The teacher tells this youngster that it was Buddha. What if the child continued to inquire about who Buddha was and what he said and so forth? What if the teacher helped the child find a book about Buddha at the library? What if the teacher gave his own copy of a book to the child? Would you be upset? Would you be pleased? Would it matter to you? Would you think that was an appropriate thing for the teacher to do? Would you want the teacher suspended or fired?
    After you think about that for a while, ask yourself what if I were a substitute and said something like "Do unto others as you would have them do to you". What would you say if a child asked you who said it and what book was it in and who was this Jesus guy? What if he told you he didn't have a Bible, would you offer to give him one? If you did do you think it would be worthy of being fired? Do you think that is something some other people should be angry about?
    Now, if you said you would give the kid the Bible in that situation, does thinking about that and how others would feel about it make you think any differently about the first situation? Where does answering a question become indoctrination? What is appropriate or inappropriate discussion for people of different religious beliefs to have not only with each other as adults, but also with children. Do we think that we should be able to freely talk about Jesus, but expect that people of other religions will not think that they should have the same right. 
    The truth is never scared to be out in the mix. It can stand on its own feet and go toe to toe with any other belief system. The problem is others are scared of the truth because they can't stand up to it, so, they try to shut it out and shut it up. Notice the following story about a scenario like the ones above that actually happened. http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/teacher-faces-suspension-for-sharing-bible-verse.html
    jp

What is the difference in being normal and being average? Some might say that there is no difference, but I assure you there is a gargantuan difference. As Christians it is good for us to be normal, even if we are supposed to be peculiar. Does that sound like an oxymoron? The problem comes in how ‘normal’ is defined. When it comes down to it, the truth is ‘normal’ is defined by God and His expectations. Since He is our creator He knows best what the operating specifications ought to be. I just heard Neal Pollard, in a lesson on "Being a Normal Preacher", say "being normal is not an excuse for being sinful". How many times have children tried to use the ‘everybody’s doin’ it’ argument? How many times have Christian parents given in to that kind of thinking? "Well, that movie only has one sexual scene and only a few bad words." "Well, that (insert any article of clothing here) doesn’t cover all that it should (is too tight, has rude wording, etc.), but that is the style (or it’s not as bad as what) the kids are all wearing." Notice how easy it is to justify sin by claiming normal. The problem is that is not normal it is just average.

The average kid may be sexually active before marriage, try drugs and alcohol, cheat at school, lie to parents, consider suicide, steal, dishonor parents, and reject Christ and His church, is that what you want for your children? None of those things are NORMAL even if they are so common as to be accepted by most as normal with the explanation that, "You can’t stop kids from doing these things" and the firm belief that if there is a kid that makes it through the minefield of puberty and adolescence without major complications their parents must be ‘lucky’ to have gotten good kids. It is true that you can’t be there to stop your kids from doing all of these things, but you can train them so that they will stop themselves. There may be some parents that got lucky because their kids had other adults or good Christian peers that kept them going the right direction, but the vast majority of kids who make it do so because of the active involvement of their parents, you see that is what God calls normal: parents rearing their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Of course even the best of parents are not perfect and they may strikeout on many occasions, but that doesn’t mean they won’t have a successful career if they acknowledge those failings and work to improve.

What about you? Are you happy to have an average family? I don’t. I want to have an excellent family, a normal family. We just have so many abnormal, dysfunctional, sinful, failing families in our nation that it seems normal. It seems normal because so many people have never seen normal. We are to be the light of the world, a city set on a hill. We need desperately to show the world what normal really is.