From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Lack of a Stay at Home Parent
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically Absentee Fathers. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Lack of a Stay at Home Parent.
First, we should consider what none other than the venerable United States Government Census Bureau has to say about this problem. According to a Statistical Bulletin, SB/94-5 issued in April, 1994, “In fall 1991, there were 31 million children under age 15 living with their employed mothers.” Between 1988 and 1991 “a fairly substantial number (8 percent, or 1.6 million 5 to 14 year olds) were ‘latchkey’ kids – they spent some or all of these hours home alone.”
Wow, you say, those are really old statistics! Consider this from associatedcontent.com, by Jareb Collins, October 23, 2006. “Every day, as many as 77 percent of American youth are labeled by special definition: Latchkey Kids. Latchkey kids are children who carry a key in their pocket, bag, purse – anywhere on their personal being. The reason they carry this key, and derive the namesake, is because the abodes for which those keys are intended are empty when they arrive there.” Jareb pegs this as a growing problem.
Parentpedia asks, “When is a child old enough to stay home alone?” The answer: “In fact, the statistics provide many reasons why your child should not be home alone; studies have found that latch-key kids are more likely to use alcohol, cigarettes, and illegal drugs than children who are supervised after school.”
So, how do we fix this problem? The mother, as the primary nurturer and care provider, must become a Proverbs 31 woman, and men must be the husbands and fathers God expects. We need to care for our children according to the principles found in Ephesians 6. A mother can work to earn income as long as the needs of the children are met. A husband and father should continue to be the primary income generator as well as participating with their mother in educating and bringing the children up in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Parentpedia offers positive suggestions for keeping children safe and secure: “Instead of letting your child stay home alone, exhaust your options. Look to family members, neighbors, and after-school activities or sports to keep your child busy.” The answer is not mere “busyness” but options for productive at-home time for the kids.
Summary
This post has examined Lack of a Stay at Home Parent as a major threat to families. We discovered that the solution is found not only in observing Biblical injunctions but providing positive practical alternatives to “home alone” scenarios. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Cohabitation Before Marriage.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Guest Post - The Stop Sign, Part 1
Guest Post
I am happy to present another guest post by my friend, Dan Schobert. I thought I would do this one like the old-fashioned serials. Enjoy! Dan said he would like to hear from anyone who wants to email him.
The Stop Sign, Part 1
“And that, my dear students, is the end of my talk on evolution.” Professor James Wilson began putting his notes away. It was the conclusion of Evolution 101, a 13 week class in which college students were given an introduction to the background of evolutionary science. As was his usual procedure, and without lifting his eyes, he asked: “any questions?” It was the question he always asked when concluding a day’s lecture but he seldom received any responses from the close to 300 students crowded into the state university lecture hall. Wilson sometimes wondered if the students were alive, let alone awake. But he didn’t care because, in a few weeks, he would be going into retirement.
Little did he know that things were about to change. Believing things were normal, Wilson lifted his head and scanned the audience to see, if by some slim chance, someone actually had a question. Moving from left to right across the hall, he was surprised to see an uplifted hand in the fourth row, fifth seat.
“Oh, what a surprise. We have a question. Stand up young man and lets hear what you have on your mind.” Slowly the student rose. It was 20-year-old William (Billy) Lynch. A quiet student, Billy seldom made much fuss in class, keeping to himself most of the time. His six feet, two inch frame was attired in the typical fashion of the day; army fatigues, Nike shoes, torn shirt. At least the clothes were clean. He rose slowly from his seat, ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair and cleared his throat.
“Thank you Professor Wilson,” he began. “I’ve been sitting here for these several weeks as you have lectured on evolution and I have found your comments very interesting. I have been trying to put all these things together, to make sense to me.. and I’ve come up with a question.” “Well spit it out boy; we’ve got things to do,” said the Professor, with a bit of anxiety in his voice, hoping he could be finished with this student in quick order. “With all due respect Professor Wilson, I realize you have been teaching the course for years and you will probably think my question to be unreasonable but I was just wondering this: Why do we have stop signs?”
The class broke into an uproar with laughs, whistles, hoots and hollers. Professor Wilson had to restrain himself to not join in the ruckus, knowing that no question is unreasonable though this one seemed a bit out of context. Clearing his throat and hoping the question would easily be answered, Professor Wilson said: “My boy, that seems like a good question and my answer is this: We have stop signs to inform people that they need to stop at a particular intersection.”
Dan Schobert, W9MFG@charter.net
I am happy to present another guest post by my friend, Dan Schobert. I thought I would do this one like the old-fashioned serials. Enjoy! Dan said he would like to hear from anyone who wants to email him.
The Stop Sign, Part 1
“And that, my dear students, is the end of my talk on evolution.” Professor James Wilson began putting his notes away. It was the conclusion of Evolution 101, a 13 week class in which college students were given an introduction to the background of evolutionary science. As was his usual procedure, and without lifting his eyes, he asked: “any questions?” It was the question he always asked when concluding a day’s lecture but he seldom received any responses from the close to 300 students crowded into the state university lecture hall. Wilson sometimes wondered if the students were alive, let alone awake. But he didn’t care because, in a few weeks, he would be going into retirement.
Little did he know that things were about to change. Believing things were normal, Wilson lifted his head and scanned the audience to see, if by some slim chance, someone actually had a question. Moving from left to right across the hall, he was surprised to see an uplifted hand in the fourth row, fifth seat.
“Oh, what a surprise. We have a question. Stand up young man and lets hear what you have on your mind.” Slowly the student rose. It was 20-year-old William (Billy) Lynch. A quiet student, Billy seldom made much fuss in class, keeping to himself most of the time. His six feet, two inch frame was attired in the typical fashion of the day; army fatigues, Nike shoes, torn shirt. At least the clothes were clean. He rose slowly from his seat, ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair and cleared his throat.
“Thank you Professor Wilson,” he began. “I’ve been sitting here for these several weeks as you have lectured on evolution and I have found your comments very interesting. I have been trying to put all these things together, to make sense to me.. and I’ve come up with a question.” “Well spit it out boy; we’ve got things to do,” said the Professor, with a bit of anxiety in his voice, hoping he could be finished with this student in quick order. “With all due respect Professor Wilson, I realize you have been teaching the course for years and you will probably think my question to be unreasonable but I was just wondering this: Why do we have stop signs?”
The class broke into an uproar with laughs, whistles, hoots and hollers. Professor Wilson had to restrain himself to not join in the ruckus, knowing that no question is unreasonable though this one seemed a bit out of context. Clearing his throat and hoping the question would easily be answered, Professor Wilson said: “My boy, that seems like a good question and my answer is this: We have stop signs to inform people that they need to stop at a particular intersection.”
Dan Schobert, W9MFG@charter.net
Friday, November 20, 2009
Families – Threats – Absentee Fathers
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Absentee Fathers
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically Materialism. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Absentee Fathers.
This one is personal for me because my dad, except for his money, was absent from my life beginning at the age of 10 until I became an adult. As I got older and gained a little wisdom, I discovered that my dad was a hard working person who loved his family, but did not understand how to show it. He wasn’t nearly as bad a fellow as I had been led to believe. Sadly, he died at an early age so I did not get to know him very well.
It is safe to say that the problem of absentee fathers is of great concern to our whole society regardless of political affiliation or religious belief. Absentee fathers are easy targets, and everyone considers them a lower form of life. Many state legislatures have passed “dead beat dad” laws in an effort, not to get dads back in their homes, but to recover money to be distributed by dedicated government bureaucrats.
One can find all kinds of statistics at the website, http://www.dads-daughters.com/absentee-fathers.html . I encourage you to visit this site to see how bad the situation really is. According to an older article in USA Today we learn that, “Communities across the country are experiencing success with counseling for unwed fathers plus other mentoring initiatives.” See http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2638_v127/ai_20954306/ . Apparently a real genius wrote this article because the conclusion is, “kids still need two parents to protect and prepare them for life as adults.” Imagine that! Even “Manchurian candidate” Obama went after absentee fathers in the black community, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/us/politics/15cnd-obama.html . Has anyone heard him say much about it since his election as president? Well, at least he models fatherhood with his two girls as far as we can see. However, some of the comments offered by his daughters during his campaign did make one wonder about their respect for their father.
Analyzing statistics and assessing blame is all well and good. The solution to the absentee father problem is found in Scripture. “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:1 – 4) If a father is to bring children up, he must be present in the family, the mother must support him in his efforts, and the children have an obligation to obey the parents and honor the father and mother. Perhaps the situation with the “absentee” fathers is being aggravated by un-submissive wives and disobedient children. Just a thought!
Summary
This post has examined Absentee Fathers as a major threat to families. We discovered that the solution is obedience to the commandments of God for fathers and children found especially in Ephesians 6:1 - 4. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Lack of a Stay-at-Home Parent.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Absentee Fathers
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically Materialism. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Absentee Fathers.
This one is personal for me because my dad, except for his money, was absent from my life beginning at the age of 10 until I became an adult. As I got older and gained a little wisdom, I discovered that my dad was a hard working person who loved his family, but did not understand how to show it. He wasn’t nearly as bad a fellow as I had been led to believe. Sadly, he died at an early age so I did not get to know him very well.
It is safe to say that the problem of absentee fathers is of great concern to our whole society regardless of political affiliation or religious belief. Absentee fathers are easy targets, and everyone considers them a lower form of life. Many state legislatures have passed “dead beat dad” laws in an effort, not to get dads back in their homes, but to recover money to be distributed by dedicated government bureaucrats.
One can find all kinds of statistics at the website, http://www.dads-daughters.com/absentee-fathers.html . I encourage you to visit this site to see how bad the situation really is. According to an older article in USA Today we learn that, “Communities across the country are experiencing success with counseling for unwed fathers plus other mentoring initiatives.” See http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2638_v127/ai_20954306/ . Apparently a real genius wrote this article because the conclusion is, “kids still need two parents to protect and prepare them for life as adults.” Imagine that! Even “Manchurian candidate” Obama went after absentee fathers in the black community, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/us/politics/15cnd-obama.html . Has anyone heard him say much about it since his election as president? Well, at least he models fatherhood with his two girls as far as we can see. However, some of the comments offered by his daughters during his campaign did make one wonder about their respect for their father.
Analyzing statistics and assessing blame is all well and good. The solution to the absentee father problem is found in Scripture. “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:1 – 4) If a father is to bring children up, he must be present in the family, the mother must support him in his efforts, and the children have an obligation to obey the parents and honor the father and mother. Perhaps the situation with the “absentee” fathers is being aggravated by un-submissive wives and disobedient children. Just a thought!
Summary
This post has examined Absentee Fathers as a major threat to families. We discovered that the solution is obedience to the commandments of God for fathers and children found especially in Ephesians 6:1 - 4. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Lack of a Stay-at-Home Parent.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Families – Threats – Materialism
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Materialism
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically Negative Influences of the Media. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Materialism.
It almost seems un-American NOT to be a materialist and collect as many TOYS as possible. However, we discover from the Bible, a founding document of our American nation, that at the root of materialism is covetousness.
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” (Exodus 20:17)
“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” (Luke 12:15)
We would do well to consider the dictionary definition of materialism.
“materialism, noun.1. the belief that all action, thought, and feeling is made up of material things and not of ideas. Ex. In the latter half of the 1800's, materialism severely challenged the traditional spiritual view of man (Science). 2. the tendency to leave out or forget the spiritual side of things; worldliness. Ex. Our materialism has produced too much dependence upon industry (Atlantic). 3. the ethical doctrine that material self-interest should and does determine conduct.” (World Book Dictionary)
Some pretty good advice comes from a surprising source, Disney Family.com. This from what appears, on the surface, to be an organization dedicated to covetousness and “making dreams come true.”
“What do you do when you notice that your child is right -- she really is the only one at school without an iPod?”
• “avoid competitive ‘Keep up with the Joneses’ thinking”
• “set the stage for the discussion by explaining that each family is different”
• “learning to cope with disappointment is an important growth skill.”
• “Tell him (your child) that you'll make sure he has what he needs, but beyond that it's a process of negotiation.”
http://family.go.com/parentpedia/preteen-teen/behavior/teen-materialism/ (Disney)
The obvious solution to this threat to our families is “Thou shalt not covet.”
Summary
This post has examined Materialism as a major threat to families. We discovered that the solution is obedience to the commandment of God not to covet. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Absentee Fathers.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Materialism
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically Negative Influences of the Media. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Materialism.
It almost seems un-American NOT to be a materialist and collect as many TOYS as possible. However, we discover from the Bible, a founding document of our American nation, that at the root of materialism is covetousness.
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” (Exodus 20:17)
“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” (Luke 12:15)
We would do well to consider the dictionary definition of materialism.
“materialism, noun.1. the belief that all action, thought, and feeling is made up of material things and not of ideas. Ex. In the latter half of the 1800's, materialism severely challenged the traditional spiritual view of man (Science). 2. the tendency to leave out or forget the spiritual side of things; worldliness. Ex. Our materialism has produced too much dependence upon industry (Atlantic). 3. the ethical doctrine that material self-interest should and does determine conduct.” (World Book Dictionary)
Some pretty good advice comes from a surprising source, Disney Family.com. This from what appears, on the surface, to be an organization dedicated to covetousness and “making dreams come true.”
“What do you do when you notice that your child is right -- she really is the only one at school without an iPod?”
• “avoid competitive ‘Keep up with the Joneses’ thinking”
• “set the stage for the discussion by explaining that each family is different”
• “learning to cope with disappointment is an important growth skill.”
• “Tell him (your child) that you'll make sure he has what he needs, but beyond that it's a process of negotiation.”
http://family.go.com/parentpedia/preteen-teen/behavior/teen-materialism/ (Disney)
The obvious solution to this threat to our families is “Thou shalt not covet.”
Summary
This post has examined Materialism as a major threat to families. We discovered that the solution is obedience to the commandment of God not to covet. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Absentee Fathers.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Negative Influences from the Media
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Negative Influences from the Media
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically Divorce. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Negative Influences from the Media.
Marshall McLuhan, a futurist or philosopher of the 1960s wrote a piece in which he stated, “The medium is the message because it is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action.” Parents are increasingly aware of this in their children in today’s world. In fact, children seem to be lost in their iPods, G3s, cell phones, or whatever.
The dictionary definition of mass media, “any forms of communication, such as the press, television, radio, and motion pictures, which reach large numbers of people,” demonstrates the scale of the problem with the negative influence on families. Influence is “the power of persons or things to act on others, seen only in its effects.” Influence, in its verb form, works to produce “change the nature or behavior of.” In the case of today’s media the change is not for the better.
Although the mass media is influential in the life of the family, it has become irrelevant because it is sending messages that are “not important or meaningful.” In other words a family spending a lot of time interacting with mass media is wasting valuable time attempting to recover positive messages from irrelevance.
I suppose there are some good things running through our sewer systems on occasion or, perhaps, buried in dumpsters and landfills. Do we spend time cruising through the sewers or mining dumpsters and landfills in order to recover the few “gems” that might be there? Anyone doing this would not readily admit it for fear of being declared insane. Why do we continue allowing and even encouraging our families to cruise the sewers and mine the dumpsters and landfills of the mass media?
Summary
This post has examined Negative Influences from the Media as a major threat to families. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Materialism.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Negative Influences from the Media
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically Divorce. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Negative Influences from the Media.
Marshall McLuhan, a futurist or philosopher of the 1960s wrote a piece in which he stated, “The medium is the message because it is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action.” Parents are increasingly aware of this in their children in today’s world. In fact, children seem to be lost in their iPods, G3s, cell phones, or whatever.
The dictionary definition of mass media, “any forms of communication, such as the press, television, radio, and motion pictures, which reach large numbers of people,” demonstrates the scale of the problem with the negative influence on families. Influence is “the power of persons or things to act on others, seen only in its effects.” Influence, in its verb form, works to produce “change the nature or behavior of.” In the case of today’s media the change is not for the better.
Although the mass media is influential in the life of the family, it has become irrelevant because it is sending messages that are “not important or meaningful.” In other words a family spending a lot of time interacting with mass media is wasting valuable time attempting to recover positive messages from irrelevance.
I suppose there are some good things running through our sewer systems on occasion or, perhaps, buried in dumpsters and landfills. Do we spend time cruising through the sewers or mining dumpsters and landfills in order to recover the few “gems” that might be there? Anyone doing this would not readily admit it for fear of being declared insane. Why do we continue allowing and even encouraging our families to cruise the sewers and mine the dumpsters and landfills of the mass media?
Summary
This post has examined Negative Influences from the Media as a major threat to families. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Materialism.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Guest Blog - Toys
I would like to introduce a guest bloggist, my good friend and brother in the Lord, Dan. He has written a great piece on toys. He would be glad to hear from anyone and would like to see your comments on his essay.
TOYS
We began getting toys about as soon as we took our first breaths. From the womb to the tomb, we have been involved with toys. Safe to say our parents were delighted with the giggles and other sounds toys seem to encourage from us. As we grew, so did the desire for toys. Few of can not recall the excitement most of us had as we anticipated the arrival of more toys for Christmas or for a birthday celebration. They were expected. Getting older didn’t mean no toys at all but more expensive and larger. Having toys seems to be a modern day necessity. Whether young or old, male or female, westerners appear to have a place in their lives for toys. It may be hard to nail down how other peoples and cultures view toys but for us, they tend to be a big deal.
What is meant by: toy? It seems fair enough to define the word by saying a toy is something a person possesses by which or through which pleasure or excitement is gained but which is not necessary for survival. For adults, toys come in various packages, shapes and costs. Where does a person start when considering a list of toys in today’s adult world? Pleasure vehicles of sundry sorts come to mind, like: speed boats, snowmobiles, motorcycles (not used for getting to and from work), airplanes, skies, mountain bikes. There are hobbies (which are like toys in that they consume time and money) which attract many people, like: collecting beer cans, pasting things in a scrapbook, amateur radio[1], old cars, sky diving, model railroad building, even cooking, keeping track of sports events, watching the skies, collecting stamps or coins or old magazines or books, painting landscapes, etc. There are many others which could be added to such a list. The point is that there are many things and activities which seem to draw our attention, our money and our energies. ..and these can be viewed as toys or toy related programs. They are things we enjoy using and or do through much of our lives.
Consider the broad category of entertainment. These are so often events we see on TV but can also include those events to which a person would have to travel to participate. Here it would include ‘spectator sports,’ or, more precisely, professional sports. People often drive; even fly great distances to see their favorite football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, swimming, and tennis and volleyball squad face competition. Many of these activities occur on Sunday. Die hard fans are likely to miss church in order to attend exciting games.
Perhaps the question to be asked: are these things evil? Not necessarily but they do require a person to consider their importance. At the end of things, it may be a question of balance in a person’s life. If a person would place all these toys and related items on a scale with things of the Church on the other end of the scale, we know the general bent of things. The things of the world would most likely reveal much more attention. This doesn’t mean the things of the world are evil and to be avoided. Such a measure of balance would show that something is out of whack. How these things are viewed is a reflection of how believers view their relationship with God.
About the only Biblical reference to things like toys is in the New Testament. “When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.” (I Cor. 13:11) This is in the so called “love” chapter of the N.T. It is fair to assume toys would also have been set aside. One might ponder, at what point did Paul (known earlier as Saul) become a man. In the context of this entire 13th chapter, the intent seems to be toward a maturation of a person, moving away from non-essentials to a more “grown up” life. This being the case, it can be assumed that Paul became a man, not at 21 years of age as we may think in today’s world, but later. Perhaps becoming a man was not tied to a person’s age but to becoming more mature, especially in things relating to God. One who studies Paul’s life would probably conclude that his turning from childish things to mature things began when he met Christ on the road to Damascus. Maturation is related to the ‘new life’ or ‘new birth’ a person finds in the new relationship a person has with God through the salvation purchased by Jesus Christ. By the time of this Damascus Road event, Paul must have been some years advanced from his 20s as he was busy in the persecution of early church members, not a task usually given to a teen. At the time, Paul must have considered himself a ‘man,’ but when he became a new person in Christ, he realized how far he had been from the mark of true maturation. There was a change in his mind and attitude, in his purpose for living, in what he came to see as more important than all the things he had held as precious as a younger person, as a child.
This verse not only gives a glimpse into Paul’s life and attitude but, being scripture, is an admonition for other believers to consider in their Christian walk.
It may be unfair to ascribe toys as being part of Christ’s life as a youngster. We have little record of those some 30 years. It seems likely, however, that he must have some toys common among youngsters in his neighborhood. Surely nothing like the toys boys and girls have today but we might catch a glimpse of how it may have been when we view children today in the 3rd world. We know how pleased they become when given a shoe box at Christmas time from Operation Christmas Child.
It’s been said by many people, that God has created us in such a way that there is within a hole that only He can fill. We try to fill this hole with many things, with many events, perhaps with many ungodly relationships. All these may seem to be the answer at the time but their ability to satisfy is short lived. To be sure there is nothing inherently wrong or evil about the things discussed here; it largely comes down to matters of balance and what we decide is important in our lives at a particular time.
Someone once said that our lives will soon be past; only what is done for Christ lasts. Maybe this is what our focus should be when it comes to the toys of life, being careful that we put first things first.
Dan Schobert
August 24, 2008
Plover, Wisconsin 54467
W9MFG@Charter.net
[1] This is my hobby, licensed in 1956.
TOYS
We began getting toys about as soon as we took our first breaths. From the womb to the tomb, we have been involved with toys. Safe to say our parents were delighted with the giggles and other sounds toys seem to encourage from us. As we grew, so did the desire for toys. Few of can not recall the excitement most of us had as we anticipated the arrival of more toys for Christmas or for a birthday celebration. They were expected. Getting older didn’t mean no toys at all but more expensive and larger. Having toys seems to be a modern day necessity. Whether young or old, male or female, westerners appear to have a place in their lives for toys. It may be hard to nail down how other peoples and cultures view toys but for us, they tend to be a big deal.
What is meant by: toy? It seems fair enough to define the word by saying a toy is something a person possesses by which or through which pleasure or excitement is gained but which is not necessary for survival. For adults, toys come in various packages, shapes and costs. Where does a person start when considering a list of toys in today’s adult world? Pleasure vehicles of sundry sorts come to mind, like: speed boats, snowmobiles, motorcycles (not used for getting to and from work), airplanes, skies, mountain bikes. There are hobbies (which are like toys in that they consume time and money) which attract many people, like: collecting beer cans, pasting things in a scrapbook, amateur radio[1], old cars, sky diving, model railroad building, even cooking, keeping track of sports events, watching the skies, collecting stamps or coins or old magazines or books, painting landscapes, etc. There are many others which could be added to such a list. The point is that there are many things and activities which seem to draw our attention, our money and our energies. ..and these can be viewed as toys or toy related programs. They are things we enjoy using and or do through much of our lives.
Consider the broad category of entertainment. These are so often events we see on TV but can also include those events to which a person would have to travel to participate. Here it would include ‘spectator sports,’ or, more precisely, professional sports. People often drive; even fly great distances to see their favorite football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, swimming, and tennis and volleyball squad face competition. Many of these activities occur on Sunday. Die hard fans are likely to miss church in order to attend exciting games.
Perhaps the question to be asked: are these things evil? Not necessarily but they do require a person to consider their importance. At the end of things, it may be a question of balance in a person’s life. If a person would place all these toys and related items on a scale with things of the Church on the other end of the scale, we know the general bent of things. The things of the world would most likely reveal much more attention. This doesn’t mean the things of the world are evil and to be avoided. Such a measure of balance would show that something is out of whack. How these things are viewed is a reflection of how believers view their relationship with God.
About the only Biblical reference to things like toys is in the New Testament. “When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.” (I Cor. 13:11) This is in the so called “love” chapter of the N.T. It is fair to assume toys would also have been set aside. One might ponder, at what point did Paul (known earlier as Saul) become a man. In the context of this entire 13th chapter, the intent seems to be toward a maturation of a person, moving away from non-essentials to a more “grown up” life. This being the case, it can be assumed that Paul became a man, not at 21 years of age as we may think in today’s world, but later. Perhaps becoming a man was not tied to a person’s age but to becoming more mature, especially in things relating to God. One who studies Paul’s life would probably conclude that his turning from childish things to mature things began when he met Christ on the road to Damascus. Maturation is related to the ‘new life’ or ‘new birth’ a person finds in the new relationship a person has with God through the salvation purchased by Jesus Christ. By the time of this Damascus Road event, Paul must have been some years advanced from his 20s as he was busy in the persecution of early church members, not a task usually given to a teen. At the time, Paul must have considered himself a ‘man,’ but when he became a new person in Christ, he realized how far he had been from the mark of true maturation. There was a change in his mind and attitude, in his purpose for living, in what he came to see as more important than all the things he had held as precious as a younger person, as a child.
This verse not only gives a glimpse into Paul’s life and attitude but, being scripture, is an admonition for other believers to consider in their Christian walk.
It may be unfair to ascribe toys as being part of Christ’s life as a youngster. We have little record of those some 30 years. It seems likely, however, that he must have some toys common among youngsters in his neighborhood. Surely nothing like the toys boys and girls have today but we might catch a glimpse of how it may have been when we view children today in the 3rd world. We know how pleased they become when given a shoe box at Christmas time from Operation Christmas Child.
It’s been said by many people, that God has created us in such a way that there is within a hole that only He can fill. We try to fill this hole with many things, with many events, perhaps with many ungodly relationships. All these may seem to be the answer at the time but their ability to satisfy is short lived. To be sure there is nothing inherently wrong or evil about the things discussed here; it largely comes down to matters of balance and what we decide is important in our lives at a particular time.
Someone once said that our lives will soon be past; only what is done for Christ lasts. Maybe this is what our focus should be when it comes to the toys of life, being careful that we put first things first.
Dan Schobert
August 24, 2008
Plover, Wisconsin 54467
W9MFG@Charter.net
[1] This is my hobby, licensed in 1956.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Families – Threats – Divorce
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Divorce
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically the End of Child Bearing. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Divorce. This will likely be a most painful blog post for me since my parents divorced when I was 10 years old. From my perspective there is no such thing as an “amicable” divorce, and the children of divorce are always damaged, probably for the rest of their lives.
Taking a look at the statistics reveals that we do have a problem with the divorce rate running at about ½ the marriage rate. See: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/divorce.htm
•Number of marriages: 2,162,000
•Marriage rate: 7.1 per 1,000 total population
•Divorce rate: 3.5 per 1,000 population (44 reporting States and D.C.)
Source: Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2008, table A
Googling “divorce” yields a number of Page 1 hits of websites devoted to the subject:
www.divorcemag.com/statistics/statsUS.shtml, www.divorcestatistics.org/, www.divorceandlife.com/, www.divorcerate.org/, www.divorcereform.org/stats.html
The organization, Focus on the Family, is a major player providing Biblical teaching and resources to help families understand their responsibilities before God to maintain the family as the fundamental unit of society. See: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/lifechallenges/relationship_challenges/divorce.aspx
The Old Testament passage, Deuteronomy 24:1 – 4, deals with divorce not by way of command but as a form of regulation. The implication is that divorce was being practiced. Moses sought to bring some degree of justice to the practice by providing contractual protection to a woman and allowing her to remarry.
Jesus in the New Testament built upon the Old Testament law and restricted it to allow adultery as the only justifiable reason for divorce (Matthew 5:32). Again, He is not commanding divorce but attempting to regulate its practice with divine law.
How should the church deal with divorce? We must continue to teach that God hates it just as He hates any other sin. We cannot water down the teaching of one man married to one woman with children for life. However, we cannot single out divorced people as some kind of pariahs to be avoided. We are all (i.e. true believers) sinners saved by grace. God will use us after He saves us from sin. If He required perfection, none of us would be qualified to serve. We must advocate changing the laws of our culture to make divorce more difficult and preserve families. One positive change in this regard is to do away with “no fault” statutes. See the book, The Natural Family, by Carlson and Mero.
Summary
This post has examined Divorce as a major threat to families. We discovered that the divorce rate is running about one half the marriage rate. There are many resources devoted to the topic of divorce. Biblical teaching on divorce provides for ways of dealing with the practice as well as proscribing it. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Negative Influences from the Media.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Divorce
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically the End of Child Bearing. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Divorce. This will likely be a most painful blog post for me since my parents divorced when I was 10 years old. From my perspective there is no such thing as an “amicable” divorce, and the children of divorce are always damaged, probably for the rest of their lives.
Taking a look at the statistics reveals that we do have a problem with the divorce rate running at about ½ the marriage rate. See: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/divorce.htm
•Number of marriages: 2,162,000
•Marriage rate: 7.1 per 1,000 total population
•Divorce rate: 3.5 per 1,000 population (44 reporting States and D.C.)
Source: Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2008, table A
Googling “divorce” yields a number of Page 1 hits of websites devoted to the subject:
www.divorcemag.com/statistics/statsUS.shtml, www.divorcestatistics.org/, www.divorceandlife.com/, www.divorcerate.org/, www.divorcereform.org/stats.html
The organization, Focus on the Family, is a major player providing Biblical teaching and resources to help families understand their responsibilities before God to maintain the family as the fundamental unit of society. See: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/lifechallenges/relationship_challenges/divorce.aspx
The Old Testament passage, Deuteronomy 24:1 – 4, deals with divorce not by way of command but as a form of regulation. The implication is that divorce was being practiced. Moses sought to bring some degree of justice to the practice by providing contractual protection to a woman and allowing her to remarry.
Jesus in the New Testament built upon the Old Testament law and restricted it to allow adultery as the only justifiable reason for divorce (Matthew 5:32). Again, He is not commanding divorce but attempting to regulate its practice with divine law.
How should the church deal with divorce? We must continue to teach that God hates it just as He hates any other sin. We cannot water down the teaching of one man married to one woman with children for life. However, we cannot single out divorced people as some kind of pariahs to be avoided. We are all (i.e. true believers) sinners saved by grace. God will use us after He saves us from sin. If He required perfection, none of us would be qualified to serve. We must advocate changing the laws of our culture to make divorce more difficult and preserve families. One positive change in this regard is to do away with “no fault” statutes. See the book, The Natural Family, by Carlson and Mero.
Summary
This post has examined Divorce as a major threat to families. We discovered that the divorce rate is running about one half the marriage rate. There are many resources devoted to the topic of divorce. Biblical teaching on divorce provides for ways of dealing with the practice as well as proscribing it. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Negative Influences from the Media.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Friday, September 25, 2009
Families – Threats – End of Child Bearing
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – End of Child Bearing
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically the End of Marriage. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, the End of Child Bearing. As incredible as it seems, humans, the pinnacle of God’s Creation, are bent on ending the human race through “population control.”
God told Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill) the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) The command was repeated to Noah and his family. (Genesis 9:1) God later gave the commandment to children to “Honor thy father and thy mother.” (Exodus 20:12) In the New Testament instructions are given to parents and children regarding mutual responsibilities. (Ephesians 6:1-4) It is safe to assume, therefore, that child bearing is an expectation for humanity on the part of the Creator.
Current world population statistics are not encouraging. Fertility rate statistics are available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fertility_rate_world_map_2.png.
“Replacement fertility is the total fertility rate at which newborn girls would have an average of exactly 1 daughter over their lifetimes. In more familiar terms, women have just enough babies to replace themselves.” “Taken globally, the total fertility rate at replacement is 2.33 children per woman. At this rate, global population growth would trend towards zero.” See website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replacement_rate#Replacement_rates
In the United Nations report, ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING THE RESULTS OF THE 2008 REVISION OF WORLD POPULATION PROSPECTS, found at: http://esa.un.org/unpp/assumptions.html , is the statement, “Total fertility in all countries is assumed to converge eventually toward a level of 1.85 children per woman. However, not all countries reach this level during the projection period, that is, by 2045-2050. Projection procedures differ slightly depending on whether a country had a total fertility above or below 1.85 children per woman in 2005-2010.”
Therefore, with a total fertility at 1.85 and the replacement value at 2.33, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that we are in trouble, especially in the traditional Western cultures. In fact, some of the traditional high birth rate regions are leveling off and beginning to decline. I invite you to do your own research.
Summary
This post has examined the End of Child Bearing as a major threat to families. World population statistics point to a decline in human population by 2050, which is contrary to the will of God. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Divorce.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – End of Child Bearing
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically the End of Marriage. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, the End of Child Bearing. As incredible as it seems, humans, the pinnacle of God’s Creation, are bent on ending the human race through “population control.”
God told Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill) the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) The command was repeated to Noah and his family. (Genesis 9:1) God later gave the commandment to children to “Honor thy father and thy mother.” (Exodus 20:12) In the New Testament instructions are given to parents and children regarding mutual responsibilities. (Ephesians 6:1-4) It is safe to assume, therefore, that child bearing is an expectation for humanity on the part of the Creator.
Current world population statistics are not encouraging. Fertility rate statistics are available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fertility_rate_world_map_2.png.
“Replacement fertility is the total fertility rate at which newborn girls would have an average of exactly 1 daughter over their lifetimes. In more familiar terms, women have just enough babies to replace themselves.” “Taken globally, the total fertility rate at replacement is 2.33 children per woman. At this rate, global population growth would trend towards zero.” See website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replacement_rate#Replacement_rates
In the United Nations report, ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING THE RESULTS OF THE 2008 REVISION OF WORLD POPULATION PROSPECTS, found at: http://esa.un.org/unpp/assumptions.html , is the statement, “Total fertility in all countries is assumed to converge eventually toward a level of 1.85 children per woman. However, not all countries reach this level during the projection period, that is, by 2045-2050. Projection procedures differ slightly depending on whether a country had a total fertility above or below 1.85 children per woman in 2005-2010.”
Therefore, with a total fertility at 1.85 and the replacement value at 2.33, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that we are in trouble, especially in the traditional Western cultures. In fact, some of the traditional high birth rate regions are leveling off and beginning to decline. I invite you to do your own research.
Summary
This post has examined the End of Child Bearing as a major threat to families. World population statistics point to a decline in human population by 2050, which is contrary to the will of God. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Divorce.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Families – Threats – End of Marriage
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – End of Marriage
In our previous post we introduced the topic of Threats to Families with a broad overview of the many evils aligned against this first human institution ordained by God (See Genesis 1:26 - 28). Beginning with this post we will take a detailed look at some of the most egregious wickedness weakening and destroying families in the twenty-first century.
Giving up on marriage and divorce are two sides of the same coin. We will look at how these two phenomena are working together to destroy the foundations of society. Perhaps we should call the combination of these “The End of Marriage.” Since God ordained the human family based on a loving life-long commitment of a man and a woman resulting in children, we can safely say that He hates anything that would go against His will in that area.
See Emmanuel Research Review, http://www.egc.org/research/issue_36.html.
“Emerging Marriage Trends
In the past two centuries, the world has seen an unprecedented scientific, financial, and intellectual growth which has come with a heavy price tag. It has crossed cultural and ethnic boundaries in its course. Until the beginning of the 20th century societies believed in a ‘Biblical morality,’ which meant that there is such a thing as right and wrong and people knew why. For the next fifty years societies moved to a state of ‘abiblical morality.’ Societies knew there were such things that were right and wrong but did not know why. The 60s and 70s saw the influx of immorality where, even though people knew that certain things were right and wrong, they did not care. Since then, both developed and developing societies have been under the influence of a state of ‘amorality’ or ‘relative morality,’ which simply means that there is no such thing as right or wrong. Over the past fifty plus years, the number of single-parent households has skyrocketed to one-third of all U.S. families. The traditional American family structure appears to be crumbling. Furthermore, the world has seen six major trends emerging in the past fifty years that have crossed ethnic and cultural boundaries. They are:
• Overall 50% decline in the number of marriages that are formally solemnized
• 40 to 50% increase in divorce rate
• 10-fold increase in unmarried cohabitation (1000%)
• Decrease in average children per household from four to two
• Increase of single parent families and children born without fathers from 9 to 28%
• Overall changing attitudes about sex, marriage and family, alternatives to marriage, unwed childbearing (35%), abortion, homosexuality, extramarital relationships, and virtual pleasure.”
The solution to these threats to the family is quite simple. Obey God! If one is involved in a live-in arrangement, get married. If one is already married, stay married. Of course either of these must remain within the Biblical definition of marriage. How hard is that?
Summary
This post has examined the “End of Marriage” threat to the family. The solution to this threat is marriage according to the Biblical definition. Our next post will look at another threat to marriage, “The End of Child-Bearing.”
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – End of Marriage
In our previous post we introduced the topic of Threats to Families with a broad overview of the many evils aligned against this first human institution ordained by God (See Genesis 1:26 - 28). Beginning with this post we will take a detailed look at some of the most egregious wickedness weakening and destroying families in the twenty-first century.
Giving up on marriage and divorce are two sides of the same coin. We will look at how these two phenomena are working together to destroy the foundations of society. Perhaps we should call the combination of these “The End of Marriage.” Since God ordained the human family based on a loving life-long commitment of a man and a woman resulting in children, we can safely say that He hates anything that would go against His will in that area.
See Emmanuel Research Review, http://www.egc.org/research/issue_36.html.
“Emerging Marriage Trends
In the past two centuries, the world has seen an unprecedented scientific, financial, and intellectual growth which has come with a heavy price tag. It has crossed cultural and ethnic boundaries in its course. Until the beginning of the 20th century societies believed in a ‘Biblical morality,’ which meant that there is such a thing as right and wrong and people knew why. For the next fifty years societies moved to a state of ‘abiblical morality.’ Societies knew there were such things that were right and wrong but did not know why. The 60s and 70s saw the influx of immorality where, even though people knew that certain things were right and wrong, they did not care. Since then, both developed and developing societies have been under the influence of a state of ‘amorality’ or ‘relative morality,’ which simply means that there is no such thing as right or wrong. Over the past fifty plus years, the number of single-parent households has skyrocketed to one-third of all U.S. families. The traditional American family structure appears to be crumbling. Furthermore, the world has seen six major trends emerging in the past fifty years that have crossed ethnic and cultural boundaries. They are:
• Overall 50% decline in the number of marriages that are formally solemnized
• 40 to 50% increase in divorce rate
• 10-fold increase in unmarried cohabitation (1000%)
• Decrease in average children per household from four to two
• Increase of single parent families and children born without fathers from 9 to 28%
• Overall changing attitudes about sex, marriage and family, alternatives to marriage, unwed childbearing (35%), abortion, homosexuality, extramarital relationships, and virtual pleasure.”
The solution to these threats to the family is quite simple. Obey God! If one is involved in a live-in arrangement, get married. If one is already married, stay married. Of course either of these must remain within the Biblical definition of marriage. How hard is that?
Summary
This post has examined the “End of Marriage” threat to the family. The solution to this threat is marriage according to the Biblical definition. Our next post will look at another threat to marriage, “The End of Child-Bearing.”
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Families – Threats - Introduction
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats - Introduction
In our previous post we discussed the various resources available to help build strong families according to the will of God. We will now consider threats which are weakening and even destroying families. According to a survey of church pastors by the Minnesota Family Council (MFC) the top three threats to the family are divorce, negative influences from the media, and materialism.
Other concerns listed in the MFC survey are absentee fathers, families that lack a stay-at-home parent, cohabitation before marriage, pornography, morality not being taught in schools, poverty, and unemployment and/or a poor economy. In addition child/teen and parental alcohol/drug use/abuse, teen sexual activity/pregnancy, adultery, sexual predators, sexual abuse, and the expense of child care are listed.
Focus on the Family (FOF) says new forms of human relationships (e.g. trial marriages), loss of power to transmit values to the younger generation, and homosexual “marriage” even with the blessing of the churches. Also mentioned are having sex more for recreation than for procreation, court assaults, and anti-family biases of the media elite as major threats to the family.
Catholic News Service (CNS) considers war and violence, exploitation of the weak, rampant poverty and underdevelopment, destruction of the environment, the arms race, and everything that serves to weaken the family based on the marriage of a man and a woman. Everything that directly or indirectly stands in the way of its openness to the responsible acceptance of a new life and everything that obstructs its right to be primarily responsible for the education of its children are also threats to the family.
Summary
This post has presented an overview of some of the threats to the family identified by the MFC, FOF, and CNS organizations. Just reading the list may give us the impression that the situation is very dark regarding the family in our world. However, we know that God still rules the universe and knew about all of these things before they entered the evil hearts of humanity. As we consider some of these threats in detail in the following posts, we will also look at their solutions. A great resource available to us is prayer, and we should be praying as we read over this list. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:17)
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats - Introduction
In our previous post we discussed the various resources available to help build strong families according to the will of God. We will now consider threats which are weakening and even destroying families. According to a survey of church pastors by the Minnesota Family Council (MFC) the top three threats to the family are divorce, negative influences from the media, and materialism.
Other concerns listed in the MFC survey are absentee fathers, families that lack a stay-at-home parent, cohabitation before marriage, pornography, morality not being taught in schools, poverty, and unemployment and/or a poor economy. In addition child/teen and parental alcohol/drug use/abuse, teen sexual activity/pregnancy, adultery, sexual predators, sexual abuse, and the expense of child care are listed.
Focus on the Family (FOF) says new forms of human relationships (e.g. trial marriages), loss of power to transmit values to the younger generation, and homosexual “marriage” even with the blessing of the churches. Also mentioned are having sex more for recreation than for procreation, court assaults, and anti-family biases of the media elite as major threats to the family.
Catholic News Service (CNS) considers war and violence, exploitation of the weak, rampant poverty and underdevelopment, destruction of the environment, the arms race, and everything that serves to weaken the family based on the marriage of a man and a woman. Everything that directly or indirectly stands in the way of its openness to the responsible acceptance of a new life and everything that obstructs its right to be primarily responsible for the education of its children are also threats to the family.
Summary
This post has presented an overview of some of the threats to the family identified by the MFC, FOF, and CNS organizations. Just reading the list may give us the impression that the situation is very dark regarding the family in our world. However, we know that God still rules the universe and knew about all of these things before they entered the evil hearts of humanity. As we consider some of these threats in detail in the following posts, we will also look at their solutions. A great resource available to us is prayer, and we should be praying as we read over this list. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:17)
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Monday, August 31, 2009
Families - Resources
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families - Resources
Our previous post discussed the definition of family. In that post we learned that the family is simply what God says it is in His Word. It has not changed to become relevant to society or to conform to what we wish it to be. We will now consider some resources available to assist families in accomplishing the will of God.
1. The greatest resource available to families is a personal and firm faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ as the Savior from our sins. Salvation from sin is accomplished by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, providing the basis for relationship within the family that cannot be equaled.
2. The Word of God, the Bible, is available to parents to teach children. It is more important for our children to understand the precepts of the Bible than anything else. The teaching of the Bible in the home is essential. Knowledge of the Word provides proper context for education, work, cultural activities, sports, etc.
3. Prayer is a resource available to any and all believers all the time. We are commanded to pray. Families should be praying for and with each other.
4. Every family should be involved in a local church that is truly a local church according to the New Testament model. A “church” that puts anything else ahead of the preaching and teaching of God’s Word is not a New Testament church. If the Word has its proper place, everything else follows according to the plan of God, and families benefit from this wonderful spiritual resource.
5. There are many Biblical and encouraging media resources available to families as books, websites, CDs, and videos. Bringing up Boys by Dobson and Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World by Ham are excellent books on the subject. My Pastor has recommended Exemplary Husband by Scott, Excellent Wife by Peace, Family Survival by Rogers, Love and Respect by Eggerichs, Family Driven Faith by Baucham, and The Natural Family by Carlson and Mero. Focus on the Family, http://www.focusonthefamily.com/ and the American Family Association, http://action.afa.net/ provide great online resources for the family. DVD resources include Bringing up Boys, Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World, and Your Child: Essentials of Discipline Parenting Seminar.
Summary
In this post we have considered some of the resources available to help build strong families, including faith, prayer, the Bible, the local church, and various media. As we continue this look at the family, we will consider some of the threats to the family and how to meet those threats.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families - Resources
Our previous post discussed the definition of family. In that post we learned that the family is simply what God says it is in His Word. It has not changed to become relevant to society or to conform to what we wish it to be. We will now consider some resources available to assist families in accomplishing the will of God.
1. The greatest resource available to families is a personal and firm faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ as the Savior from our sins. Salvation from sin is accomplished by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, providing the basis for relationship within the family that cannot be equaled.
2. The Word of God, the Bible, is available to parents to teach children. It is more important for our children to understand the precepts of the Bible than anything else. The teaching of the Bible in the home is essential. Knowledge of the Word provides proper context for education, work, cultural activities, sports, etc.
3. Prayer is a resource available to any and all believers all the time. We are commanded to pray. Families should be praying for and with each other.
4. Every family should be involved in a local church that is truly a local church according to the New Testament model. A “church” that puts anything else ahead of the preaching and teaching of God’s Word is not a New Testament church. If the Word has its proper place, everything else follows according to the plan of God, and families benefit from this wonderful spiritual resource.
5. There are many Biblical and encouraging media resources available to families as books, websites, CDs, and videos. Bringing up Boys by Dobson and Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World by Ham are excellent books on the subject. My Pastor has recommended Exemplary Husband by Scott, Excellent Wife by Peace, Family Survival by Rogers, Love and Respect by Eggerichs, Family Driven Faith by Baucham, and The Natural Family by Carlson and Mero. Focus on the Family, http://www.focusonthefamily.com/ and the American Family Association, http://action.afa.net/ provide great online resources for the family. DVD resources include Bringing up Boys, Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World, and Your Child: Essentials of Discipline Parenting Seminar.
Summary
In this post we have considered some of the resources available to help build strong families, including faith, prayer, the Bible, the local church, and various media. As we continue this look at the family, we will consider some of the threats to the family and how to meet those threats.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Families - Definition
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families - Definition
Our previous series of posts discussed the various aspects of our relationship to God. We now begin to consider the topic of families.
The first human institution given by God was the family. Genesis 1:26 – 28 simply states, “26And God said, Let us make man in our image. . .; and let them have dominion . . . . 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill) the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
The definition of family is very clearly given in the Scripture. God created a MALE and a FEMALE and told them to FILL the earth with children. This very simply means that a man and a woman are to be united in a loving life-long relationship for the purpose of raising children to the glory of God.
For those who try to make this passage say something that it does NOT, the word “replenish” simply means “fill.” The Lord is giving them the specific command to populate the whole earth with humans for the very first time.
An earlier Webster’s definition of family is “The collective body of persons who live in one house and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children and servants, and as the case may be, lodgers or boarders.” Although, obviously, somewhat archaic with reference to servants, lodgers, and boarders, this definition follows the Biblical model.
The World Book simply states, “The Nuclear Family, consisting of a husband (man), a wife (woman), and their children, is considered the traditional American family.”
Summary
With this post we begin a series looking at families. We discovered that, by all definitions, a family is a man, a woman, and children in a committed life-long relationship. In the following posts we will look at the family in depth, how the family is deeply troubled, and how we can strengthen it by God’s formula.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families - Definition
Our previous series of posts discussed the various aspects of our relationship to God. We now begin to consider the topic of families.
The first human institution given by God was the family. Genesis 1:26 – 28 simply states, “26And God said, Let us make man in our image. . .; and let them have dominion . . . . 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill) the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
The definition of family is very clearly given in the Scripture. God created a MALE and a FEMALE and told them to FILL the earth with children. This very simply means that a man and a woman are to be united in a loving life-long relationship for the purpose of raising children to the glory of God.
For those who try to make this passage say something that it does NOT, the word “replenish” simply means “fill.” The Lord is giving them the specific command to populate the whole earth with humans for the very first time.
An earlier Webster’s definition of family is “The collective body of persons who live in one house and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children and servants, and as the case may be, lodgers or boarders.” Although, obviously, somewhat archaic with reference to servants, lodgers, and boarders, this definition follows the Biblical model.
The World Book simply states, “The Nuclear Family, consisting of a husband (man), a wife (woman), and their children, is considered the traditional American family.”
Summary
With this post we begin a series looking at families. We discovered that, by all definitions, a family is a man, a woman, and children in a committed life-long relationship. In the following posts we will look at the family in depth, how the family is deeply troubled, and how we can strengthen it by God’s formula.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Monday, August 17, 2009
Relationship to God - Worship
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Relationship to God - Worship
Our previous post discussed our relationship to God in light of human civilization’s destruction. At the end of the flood, as the ark landed, the first act after Noah and his family stepped onto the dry ground was worship (Genesis 8:20 – 22). This was not what commonly passes for “worship” today, which we will discuss in a later post. The worship spoken of in this passage was TRUE worship of the One Who had delivered Noah and his family. It involved the sacrificial death and blood shedding of animals, and the Lord was pleased with it.
It was the nature of this sacrificial act of worship to remind Noah and his family of their sin and of the awful price of atonement. The system of animal sacrifice pointed to the Sacrifice to be offered some 2500 years later as Jesus Christ was murdered by wicked humans according to the plan of God on a cross in Jerusalem. His Sacrifice was the ONLY effective sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 10:1 – 10).
At the conclusion of Noah’s worship service God promised to never again send a worldwide destruction by water upon humans. He told Noah and his sons to fill the earth with people and to have exercise stewardship over all the creatures of the earth.
Summary
As we conclude this series of posts regarding our relationships to God, we do well to consider how those relationships lead us to worship God. Do we acknowledge Him as Creator? Are we obedient to Him? Are we growing in Him? Are we moving toward joy in His presence? We can only truly worship Him when we are reminded of His wonderful sacrifice for us. When we have truly worshipped, we can expect to receive God’s promises and direction for our lives.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Relationship to God - Worship
Our previous post discussed our relationship to God in light of human civilization’s destruction. At the end of the flood, as the ark landed, the first act after Noah and his family stepped onto the dry ground was worship (Genesis 8:20 – 22). This was not what commonly passes for “worship” today, which we will discuss in a later post. The worship spoken of in this passage was TRUE worship of the One Who had delivered Noah and his family. It involved the sacrificial death and blood shedding of animals, and the Lord was pleased with it.
It was the nature of this sacrificial act of worship to remind Noah and his family of their sin and of the awful price of atonement. The system of animal sacrifice pointed to the Sacrifice to be offered some 2500 years later as Jesus Christ was murdered by wicked humans according to the plan of God on a cross in Jerusalem. His Sacrifice was the ONLY effective sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 10:1 – 10).
At the conclusion of Noah’s worship service God promised to never again send a worldwide destruction by water upon humans. He told Noah and his sons to fill the earth with people and to have exercise stewardship over all the creatures of the earth.
Summary
As we conclude this series of posts regarding our relationships to God, we do well to consider how those relationships lead us to worship God. Do we acknowledge Him as Creator? Are we obedient to Him? Are we growing in Him? Are we moving toward joy in His presence? We can only truly worship Him when we are reminded of His wonderful sacrifice for us. When we have truly worshipped, we can expect to receive God’s promises and direction for our lives.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Relationship to God - Destruction
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Relationship to God - Destruction
Our previous post discussed our relationship to God in light of humanity’s decline. The situation deteriorated to the point where “5. . . God saw that the wickedness of man was great . . . . 6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, . . . 7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; . . .” (Genesis 6:5 – 7).
Noah found grace in God’s sight and he was given the assignment to build an ark for salvation from the coming watery judgment. Although humanity could have escaped the coming destruction, the vast majority chose to remain in their sin.
Simple and believing reading of Genesis chapters 7 and 8 reveals that the flood was an historical event. The mere size and construction of the vehicle of deliverance is a testimony to the tremendous upheavals that the earth would endure.
Jesus Christ endorsed the historicity of the account of the flood of Noah (Matthew 24:37 – 39) and related it to His second coming, which is as much a certainty as the flood. The apostle Peter also spoke of the flood in his writings (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5), calling those who deny its historicity and its use as an illustration of Christ’s second coming false prophets.
Today we still see and, indeed, live with the results of this cataclysm. Billions of dead things buried in rock layers all over the earth provide ample testimony. The continued presence of volcanoes, earthquakes, and storms affect a significant proportion of the earth’s population on a regular basis.
Summary
The flood of Noah was a real event in history. This is undeniable, and its effects can be easily seen today. This destructive event was sent by the Lord to punish the human race, which had become totally corrupt. Except for the obedience of one man and his family, humanity would not have survived. There was only one salvation, the ark. Today there is only one salvation, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:8 – 12).
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Relationship to God - Destruction
Our previous post discussed our relationship to God in light of humanity’s decline. The situation deteriorated to the point where “5. . . God saw that the wickedness of man was great . . . . 6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, . . . 7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; . . .” (Genesis 6:5 – 7).
Noah found grace in God’s sight and he was given the assignment to build an ark for salvation from the coming watery judgment. Although humanity could have escaped the coming destruction, the vast majority chose to remain in their sin.
Simple and believing reading of Genesis chapters 7 and 8 reveals that the flood was an historical event. The mere size and construction of the vehicle of deliverance is a testimony to the tremendous upheavals that the earth would endure.
Jesus Christ endorsed the historicity of the account of the flood of Noah (Matthew 24:37 – 39) and related it to His second coming, which is as much a certainty as the flood. The apostle Peter also spoke of the flood in his writings (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5), calling those who deny its historicity and its use as an illustration of Christ’s second coming false prophets.
Today we still see and, indeed, live with the results of this cataclysm. Billions of dead things buried in rock layers all over the earth provide ample testimony. The continued presence of volcanoes, earthquakes, and storms affect a significant proportion of the earth’s population on a regular basis.
Summary
The flood of Noah was a real event in history. This is undeniable, and its effects can be easily seen today. This destructive event was sent by the Lord to punish the human race, which had become totally corrupt. Except for the obedience of one man and his family, humanity would not have survived. There was only one salvation, the ark. Today there is only one salvation, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:8 – 12).
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Monday, August 10, 2009
Relationship to God - Decline
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Relationship to God - Decline
Our previous post discussed our relationship to God in light of Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience. After making a futile attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves and hide from God, Adam learned the fate of the human race and the creation (Genesis 3). The Lord killed an animal; the first recorded physical death, so that the nakedness of Adam and Eve could be covered with skins. This was undoubtedly a demonstration of the animal blood sacrificial system, which would teach humans the consequences of their sins, but would not forgive sins.
The Protevangel or “First Gospel” is given in Genesis 3:15 (“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”) It is here that we first learn the plan of God in sending a sacrifice sufficient for the sins of mankind (Revelation 13:8).
God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden. This was an act of mercy because had they eaten of the tree of life, they would have lived forever in a state of disobedience. Their first son, Cain, became the first murderer because he was jealous of his brother, Abel. Cain brought offerings from his human religion while Abel brought a sacrifice from his animals according to the commandments of God (Genesis 4). One of the most poignant scenes at the Creation Museum near Cincinnati, OH, http://creationmuseum.org/ , shows just Abel on the ground after being slain by his wicked brother, Cain.
This was just the beginning of woes for humanity. Adam’s sin affected the entire creation and started a downward slide, which affects us in our day (Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:22).
The sordid story continued through the line of Cain (Genesis 4). It became so bad that God finally declared the end of humanity except for the few who would obey His commands (Genesis 6:5 – 7). God’s grace was demonstrated in the giving of Seth and his descendants, including Noah and his family, whose obedience led to salvation from the coming destruction.
Summary
The disobedience of Adam and Eve led to the further decline of the human race. God’s plan of salvation began to unfold, but most of humanity was practicing violence, murder, and general evil. God pronounced the end of that corrupt civilization.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Relationship to God - Decline
Our previous post discussed our relationship to God in light of Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience. After making a futile attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves and hide from God, Adam learned the fate of the human race and the creation (Genesis 3). The Lord killed an animal; the first recorded physical death, so that the nakedness of Adam and Eve could be covered with skins. This was undoubtedly a demonstration of the animal blood sacrificial system, which would teach humans the consequences of their sins, but would not forgive sins.
The Protevangel or “First Gospel” is given in Genesis 3:15 (“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”) It is here that we first learn the plan of God in sending a sacrifice sufficient for the sins of mankind (Revelation 13:8).
God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden. This was an act of mercy because had they eaten of the tree of life, they would have lived forever in a state of disobedience. Their first son, Cain, became the first murderer because he was jealous of his brother, Abel. Cain brought offerings from his human religion while Abel brought a sacrifice from his animals according to the commandments of God (Genesis 4). One of the most poignant scenes at the Creation Museum near Cincinnati, OH, http://creationmuseum.org/ , shows just Abel on the ground after being slain by his wicked brother, Cain.
This was just the beginning of woes for humanity. Adam’s sin affected the entire creation and started a downward slide, which affects us in our day (Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:22).
The sordid story continued through the line of Cain (Genesis 4). It became so bad that God finally declared the end of humanity except for the few who would obey His commands (Genesis 6:5 – 7). God’s grace was demonstrated in the giving of Seth and his descendants, including Noah and his family, whose obedience led to salvation from the coming destruction.
Summary
The disobedience of Adam and Eve led to the further decline of the human race. God’s plan of salvation began to unfold, but most of humanity was practicing violence, murder, and general evil. God pronounced the end of that corrupt civilization.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Relationship to God - Disobedience
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Relationship to God - Disobedience
Our previous post discussed our relationship to God as Creator. Sadly, in fact on the saddest day in human history, our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed the one and only prohibition God had given them.
One of the key principles of Bible study is something called “The rule of first mention.” Disobedience of God’s commands by humans is first found in Genesis chapter 3. Read the entire chapter to get a grasp of the enormity of this event.
Actually, we need to back up to Genesis 2:17 to understand exactly the Lord’s expectation for Adam. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Notice that this commandment was given to Adam before the creation of Eve. God apparently expected him to instruct Eve.
The Downward Slide
1) The serpent (inhabited by Satan) came to Eve questioning God. “And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1b).
2) Eve, obviously confused, tried to quote Scripture, but ADDED to it. “2. . . We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, . . .” (Genesis 3:2b, 3)
3) The serpent called God a liar. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:” (Genesis 3:4)
4) The serpent further lied to Eve by promising her that she and Adam could become godlike. (Genesis 3:5)
5) Eve fell for the serpent’s lies by eating the forbidden fruit, and Adam willingly followed her in the disobedience. (Genesis 3:6)
Summary
Thus, we have seen how all of our problems and all of the bad things happening in this life had their beginning. We will explore more of the effects of this disobedience in following posts.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Relationship to God - Disobedience
Our previous post discussed our relationship to God as Creator. Sadly, in fact on the saddest day in human history, our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed the one and only prohibition God had given them.
One of the key principles of Bible study is something called “The rule of first mention.” Disobedience of God’s commands by humans is first found in Genesis chapter 3. Read the entire chapter to get a grasp of the enormity of this event.
Actually, we need to back up to Genesis 2:17 to understand exactly the Lord’s expectation for Adam. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Notice that this commandment was given to Adam before the creation of Eve. God apparently expected him to instruct Eve.
The Downward Slide
1) The serpent (inhabited by Satan) came to Eve questioning God. “And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1b).
2) Eve, obviously confused, tried to quote Scripture, but ADDED to it. “2. . . We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, . . .” (Genesis 3:2b, 3)
3) The serpent called God a liar. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:” (Genesis 3:4)
4) The serpent further lied to Eve by promising her that she and Adam could become godlike. (Genesis 3:5)
5) Eve fell for the serpent’s lies by eating the forbidden fruit, and Adam willingly followed her in the disobedience. (Genesis 3:6)
Summary
Thus, we have seen how all of our problems and all of the bad things happening in this life had their beginning. We will explore more of the effects of this disobedience in following posts.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Relationship to God as Creator
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Relationship to God as Creator
In evangelicalism today we see many “plans of salvation.” Most of them claim to be THE plan of salvation. However, the point is that most people aren’t even concerned about “salvation.” Instead, they are asking “Salvation from what?” Good question.
In this post and those to follow we will attempt to answer the questions people today are really asking rather than the questions that were asked two or more generations ago. We can no longer assume that people believe that God created them or has any claim on their lives. The standard “plan of salvation,” has no meaning for them. We need to communicate basic Bible truths and the Good News, a regular feature of this blog.
It is necessary to establish the existence of the Creator God (Genesis 1:1). This is generally not complicated. Jesus simply said, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). We need to state the fact and emphasize that this is taught in the Bible, the Word of God. Most unbelievers will accept this after some time for reflection.
The Creator God is taught throughout the Scriptures. From the beginning the Bible teaches that God created in six approximately 24 hour days (Genesis 1; Exodus 20; Exodus 31). We know that the creation was finished a few thousand years ago because the Bible genealogies indicate approximately 2000 years from Creation to Abraham. History teaches approximately 2000 years from Abraham to Jesus and approximately 2000 years from Jesus to the present. This is not a difficult concept to grasp.
There is no compromise position. God DID not and did not NEED to “use” evolution to create. It is oxymoronic to think that the omnipotent (all-powerful) Creator of the universe would stoop to use such an inefficient and cruel process as speculative evolution to bring the universe and all its contents into existence. Jesus himself taught that there was a distinct beginning for humans (Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6).
Our American Founders understood that God created. They acknowledged the Creator as they literally put their lives on the line by signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Relationship to God as Creator
In evangelicalism today we see many “plans of salvation.” Most of them claim to be THE plan of salvation. However, the point is that most people aren’t even concerned about “salvation.” Instead, they are asking “Salvation from what?” Good question.
In this post and those to follow we will attempt to answer the questions people today are really asking rather than the questions that were asked two or more generations ago. We can no longer assume that people believe that God created them or has any claim on their lives. The standard “plan of salvation,” has no meaning for them. We need to communicate basic Bible truths and the Good News, a regular feature of this blog.
It is necessary to establish the existence of the Creator God (Genesis 1:1). This is generally not complicated. Jesus simply said, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). We need to state the fact and emphasize that this is taught in the Bible, the Word of God. Most unbelievers will accept this after some time for reflection.
The Creator God is taught throughout the Scriptures. From the beginning the Bible teaches that God created in six approximately 24 hour days (Genesis 1; Exodus 20; Exodus 31). We know that the creation was finished a few thousand years ago because the Bible genealogies indicate approximately 2000 years from Creation to Abraham. History teaches approximately 2000 years from Abraham to Jesus and approximately 2000 years from Jesus to the present. This is not a difficult concept to grasp.
There is no compromise position. God DID not and did not NEED to “use” evolution to create. It is oxymoronic to think that the omnipotent (all-powerful) Creator of the universe would stoop to use such an inefficient and cruel process as speculative evolution to bring the universe and all its contents into existence. Jesus himself taught that there was a distinct beginning for humans (Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6).
Our American Founders understood that God created. They acknowledged the Creator as they literally put their lives on the line by signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Righteousness and Wickedness
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Righteousness and Wickedness
A righteous person is FOR God and, according to Webster, is “observant of the divine commands in practice; as a righteous man.” One who is righteous is aligned with the holy Creator God. The holiness of God means He is “perfectly pure, immaculate and complete in moral character.”
A wicked person is AGAINST God and is described as “deviating from the divine law.” One who is wicked is aligned with Satan, an evil being who is totally against God but whose power is, in no sense, equal to God’s.
There is no middle ground in the distinction between righteousness and wickedness. Jesus Christ, the eternally existent Son of the Creator God, said, “He that is not with me is against me.” (Matthew 12:30)
In 1831 a young French aristocratic statesman and political philosopher, Alexis De Tocqueville, visited the United States to observe the distinctively American system at work. He later wrote a lengthy book, Democracy in America, to document his observations. A quote similar to “America is great because America is good” has often been attributed to De Tocqueville. He may or may not have said this, but in his book he did say “I cling with a firmer hold to the belief that for democratic nations to be virtuous and prosperous, they require but to will it.” This quotation is taken from Democracy in America, Chapter VIII, General Survey of the Subject. This says virtually the same thing in different words.
Summary
Therefore, we are not talking about self righteousness but about a righteousness which comes only from the Creator God through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Being righteous is being FOR God while wickedness is expressed in attitudes and actions AGAINST God. We will follow this thought as we investigate our personal relationship with God in a later post. This alignment is evident even to external observers who desire to make an unprejudiced judgment.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Righteousness and Wickedness
A righteous person is FOR God and, according to Webster, is “observant of the divine commands in practice; as a righteous man.” One who is righteous is aligned with the holy Creator God. The holiness of God means He is “perfectly pure, immaculate and complete in moral character.”
A wicked person is AGAINST God and is described as “deviating from the divine law.” One who is wicked is aligned with Satan, an evil being who is totally against God but whose power is, in no sense, equal to God’s.
There is no middle ground in the distinction between righteousness and wickedness. Jesus Christ, the eternally existent Son of the Creator God, said, “He that is not with me is against me.” (Matthew 12:30)
In 1831 a young French aristocratic statesman and political philosopher, Alexis De Tocqueville, visited the United States to observe the distinctively American system at work. He later wrote a lengthy book, Democracy in America, to document his observations. A quote similar to “America is great because America is good” has often been attributed to De Tocqueville. He may or may not have said this, but in his book he did say “I cling with a firmer hold to the belief that for democratic nations to be virtuous and prosperous, they require but to will it.” This quotation is taken from Democracy in America, Chapter VIII, General Survey of the Subject. This says virtually the same thing in different words.
Summary
Therefore, we are not talking about self righteousness but about a righteousness which comes only from the Creator God through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Being righteous is being FOR God while wickedness is expressed in attitudes and actions AGAINST God. We will follow this thought as we investigate our personal relationship with God in a later post. This alignment is evident even to external observers who desire to make an unprejudiced judgment.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Introduction
Having held back for far too long I have decided to take the plunge into “blogging” and may even dabble in Twitter, Tangle, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube. Who knows?
The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society. With this blog I am drawing a line in the sand and saying, “This far and no farther.” The righteous are taking back God’s world and becoming good stewards as He instructed us.
Disclaimer
1) This is a work in progress.
2) I don’t know everything, but I am learning.
The Rules
This is my blog, so I am making the rules. This is NOT a democracy! The rules are fairly basic:
1) No profanity, no exceptions; if I see profanity, your comment will NOT be posted.
2) No pornographic or sexual content; if you need that, subscribe to cable TV or take the porn filter off your Internet browser.
3) No abusive language or pejoratives (See 1 Peter 3:15).
4) Keep it short; this will likely be the longest blog I will post
5) Other than that, we are open to just about anything to discuss, but before we do:
a. Read The Bible
b. Read the Mayflower Compact
c. Read the Declaration of Independence
d. Read the U.S. Constitution
I realize that this may be challenging for some. If so, LEARN TO READ first. Then, we can begin having some discussions. This especially applies to many recent graduates of government schools.
Getting Started
In this initial blog I would like to quote and look at some commentary on the guiding principle of this blog from the Bible: “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3 (KJV)
Dr. Henry Morris, deceased, and Dr. John MacArthur are two of my favorite Bible scholars and commentators.
“The wicked, with wordly wisdom, attack that which is foundational in the life of the righteous. For example, the truth of creation as recorded in Genesis is foundational to the rest of the Bible and to the faith and practice of the Christian. This is the primary focus of the attack of the ungodly. The Christian often is oblivious to this critical danger.” (The Defender’s Study Bible, Dr. Henry Morris, pg. 603)
“These are the words [Psalm 11:3] of a committed but confused saint. His philosophical problem is, ‘in view of the crumbling of the theocratic society, what can one righteous person, out of a shrinking remnant, do?’” (The MacArthur Study Bible, John MacArthur, pg. 752)
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are two giants of our American Founding Fathers. It is interesting to review some of what they have said about the Creator God and the role of true Christianity in our country.
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, 1781)
“The Christian Religion, when divested of the rags in which they [the clergy] have enveloped it, and brought to the original purity and simplicity of its benevolent institutor, is a religion of all others most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the human mind.” (Letter Moses Robinson, Thomas Jefferson, March 23, 1801)
“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” (Quotation, James Madison, 1778)
“The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the World and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities to be impressed with it.” (Letter to Frederick Beasley, James Madison, November 20, 1825)
So, thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying. I close with another favorite passage: “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3 (KJV)
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society. With this blog I am drawing a line in the sand and saying, “This far and no farther.” The righteous are taking back God’s world and becoming good stewards as He instructed us.
Disclaimer
1) This is a work in progress.
2) I don’t know everything, but I am learning.
The Rules
This is my blog, so I am making the rules. This is NOT a democracy! The rules are fairly basic:
1) No profanity, no exceptions; if I see profanity, your comment will NOT be posted.
2) No pornographic or sexual content; if you need that, subscribe to cable TV or take the porn filter off your Internet browser.
3) No abusive language or pejoratives (See 1 Peter 3:15).
4) Keep it short; this will likely be the longest blog I will post
5) Other than that, we are open to just about anything to discuss, but before we do:
a. Read The Bible
b. Read the Mayflower Compact
c. Read the Declaration of Independence
d. Read the U.S. Constitution
I realize that this may be challenging for some. If so, LEARN TO READ first. Then, we can begin having some discussions. This especially applies to many recent graduates of government schools.
Getting Started
In this initial blog I would like to quote and look at some commentary on the guiding principle of this blog from the Bible: “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3 (KJV)
Dr. Henry Morris, deceased, and Dr. John MacArthur are two of my favorite Bible scholars and commentators.
“The wicked, with wordly wisdom, attack that which is foundational in the life of the righteous. For example, the truth of creation as recorded in Genesis is foundational to the rest of the Bible and to the faith and practice of the Christian. This is the primary focus of the attack of the ungodly. The Christian often is oblivious to this critical danger.” (The Defender’s Study Bible, Dr. Henry Morris, pg. 603)
“These are the words [Psalm 11:3] of a committed but confused saint. His philosophical problem is, ‘in view of the crumbling of the theocratic society, what can one righteous person, out of a shrinking remnant, do?’” (The MacArthur Study Bible, John MacArthur, pg. 752)
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are two giants of our American Founding Fathers. It is interesting to review some of what they have said about the Creator God and the role of true Christianity in our country.
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, 1781)
“The Christian Religion, when divested of the rags in which they [the clergy] have enveloped it, and brought to the original purity and simplicity of its benevolent institutor, is a religion of all others most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the human mind.” (Letter Moses Robinson, Thomas Jefferson, March 23, 1801)
“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” (Quotation, James Madison, 1778)
“The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the World and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities to be impressed with it.” (Letter to Frederick Beasley, James Madison, November 20, 1825)
So, thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying. I close with another favorite passage: “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3 (KJV)
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
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