The recent actions of the Supreme Court regarding marriage are troubling. Even though the court acted in defiance of God’s word, God is not threatened or worried. We must remember that our eyes only reveal part of what is real. The most impressive aspects of reality are those that are unseen. Your children need to know that what we can see pales in comparison to the reality that we cannot see. If your children’s view of reality is limited to what they can see, they are in serious danger. Man’s arrogance is only part of the picture. As we read pubic opinion polls, as we see election results, as we experience the actions of congress and the courts, as we […]
Monthly Archives: July 2013
38 posts
How important is the Bible? How important is the Bible to you? I don’t mean how important would you like it to be to you or to your children. What I mean is—how important is the Bible to you and the way you live? You want your children to follow the ways of Scripture. You want them to know its content. You want them to know its Author. You know that what the Holy Spirit has written in his Word is essential for life. But allow me to ask again, how important is the Bible to you? Is there a chance that you love what the Bible will do for you, but you struggle with actually loving it? “Okay,” someone is […]
The most important thing about parenting is being a Christian. Why is this so important? Because you sin against your children. You sinned yesterday. You sin today. You will sin tomorrow. Does that disqualify you from being a parent? No, and if you have recognized this pattern of sin in your life, then you have great hope as you continue on in the task of parenting that God has called you to. You were not perfect when you became a Christian, and you are certainly not perfect now. Thankfully, the salvation that Christians have received is so powerful, so complete and awesome, that when you sin, God commands you to come and be renewed instead of turning from away from […]
You just realized you were angry at your children and snapped at them instead of giving even, pleasant correction and discipline for their wrong behavior. So you say something like this. “Kids, I messed up and should not have snapped and been upset when you were not obeying me. I have been really stressed lately. Sorry, I messed up again. Let’s get back to work.” Euphemisms for sin, like “messing up”, hinder your parenting. When sin is correctly identified, there is hope. There is little hope for mess ups when the words are a euphemism for sin. So in this illustration the parent has acted to explain away his sinful actions. He has tried to put a bandaid over his […]
On July 4th of each year, Americans celebrate the independence won from England over 200 years ago. While it can be good thing to gain independence from an unfriendly government, it is wise to remember independence from God is not only a disastrous desire – it is impossible! Notice what Isaiah says about the possibility of nations being independent from God: Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. […]
George Washington nominated intolerant extremist, John Jay, to be Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. At least that is what our current Court thinks. On September 24th, 1789, President George Washington signed into law the Judiciary Act. Later that day he nominated John Jay of New York to be the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Justice Jay had impressive credentials. But for our purposes please note these three quotes made by John Jay regarding Christianity and the Bible: “By conveying the Bible to people . . . we certainly do them a most interesting act of kindness. We thereby enable them to learn that man was originally created and placed in a state of happiness, but, becoming […]
Bill and Will, have a problem. Bill borrowed Will’s commentary on Acts. However, Bill then set it down on his desk at home and soon forgot that he had it because his desk was covered with stacks of mail, papers, other books, McDonald’s bags, a bowling ball bag, an old T-shirt and several shopping lists. After several weeks had passed, Will began to fume—and fumed some more. Where was his commentary? He waited in vain. Day after day, Will began to think, “Why can’t Bill buy his own commentary? Why keep mine?” Will began to withdraw from Bill. He avoided him at church. Will reasoned that Bill would eventually get the message and return the commentary. On the other hand, […]
Sin is deceptive. Parents, this is one truth that should never be far from your thoughts. Sin never presents itself for what it is. Anger appears to be a just response when one is wronged. A lie seems to be the easy way out of a difficult situation. Pornography presents itself as an outlet for perceived needs. This is the nature of sin. It seems to be the right thing to do at the moment. No matter how long you live, sin will present itself in this way. Ephesians 4:14 warns of the deceptive, crafty schemes of sin. Proverbs 4:19 says that those who follow wicked paths are incapable of knowing why they stumble. Those who sin are deceiving themselves […]