The January 2017 issue of National Geographic examines the issue of gender. The editor of the magazine believes gender is not an issue of male and female, but that gender is best understood as numerous points along a spectrum of possible identities. As this special magazine issue indicates, the idea of gender as a spectrum is a recent concept and rapidly changing the way culture and science view the sex of humans. According to National Geographic, gender identity and sexual orientation are fixed realities that are determined by children as they grow. The idea that humans are created male and female by God has been been discarded. The notion that gender can be determined at birth is also dismissed. Note […]
Monthly Archives: January 2017
15 posts
It is important not to miss the struggles your teenager faces each day. She is often functioning without immediate and constant parental supervision. New and sometimes dangerous influences enter his life. This is the scary part. It is no secret that sex, drugs, pornography, bullying and gambling have all made their way into the teenage world. So what can you do to shepherd your teenager without giving them a lie detector test each afternoon and attaching a body cam and GPS to them? Here is one answer: Become an epic listener! Here are some practical ways to become an epic listener: Fall in love with Proverbs 18:13. Don’t form responses in your mind or with your words until you have […]
Have you ever said something like this to your kids? “Sorry I was upset. You know that I love you, but I am just so frustrated right now!” The words, “I love you,” are buried in the middle of this defense of an angry outburst. They are familiar words. But familiar words often lose their impact and may become background noise to your children. More is needed than just words, than saying “I love you.” Real, tangible actions must accompany the words of love. I Corinthians 13 says that love is patient. A working definition of patience is living in the expectation of God’s care. Patience and frustration are polar opposites. If love is patient, then frustration is not an […]
It seems like such a simple thing. You ask your child to do something and in response, he quietly keeps playing with his toy. If the day is laid back and the request seems inconsequential, the negative response might be ignored. But, you decide to press on, so you ask again, this time a little more firmly, and then one more time. Your four-year-old grudgingly, slowly does as he was told. You breathe a sigh of relief, no harm done, at least he obeyed. But actually this little boy has taken a step down the road to self-hatred. Solomon warns that those who disregard discipline despise themselves. What appears to be just an inconsequential delay is actually helping a child […]
The human mind is not compatible with worry! Worry is anxiety about things that you cannot control. Jesus tells you not to worry about even the most basic needs of life. He even tells you how to pray so that you will not worry. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructs you to ask God for your daily bread. By reading the verses that come after the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6, we see that Christ was talking about more than just asking God for bread. Three times, (in verses 25, 28, and 31), Jesus commands that you not worry about your life, clothes or food. That is amazing! Worry messes with your mind. When you worry, you can’t think well! […]