Family Driven-Faith

Alert the media, and call the neighbors- a new study released by the Florida Family Policy Council finds that children have fewer problems at school and home when they live with both biological parents and frequently attend religious services. Wow, who woulda thunk it?

Among their "remarkable" findings: children in this group are five times less likely to repeat a grade, less likely to have behavior problems at home and school, and are more likely to be cooperative and understanding of others’ feelings. Parents of these children report less stress, healthier parent-child relationships, and fewer concerns about their children’s achievement. These differences hold up even after controlling for family income and poverty, low parent education levels, race and ethnicity. Well, duh!

As we approach the new year, it might serve us well to get back to the basics and the foundations of our faith and recommit to obeying, serving and worshipping our Lord and Savior as the means to a fulfilled life and security, regardless of family make-up, as opposed to looking to new presidential administrations, politics, policies and financial gimmicks as the means of satisfaction in 2009.

As I continue to read and digest Voddie Baucham's fine book, Family-Driven Faith, with other families, which is based on a full-length exposition and application of Deu. 6:6-9, I'm reminded by Baucham that, "There is no magic bullet when it comes to raising godly children. There is however, a detailed road map." It should come as no surpise to you that the road map to success in life comes from the Bible itself. It means making a tough and courageous decision to re-order or prioritize you and your family's life around God's kingdom agenda according to His Word. It means things like: loving God 'with no rivals', learning to love as God loves at home, teaching and living the word at home and worshipping that very same God at your home church with your "blood" family (of brothers and sisters of the faith) and friends. Make that commitment today, and begin to watch God do some great things in your life as we live and look for His Son's return. Speaking of which, this Saturday night, we'll return to our conversation from 1 Thessalonians at SOS- see What's Up at S.O.S.

What do you think of New Year's Resolutions? Later this week, I'll share a few classic ones from a great mind of the church that can help guide your 2009. Stay tuned...

Obama and Lincoln's Bible

I was intrigued by the news this week that President -Elect Obama will be placing his hand upon, and be sworn in at his inauguration ceremony with, the very same Bible that President Abraham Lincoln used at his first inauguration. I would be even more pleased to find that he might actually be opening that same Bible or another reasonable facsimile, to study and govern from it, as Lincoln often did (read the Gettysburg address and his second inaugural acceptance speech).

In one related and encouraging development, Obama has decided to stick by his political guns and permit California megachurch pastor and author Rick Warren ("Purpose Driven-Life" and "The Purpose of Christmas"), to give an invocation at the inauguration in Washington. Warren has been rhetorically branded and deep-fried by homosexual activists and their partnering leftist media-elites (e.g. CNN, NBC and its cable affiliates) for his "intolerance" of same-sex marriage, by supporting and leading the charge to have Prop. 8 passed in the Golden State, which codifies (at least temporarily) marriage as hetrosexual only.

Fortunately, by keeping Warren's prayer time at the podium, Obama seems to at have at least implicitly returned the definition of tolerance to its intended meaning, which is; "the act or capacity of enduring; endurance:resisting." Today, an opponent of homosexual rights, is called an intolerant "homphobe,"which couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm not aware of too many Christians who are afraid of, or are cowering from homosexuals, while not permitting them to live and speak freely at the same time. The meaning of tolerance has changed to reflect a morally relativistic cultural influence, that says all worldviews and opinions are equally valid, and to hold exclusively to one, is a sign of intolerance, bias or bigotry, regardless of how true that view might be.

There is great danger in that view however, and it is up to Kingdom citizens to communicate that truth. As Dorothy Sayers observed, "In the world it is called tolerance, but in hell it is called despair -" the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die." We should then welcome the President-Elect's apparent attempt to balance the scales of tolerance and truth, if even in something as innocuous as an inagural invocation.

Cuban Idolatry and Atheists in Foxholes

I was preaching last night at the WOW services at Dade on the "Game of Life" from James 4, and made a comment about the fact that ignorance is not an excuse for sin. I made the point that according to Romans 1 and 2, there are no 'atheists in foxholes,' because God gives everyone a fundamental awareness of Himself, primarily through His creation and our conscience.

Then reading this morning's paper, I received dissapointing confirmation of that biblical view of mankind's inherent and God-given spirituality,when I read the story of thousands of Cubans making the annual pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Lazarus, paying tribute, fulfilling vows and seeking favors from the crippled icon known on the island as the miraculous saint. In a fascinating, truth affirming and even humanly tragic event, ".. pilgrims arrived at the chapel exhausted and bleeding after excruciating treks barefoot, on their knees or even dragging themselves along the ground. Many wore the traditional sackcloth of penitence. Observers said there were more young people than usual."

Obviously, the world-wide economic crisis in addition to a miserable hurricane season, has Communist Cuba and it's citizens in a state of greater desperation than usual, "You can see the pain in the eyes of people left without homes and without food," said Catholic nun Anabel Palacios, a member of the Daughters of Charity order. 'You see the pain of families separated by migration. Nearly every family has relatives who have left." What we see is that people are desperate for grace, forgiveness, mercy and answers to life's most difficult questions.

Unfortunately most people turn to the wrong place or person for that solace as the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:18-22 .. "18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles."

The botton line is that man was made to worship God, and if he or she chooses to ignore God's general revelation, then he will create his own god- himself or an idol. According to the news report, yesterday was "especially significant because it brings together Catholics and believers of the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria, who recognize St. Lazarus as Babalu-Aye." Pray that people like these will be brought the gospel and be illuminated by God in order that they as we, would "exhaust" and "drag ourselves" to the foot of Calvary's cross. They have a clue about repentence- just the wrong god they're repenting to.

Teenage Treasure

I don't know about you, but I'm now finding that there are fewer family challenges as stressful and perplexing today, than being a Christian, trying to parent a teenager (or teenagers) in a secular and heathen world.

Two recent news reports are confirming that the culture of Satan is alive and well and continuing to hold sway over so many of our young people, as evidenced by the teenage trends of "tech sex" and "self-embedding." According to one press report, "One in five US teens has sent nude or partially-clothed images of themselves to someone by email or mobile phone and twice as many have sent sexually suggestive electronic messages, a survey shows. American youngsters aged 13 to 19 are having tech-sex despite a majority of them saying it can have "serious negative consequences."

Here's a news flash: freedom is not unlimited folks and IPods, cell-phones, facebook, AIM and My Space are not to my knowledge, a constitutional right for adults, much less immature minors, struggling with self-esteem and identity issues. Our jobs as Christian parents are not succumb to every whim and passing cultural fancy and toy that kids clamor for, but to protect them, provide for them and prepare them for adulthood. "No" is not a dirty word.

"Self-embedding?" We've all known kids that struggled with bullemia and anorexia right? A new form of self-injury among teens and adolescents is the behavior of inserting objects - from chunks of crayons to unfolded paper clips under the skin. Researchers found that the majority of patients who harmed themselves in this way did so more than once -"the average recurrence was three times” and that the materials embedded under the skin varied dramatically in size, from several unfolded staples embedded into a hand to an unfolded paper clip inserted into a bicep. Why this self-injury? One author on the subject noted, "People self-injure to distract themselves from other emotional pain, to counter feelings of numbness or to let people know that they're suffering. "

This is not very different from the person who drinks or drugs him or herself as a means of escape from pain and loneliness. The antitode? Blood actually. It begins with the great exchange of our old life with the new one found in Jesus Christ. Our kids must learn to take into account that they have an all-sufficient, trust-worthy, loving Father who can give them more - today and tomorrow, than the fleeting pleasures of teen sex and popularity today. We must teach them what Jesus taught all of us to do when seeking treasure- make an exchange - the exchange of kingdoms, " “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it (Mt. 13:44-46). "

Does your teenager know about this treasure? Do they know that at His hand, "there are pleasures forever more (Psa. 16:11)?"

A Recommended Addiction

As you might have guessed, I have strong opinions on just about everything, and there are fewer topics which get me going than those of media and worldview. If you haven't yet gotten the drift that mainstream media in general and electronic in particular, greatly influence behavior, than you haven't been reading much- doh! That means many if not most of us.

Times have changed haven't they? I have four or five books on my nightstand and a wonderfully peaceful and enriching evening for me, might be to crack open a book or two for some quality time, or to spend several hours browsing at the bookstore. Granted, in this day and age of IPods, Wi-Fi's, cable and sattelite TV and radio, I must be regarded as a bit of a dinosaur.

In fact, according to a National Endowment for the Arts report ("Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America"), based on recent Census Bureau data, fewer than half of all adults now read literature (defined as any fictional story, play, or poetry). Furthermore, adults reporting to have read any book in the last 12 months dropped from 61 percent to 57 percent. And the rate of decline is increasing. Over the last decade, literary reading dropped by more than 10 percent.

Some see disaster. In a New York Times op-ed piece, Andrew Solomon tied a decline in reading to a rise in depression and Alzheimer's disease. Persuaded that television watching bred mindless passivity, he concluded that "the crisis in reading is a crisis in national health."

What's scary is that these numbers are mirrored in the church community, and we're to be known as the people of 'the book' (the literal meaning of the latin word, Bible). If we don't read, who will? It's who we are and what we're about. This fast-paced, high-octane culture doesn't help I know. One observer noted, "Sustained reading, sitting quietly and enjoying the aesthetic pleasure that words elegantly deployed on the page can give, contemplating careful formulations of complex thought- these do not seem likely to be acts strongly characteristic of an already jumpy new century."

Movies such as The Passion of the Christ and Chariots of Fire can be edifying. Televised Olympic heroics can inspire, rare programs like 24, can entertain and intellectually stimulate us, but for the people of the Book, there is no substitute for the written word, and woe is the culture that counts reading, including Bible reading, an antiquated method of learning. Who will relish the allegory of Bunyans' Pilgrim's Progress? Who will take the time to appreciate the example set forth in Corrie ten Boom's biography, The Hiding Place? Who will bother to read Isaiah or Acts or Revelation in a sitting?

In his Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Don Whitney argues that "growing Christians are reading Christians. " How do we grow in the image of Christ, disciple one another and share the best news in the history of the world, and biblical ethics to confront the culture in the name of Christ without books- especially the book? Simply, we cannot. Want to be addicted? Book reading- the book in particular, is one addiction we're better off picking up.

Bible Mutilation

When I read cultural observers, authors and pundits chiming in on scripture, trying to argue what it says and it what it means and how it applies to our lives, I don't know whether to laugh or cry sometimes.

Laugh, because many of the opinions and non-qualified interpretations they offer are so utterly ridiculous (as they betray media's bias and prejudice to the orthodox things of God) as to cause one to chuckle in disbelief. Cry? Maybe because time and again we have to withstand God's holy Word being mutilated and manipulated by unbelievers and ignorant believers who then exercise influence on a largely iliterate Biblical generation, if not a dim-witted one at that.

The latest example of such, being Lisa Miller's latest Newsweek column ("Our Mutual Joy" at http://www.newsweek.com/id/172653) which actually argues that in the aftermath of the election victories of 'Yes to Marriage' in Florida, and initiatives like Prop. 8 in California, "the Bible and Jesus say many important things about love and family, neither explicitly defines marriage as between one man and one woman. And second, as the examples above illustrate, no sensible modern person wants marriage - theirs or anyone else's - to look in its particulars anything like what the Bible describes." Miller inexplicably writes that even though opponents of same-sex marriage often cite scripture, what the Bible really teaches about love argues for the other side."

In lieu of the considerable teaching in the Bible from Genesis to the maps in the back which condemns homosexuality as an abominable sin (among several others), to say nothing of her poor understanding of contextual biblical doctrine and its authorship, I still wonder how someone of such intellect could miss such a large boat? I wondered if Miller read Jesus quoting Gen. 2 in laying out the standard of marriage as hetrosexual in Mt. 19? Regardless of the plain meaning of scripture to you and I, remember as you witness to others and quote the Bible to the lost which we must, what the Word says itself about their receptivity to it, " ..the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4)."

Don't be discouraged by this truth, just understand it and remember we were there once. This undestanding will tame your discouragment and dissapointment with those you testify to. Pray for them and continue to share nonetheless, sowing seeds of love (Mt. 13) as God and His Spirit will take care of the rest in due time.

Casual Sex Around the World

Britain on top in casual sex league
A new study has found the British are the most promiscuous western nation

We're number three! In an international index measuring one-night stands, total numbers of partners and attitudes to casual sex, Britain comes out ahead of Australia, the US, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.

The researchers behind the study say high scores such as Britain’s may be linked to the way society is increasingly willing to accept sexual promiscuity among women as well as men. They also believe that, among certain age groups and at certain times, men and women are equally liberal. What the study fails to note, is the obvious link of the decline of the biblical, evangelical church (of which only 10% exists in the UK) in western europe and it's subsequent influence on the cultures there.

The researchers say that cultural developments have meant women are now as able to engage in no-strings sex as men. “Historically we have repressed women’s short-term mating and there are all sorts of double standards out there where men’s short-term mating was sort of acceptable but women’s wasn’t,” said David Schmitt, a professor of psychology at Bradley University, Illinois, who oversaw the research. Ah feminism, another sinful construct of Satan in society.

Interestingly enough, some will actually ask me, knowing I'm a pastor mind you, what God thinks about casual sex, as if that issue might be a bit vague or mysterious biblically, and that there might be an out, execption, or double-secret dispensation somehow for fornication and/or pre-marital sex. As Paul spoke of purity and bodily fidelity in his first letter to the Corinthians, he alluded to our bodies no longer belonging to us, but to God, serving as a temple for His Spirit (1 Cor. 6:18-20) to reside in. Therefore, to set a record straight that should not need to be set straight, the Christian who practices premeditated fornication (sexual sin- adultry or pre-marital), is joined in prostitution to another (6:16). That's never a good idea in God's economy- that's serious sin.

Shopping Stampedes and the Perils of Parenting

What would drive a 'Black Friday' shopper to camp-out in overnight lines to buy the laset Wi-Fi or cell-phone for their kids, much less plow over and kill an innocent security guard at a Wal-Mart on the way? You did hear about the blacker than usual incident of the day after Thanksgiving rush at said store in New York right?

How far has our materialistic (even in times of recession) culture gone off the deep-end? According to the news report, ""This was utter chaos as these men tried to open the door this morning." The video showed as many as a dozen people knocked to the floor in the stampede of people trying to get into the Wal-Mart store. The employee was "stepped on by hundreds of people" as other workers attempted to fight their way through the crowd, said one detective. "Several minutes" passed before others were able to clear space around the man and attempt to render aid. Police arrived, and "as they were giving first aid, those police officers were also jostled and pushed," he said. Where does this savagery and lust for stuff come from? Obviously a focus on mammon or money instead of the kingdom which is fed by media doesn't help..

Fresh from today's headlines... Lots of TV and Web harms kids' health

Duh, you think? According to a new study from a government agency, "Spending a lot of time watching TV, playing video games and surfing the Web makes children more prone to a range of health problems including obesity and smoking, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday." Can we add 'media obsession leads whiny kids and all too pleasing parents, to consider camping out on Black Friday to snatch up the latest deal at the store? Even if you have to literally step on someone to get it?' BTW, ADD and HD have been linked to such behaviors and the relationship of media and sexual activity, is now considered irrefutable, according to the report which said, " Thirteen of 14 studies that evaluated sexual behavior found an association between media exposure and earlier initiation of sexual behavior, the researchers said. "

Does the Bible have something to say about all this? Consider, Ro. 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Or how about Phil. 4:8? Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. How are you dealing with the Christmas shopping season? If it means much to you, get your helmet and strap on the pads!