Ridiculous Parenting!

I read an article today about a family who chose not to share the gender of their newborn baby with the rest of the world. They named their child with a non-gender specific name and refer to the child only in non-gender specific pronouns. The point? "What we noticed is that parents make so many choices for their children. It's obnoxious….In fact, in not telling the gender of my precious baby, I am saying to the world, 'Please can you just let Storm discover for him/herself what s (he) wants to be?!."

I was completely caught off guard by this thought process. I know that there are some parents who take a more ‘hands off’ approach to parenting but this adds a whole new dimension to NOT parenting! Let’s not consider the bullying that could occur because the boy (if that’s even the child’s gender) chooses to wear a dress to school. Let’s not consider the confusion that the child might encounter regarding their sexuality when they are teenagers. We’ll not even consider the emergency that could ensue when the child doesn’t know which public restroom to enter!

A number one responsibility of parenting is to make decisions for a child and as they grow to direct the child’s decision-making skills in a manner that is consistent with the value system of the parents! AND, I believe that those decision-making skills must be Bible-based! The Proverb writer says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 NIV) A child does not have the knowledge nor the experience to make decisions that will be beneficial or productive for their life. If a child had that ability, then what would be the point of parenting at all?

Parents, we have been charged with the responsibility of bringing up our children in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord…not to mention a manner that is suitable for society. It is not society who dictates gender roles. God set those in place at the time of the creation. It is time for parents to realize that the most important role in which we will ever engage is that of training our children to make choices that are good and pleasing to God! It doesn’t matter what society thinks! It doesn’t matter what left-winged buffoons think! The bottom line is that parents DO have a responsibility to their children and to the Lord to teach them critical thinking skills and that entails making decisions for them…decisions that cause them to understand what is expected of them in society, and more importantly what is commanded by God Almighty!

The Ridiculous Article

Angry Birds

Angry Birds is a silly, mindless game available on the iPhone and iPad, and since I don’t have one of those devices, I am excited that it is now a free download for Google Chrome. If you are unfamiliar with the game, the objective is to shoot little birds from a slingshot and destroy the pigs; pig heads to be exact, but let’s not get technical. It is important to get the correct trajectory of your bird so that it destroys as many pigs as possible.

As with any game, the first few levels are relatively easy and they become progressively more difficult. Most of the time, the pigs are protected by wood, glass, or stone walls; although there are times where a pig may be perched precariously upon a cliff or a small rock. Sometimes, the pigs may be wearing helmets, which protect the pigs from the birds or falling objects. There are even times when there is TNT in the vicinity. Of course, if something hits the TNT, it blows up and destroys everything in the area.

In the end, the pigs are destroyed…but so are the birds, so I don’t really understand why the birds are so bent on destroying the pigs in the first place.

Sometimes, the life of a Christian can be quite similar to that of the pigs. We try to protect ourselves from Satan’s little birds that are heat seeking missiles trying to destroy us. All the birds have special labels such as, hatred, lust, prejudice, slander, etc., and Satan is out there hurling these little birds at us. Sometimes, he misses completely. Sometimes, he wounds us. Sometimes, he gets a direct hit. Sometimes, we even stand by the TNT.

There are times in our life when we are behind a fortified wall. Those are the times when we are actively engaged in reading God’s Word and we involve ourselves with other Christians. These are the times that Satan’s little birds fly right over us and have absolutely no effect on our lives.

Then there are times when we let our guard down a little bit. Maybe we have been really busy and we have not dedicated ourselves to reading the Bible. Satan shoots his little bird our way and it hits that wall. The wall is compromised and maybe one of the support beams has even fallen on our head, wounding us. Satan will always kick us when we are down. He is always watching and he knows when we have let our guard down. He will sneak in and seek to destroy us even when we think that we are protected.

Remember that TNT? Everyone has a little TNT (alcohol, porn, gossip, anger) in their life. There is that one thing that you just can’t seem to avoid. It never fails. As soon as you get too close, Satan fires away one of his little birds, but he won’t miss the TNT. He hits it every single time. It explodes in your face.

What a blessing we have in Christ. He is always there to pick up the pieces of our broken lives. We all fail from time to time. Sometimes our walls just aren’t as fortified as they should be. I’m so thankful that Christ forgives over and over and over. I’m so thankful that Christ picks us up and is always willing to refortify us.

How strong is your fort? Are you wearing the armor? Satan is out there waiting and he will get us every time if we do not protect ourselves by devoting ourselves to the fellowship of the saints and the daily reading of his word.

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Eph. 6:13-18 NIV)

Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve

In the last chapter of the book of Joshua, he proclaims God’s message to the people of Israel. God uses Joshua to remind His people of the many ways in which He has worked in their lives over the years. At the end of this narrative, Joshua says to the Israelite nation, "Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:14-15 NIV)

There is no more important decision in a lifetime than the decision for an individual to serve the Lord God. In today’s world, we have so many things battling for our time. We may not have the other “gods” that Joshua mentions, but we certainly have the “gods” of TV, sports, work and St. Mattress. It is so easy to get wrapped up in life that we often neglect the serving of our Lord. Instead, we allow the things of this world to consume us; leaving us no time for God.

Equally important is the decision that an entire household will serve God. What is being taught to your children? The amount of time that your children see you devoting to God, whether it be in your daily Bible reading, your attendance to worship, or serving the needs of others, will have a direct impact on their spiritual lives. All parents have an incredible responsibility to demonstrate a fully devoted life to the Lord. This, of course, is a daunting task, but one which will pay off in exponential dividends.

Also, do not forget Joshua’s warning to the Israelites, “If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.” (Joshua 24:20 NIV) Peter gives us the same warning in his letter to the churches in Asia Minor. “If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.” (2 Peter 2:20-21 NIV) Joshua and Peter both paint a very grim picture of the calamity that will befall any who turn their back on the God they once worshiped.

God created the human race and He has called all of us to a life with Him. He has given us the choice whether or not to answer that call. For those who choose God, we are promised a blessed life; not a life free of pain or suffering, but a life full of the riches of God. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Ephesians 1:7-8 NIV)

I urge you, as one who is unworthy, but has accepted the fullness of His grace, to choose, this day, to serve the Lord!

Joyful Sorrow

At 10:19 pm, on Sunday, May 1st, while sitting on my couch watching TV, I received a text from my mother that said, “Have you seen the news!?!?” Without asking why, I immediately switched from my DVR to live TV and saw that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in a strategic military strike just hours earlier. That moment will be forever burned into my memory, just as the Challenger explosion, the Discovery disintegration and most of all, the events of September 11, 2001.

I find myself conflicted.

This week, Americans have a reason to celebrate. Our “Public Enemy No. 1” has been eliminated. The news of the death of Osama Bin Laden traveled very quickly (as all news does in our technological age) and thousands of people took to the streets. The media showed videos of triumphal rejoicing in front of the White House, the site of the World Trade Centers and even the home of President George W. Bush.

We, as Americans, should rejoice, right? After all, the attacks on the World Trade Centers, orchestrated by Bin Laden, were the cause of the largest number of deaths in American history; surpassing that of Pearl Harbor. The death of Bin Laden, in many ways, brings closure to the families who lost their father, mother, husband, wife, son or daughter in that tragic moment. His death brings a renewed hope for peace to a still grieving nation; not to mention a renewed confidence in the nearly ten year struggle in which our military has been engaged in the Middle East. Certainly, the killing of Osama Bin Laden was a necessary and positive action on the part of those brave Navy Seals and President Obama, who gave the order.

However, I cannot find joy in the death of another human being. Perhaps my brother put it most plainly in a recent Facebook post: “A little perspective: Jesus loved Bin Laden just as much as he loves you.” The fact is that we all fall short of the glory of God. As much as our humanity does not want to admit it, Christ died for that terrorist just as He died for you and me. If it were not for the blood of Jesus, there are none of us who would be worthy of a crown of righteousness.

Today, there is a man who never knew Christ, the Savior. There is a man who never came in contact with the Savior’s blood. There is a man who never knew the true Jehovah God. Rather than rejoice over the death of an enemy, perhaps we should mourn the loss of a soul.

“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.” (Proverbs 24:17-18 ESV)

May God bless America. May God continue to bring comfort and strength to those who lost loved ones on that fateful 9/11. May your light shine as a beacon in the night to the lost souls of this world.

And, thank you to the men and women who put their lives on the line daily to protect us. May God bless you and your family!