Tonight's episode of ABC's "What Would You Do?" was eye opening and distrubing.  You should be able to view it here:

www.abcnews.com/wwyd

The episode featured an actress playing the part of a teen girl who was in a drug store and wanted to buy the so-called contraceptive Plan B.  This obviously implied she had had unprotected sex the night before, or perhaps that day.  The teen claimed to be embarrassed because the pharmacist behind the counter "knew her mom" and she was afraid he might tell her mom of the purchase.  So, the teen asked innocent by-standers, perfectly good strangers, to make the purchase for her.

Nearly every woman asked complied, with only a few exceptions.  When interviewed afterwards, the compliant women said things like "I wish someone would've done that for me when I was a teen, because I could have never told my mom."  Or, "It's not my place to judge her."  Or, "It's her decision."  Or, "She needed help." 

Oddly enough, none of the men she asked to make the purchase agreed to it.

This episode shows we have a long way to go in the pro-life movement in America.  For starters, this episode demonstrated:

• A need for the truth concerning contraceptives.  Christian women have fallen for the same medical duping that their non-Christian counterparts have when it comes to pill and patch "contraceptives."  We have been told they "prevent pregnancy."  What we have not been told is that the medical industry defines "pregnancy" in terms of an implanted embryo.  But a woman's egg is fertilized typically in the fallopian tubes, and then the newly conceived human baby travels down the pipe for a day or so and attaches to the lining of the uterus (implantation).  Now, if pill and patch contraceptives actually prevent conception (which they can do) that's one thing.  But friends, there is a very real risk with these so-called contraceptives of aborting a conceived child that has not yet implanted.  Christians need to get educated and stop using these potential abortifacients.  For more information, see link below. 
• A need for women to step up and consider what kind of "help" a potentially pregnant teen really needs.  Only one lady who bought Plan B for the actress posing as a teen advised her to go see a gynecologist to get some contraceptives.  That's as good as the "counsel" got!  Nobody referred her to a local crisis pregnancy care center where she could receive THE TRUTH about sex, STDs, pregnancy, contraceptives, etc.  Saddest of all, nobody refferred the teen to her mother.
• A great need to restore parents to their rightful, God-given roles as nurturers and protectors and care-takers and counselors to their OWN CHILDREN.  God help us all, from grandparents to youth ministers to nursery workers to pastors to fight tooth and nail in the power of Holy Spirit God to train parents in how to build intimate, potentially life-saving relationships with their children.  I cannot imagine a sadder thing than my daughter preferring to go to a youth minister or peer or total stranger for counsel on ANYTHING, rather than coming to her mother or me.

For the record, Plan B most definitely can cause abortions of a conceived-but-not-yet-implanted baby.  Read up on it and other potential abortifacients here: http://www.lifeissues.org/abortifacients/index.html 

God help us Christian pro-lifers to start living pro-life, rather than just giving it lip service.  As for this pastor, any couples receiving pre-marital counseling from me will be strongly advised to embrace the "full quiver" view of Scripture when it comes to children (Psalm 127), and to not use pill or patch contraception.

"This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Mark 7:6).

"So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone . . . Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it . . . And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem" (1 Samuel 17:50-54). 

Parents - be warned!  The Veggie Tales version of the Bible may not be as great as we first thought.

Now, don't get me wrong.  My daughters and I have been known to enjoy a Veggie Tale or two or three in our day.  The videos are well done, truly funny, and downright entertaining.  And, they do, albeit in a very shallow manner, teach basic Bible truths or values.  But that's where the benefit of them ends.

A recent conversation with a Children's Sunday School teacher really opened my eyes.  This teacher said a student actually argues with her that the account in the Bible is not how it really happened.  The child then proceeds to tell the teacher the Veggie Tales version of the Bible event, which this student thinks is the true version.  I mean, it must be true, it's on TV!  And, the child has seen the Veggie Tale so many times that it is proving hard to convince him that Junior Asparagus is not real, and did not lightly thump a giant pickle with a small rock, ala the Veggie Tale "Dave and The Giant Pickle."

Parents, take note.  TV and DVDs make very poor baby-sitters and parental substitutes, even if what's showing at your local home theatre is non-stop hours of wholesome vegan fun. 

If you do watch a Veggie Tale now and again, no sweat.  Just supervise and use it as a way to teach your children the way it really happened.  Seize the interest the DVD might generate to live out Deuteronomy 6.  Break open your Bible, open it to 1 Samuel 17, and read your children the real thing. 

Our children are receiving a sanitized version of Christianity.  It's as if we think the Bible will somehow hurt them!  But friends, rest assured, God's Word, all of it, is "the power of God unto salvation" and "shall not return void."  We must make sure our children know that the "Giant Pickle" got his head lopped off by Junior Asparagus, and then Junior paraded said head in the streets, and then presented said giant head to King Saul.

But why?  Can't we just skip the graphic parts, the bloody parts, the gruesome parts of the Bible? 

Sure, if you want a cross-less Christianity.  We must take care that our cute little cartoons are not cutting the very heart out of the gospel in the minds of our children. 

David was a warrior-king whose bloody escapades point us to The Warrior-King Jesus whose bloody cross-work paid our sin debt in full, and secured our victory over sin, death, and hell. 

Maybe our well-intentioned friends at Veggie Tales need to reconsider their methods.   After all, "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22).

Tornados everywhere!  My own county got ripped up just two weeks ago, along with much of eastern NC.  Now, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia have suffered horrible damage and loss of life.

It never ceases to amuse (and sadden) me how Christians shy away from attributing control over weather systems to God.  From non-believers this is expected, but not from people who claim to read and believe in the God of the Bible and the Bible of the One True God.  I mean, read Job 38-41 and Isaiah 40-48 for starters. 

Actually, what many Christians do today is attribute only mercy to God, while shirking to give Him glory when and if He gives justice.  So, for instance, if our homes were spared, or our neighbors' homes, we boldly say, "We were blessed" or "God was good to us."  But, for those poor souls who lost property or life, we simply say something like, "That's tragic" or "Unlucky" or "Unfortunate." 

Yet, God plainly says He sends blessing and cursing, good and calamity, mercy and justice.  God raises up nations and brings them down.  We must glorify Him for it all, because only He knows best and only He can possibly "work all things together for good to them who love God and are called acording to His purpose" (Rom 8:28).  And, the accounts rolling in even in my own city show that indeed God is doing His eternal, saving work even through these storms.

But, I want to avoid sounding trite, and I surely would not make light of any human suffering.  And let me be very clear, I do think Christians should exercise extreme caution when trying to label a certain weather event a sure judgment of God, or a direct act of Divine retribution on certain people.  After all, two things are true in these matters today:

1. We do not have any direct revelation (Scripture) from God telling us about His precise reasons and purposes for the recent tornados. 
2. Inevitably, Christians end up dying in these storms right alongside their non-Christian neighbors.

So, how are we as blood-bought, grace-saved followers of Christ to react to these horrific, destructive storms?  The Master provided us the answer in Luke 13:1-5.

Apparently, two "tragedies" had occured.  One, Pilot had mingled the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices offered in worship.  Two, a tower in Siloam fell on 18 people, killing them.  Unexpected, horrible events that brought suffering.  How should we react, Jesus?  Please tell us.

"And He answered them, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish' " (Luke 13:2-5).

Whoa.  Sobering.  So, if I get Jesus' answer, we should all be spending time in worship with our families tonight, praising God that He has not visited our iniquities upon our own heads yet.  We are not better than Alabama-folk.  We are dreadfully sinful, just like them.  We are deserving of God's justice and wrath, just like them.  We have no hope of salvation outside of the bloody cross-work of Christ, just like them. 

Why not us?  Why has God not destroyed our homes today, snatched our lives, or sent us to hell today? 

This is the great equalizing effect of the true gospel.  Humility.  Worship.  Love of the God of totally unmerited mercy.  Love for all others, too, especially our fellow Jesus-needing sinners who are suffering.

So, beloved saints of God in Christ, rise up and "kiss the Son" tonight, then go find ways to help your suffering neighbors.  Go love them in Jesus' Name.  Go share with them the amazing gospel grace of a God who sent His own Son to suffer more than any man.  Go tell them of the One whose suffeing brings many sons to glory!

O Lord, please help us, and help our suffering countrymen.  In wrath, Lord, remember mercy.  Help Your church be Your hands and feet in these troubled times, that the Name and Fame of Jesus may be spread throughout our land, and that His gospel may take root in many weary hearts.  Amen. 

With the recent passing of two women I loved dearly (a great aunt and a grandmother), death has been on my mind.  Sounds morbid, I know.  That's because death is morbid!

Here in America, we are blessed (or is it cursed?) to be able to shield our children and ourselves from death.  Most of us will rarely ever have to see death in the raw.  Heck, I spent 6 years in the Marine Corps and never had to see anything remotely close to what my Fireman/EMT brother sees routinely.  For all but a few of us, death in America is painted over and made to look dainty, even pretty.  We even make comments when standing over corpses in funeral homes like, "Doesn't she look so pretty?"  I've often wanted to respond, "Well, I guess she is as pretty as a dead person can be."   

But as Christians living life from a biblical worldview, we must not miss out on the tremendous teaching opportunity death presents us.  The topic of death is one of the simplest gospel "lead-ins" I know of.  Nobody wants to think long on the issue, but when death draws near people, they typically become a "captive audience" to anyone who can offer words of counsel or consoling.  And the gospel is all that and more!  

But as Christian parents, solemnly charged by God to instruct our children in His ways and His word, we dare not shield our children from death, nor miss the teaching moment it brings with it.  Here are a few thoughts drawn from my own feeble attempts at using death to teach my daughters in recent weeks:

1. Teach your children death came into the world because of human sin (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12; 1 Cor 15:22).  My Mamaw, as sweet as she was, died because she was a sinner by nature and by choice.  That's why we all die.  There was no death in this cosmos prior to Adam's sin.  This is why the whole creation groans anticipating the day when God once again removes death from its midst (Rom 8:18-25).
2. Teach your children death is an ugly enemy.  Because it is a result of disobeying God, and loving someone or something more than God, death is a horrific thing.  It is not to be trifled with or coddled or painted to appear pretty.  Do you think Adam and Eve found death attractive or something trivial as they stood over their son Abel, bludgeoned to death by his own brother Cain?  "The wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23).  This is what we've earned with God.
3. Teach your children death goes beyond the physical realm.  Yes, the physical bodies of Adam and Eve eventually died, just as God promised (Gen 2:17).  Every person thereafter has also died physically, and all of us will, too, if Jesus does not return in our lifetimes.  But friends, Adam and Eve died spiritually the moment they rebelled against the word of the Lord.  To be spiritually dead is to be cut off from God, who is life (Isaiah 59:2; John 5:26).  And now we all, too, enter this world spiritually dead, unable to patch things up with our Creator God (Eph 2:1).  Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves . . . it did not work then, and it does not work now.
4. Teach your children that after death, there is no "second chance" to repent and trust Christ alone for salvation (Heb 9:27).  Jesus did not believe in purgatory (Luke 16:19-31).  Neither should you.  You see, friends, our children must know that how they, in this life, answer the question of Jesus to His disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" matters forever!
5. Teach your children that nobody knows the day of his or her death.  "Boast not yourself of tomorrow; for you do not know what a day will bring" (Prov 27:1).  "Instead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live'" (James 4:15).  Living like each second of each day is not guaranteed has a strong tendency to help us focus on what really matters.
6. Teach your children that in Christ, God remedied this greatest of dilemmas for us poor sinners.  When Jesus died, death died with Him for all those whom the Spirit births anew.  This is the best news ever!  This is the gospel, "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3-4).  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).  Who but Jesus, the Perfect Son of God, God in the flesh, could say, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live"? (John 11:25)
7. Teach your children that for those granted repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ, death is a defeated enemy!  "Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 15:54-57).  Those who die in Christ simply pass from "death unto life" (1 John 3:14).
8. Teach your children that one day, Jesus will sovereignly eradicate death once for all.  "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more" (Rev 21:4). 

Wow!  Death is a great teacher, if we will let it lead us to Messiah.  This all makes me wonder if instead of the "afterlife" we Christians should speak of the "afterdeath"? 

"Whoever has the Son has life" (1 John 5:12).  Got Jesus?  If not, you have every reason to fear death.

On March 30th, 2011 my Mamaw died.  Or, more biblically, she passed from death unto life. 

Lovine McWhorter grew up during the Great Depression.  She knew hard times and like so many of her generation, she knew what sacrifice meant.  The sacrifices Mamaw made for our family were legendary, and very humbling for us grandchildren to observe.  Every single one of us knew that Mamaw would gives us her last penny, her last piece of bread if it meant she would literally starve and die.  She simply had been given an extra measure of God's grace when it came to selflessness.

Mamaw was a simple woman.  Materialism seemed to have absolutely no hold on her life.  She left this world with almost nothing of temporal value to her name.  She spent most of her final years in her own home, often alone with just her God and her Bible.  And what effect, do you suppose, this had on her life?

Well, let me just tell you that in His providence, God called my great aunt Bonnie (Mamaw's sister) home to heaven just 6 short weeks ago.  I was close to Aunt Bonnie, so I was compelled to attend the funeral, some 13 hours drive from my home.  But, this gave me a few precious days to spend with Mamaw, mere weeks before the Lord called her home.  God is good.  I've done nothing to deserve this obvious kindness from His sovereign hand.  Thank you, O Lord, for giving me those few days with Mamaw.

As was always the case when visiting with Mamaw, our conversation turned to the Lord and His Christ and His Word.  Unlike so many around me in the church today, Mamaw always wanted to hear me comment on the Scriptures.  She was never ashamed or afraid to ask questions about the Bible, even after reading it for 75+ years.  She was a true "learner" of Jesus, even at 86 years of age.  She often had questions so deep I had to leave them unanswered.  God does, after all, blow our minds, doesn't He?!

But during the course of my preaching to Mamaw (which she loved to provoke, by the way) on the last night I spent with her on this earth, lovely, simple Lovine waxed eloquent.  Mamaw and I were speaking of the greatness and beauty of Christ as compared to the foolishness of so much ornate religion and bombastic ritual.  Mamaw particularly did not appreciate flash and pomp in the pulpit.  And so, with tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks, she said:

My High Priest wore no ornate robes, but was stripped bare on the cross. 

My High Priest had no gold chains around His neck, but bore my sin on His shoulders.

My High Priest had no golden crown, but was crushed by a crown of thorns.

My High Priest received no applause, but was slapped and spit upon.

My High Priest wore no gaudy rings on His fingers, but had His hands and feet spiked to a tree.

Now, friends, this is the legacy Mamaw leaves me - lavishing praise and adoration on her Savior and King, the Lord Jesus.  It was so beautiful, to see her so in love with Jesus.  Her heart and eyes that night were just so full of Jesus.  The Savior was enormous in her vision!  She died walking closer to Him than ever before in her 86 years of life.  Is it any wonder, then, her King called her home to finally rest on His breast, and behold God's glory in His face?

"For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens" (Heb 7:26).

Thank You, O Lord, for the gift of my Mamaw.  She was a lady who left us a legacy of a soul captured by Your grace.  In our grief, turn our eyes to Your blessed face, Lord Jesus.  This is, after all, what my Mamaw would have insisted upon.  So, to honor her, I honor You, and bless You, and worship You, and love You, and long to see You.  Until that day, help me live with Your light in my eyes and Your love in my heart.  Amen.    

       

On March 27th, 2000 the Lord blessed my wife and I with our first child, Meaghan.  She was so tiny, I called her "peanut."  We also called her "squirt" because the doctor literally had to catch her as she shot out of the birth canal.  Meaghan made quite an entrance!  My life has never been the same.

Please indulge me as I write this post just for my precious daughter on the eve before her birthday.

Dearest Meaghan, we surely did name you rightly.  Your Celtic name means "pearl."  And, to me, you are an amazingly beautiful gem, and your life sparkles as it reflects the glory of your Creator and Savior God. 

May God uphold you by His mighty right arm as you move away from girlhood and into womanhood.  Some parents seem to want to keep their children in their childish years forever.  Though I do have a great sense of how precious each day is with you because the time of your departure from my home is drawing ever nearer, I also want you to know your mother and I are intentionally raising you to become a woman sooner, rather than later.

May the Lord make you a lady whose heart always and forever belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ.  You shall never make the godly wife and mother that we so strongly desire you to be if you give away your heart to another lord other than Jesus.  May God keep and establish you in the faith.  May you never forget what is means to be "the called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ" (Jude 1).

May God grant you a heart that "hungers and thirsts for righteousness," for such a heart "shall be filled." 

May the Lord give you an undying passion for His Word, for our Savior said "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."  May you truly hide His word in your heart, that you might not sin against Him.

May you pursue holiness as a young woman, taking your view of a "successful woman" from Proverbs 31 and Titus 2.  May God Almighty give you strength of spirit to reject the view of woman being given to so many young girls by Hollywood, our culture, college and career counselors, and indeed anyone who guides you away from what God has said about being a woman.

May King Jesus bless you with a man after His own heart one day.  The Sovereign Lord has so obviously given you a sweet, submissive and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4) that is precious in the sight of God.  You will by God's grace truly make some strong, Christ-exalting man an "excellent wife."  He and your children will surely "rise up and bless you" in the Name of Jesus.  Your mother and I can aim no higher than to raise you to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul", and to "love your husband and to love your children and to be a worker at home so that the word of God will not be dishonored" (Titus 2:4-5). 

In all these things, you are already making us so proud.  We worship the Lord today and each day as we watch you grow and mature in the grace and love of Jesus Christ.  May you never forget you were created for His glory, for His pleasure, and for His kingdom.  May the Holy Spirit always and forever consume you with a burning passion to "worship God in the spirit of holiness" through the blood of Jesus spilled out for you on the cross. 

May God fix your eyes on Jesus, the Risen Lord, and help you live the "resurrection life" as you take up your cross daily to follow Him.  Jesus is the Author and Finisher of the faith, the King of kings and Lord of lords.  He is worthy of whatever acts of service He ever demands of you.  Go with King Jesus to the gates of hell, to the jungles of Africa, or to your neighbors here in America, and spread the good news to everyone in your path that Jesus saves!

Your soft, compassionate heart is such a living testimony to the powerful grace of God in Christ.  May the love of God pour out of your heart and into the lives of those around you.  If God make it so, your beauty will only keep growing, and the glory you bring to the One who died in your place will only find new heights. 

Oh Sovereign Lord, make it so.  Be glorified in "my pearl."  May she always and forever be willing to sell it all to follow the Pearl of Great Price - the Blessed Lord Jesus.  Amen.

Happy Birthday, Meaghan.  I love you.  Mom loves you.  Little 'Sis loves you.  But above all, "Behold, what manner of love the Father has lavished on you, that you would be called the child of God."

Anyone who has known me for very long quickly surmises that I am a firm believer in Christians homeschooling their own children.  The primary reason is that the Bible simply knows no other educational method than for parents to teach, train, disciple and raise up their own heritage (children).  I find no biblical warrant for Christians to turn their children over to the state (or other secular institutions) for 40+ hours per week.

That said, I realize in this culture it often does prove nearly impossible for every Christian parent to homeschool.  For example, 40% of our homes in America (and the church sadly just reflects the cultural reality at this point in history) are single-parent homes.  In my neck of the woods, military families are also single-parent homes for long periods of time due to deployments.  Or, perhaps sickness or illness prevents a parent from homeschooling.  I also have a soft spot in my heart for women married to non-Christian men.  This would make homeschooling very challenging.  And in a very few instances, a family truly does need a dual-income to provide the basic necessities of life. (NOTE: This is a far cry from a Christian family refusing to downgrade lifestyle to obey God's design and commands in their homes).

The point I wish to hammer on today, however, is father-focused.  Even among Christian homeschoolers, I find a conspicuous absence of the father in the educational process.  Homeschool families in the church are too often Matriarchal.  The mom who does all the teaching and training and disciplining of the children "wears the pants."  Dad is just along for the ride, assuming he is even "in the family car" a few hours each week.  This results in an obviously "out-of-balance" family.  It's particularly devastating to boys who are trying to learn how to become young men.  But, it's also harmful to girls who look to their Dads to see what a man should be. 

Factors for this "weak dad" phenomenon are probably many.  Work-aholism is surely one major factor.  I am so far from being impressed by dads working 60-70 hour weeks.  Their family is suffering BIG TIME.  It makes me sad that they cannot or will not give up the materialism that typically drives their work addictions.  Work is a good thing.  God made us for it.  But it is not to be on the thrones of our hearts, and it is not to stand in the way of us obeying our God.  

A second factor may be a warped view of fatherhood and motherhood.  Children are mom's area, work and hobbies are dad's area.  This view does not come from God's Word. 

A third factor may be the influence of feminism, which has told moms to basically take over everything.  You can have it all.  Go work full-time or part-time, take care of kids, go to soccer games, cook and clean.  It's killing women at the cyclic rate and far too many Christian homeschool moms seem to have bought into the "control freak" mentality of feminism.  Be warned.  It's deadly to the body and soul.  And it marginalizes men.  Again, this view is anti-biblical.

The first year my wife and I homeschooled, I am shamed to confess I sat the bench, content to dump the full-load of child-rearing on my bride.  Oh, to be sure, I actively disciplined my daughters, and played with them after working hours.  But, the stress level on my wife rose to the point that Holy Spirit God forced me into His Word to see where I was missing the boat.  I knew God commanded us as parents to be the primary teachers/disciplers of our children, but I had not searched the Scriptures for what God said to me, Dad.

What I found in God's Word pricked my heart like a two-edged dagger:

For I [the Lord] have chosen him [Abraham] that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice (Gen 18:19).

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn (Psalm 78:5-6).

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph 6:4).

These are merely a few examples of the overwhelming evidence of the Bible that God calls on Dad to be the teacher and discipler of children.  Now, this obviously will demand that much of the training time be delegated to mom, as Dad works outside the home (though I would argue dads should frequently take their sons to work with them once they reach age 12 or so).  In God's kingdom, Dad is the Christ-like Patriarch who actively instructs his children in the Word, disciplines them with the Father's love, and ensures they know redemptive history.  If others are brought into the educational process (mom, adult mentors, Bible teachers), it is on Dad's shoulders to prayerfully delegate. 

Now, be honest, dads.  Doesn't this sound a bit impossible for you?  Our cultural expectations on home and family life are absolutely at odds with the Bible.  We've almost necessitated a Matriarchy by the ways we work, live and educate.  How can Christian American dads truly become the primary disciplers of children?  Well, they can't unless they radically change some things and re-order their priorities.

And this radical shift, I believe, is as needed in homeschooling families today as it is in all families.  How sad, that so many homeschooling Christians squander the potential of that God-ordained educational method by excluding Dad.               

On page 344 of Science Explorer, Pearson Prentice Hall, an 8th Grade textbook used in our local middle school, we read a section titled "Life Reaches Land."

"Until the Silurian Period, only one-celled organisms lived on land.  But during the Silurian Period, plants became abundant .  These first, simpe plants grew low to the ground in damp areas.  By the Devonian Period (dih VOH nee un), plants that could grow in drier areas had evolved.  Among these plants were the earliest ferns.  The first insects also appeared during the Silurian Period.

Both invertebrates and vertebrates lived in the Devonian seas.  Even though the invertebrates were more numerous, the Devonian Period is often called the Age of Fishes.  Every main group of fishes was present in the oceans at this time.  Most fishes now had jaws, bony skeletons, and scales on their bodies . . . Sharks appeared in the late Devonian Period.

During the Devonian Period, animals began to invade the land.  The first vertebrates to crawl onto land were lungfish with strong, muscular fins.  The first amphibians evolved from these lung fish."  [emphasis original]

Now dear Christian parents, realize this is what is discipling your children.  The textbooks do the discipling, along with the curricula.  Your children will, if they remain in public schools, spend 14,000 seat hours in their illustrious K-12 career.  Fourteen thousand hours!  Soak it in.

And what, pray tell, will they be learning?  [Go read the above quote again, slowly.]

This whole section "Life Reaches Land" has not one factual statement in it, nor is any assertion supported by genuine, scientific evidence.  It is mere speculation, guesswork, framed by those whose view of history is unbiblical and godless.

But it's all written in this 8th grade textbook so matter-of-factly.  I mean, what 13-year old is going to question what these science experts have written?  Why, they write as if they were actually there, watching this all unfold in the supposed Silurian and Devonian Periods!

In these three short paragraphs, students were taught not only a fictitious timetable of earth's history, but were also taught that plants evolved (meaning one kind of plant transformed into a totally new kind of plant), and lungfish turned into frogs.  Evidence?  Transitional fossils?  Don't bother asking . . . they don't exist.

More tragically, students were just taught that WE ALL CAME FROM A LUNGFISH.  And that fish came from pond scum.

Friends, our public schools are bastions of pagan religion and godless worldviews.  Christian teachers in this system are, some of them, fighting hard for the right.  But, there is no denying the system is godless and will not change.  Many in the church wish folks like me would stop "picking" on public schools, but I love your children too much to stop exposing the demonic lies being pumped into their brains (and hearts?) for hours on end each day.

It is time to reclaim family discipleship for God's glory and the raising up of godly offspring.  We dare not forget our Master's words:

The student is not above his teacher; but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40).

God help us.  Our children are being swallowed up in a sea of godlessness.  Sound the alarm!  Blow the trumpet!  Warn the people of God to stop giving to Caesar what clearly belongs to God!  "Children are a heritage from the Lord" (Psalm 127).  So, why then do 90% of us keep turning them over to the state to be discipled?

And for those of you who think I have no bones to pick with homeschoolers, stay tuned . . .

Most of you are probably familiar with the old TV show "Kids Say the Darndest Things."  I believe the orignal version was hosted by Art Linkletter, then later by Bill Cosby.  It was cute show.

The thought struck me today that perhaps we need a show titled "Scientists Say the Darndest Things."  It could be hosted by Ken Ham or a creation scientist like Jason Lisle, or maybe even an ID (Intelligent design) researcher with more degrees than a thermometer.  Anyway, the idea would be to challenge so many of the ridiculous statements of "science" that so many of us gullible creatures just blow off or worse, actually buy or believe.

For example:

"No two snowflakes are alike."

Really?  How do you know?  How would anyone know?  Wouldn't someone have to have seen every single snowflake that has ever fallen to make such an assertion?  The only One who truly knows is God, and He ain't telling.

Or how about this one:

"The dinosaurs are extinct."

Really?  How do you know?  Have you done a study where you have someone observing every square inch of the earth simultaneously, all verifying there is no dinosaur in sight?

By the way, I invite any scientist who makes this claim to come this summer to swim in nearby Northeast Creek here in my hometown.  Splash about wildly and see if you may not be introduced to a "terrible lizard" with hard scales and a powerful tail, not to mention bone-crushing jaws and razor-like teeth!

Here's a good one:

"The earth is 4.6 billion years old."  Or, "This fossil is 75 million years old."

Really?  How do you know?  Were you there?

We must begin again to teach our children to think.  Having recently judged a science fair at a local middle school, I can tell you our kids do not know how to recognize even the most obvious signs of design in this world.  99% of the kids pulled their science "project" straight off the internet, including all the "facts," the procedures to follow, their hypotheses, and even their findings and conclusions.  It's all done for them.  And at the click of a mouse no less.

True science is all but gone in our culture.  Studying the creation around us is supposed to lead us to worship the Creator.

"The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim His handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).

"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" (Romans 1:20).

It's not a matter of evidence.  No!  It's a matter of interpreting the world around us, and to do that, we use our worldview - the glasses through which we view everything.

Now, will our children attain biblical glasses in the public schools?  Will their studies direct them to the foot of the cross of Christ where they exclaim, "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things and for Your pleasure they exist and were made"?  Will state schools cause them to "take every thought captive to Christ"?

The answer is obvious.  And even Christian teachers have their hands tied by the Darwinian and humanist curricula (textbooks) in that system.  It is the curriculum that teaches and disciples children, dear friends.

May God help us reclaim true thinking in the next generation.

"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."

 

 

On this Valentine's Day, I would like to recite some lines from an ancient love poem to the love of my life, my wife:

"How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights!  Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters.  I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit.  Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine" (Song of Songs 7:6-9).

There are at least two brands of Christians when it comes to the topics of sex, romance and love.

The first brand is embarrassed by the words of King Solomon above.  They prefer to never talk of such things.  They are horrified that I,  a pastor, am actually quoting these lines to my own wife, and on a public forum no less! 

These people need to be reminded that these obviously romantic (dare I say sexual) lines are in our Bibles.  These are God's words coming through Solomon's pen to his lover, his "sister-bride."  Sex, love and romance do not embarrass God.  He designed them all.  God's design is for these wonderful gifts to be enjoyed within the confines of marriage (a husband and his wife). 

God flatly commands and exhorts husbands and wives as His people to imbibe deeply in sexual intimacy, romance and love with one another - all to His glory!  Don't take my word for it, go read Proverbs 5:15-21 and 1 Cor 7:1-5.  The lovers of the Song of Songs are told:

"Eat, friends, drink and be drunk with love."

'Nuff said.

The second brand of believers has an over-sexualized, over-romanticized view of love.  While God does expect a man to revel in his wife's love and affection, the Scriptures are careful to never define "love" apart from the grace of God in Christ. 

So, though sex in marriage is inherently good, and to be enjoyed, it is not the be-all-end-all.  If it were, a woman whose husband has been paralyzed in an accident or military service would have no reason at all to remain faithful until death. 

We must not take our cues for what intimacy and love between a man and woman look like from Hollywood and all their porn-infested friends.  If we take our cues from nightly TV, in no way will we ever come to see the beauty and Christ-exalting nature of a man and woman staying faithful until death.  Instead, we'll see that love is whatever each individual determines it to be. 

How many Christian women have majorly warped expectations (and thus despair) because they watch Soap Operas every day and read silly romance novels?  There is now even a "Harlequin Romance Porn" industry, produced by women for women.  Oprah promotes it.  God hates it.

How many men have hurt their wives (intentionally or not) because in their bedrooms they are acting out all the pornographic images burnt into their poisoned minds? 

Friends, I realize I'm being blunt.  But we must think on these things as followers of Christ, and beg for grace to redeem our marriages for God's glory.  Think on the implications of 1 John 4:7-11 for our marriages.  Seriously, read it and think on it.  I urge you not to define love in any way except to ground it in God's amazing grace demonstrated by Jesus' death on the cross for unworthy, unlovable sinners like us (Rom 5:8).

What our marriages need is not more romance, nor more sex, nor even more "love" as we typically define it.  No, what our marriages need is gospel love.  What I need is the actual love of Christ being shed abroad in my heart, then overflowing into the heart and life of my wife.  Then my wife's faults will pale.  My energy will be spent mortifying the lust of my flesh by the Spirit and the Word.  Then I'll find myself back at Jesus' pierced feet, receiving mercy and grace in time of need.  Then I'll love Jesus more than my wife.  Then my wife will be the recipient of true love, true romance, to the glory of God!

What if Jesus loved us the way we are loving our spouses right now?