Friday, September 4, 2015

Parenting in Perilous Times | A Biblical Perspective

Allow me to start with planting an urgency in your heart, soul and mind about the times in which we are living. Never before has the world seen the amount of wickedness that we are being inundated with. Christians are under attack whether we want to admit it or not. There will be no end to this until Jesus Christ Himself raptures us from this wicked, wicked world. We have no time for spineless relationships with God and prayerless homes. We are living within reach of that blessed hope of the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Through personal experience, years of observation, as well as being raised by a God fearing disciplinary mother that never went to Church regularly while raising us; I've witnessed a lot of stuff that works in parenting and a lot that doesn't.

This blog post is not to tell you about the do's and don'ts of parenting, but rather it hopes to equip you with principles, that if applied can strengthen your family even during these perilous times that we are living in. Since Pastoring I've witnessed young adults on both ends of the spectrum. Some live for God with their whole heart, some are as defiant as the devil because that's exactly what they've seen mom and/or dad do.

Paul told the Church at Rome that there "is no power but of God". Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 that "all power" was now His. If there is NO POWER outside of God giving it, it would be easy to say that we are subject to Him; either now or later, one way or the other. Shouldn't our desire be to please Him?

Parenting can sometimes feel like you're walking through a maze, dizzy and blindfolded in the dark. Kids change as they grow. Outside of the gene pool, their personalities are shaped by the environment in which they're immersed. Thankfully there are some constants that we can rely on to steady us in the days, weeks, months & years ahead. That's where I want to jump off from with 5 fundamental principles to teach and abide by in your families.


1) The Bible has to be the absolute authority for you, your family & home. It must be the centerpiece of your home. It must be read individually and as families. Your kids need to have memories of growing up reading the Bible.
-You, your spouse and your children must know that the Bible is the most important literary work in the history of mankind. It's not just "another book". It's God's divine and Holy impartation to a creation that He loves more than any other.
-If the Bible is right then there's no room for another ruling authority in your moral code. I haven't found a single thing, morally or Spiritually speaking, that I haven't been able to answer, or at the very least find a principle for in scripture.
-If you don't deem the Bible as God's Holy, unadulterated Word from all the ages to all the ages, then there's no need to read further. The Bible must be your compass to direct you and your family in all things.



2) In our current societal psychology, we must know what the original plan of God was for humans and the original design that He had in mind. We are being challenged on many levels on this topic.
-God created man in His likeness. Ponder on that before reading any further. God, the Almighty, made us in His likeness. No other creation in the universe has that honor and responsibility, other than humans.
-We must appreciate our God designed roles. When God first created Adam and Eve, Genesis 5:2 says that He called their name Adam. God desired that the man and woman be so knitted together that they would share a common name, to be inseparable. Then sin happened. Sin separates us from God, sin separated Adam and Eve's divine closeness.
-It wasn't until the early 1900's when our ladies had to leave the home to work that the moral fabric of our nation began to crumble from within, and it hasn't stopped. This isn't a male chauvinist pig statement, it's a statement honoring the irreplaceable role that wives play in keeping the home. Men, we don't have what it takes, I know that will hurt your pride, but thank God that He gave us a help meet to hold us together! Men, go to work and provide for your wife and children.
-Don't despise your role, honor it by living it out as God designed it. It works!


Genesis 5:1-2King James Version (KJV)
5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.


3) We must be connected to a body of Spirit Filled Bible believers. When God designed the Church, He designed it to be His Bride. 
-If you want to be a part of the Bride, you have to be a part of the Body; and vice versa. 
-Your children will acquire strength from being connected to the Body of Christ. Youth Programs, Sunday School classes, Youth camps & retreats, Youth prayer meetings and so forth, will foster life long relationships with other people of like passion and vision and will help to mold your children into productive members of God's Body. (I find it necessary to say this here; I would love to say that no young person has ever gone astray, but they have, even when raised in ideal circumstances. By the time that they come of age, we need to be certain that we've done everything humanly possible to instill Biblical principles in their life that will take them through those tumultuous years of young adulthood)
-Whatever or whomever you allow into your child's life will be the ones that shapes your offspring into who they will become as adults. It's critical to surround them with God fearing and Spirit filled people that will draw them closer to God and further from the world.
-This may be the most critical item in this whole blog post. In order for you to be saved, a Pastor has to give an account for your soul. It's in our best interest that they are able to do so with joy. It starts with you as a parent to submit to the covering of a Pastor. Teach your children the importance of this. Don't come home from Church and have the Pastor for dinner. You need Him watching for your soul. This is downplayed in our society due to the well of pride. Apply this scripture to this principle. If you don't have a Pastor, who is watching for your soul? 

Hebrews 13: 17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.



4) I remember growing up that the Nike shoe company had a slogan, they may still use it. Just do it! This is the same slogan I use for prayer. We've overcomplicated prayer. 
-Teach your children to pray. How? When you pray, bring them with you to your place of prayer. My 2 year old now comes down beside of me when I kneel, places his face in his hands and bows his head. Remember he's 2. How does he know to do this? He's witnessed his daddy & mama. It's that simple. Kids learn by example. 
-Don't be intimidated to use words that are bigger than your vocabulary. God doesn't sit with a dictionary to make sure that your words are measuring up to dictionary.com's word of the day; but He is looking into the origin of that prayer. Your kids don't have to hear big words while you're praying, what they need to hear is a sincere prayer and you pouring your heart out to a God that's bigger than your problems. 
-Your prayer life can be cultivated at home and at Church. So can your children's prayer life.


5) Finally, reinforce what you have taught them by living it in front of them. There's a high price tag on this principle. 
-If you are wishy washy; in today and out tomorrow your kids will lose confidence in what you are saying and the whole Church scene. 
-Those children need to know that we're in this for the long haul and this is the way. We're not Church hopping, we're prayer warriors. We live, eat and breathe the Word of God. We live Holy unto the Lord all the time, not just at Church. Consistency, consistency & consistency!
-Children subconsciously beg for stability in the home. A double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. To a young child, parental instability creates chaos in their minds. They're confused because just last month you told them the Bible is true, but today you're living like the Bible is a fairy tale. 

Pray that God will pour concrete over your feet as you stand on His Word and the principles and laws that it teaches. This is not an end all, know it all guide to parenting. It's a few principles that I've seen work, most notably in my Pastor and his family for generations. 

My desire is that this helps someone in the chaotic, perilous times that we're living in. 

I pray God's blessings upon you in the only saving Name of Jesus Christ!