“For The Love of Our Children”
Psalm 127:3, 4
Just as an arrow is only as good as the bow that shoots it, so children are only as good as the parents that raise them. That is…parents that really care, parents that really invest in their children’s lives!
Who wants to hunt or defend themselves with crooked arrows! Just as straight arrows are indispensable for the success of the archer, so are strong children the success of society!
Our society is only as good as the next generation! I ask, how is our next generation in 2 areas: Morally and Spiritually? Notice that I didn’t say, the condition of social security, military strength or the national debt! Because none of that will matter if our children have no moral or spiritual foundation! Nothing else matters if our children are not straight arrows!
It’s a frightening thing when a child at such a young age becomes crooked in their thinking, in their behavior and in their morals…Listen…once society breaks the child’s foundation – society as it is, does not have the power to fix it!
Ecclesiastes 1:15 “What is crooked cannot be made straight...”
I ask, are we raising a Proverb 2:15 generation? “Whose ways are crooked, and who are devious in their paths.”
We’ve seen the breakdown of our family over the last 2 decades and now we are left with a mess on our hands! We’re left with families without value!
As Dr. Dobson states, “After decades of wild expenditures… it is appropriate that we ask what we have accomplished with these precious resources (children). What did we get for our money? Did the experts and the reformers deliver on their promises? Are our children better off now than before…?”
We better start reinvesting our resources because:
· In California, only 25% of every tax dollar reaches the public school classroom.
· The SAT scores of U.S. children are at their lowest levels in 30 years.
· American teenage girls have 450,000 abortions yearly.
· Tonight, 45% of all children in the U.S. will sleep in homes without their father.
· 70% of 18 year olds now endorse the idea that it is morally acceptable to have children outside of marriage.
· 78% of California high schools now have medal detector.
· 35% of California teens dropout of high school.
· Everyday the average American 7 year old will watch 6.5 hours of T.V.
· The teenage suicide rate has risen 350% since 1960.
· Every 21 seconds an American teenage girl gets pregnant. Currently California has the highest rate in the world!
Ronald Reagan said, “If we fail to instruct our children in justice, religion and liberty, we will be condemning them to a world without virtue, a life in the twilight of a civilization where the great truths have been forgotten.”
I ask - are we now experiencing the reality of this statement?
For The Love of Our Children, We Must:
1. Protect From a Cult Centered Environment.
2 Corinthians 11:13 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.”
America has fast become the melting pot for cultic activity. Before 1860 there was very little cult activity in America. More than ever parents need to know whom their teens are associating with! I know this is a scary thought, but when was the last time you went in to their room?
George Gallup states, “This is the most crucial decade in history. Designer, a la carte religion flourishes as traditional Christianity is undermined by counterfeits.”
If you go to our website, you can get the message I brought last Sunday night and learn the physiological structure that make up the average cult.
How do we define a cult? Any religious group that:
· Is in search of any new kind of mystical experience.
· Denies one or more of the essential teachings of historic Christianity.
· Demands strict control over anyone’s life.
· Quickly tries to hypnotize or brainwash new recruits.
Not only do cults want your child but also the occult preys on teens! So let’s look at 2 disturbing areas:
a. Satanism.
Satanism preys on the teenager that doesn’t fit into the normal flow of life and has a very dysfunctional home life. The recruiter for Satanism isn’t looking for the 30 year old, but rather the 14 year old.
It’s a major contributor to crime across this nation. In 2003, Calavaras County had 48 crimes that were connected to satanic rituals.
Satanism uses 3 things to recruit with:
· Promise of power
· Promotion of sex
· Provisions of drugs
Sean Sellers was a Satanist, at the age of 16 killed a convenience store clerk and then his own parents.
Before he was executed for his crimes in 1999, Sean became a strong Christian.
Sean said, "Satan doesn’t play games. People start out with Dungeons and Dragons, tarot cards and ouija boards. There are powers working around those things that people just don’t understand."
He continues… “One night…when I came home form work I was the cold murderer who had killed Robert Bower. I went to their room before they went to bed and took Dad’s .44 revolver from the drawer beside the bed. I put it in my room and waited for them to go to bed. Dad talked to me about rebuilding the engine of my pickup together. When they were in bed I went to my room, did a ritual, dressed only in my black underwear, and then crept quietly into their room. There was nothing but cold hatred in me. There was some sense of, "Sean needs to be free and this will free him. This is the only way." That was not a conscious thought, just a sensation. It’s like that was the motivation behind it. I wasn’t committing murder; I was removing an obstacle from my way. I was knocking down a door to a prison cage. All I felt, however, was coldness and Satan’s power in me.”
b. Wicca.
Fact: This occult group is growing very fast with 17-30 year olds. It’s the fastest growing religion in most U.S. prisons.
They have evolved in resent years to seem rather harmless, but in reality are very dangerous! There is a strong Pagan PR going on in most high school to paint a mild picture of Wicca.
We have a predominate Wicca leader that lives and works here in Angels Camp.
What is Wicca or witchcraft? There are several major “Covens” around the country but the one that is most popular in Northern California is “Church of Circle Wicca”. Most law enforcement doesn’t pay much attention to Wicca.
Wicca Teaches:
· Goddess worship (a pantheon of gods)
· Casting spells “mental projection” and “white magic”
· Reincarnation
· Card reading
· Astrology
· Channeling spirits
There’s real deception…one of the most popular starter books for Wicca is called, “The Magic Power of Witchcraft” by Gavin and Yvonne Frost. Here’s a quote from the introduction, “Whatever it is you need or want, whatever frustration is bothering you today, Witchcraft can help you. It is not evil; it is not Satanism. All of the things that you will be taught to do are approved in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 12.”
In another book, “Witchcraft: The Sixth Sense” Justine Glass writes, “There is nothing to preclude a witch from also being a member of the Christian faith…There is not much real difference between the beliefs of witches and those of the Christian church.”
Cult and Occult Warning Signs:
· If your child has joined a group that has now taken up all his time.
· That he has just informed you that he wants to move out and move in with the members.
· If he has given up his goals and the aspirations he had to further his education quickly after joining. Or he dropped the sports that he has always practiced.
· If he starts speaking different lingo and does not share what it means or says. Or he says, “You won’t understand why I’m doing these new things.”
· If he starts to dress differently and loses interest quickly in his oldest friends. Anytime there is a quick change in personality and lifestyle there are problems! Gothic!
2. Press For a Chastity Centered Enlightenment.
1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee sexual immorality…he who commits sexual immorality sins against his body.”
Remember that 70% of 18 year olds now endorse the idea that it is morally acceptable to have children outside of marriage.
Former U.S. Surgeon General during the Clinton Administration Jocelyn Elders said while in office, “We’ve taught our children what to do in the front seat of the car, now we need to teach them what to do in the back seat.”
May I suggest that when 1 out of 5 teenage girls in America are pregnant by 19 – our back seat philosophy needs junking!
Chastity is a forgotten word in our day, but it just means sexual purity! Virginity! That’s the greatest gift you can give your husband or wife!
Parents and teens, here are 10 facts to mull over this valentine weekend:
1. 25% of teens that are sexually active live with an STD today. Between the ages of 12 and 19, over half are sexually active.
2. Many teens will be carrying 2 to 3 STDs.
3. Almost 50% of American black teens have genital herpes.
4. Herpes has skyrocketed 500% in the past 20 years. One in five North Americans carries herpes.
5. 1 in 10 teenage girls has chlamydia (an STD that can cause sterility) and half of all new chlamydia cases are diagnosed in girls 15- to 19-years old.
6. There are 80 to 100 different strains of human papilloma virus; HPV causes 99.7% of all cervical cancers and can be contracted through condoms. The highest incidence of the disease is in young women, under 25.
7. In 1960, there were two STDs: gonorrhea and syphilis. As of 2004 the actual number of STDs is 50. In the 1970s, one adolescent in 47 contracted a STD. Today, that figure is one in four. About 15 million new STD infections occur each year in America.
8. A recent study of 18 to 22 year old sexually active women showed 50% were infected with human papilloma virus (HPV) at some time during the three-year study period. Therefore, a sexually transmitted disease (HPV) is responsible for more than 99 percent of cervical cancers and nearly all-abnormal Pap smears.
9. Completed suicide among teenagers has skyrocketed 200% in the past 30 years.
10. 1 in 8 teenagers are clinically depressed. Much of this is caused by the high number of teens girls dealing with post abortion syndrome!
Proverbs 5:13-14 “I have not obeyed the voice of my teacher…I was on the verge of total ruin…”
1 Corinthians 10:13 - God gives us a way of escaping every temptation that we teens face!!!!
For The Love of Our Children…
3. Provide For a Christ Centered Enjoyment.
3 ways this is done:
a. Be their visual aid.
Sadly I learned this past week - that of Christian youth, only 3% believe in a biblical worldview and of Christian parents, only 20% believe in a biblical worldview! …Rorheim Institute
How can we be that visual aid to our children if we don’t believe in God’s view of life and the world? A Christ centered enjoyment starts with Christian parents embracing the bible as a worldview!
Moms and Dad – just bringing your children to church is not enough now day!! Jesus has to be a part of your everyday life… Mark it down…the odds are, the way you live for Jesus - so will your children!
b. Be their spiritual adviser.
No one should take the place of your teaching your child!
Ephesians 6:3 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
Training and admonition = systematic discipline and instruction.
c. Be their prayer administrator.
The Bible teaches the doctrine of hedges! Pray the hedge of protection on your children everyday!
…Intercede!
1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour.”
Maybe your thinking, but we’re just a small city! But, a lot of the big cities are moving to the small cities! And it’s just a matter of time before our small problems become big problems! Let’s try to head it off now!
We’ve got to believe that just as God is concerned about the little things in life, He is greatly concerned about our children!
Ever prayed, “Lord, I just commit my children to your keeping.”
The Pastor’s Cat…
Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his yard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc.
The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and drove away so that the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten.
That’s what he did, all the while checking his progress in the car. He then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke.
The tree went "boing!" and the kitten instantly sailed through the air-out of sight. The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they’d seen a little kitten. Nobody had seen it. So he prayed, "Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping," and went on about his business.
A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his
church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. This woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, "Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?" She replied, "You won’t believe this," and then told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her, "Well, if God gives you a cat, I’ll let you keep it."
She said to the pastor, "I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won’t believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her."
