17 August 2008

Are We Secularizing Our Children?

(Sewell Hall)

Several years ago, a Christian who was the president of a large state university stated his belief that students do not lose their faith because of evolution in the science department or humanism in the philosophy, psychology, or sociology departments. Rather, he felt that they become so absorbed with secular studies and secular activities that they do not take time for spiritual things. They neglect attendance at services, neglect Bible study and make their friends among worldly people. They die spiritually, not from poison but from spiritual malnutrition. Today, this is happening to children long before they get to college. And some of the finest, best intentioned and most sacrificial and loving parents are contributing to it.

Please pardon a personal reference. My parents were very concerned about keeping control of their children. My father complained 50 years ago that the schools were trying to take over the rearing of children and he was determined not to let that happen to his family. Anything the school planned that conflicted with church activities was considered an encroachment by the school. We did not participate in organized sports, either in school or in summer programs. We did not play in the band or join the scouts. As a rule, when school was out we came home.

You may think my parents extreme. Perhaps they were. But one thing was certain: We had time for whatever Christians were doing anywhere in the areas where we lived. We not only attended every regular service and every service of gospel meetings in our home congregation, but we attended most services of any meeting anywhere in driving distance even when meetings lasted the greater part of two weeks. Preachers who came preaching in the area learned to expect the Hall family near the front of the building night after night. I never remember going out of town for a ball game, but I remember many trips out of town to gospel meetings and lectureships. Those gospel preachers became our heroes and the members of those congregations became the friends whose respect and confidence we most desired.

This is not to say that all parents should adopt the policies of my parents. I did not adhere to all of them in raising my children. But surely some limits need to be imposed on the run-away secularism now so common. Children are the busiest people in town. Schools have lengthened the school day and long bus rides often require children to leave home very early in the morning and return late in the afternoon. Then they have homework to get. Much extra time in school is spent in humanistic activities. Children are constantly exposed to vulgarity and profanity not only from fellow-students, but even from teachers. They desperately need counteracting spiritual influences.

Many conscientious parents, however, want still more secular opportunities for their children than the standard curriculum provides. They encourage participation in extra-curricular sports organized by the school and in others that are privately organized, occupying afternoons and Saturdays and even portions of Sundays as well as the summer months. Students not inclined to sports are encouraged to join the band with long hours of after-school practice, summer band camps, compulsory Friday night football in the fall and concerts in the spring. In addition, there are often private music lessons. Scouts also provide wholesome experiences, and parents want their children to be involved. In fact, they feel that their children are deprived if they miss any of these opportunities, and so to provide them parents pack their own schedules full, taxiing the children here and there and sacrificially spending their energy and money.

What is wrong with these things? Generally nothing. The problem is that they are dominating children's lives. No wonder it has become impossible to plan a gospel meeting at a time when it does not conflict with some kind of secular activity! No wonder it is exceptional when students attend every night of such a meeting! No wonder very few parents and even fewer young people are to be seen at special services beyond their own congregation!

A negative attitude seems to be developing toward anything the church plans beyond the usual Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night assemblies or toward any extension of evening activities beyond one hour. The church is considered insensitive when anything is planned that encroaches on children's busy secular activities.

When do we expect our children to change from this heavily weighted emphasis on this world to ``seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness?'' If they become accustomed to a secular schedule in elementary school, high school will only increase the pressure. College allows still less time for the Lord unless there is a purposeful determination to keep the lid on secular demands. If such priorities have not been learned under the guidance of parents, it is unlikely they will be developed when students are on their own in college. By the time those school years of immersion in secularism are over, there is usually very little spiritual life left in them. And it all begins when they are young!

The Lamb’s Book Of Life

(Kent Heaton)

The names we bear identify who we are. When someone says our name, an image of who we are appears in the mind and all of our characteristics known to that person are seen. One of greatest blessings of being a child of God is to know that our names are written in heaven. When the seventy returned to Jesus following their exhaustive work in preaching the good news of the Savior, they were filled with joy because “even the demons are subject to us in Your name” (Luke 10:17). Jesus commends them for the excellent work they did in the face of Satan and how powerful the gospel worked in the lives of those the seventy taught. Then Jesus said, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

What a magnificent thought to consider on the pages of Jehovah’s eternal record of this world, our names are inscribed. The name given to us by our parents represent our life and who we become. In death, we engrave our names on marble monuments to stand as a testimony of the days of our lives. In all of this, nothing gains a higher place than the thought our names are written in heaven. Paul rejoices with the saints at Philippi when he writes: “And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow laborers, whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:3). The book of life is that place in the mind of God that He ascribes eternal life and redemption.

Only Jehovah possesses the book and adds names to its pages. Luke wrote that the Lord added those who were being saved (Acts 2:47). The Holy Spirit bears witness before the Father those whose names should be placed in the book of life (Romans 8:16,17). John writes about the book of life in the Revelation. He shows the declaration of Jesus of those who would be “clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life” (Revelation 3:5). He refers to those who “are not written in the book of life” in Revelation 13:8; 17:8 and 20:15. Those not written in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire.

On two occasions, John refers to the book of life as the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 13:8; 21:27). The book of life is possible because of the Lamb (Revelation 5). How fitting to understand the book of life as the Lamb’s book. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Life is in Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 1:1). The proofs of His life and work are evidence for us to believe and to find eternal life in Him (John 20:30,31). The book of life is the Lamb’s book because eternal life can only be found in Jesus Christ.

The Lamb’s book of life is the place where all spiritual blessings are found (Ephesians 1:3). To enjoy these blessings and to have your name engraved upon its pages, you must be in Christ Jesus. There is no condemnation when we are in Christ because we are made alive in Christ (Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 15:22). The new creation is in Christ as we are all sons of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 3:26). The Lamb’s book of life is filled with the names of all those who are “sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26,27). Not everyone will be saved as not everyone will have their name in the book of life (Matthew 7:21-23). The only way a name is placed in the Lamb’s book of life is when one obeys the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful book!

Farsightedness

(Gary Henry)

When we fail to look ahead, we often make decisions that do harm -- and they're apt to be harmful to others as well as to ourselves. To avoid the problems of rashness, we need to acquire a bit of "farsightedness," the quality of thoughtfulness with regard to the future. None of us has a crystal ball that's completely accurate, but that doesn't mean we can't look a little distance beyond the present moment and adjust our conduct accordingly. It's simply a fact that those who consider the consequences of their actions have less trouble in life than those who don't.

One aspect of farsightedness is planning prudently for the future. This simply means doing what Harvey Mackay suggested in the title of one of his books: Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty. Some people may go to an extreme here, obsessing about the future and refusing to spend any resource they fear they may need later. But many of us have the opposite problem. We make no effort to anticipate future needs and provide for them in advance. We're not as "provident" as we should be, and the quality of our lives suffers as a result.

You may not have thought of it, but one way to foresee the future is to take a long, hard look at the consequences of certain actions in other people's lives. In the long run, none of us can beat the odds. When we see the law of cause and effect operating in someone else's life, it's foolish to think we'd get any different harvest if we sowed the same kind of seed. None of us is exempt from the law of the farm.

Laurence J. Peter liked to say, "If you don't know where you're going, you're probably going to end up somewhere else." Often, it takes no more than pausing to "stop and think" to see that where we're going is not where we want to go. We don't have to be fortunetellers or perfect prognosticators of the future to foresee that some actions are inadvisable. We just have to learn to press the "pause button" once in a while and consider the question of consequences. For every person who suffers from too much caution and too much conservatism, many more of us suffer from too little foresight. We need to acquire a character that's known to be wise, shrewd, judicious, and thoughtful.

“The prudent man looks where he is going” (Proverbs 13:16). “Be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil” (Romans 16:19). “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Ephesians 1:17).

And God Said NO

(Selected)

§         I asked God to take away my pride, and God said, “No.” He said it was not for Him to take away, but for me to give it up.

§         I asked God to give me patience and God said, “No.” He said that patience is a by-product of tribulation. It isn’t granted it’s earned.

§         I asked God to give me happiness and God said, “No.” He said He gives blessings, happiness is up to me.

§         I asked God to spare me pain, and God said, “No.” He said suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to Me.

§         I asked God to make my spirit grow, and God said, “No.” He said I must grow on my own, but He will prune me to make me fruitful.

§         I asked God if He loved me and God said, “Yes.” He gave me His only Son who died from me, and I will be in Heaven someday because I believe.

§         I asked God to help me love others as much as He loves me, and God said, “Ah … finally … You have the idea.”

PRAYER

During the pioneer days, a family lost all of their possessions to a fire. In response, the church called for a special prayer meeting on their behalf. As the people came together for prayer, a young man rode up with a wagon full of supplies. He had canned goods, staples, building materials, tools, and sundry other items. The young man said, “My father couldn’t make it today, but he sent his prayers.” Prayer involves much more than words.

Prayer may not change things for you, but it sure changes you for things. When Paul prayed for his thorn to be removed, he asked God to ‘change things.’ Instead, God changed him so that he could handle his pain and suffering.

R. C. Sproul has noted, “To pray without action is hypocrisy. To act without prayer is pagan.” Effective prayer involves the balanced tension between total dependence on God and responsible action by the one who prays.