"Preach the Word,

”Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord” (Colossians 3:20).

God has established the institution of the parent as one of His ruling authorities on earth. To this position has been delegated both the right to rule children and all the power necessary to succeed in training children according to God’s plan. Whomever God places in the position of being a parent is accountable directly to God for how he or she rules.

No other institution has rulership rights over children. The child is not responsible to the “state” rather than to the parents. Parents must not allow government to usurp their authority in those areas in which God holds the parents alone accountable. There are no instructions in the Bible that grant authority to government over children (except that of upholding the parents’ position of authority). There is no such thing as “child rights” sanctioned by the Word of God.

(Quoted Source: What the Bible Says About Child Training -J. Richard Fugate Copyright 1980)

Brethren, where do you stand on this issue? Where does our government stand on this issue?

We’ve just read where God stands on the issue now read this:

A proposed parental rights amendment has been introduced in Congress. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, notes that, "Now we're finding that parental rights are being attacked by courts all over the country," he contends. "And as we look at where this country is going, particularly more association with the United Nations and the U.N. Convention on the rights of the Child, these treaties would supercede all the laws in 50 states." And it would challenge parental rights in different ways, he argues.

Download the UN Treaty

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) said, "[It would] outlaw spanking and prohibit parents from raising children in the family religion, negates legal assumptions that parents act in the best interest of their kids," he points out. "Things [like these] that are inconceivable in America are now being contemplated and planned by a number of people." (Source: OneNewsNow.com)

"Walk a little slower daddy,"
said a child so small.
"I'm folowing in your footsteps
and I don't want to fall.

Sometmes your steps are very fast,
Sometimes they're hard to see;
So walk a little slower, Daddy,
For you are leading me.

Someday when I'm all grown up,
You'ree what I want to be;
Then I will have a little child
Who'll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right,
And know that I was true;
So, walk a little slower,
Daddy, For I must follow you."

The battle for this generation of youth is intensifying. Dave Hunt (of The Berean Call) addresses another onslaught, the new militant atheism, in his soon-to-be published book, Cosmos, Creator, and Human Destiny, and notes a particular assault that is without precedent: "The Blasphemy Challenge":

The Rational Response Squad (an atheist activism group) is giving away 1001 DVDs of The God Who Wasn't There, the hit documentary that the Los Angeles Times calls "provocative—to put it mildly." There's only one catch: We want your soul. It's simple. You record a short message damning yourself to Hell, you upload it to YouTube, and then the Rational Response Squad will send you a free The God Who Wasn't There DVD. It's that easy.

What can we do to prevent our young people from being seduced by the advancement of the apostasy? Teach them the Word. Disciple them. Teach them to be sound in doctrine.


Dave Hunt has this to say:

I recently spent some time with young adult leaders here and in England. Many feel overwhelmed by what's taking place but are not without hope. They see the apostasy as a flood that cannot be turned back (outside of a sovereign act of God), yet they are optimistic that many can be rescued. They are aware that most of their peers who profess to be Christians have not been grounded in the faith, many are distracted by and attracted to the world, and some even think they are Christians because of their family ties. Nevertheless, these committed leaders are hopeful that the older generation—those mature in the Lord and who love His Word—will reach out to the younger generation, whether in Bible studies or one-on-one situations, as disciplers, mentors, teachers, and encouragers in Christ. They believe that the Lord will help them to reach those who He knows are willing to take up their crosses and follow Him. Their continual prayer is for more seasoned laborers from the older generation to come alongside their peers.

The Bible is the most exciting book there is, yet for years here in the U.S. our children have been fed a "let me entertain you" diet with only a hint of scriptural nutrition. That's part of Satan's "Yea, hath God said...?" strategy. The consequence is an upcoming generation that is, for the most part, spiritually anemic and ripe for the various schemes of apostasy. Deprived of the objective truths of Scripture, they are easy prey for those who would entice them through the subjective and experiential, that is, their "feelings." Nevertheless, our marching orders involve a rescue operation as found in 2 Timothy 2:24-25:

"And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth."

Pray for our young people that they would have a heart for truth, but then seek out those of their generation to whom the Lord would have you minister His love and truth.

[I found this article in an email from a non-religious oriented newspaper. So I guess it is not just us preachers who try to warn against the consequences of sin]

It was bound to happen. With the bright lights of reality shows zooming in on every aspect of human life, it was inevitable that someone would create a show about unwed teen mothers. And who better than MTV, which has catered to teen viewers since its creation in the 1980s.

MTV has a history of risqué programming, from racy music videos to the bisexual dating show "Tila Tequila." But its new show, "16 and Pregnant," is no less than a ringing endorsement of a national travesty that robs teens of their youth and contributes to child poverty and neglect.

One of the show's subjects is a high school student named Maci. The cameras follow Maci as she deals with her child, Bentley, and the baby's father, Ryan, with whom she has a rocky relationship. Yet according to Maci, things couldn't be better. She speaks about the fact that her friends are jealous because she and Ryan have gotten their own apartment, and she refers to herself as an "over-achiever" who gets good grades, plays softball and is a cheerleader.

Education
*Only 50 percent of teenage mothers finish high school.
*Only 70 percent of teenage fathers finish high school
*90 percent of mothers under the age of sixteen will never finish high school.
*Less than two percent of women who become mothers before the age of twenty will complete college.
*Lack of education usually results in an inability to get adequate jobs.

Employment
*Teenage parents are more likely to have low status jobs, lower hourly wages or be unemployed.
*The younger the mother at childbirth, the lower her family income will be.

Poverty
*There is a direct link between poverty and teenage parenting. Families headed by young mothers are seven times more likely to be poor.
*71 percent of AFDC recipients under thirty were teenagers when their first child was born.
*Of all families with young children headed by women who gave birth as teenagers, 67 percent live below the officially designated poverty level.
*A study found that only one in ten children in two-parent families were poor while two out three children living in single parent homes were poor.

Future Pregnancies
*Teenage mothers are likely to raise large unplanned families alone. 60 percent of teenagers gave birth before the age of sixteen will be pregnant again before the age of eighteen.

Concerns About Children of Single Parents
*Children of single parents are likely to have lower I.Q scores and are more likely to repeat school grades than children raised in two parent families.
*Children from single parent homes have more physical and psychological problems than children raised in two parent homes
*When children of teenage parents grow up, they are more likely to become teenage parents themselves, receive welfare, or become divorced.

Concerns About Teenage Marriage
*Marriages that result from an unplanned pregnancy often fail.
*At least 60 percent of young people who marry before the age of twenty will be divorced within five years.
*When pregnancy is the major reason for marriage, the failure rate could reach 90 percent within the first six years of marriage.
*Even if a husband is working, it is not likely that he has a well paying job.
*Because the young mother will likely drop out of school to care for her child, she will find herself with no education or job skills.
*Marriage will not solve the problem of an unplanned pregnancy. A good marriage demands hard work and commitment from each partner. This is often difficult for young people still working on developing their own identities.
*If you do not receive support from your family and will not be able to finish high school because you parent your child, consider these facts carefully. It may predict your future life and that of your child.

Hey MTV - how long will the good times last? Sadly, according to the above statistics not very long. It's no wonder, then, that two-thirds of families started by unwed mothers are poor. In fact, the increase in childhood poverty in recent decades is caused almost exclusively by out-of-wedlock births. Think MTV will mention that?

Having preached for less than a decade, Joel Osteen, 46, presides over a Houston church in a former basketball arena that draws 40,000 people on Sundays. His televised sermons are seen by more than 7 million Americans a week and millions more around the world.

He's had two best-selling books and a third, "It's Your Time," will come out in November. He's only been preaching on the road for five years, but is taking the stage at the new Yankee Stadium before A-Rod for what he calls "A Night of Hope."

He appeals to conservatives and liberals, Texas Republicans and Nancy Pelosi, Pentecostal Christians filled with the Holy Spirit and atheists filled with none.

"I wish I could explain it better," he said of his appeal in a recent interview with The Journal News at the swanky Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Columbus Circle. "I don't have an answer. I guess it's that my message is positive and hopeful. People stop me on the street, whether they are bikers or bankers. I've had atheists tell me that they watch me on TV."

"It's got to be God," he said, "because it's not me."

Tulane University's Shayne Lee, an expert on superstar evangelists, said Osteen is young, fresh, likable and doesn't have the baggage of the televangelists of old.

"He understands the importance of TV and uses the language of contemporary American society - the language of psychotherapy, the language of Americans who watch Oprah and Dr. Phil," said Lee, whose new book, "Holy Mavericks," profiles Osteen and four other pastors with national followings. "Osteen understands that his brand is not to condemn, but uplift. If the caricature of the typical evangelist is a fingerpointing loudmouth, Osteen seems so trustworthy that he's the boy next door."

"My message is not about doctrine. I don't have to get 50 references from Scripture in a sermon for it to be a good sermon. Churches that are helping people live out a Christian life are growing and flourishing."

Read More Here

[But Mr. Osteen what's the Bible say? "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables." II Timothy 4:2-4]

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:16).

The natural Jews of Paul’s day had to rid their hearts of being justified by the law. They needed to accept and understand the grace extended by God through the Son. Outwardly they may not have appeared as sinful as the Gentiles but still they had to put their faith in Jesus Christ to be saved.

“The Judaizers’ objection to this doctrine of justification by faith alone is this: If a Jew seeks to be justified by Christ apart from the law he is then outside the law and thus a sinner. They feared that a Christian outside the law will lead an immoral life since his conduct is no longer restrained by the law.” (King James Study Bible notation)

Is your heart guilty of establishing a bar of moral conduct or doctrine added to faith in Jesus Christ as necessary for salvation? Indeed, it can be challenging for obedient believers to remember grace, and grace alone. But, if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died in vain. He died once, for all. His atoning work is what brings salvation, not our meritorious works.