But God is the one If I thought that I was talking to a group of child abusers, I would say many other things. Adolf Hitler understood And where theres not this vision, this God-directed dreaming, the people cast off restraint literally, they get out of control. When we do not have an overarching vision or dream or goal for our lives, our lives are out of control. ], and I will give you rest. There are two reasons why this should not stop you. I have seen the face of mental illness. And when people say I dont want to think about this, what are they doing? Psalm 119:15 says, I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. Mediate and fix. Joel 1.3: Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation. bombarded with their message. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. H And, of course, it is Jesus who has made the most impact, and it is Jesus who had the deepest convictions of all. Within the Christian community the main link between what this generation knows and what the next generation will know is the link between parent and child. When I was a little kid, and I knew my mother had baked cookies, I would go up to the edge of the kitchen counter, and she would say, Now, Ricky, dont eat those cookies. I would say, Im not, Mom. Paul is talking about pretentions, arguments set up against the knowledge of God. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray. Proverbs 10:14 says, Wise men store up knowledge (NIV). An oracle concerning Damascus. And may Christians be known for outthinking, outsmarting, and out-loving the rest of the world. Let us not lose another generation of our children to the world. of the gospel! They have never taken another class since finishing school. And the Bible says that we are to tear them down. Here are five things to remember in our own lives and to teach to others. Those of you who are doers, you need to think more. I pray that you would raise up a new generation of godly intellectuals who know your Word, understand your mind, feel your heart, live out your character, and do your will with skill. So do I. How do I make my mind mind? Who has heard such a thing? This is a mental battle. Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). And so I close with a promise from Proverbs 23:24, 25. Our natural state is selfish at best and pathological at its worst. The more you hit a nail, the harder you drive it into the wood. He said, Education is a weapon, the effect I am doing well if I get one good application a week. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. They saw the doves and the manna and much more. Thank you for those who have read and engaged this chapter. In summary, there was a sequence like this: first, the people revered and served the true God because Joshua and his generation kept the memory of God's mighty acts alive among the people. First, I want to give some more biblical evidence for this admonition to parents, and then try to answer some common objections. A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. One of their arguments is that the word begat, as used in the time-line from the first man Adam to Abraham in Genesis 5 and 11, can skip generations. I think Im a pretty big dreamer, but God says, Think of the biggest thing you can think of, and I can top that. How do you guard your mind against garbage? Its not an opinion; its a conviction. neighbors, and workmatesthat young people are woefully unprepared to understand The last paragraph of the article reads, What we can do is work toward the Wretched man that I am! (Romans 7:19, 24). You return man to dust and say, Return, O children of man! For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. If we are going to learn, and teach others, how to fight the battle for the mind, we must learn how to let God stretch our imaginations. I learn from guys older than me and from guys younger. So many different suggestions can come into the mind. They really are out to get your kids, and they We do all the feeding instead of teaching the sheep how to feed themselves. The community? Mistakes such as poor example, poor discipline, inconsistency, permissiveness, and others. Ecclesiastes 10:10 says, If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success (NIV). 1:1)' those whose children have remained faithful. I have met some pastors who have not cracked a book since seminary. ignored anymore.. Do not take us across the Jordan. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk. And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. What are the steps in doing a word study? Many parents approach parenting with a "do as I say, and not as I do" attitude and then expect faithfulness. Repentance means changing your mind not just changing what you do. Because everything God says for the good of one group will shape the way all the others live in relation to that group. They needed to teach others their knowledge, teach others to love knowledge, and get rid of anti-intellectualism. . God wants you to grow, and he will help you do what is right. The way you work isnt the way I work. Obviously thats true! Neither is it fruitful to seek their council on child-rearing. I close with two admonitions and a promise. Some people are so open-minded that their brains fall out. O how I want the mothers and fathers of our church to be teachers of the Word of God in your homes. We cannot change that much that fast. You're your own woman. And so it is with those who are persuaded for good reasons that the Christian faith is true. Then you dont really believe in it. reported, The fastest growing religious group in America is made up of people Have you even written it down? God expects fruitfulness as well. It will not happen. There are four problems with that objection. 10:1; 17:21, 25; 19:26). Protect them from the Evil One. 1. The goal is to become more like God in our character, not to become gods. how to defend that faith against the secular attacks of the day. Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say . They blame the children, the schools, the influence of the world, poor circumstances in the church - placing the blame on everything but themselves. Think about these things. How do you do that? Its both. It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). I would rather admit that I dont know it all than to pretend that I know it all and not learn. who gives the increase and we should give Him the glory. 6:4). I think the politicians will follow that for votes. Sadly, in our fallen world we are born in a natural sinful state and can only be redeemed by our Creator. Jonas.These words our Lord had already uttered on a former occasion (Matthew 12:39), but he does not here explain them, as he did before (see Introduction, 7).Under similar circumstances he repeats himself, but he wastes not time in useless discussions with perverse opponents who will not see the truth. True faith must be built upon a knowledge So even though I speak for the children and speak mainly to parents and parents-to-be, the word is needful for all of us. . They now wonder what made their children stray. A violent battle is raging around us twenty-four hours per day. Christian Standard Bible That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. Though first intended to denote Americans brought to Europe by the First World War, the "Lost Generation" refers to writers and other artists from the United States who took up residence in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Many of you are natural thinkers and love the world of thoughts and ideas. Psalm 145:13 Verse Concepts Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. America has long resisted the trend among Western nations to slide into secularism teach your kids there is no God! Authenticity has always been an attractive quality. God cannot fulfill your dream if you dont have one. Let me leave you with this little acrostic: THINK. other well-established scientific idea, without caveats or apologies. to be missionaries in the system) have by and large become churches of secular day, giving a couple of thirty-minute lessons at church or home isnt enough. V Parents cannot depend upon schools to teach morals, respect and love. Verse 34. When I talk about dreaming great dreams, I am not talking about changing doctrine. all the resources we need to turn the tide! In context, the fig tree is always a symbol for Israel. Thats a conviction, not an opinion. see anyone saved (Romans 10:14). Y Im just looking. Im looking. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work which the Lord had done for Israel. interview with H. G. Wells, Marxism Versus Liberalism, July 23, 1934, Dan Merica, Survey: One in Five Americans Has No Religion,. 5) Skill, The first two have to do with knowing. And what can we do to stop the exodus? We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. responsibility to do their part. The new birth is a spiritual, holy, and heavenly birth that results in our being made alive spiritually. And finally, God brought the judgment of his wrath upon them. Many parents seem to have lost their bearings when it comes to handling the disobedience of their children. the Jordan River, the first thing He told Joshua to do was to take twelve stones Z. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. So, if the children don't do what you say, you try to humor them or bribe them or pen them up. who battle on the intellectual level against the many competing worldviews.). Why does this happen? 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. Then we need to add to that Gods perspective. Mark this. Any nutritionist will tell you that there are three kinds of food for your physical body. ), they will have So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock. And they said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. But he answered them, You see all these, do you not? And I know whatever gets your mind gets you. I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. Christianity) have been thrown out. Learn to love the act of learning. May they be transformed by the renewing of their minds so that they may know your will which is good and pleasing and perfect. the way we should be teaching our kids in a hostile culture, and work together (Judges 2:10-11) Sadly, this same situation already has occurred or is happening now in Western There is junk food, which is simple calories its not poison, but its just empty calories. Who has heard such a thing? And he said, Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. I have trained myself to do this. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were round about them, and bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten years. Psalm 78.4: We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. As mothers and fathers, we must first save ourselves from this perverse generation (Acts 2:38-40) and then teach our children how to be saved from it We must meditate on God's word day and night to learn how to be godly and how to bring up godly children. Joshua explained, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, Many Christian leaders, though, claim there are gaps in the Genesis genealogies. H stands for helmet your head. that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever (Joshua 4:2124). They can't speak for themselves, and so God has spoken for them. Paul talks in 1 Corinthians 7 about being settled in our own minds, which means having godly convictions. . Within the Christian community the main link between what this generation knows and what the next generation will know is the link between parent and child. The words themselves were first attributed to Gertrude Stein by Ernest Hemingway. First, parents, ponder seriously how close the connection is between teaching your children about God and teaching them to obey you as God's representative over them. To do so is heresy. Others have children who are grown. We need these in science. Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. This kind of prayer is like a running conversation which means we are not on our knees. As I said, your mind is your greatest asset. a battle for their kids is raging around thema battle that is being won, at God was at work all that time, and we are dismissing the God of the church to think that he was not having his Word faithfully taught during those times. part. We must do and teach the kind of behavior that goes with sound doctrine. Learning from your enemies is a way to be smarter than your enemies, because if your enemies learn only from themselves, but you learn from them, then you will know more than they do what they know plus what you know! You can develop a two-track mind. We preachers can do a lot of ought-to preaching without giving our people the how-tos. With evolution We all have more background biases than we realize. Nye basically says if children arent taught evolution as fact, America will does not excuse us from responsibility. You lighten a load. OpenBible.info Psalm 139:2324 says, Search me, O God, and know my heart! Be doers of the word, and not hearers only (James 1:22). We may be teaching people to have big heads and little hands and little hearts and little feet. And what we need today as much as ever are men and women of godly, biblical convictions. You judge the health of an army by how many are on frontlines doing battle in the world. How do you know when you have the peace that surpasses all understanding? Some food is brain food. Growing churches require growing pastors. The moment you stop growing, your church stops growing. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. That is one of my life verses. If you are chopping wood, it helps to have a sharp ax. vast majority of these students were not taught apologetics (how to give a reasoned You may be a better teacher than a veteran because you are learning it fresh yourself. There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? And Jesus began to say to them, See that no one leads you astray. And the Bible uses at least a dozen different phrases for the condition of our minds under sin. Is this supposed to be encouraging instruction for the younger parent? Let no one deceive you in any way. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on. And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. They are thinking about it! After many days you will be mustered. Dont worry about anything, but pray about everything. They need And every group must assist in the preservation and transmission of all God's revelation to the next generation. Before we actually apply what we have learned, we are on to the next thing, and we cannot handle it. In Deuteronomy 6:67 God had given clear instructions to the A farmer can pray all he wants, but if he tries to harvest a wheat field with a grape picker, the job will not get done. Their salvation may hang in the balance, but so does your joy. If that's your situation in relation to your children and the Bible, then do like the college teacher: just stay a day ahead. But then we need to add to the convictions that come out of knowing the mind of God. so they will not be captured by the world! Its not enough just not to believe everything we think. Then the children of Israel . And the third one has to do with doing. Anything that you make an idol in your life can be a stronghold fear, guilt, resentment, insecurity. Its not one or the other. I have noticed that my mind doesnt always mind. We all have blind spots. We pursue knowledge of the Word, then perspective on why God does what he does, and, in doing so, we start to develop convictions. Infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. When we come over into the New Testament, there is not much talk about parents and children. Cite this page: Editor: Stephen Smith. from the riverbed to build a memorial. Creeds must be turned into deeds. As soon as a child is old enough to understand your command and has the physical ability to do it, he should be taught what is right to do and then punished for not doing it until he will obey at home and in public. Atheistic evolution is taught as fact. It is not the churches' responsibility to teach the children, but the parents (Deut. poll. I believe in having family devotions. Do you do it? out their God-given, God-commanded role to be the spiritual head of their house S Eugenie Scott retired as executive director of the NCSE in January 2014 and was succeeded by Ann Reid. We must spend more time teaching our people how to fight the battle of the mind. We each need to learn for ourselves the skills of doing a systematic Bible study, a thematic study, and a book synthesis. Over and over again in Scripture, God instructs His people to make sure they Im talking to him while Im writing to you. The world puts suggestions in our minds that are false, and we are bombarded with those false ideas all the time. Eventually, most kids will leave the church. Publication date: Apr 17, 2023. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. Few would dispute that Abraham lived around 2000 B.C. . Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. You can learn from anybody if you just know the right questions. No? And so we come to the last level of learning: skill. You will leave all your material wealth behind, but a wealth of knowledge goes with you. One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; And the earth abideth for ever. Since the first two of these lessons lead to the last one, this is what I want to talk about mainly. Over and over again, the Jewish fathers were And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. Proverbs 13:24: "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him." . They had knowledge, but Moses also had perspective. Become a lifelong learner. Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.". But the importance of parental instruction about God shines through. Everybody has a mental illness. train up the next generation. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. It is a strange irony that intelligent parents who have strong and good convictions in most areas often seem to be nonplussed as to what to do when their children disobey. In 2009 I read through twenty-six volumes of Jonathan Edwards. You develop character by developing the habits of love and joy and peace and patience those nine qualities from Galatians 5 kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (verses 2223). For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. Then Paul says to think about 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. Notice that he says to pray about everything. Its not enough to keep on learning and developing character. Doing. followers of atheistic Marxism. are using the public schools, secular media, museums, and other outlets to do of which is determined by the hands which wield it.4. Are you kidding me? Second, if we parents allow our children to grow up without this knowledge of God, we serve not only their ignorance and unbelief, but also their destruction. For what you imagine has no limit.