Christian Family Services Ministry

11-29-2018 – A Word to the Wise: I suppose most of us have heard a lot of prayer in a variety of settings from the dinner table to church, to care groups. But have you ever in your prayers, or those of others heard anyone ask for adversity?

I suspect if you entered the barracks of some special operations soldiers you would get an earful about combat readiness. Practice, plan and repeat exercises until every aspect of an upcoming mission is deeply ingrained in the warrior.

Contrast that attitude with the Christian warrior with constant litany of complaints about food, clothing or shelter. When does one hear of a Christian volunteering for hardship, or adversity?.

Let’s face it there are some things worse than death, and Satan knows just how to dish it out. Yet somehow I wonder if we should not prepare self and others for spiritual combat.

What camp would the Lord have us sneak into under cover of darkness to spy out the enemy? How would we go about destroying the Baal’s and Asherim of our day?

Warriors must understand that they are not contending against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers against world rulers of darkness, and the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places. To deprive a thief of his plunder, or taking the life of a murderer, strikes at the heart of darkness. To assail gossip, deter laziness, and foster gratitude are important task for His warriors. To withhold ones hand when the Lord has placed the evil one in your hand is to betray the purpose of your existence. If nothing else the lessons from Moses and Joshua are you utterly destroy the enemy.

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11-27-2018 – A Word to the Wise – The terrible twos and threes mark the beginning of Satan’s efforts to seed rebellion. A mixture of methods achieves this. Satan uses the failures of the parent to undermine the child’s trust in authority. Two major foundational character traits are susceptible to impairment at this early age.

One is the feeling of security. Feelings of rejection caused by a lack of discipline inspire insecurity in a child. The other impairment comes in the area of obedience. Disrespect for authority by misuse, harsh, provocative or abusive discipline results in disobedience. Inconsistent, unfair, unjust, or impatient discipline creates a lack of trust in authority. Provocation and abuse, on the other hand, create hostility in the child towards authority.

As a child observes inconsistencies in parental admonitions, he loses confidence in the parent. With the loss of confidence comes insecurity in the love of the parent. The child reasons that if the parent cannot be trusted then I must trust only in myself. Thus, for self-protection, the child develops an attitude of disobedience.

While inconsistency breeds disobedience, abuse on the other hand, engenders hostility towards authority resulting in rebellion. Much of the crime occurring with juveniles today, in large part, is a result of abuse by parents. That is not to say abusive parental discipline is the only cause of all rebellion. However, in large measure, the open hostility of teenagers toward any manner of authority, traces back to immature attitudes on the part of the parent. There is a heavy price to pay for immaturity by both parent and child.

I believe that some forms of Attention Deficit Disorder are part of the consequences for these attitudes. Disobedience, I believe, accounts for the rise of ADD symptoms in preschool children. Why do these particular symptoms appear as ADD?

With the decision that the authority is untrustworthy comes confusion. This confusion detracts the child. Personal observation and experience backed by Biblical admonitions, suggests that each time we are obedient the spirit, body, and the emotions experience a physiological and psychological boost. Inversely, disobedience leads to a physical experiential loss of energy.

I feel, in part, that this is a fulfillment of God’s many warnings of the consequences for disobedience and the blessings of obedience. There are over one hundred biblical passages connecting obedience with good health and the lengthening of life. There are numerous more which connect disobedience with impaired health and shortened life span.

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11-6-2018 – A Word to the Wise: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEAR THE LORD?

I have had many ask this question What does it mean to fear the Lord, and how is it acquired? So let’s give some examples. They fall into two major categories; Fear in a physical sense, and Amazement.

The category of fear in a physical sense is apparent in the following examples: (All quotes from the ESV)

Exodus 20:18ff

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid[d] and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

I Kings 18

7 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”

Job 42

I have uttered what I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you make it known to me.’

5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees you;

6 therefore I despise myself,

and repent[a] in dust and ashes.”

Isaiah 6

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”[b]4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my

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11-3-2018 – A Word to the Wise: I have found myself having to repeat this story several times in the last 3 days to different people. It bears repeating here for all of us who have been curse, tormented, hated, forsaken, rejected and abused.

A real story that occurred several years ago illustrates the protective nature of gratitude even in the face of torment, torture, and horror. The author of this story had been a prisoner of the Japanese and during his five-year imprisonment, had been enslaved in the valley of the Kwai. What he and his comrades endured is beyond comprehension and challenges human endurance. Near the end of the war, an incident occurred which reflects how God’s redemption may deeply affect one’s character.

The Japanese were sending the author (Earnest Gordon) and other POWs by train away from the front lines. At one point, their railroad cars were directed to a siding along with a load of severely wounded enemy soldiers. As they were parked beside the enemy, their enemies’ cries for water and mercy filled the air. Some of the POWs took their own meager water supply and went to comfort the enemy. In describing the situation, the author says the train was filled with the enemy, many having massive untreated wounds draining from infection and gangrene. The souls of the POWs were filled with pity for the enemy who had tormented them day and night for five years. Those who were not Christians who observed their behavior were astonished. How could they treat the enemy with such generosity?

Such is the way of the soul filled with gratitude toward the Father for his own mercy and loving-kindness. Let us therefore put aside anger.

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11-2-2018 – A Word to the Wise:  My mother had some wise insights. Example: ON RESPECT

“ I have always taught Johnny that daddy’s right”. She wailed. I looked at her imploring eyes, then you have always taught Johnny a lie, I replied, and subconsciously Johnny knows it.

No human being is always right, and therefore should not be presented as such.

Her countenance showed her utter amazement as she said “but God has said children should obey their parents and honor them.”

Precisely, I answered, but just which word even suggests it’s because they are always right. You should have told Johnny his father was to be obeyed not judged.

True obedience cannot be taught on the basis of right or wrong. This is an act performed on the basis of acceptance of authority not upon judgement of the one in authority.

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