Last Night’s Call – April 10 2024 CHILDREN ARE OUR HERITAGE!
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As Christians, we turn to the Bible as our guide for living. It has much to say to us about spiritual things, but also about what’s practical. So what does the Bible say about children?
1. Children are part of God’s creative plan. After creating Adam and Eve, God commanded that they be fruitful, or have children. The original design included families with children. Kids weren’t an afterthought. Everything about creation was pronounced good, including his design for children.
God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. …’ – —Genesis 1:28
2. Children are gifts from God to families. The word “heritage” comes from the root meaning “to get or inherit.” It is an honor and responsibility to be entrusted with a little one from God. We stand beside him to shepherd their growth and development, to advocate for them, and provide for their needs while they’re in our care.
“Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.” (Psalm 127:3 (NIV)
3. Children need nurture and guidance. When planting vines and some bushes, gardeners will attach them to a framework, like a pole or trellis, to keep them from spreading out of control. Kids need solid structure to keep their physical, emotional, social, and spiritual growth on track too. This means we are present in their lives, supporting their growth and development, and leading by our godly example.
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)
When planting vines and some bushes, gardeners will attach them to a framework, like a pole or trellis, to keep them from spreading out of control. Kids need solid structure to keep their physical, emotional, social, and spiritual growth on track too. This means we are present in their lives, supporting their growth and development, and leading by our godly example.
Charles Finney said: “If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discernment, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. He went even further: “If the world loses its interest in Christianity, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.”
1.The Bible and Your Kids
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” ( (Deuteronomy 6:4–9,)
God was explicit in telling the Israelites to pass His law on to their children. The Israelites were to be a people whose lives centered around what they received from the Lord. The message here is that children absorb what they see, so it’s imperative that they’re raised in an environment where God’s Word is valued and shared. That is what is meant by “impressing these things on your children.”
This is about more than reading the Bible with your children. This is about having a faith that is so central to everyday life that it comes up naturally all the time. It’s a conversational faith that reinforces how and why these things are important to your family. The admonition to attach symbols to hands, foreheads, doorways and gates reminded the Israelites that their lives revolved around God’s Word. The modern equivalent is to find ways that your child’s environment reinforces the truths of Jesus you profess.
2. Being Intentional (Proverbs 22:6, NIV)
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6, NIV)
Proverbs 22:6 is one of the Bible’s most popular verses on parenting. But it’s critical to understand it correctly. Otherwise, it can become one of the most demoralizing verses on parenting. The intent is to point out how important it is to be strategic and intentional in parenting. Raising passionate Jesus followers or even good citizens takes intentionality. Parents need to know what kind of adults they want to produce and then do their best to raise their children with that end in mind.
It’s important to understand that the Book of Proverbs often teaches principles rather than promises. If you want to raise godly adults, you should do your best to steer them in that direction. But two children raised in the exact same Christian environment can end up very differently. Many parents have done their best to raise their children correctly, and those children have chosen to go in their own direction. This can create a crisis of faith for parents who view Proverbs 22:6 as a promise. But as a principle, beginning your parenting journey with an end in mind is critical.
3. The Importance of Discipline
“Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them “(Proverbs 13:24).
“Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die” (Proverbs 23:13).
“A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother.” (Proverbs 29:15).
Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire (Proverbs 29:17).
Without discipline, children develop the behavioral patterns that make the most sense to them — and that’s not good for anyone.
Children raised without discipline bring disgrace to their parents. Their choices reveal that they never had consequences. An absence of consequences is truly a form of neglect. Disciplining children isn’t easy. To do it wisely requires a lot of discernment, strategy and effort. But it’s easier to discipline younger children who are developing than it is to try and fix the problems that a lack of discipline introduces.
Think of it like planting a garden. The proper care of a growing garden is time-consuming. It requires weeding and pruning. But it’s less work than letting a garden grow however it chooses and then trying to change it after the fact. Once the weeds have overtaken it and all the plants and trees are overgrown or diseased, the effort required to turn things around is immense.
Proverbs 23:13 often gets misinterpreted as, “Don’t hesitate to spank children. A good swatting won’t kill them.” This wasn’t written during a time when physical punishment was a hot-button issue, and it shouldn’t be considered apologetic for a certain style of punishment. The proverb is issuing a much sterner warning: Neglecting to discipline your child at all can lead to disastrous results.
4. Parents Provide for Their Children
“Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.” (2 Corinthians 12:14)
Paul, who wrote this letter, doesn’t give instructions about child-rearing, but he makes a point about parenting while he is illustrating something else. Paul is addressing the Corinthian church’s frustration that he isn’t allowing them to support him. The apostle is doing manual labor and building financial support among other churches. The Corinthians feel like they’re not allowed to express their love and appreciation for Paul by supporting him. But Paul knows that allowing them to support him would change the relationship. He would be subservient to them.
He uses the example of parenting here to demonstrate that the relationship shouldn’t work that way. Children shouldn’t have to scrimp and save to support their parents. On the contrary, parents pour themselves out to serve their children. By doing so, they maintain authority over and respect from their children. While this example shouldn’t be taken as a biblical prescription, it’s hard to miss the logic in it. It dramatically changes the relationship when parents are reliant upon their children. Even though first-century parents would eventually find themselves being cared for by their heir, their estate would become the child’s to help cover those expenses. For modern parents, this is a good reminder that parenting is more than leading and guiding. There is a responsibility for parents not to place unnecessary burdens on their children — especially if they want to maintain a healthy parent-child dynamic.
5. Do Not Provoke Your Kids
“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4, NIV)
Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to be overly forceful. This is a danger specific to parents with expectations. Having too specific an idea of how you’re hoping they’ll turn out can create expectations that are difficult for them to live up to. It can be easy to exasperate your children by harping on every misstep and placing upon them the constant requirement that they don’t mess up. Sometimes, these expectations come from the genuine desire not to see your children make the same mistakes as you.
These best intentions can easily go awry when raising children. It’s simple to reinforce a “gospel” that’s more about conforming to a list of demands and authority than truly embracing a Christian worldview. There’s a fine line when it comes to training them to love the Lord while not antagonizing them every time they make a mistake. Paul reinforces this message in his letter to the Colossian church, “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged” (Colossians 3:21, NIV).
When it comes to making disciples, families are a critical mission field. It’s in your home and with your children that you share the good news of Jesus and demonstrate what it looks like to truly follow Him.
DON’T MESS WITH OUR KIDS – LOU ENGLE
We must take a stand for our children. We need nothing less than a revolution in America and in the nations of the earth. We are praying Luke 1:17, that God would pour out something stronger than the rebellion. We are believing for Esther’s to arise, get their voices back, and to go before school boards and invade every sphere of influence. We are calling a three-day Esther Fast, April 11-13. Women, on 4/13 go with your families to your state capitols to hold Communion and prepare to be a voice that transcends the natural realm, declaring “Don’t mess with our kids!”
CALL TO STATE CAPITOLS
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CHRISTIAN TRUTH: Christianity is unique over all other religions because it is based on historical facts. Other religions are primarily centered on the ethical and religious opinions of their founders. Christianity is based on the character of Jesus Christ and what He said and did. Jesus repeatedly claimed to be the creator God acknowledged the accuracy of every part of the Old Testament Scripture. Christianity’s truth and validity rely on real events of the past such as: the Fall is a real event which explains why we need our Savior and are incapable of saving ourselves; Noah’s flood is the best explanation of the geology in the world around us; the specific predictions of future events, before they happen, such as the birth and crucifixion of Christ. The historical truth of these events can be objectively investigated from not only one source, but from multiple sources across time.
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