Children Today

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." – Socrates (469-399 BC)

There’s much we could add to this, but it stands fairly sufficiently on its own. What would Socrates think about children of this generation? What can we do to reverse what we see? My wife and I have kind of become observers. We sit back and watch people and families and how they interact. At an airport earlier this year I saw a family heading out on spring break. Dad, mom and two kids. Each had their own iPod/MP3 players. They even had kind of a unique form of sign language. Something developed, I assume, to avoid having to de-cyborg yourself every time mom wanted to talk to you or ask you a question. She would just use some impromptu hand signals. The kids would typically respond with an agitated yes or no nod or shake. I wondered what supper was like at their home; or if they even sat together to eat supper. Does dad yell at the kids when sports are on; or maybe just ignore them altogether? Does mom disregard the kids when “Dancing With The Stars” comes on? Are the children an interruption to their lives? Not if you plant them in front of their own TV or video game machine. We’ve become removed and annoyed from spending time with them.

I came across an article while reading through the news. There’s a proposal in the Massachusetts House of Representatives that would ban corporal punishment (House Bill 3922). Lovingly spanking your child would turn you into a criminal. They tried to push this through California a while back. This is not how we correct what we see in the children today. The Bible is very clear on how to remedy this, and it’s not retiring the “rod of correction”.

I’m fairly certain that my children would be ecstatic to spend every waking moment with me or their mother. Why? At times, we have put our interest on hold and taken up their interest. We take ourselves to their level. Whether it’s playing a game or reading a book or coloring a picture. We also involve them in our interest; baking, hunting, fishing, etc... I don’t claim to have perfect children or to have this all figured out. I do know that if we put our selfish “I-need-my-time” attitude on the back burner and show an interest in what our children are doing, you build a bond and a friendship that will outlast any spanking you ever give. That’s not to say that spankings are never necessary. And when I say that you need to build a friendship, that is not the permissive, anything-goes, kids rule the roost mentality that many parents have taken. “If I give them everything they want, maybe they’ll like me!” That’s just sick and way out of order! Catering to them is only fanning the flame. I think parents are just trying to get by long enough to get them out of the house. From there on, it’s society’s problem. Even those that claim Christ have this same misguided thinking. They hope that the Sunday school class will “train them up in the way they should go”. I believe we have made a turn in a very poor direction, and it will take something huge to correct it. Something larger than a push from man. Something like a revival of hearts. And that only comes from God.

Try Again

I tried to post this yesterday in the comments, but blogger must have went wild. This is response to the comment from the last post.
Typically I don't come out swinging like that when it comes to Bible translations. I've never been a fan of the NIV, but it was mainly for the missing scriptures. When I stumbled across this I had to pass it along. As for Virginia Mollenkott, here are just a couple links: Way of Life an interesting, if not disturbing read; and AV 1611 which is apparently a 1611 KJV only website. As for King James being a homosexual. I don't know for sure. Most of what I've read says that the accusations didn't even surface until 25 years after his death, and that it originated from his arch nemesis. A quick google search turned up these pages: The first one seems to be written by a homosexual "christian", here. Another one that I found by a homosexual "christian" utilized filthy language, therefore gets disqualified from getting a link from me. Here's another. The next three oppose the thinking: here, here and here. What I do know is that he only promoted the translation of the scripture. He didn't take part in it.
As for books. The best that I've read is "Which Version Is The Bible?" by Floyd Nolen Jones. It's very detailed in the history and canonization of the Bible, who translated what and what the other Bible translations are missing or changing. I let a friend borrow it, but if I can get it back, I'll certainly pass it off to you.
Just to sum it up. I believe that all faith and foundation come from the word of God. If you can't believe that God has preserved His word for us and remains infallible, then how can you know what portions of the Bible to trust and what to disregard? And there are too many contradictions between translations for them all to be correct. The history that I've studied on the subject convinces me that the KJV is the authorized and preserved version.
Hope this helps to at least see where we come from. I don't like to stir up controversy or be divisive, but we too like to find truth.

Christmas Gift Ideas

I stumbled across a news article the other day. These selfless ladies across the pond are gifting the world with their own sterilization. They both feel that having a child would only add to the problem of climate change and overpopulation. One went so far as to have an abortion before sterilization. All for the sake of the earth. One made the comment about meeting her second husband "We both passionately wanted to save the planet - not produce a new life which would only add to the problem." What a caring lady.
The other lady in the article filtered through several boyfriends before finding the right one. Her revelation of the evils of childbearing went like this: "I realised then that a baby would pollute the planet - and that never having a child was the most environmentally friendly thing I could do."
How much of yourself are you willing to give this holiday season?

Next up for the gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender christian in your life: the Gay and Lesbian Bible.
We have here another lady who did the world a favor. She's the first of all previous bible scholars who could actually translate the bible properly. A bible that does NOT speak out against homosexuality. Up until now, we had no way to translate some of the Hebrew and Greek words accurately. But now, we have a bible that caters to the gay and lesbian christians. "Don't feel comfortable coming to the Lord and allowing him to change your life? Don't worry about it! We have a bible that says you can live in the sinful, hell-bound lifestyle that your accustomed to!" If you go to the "About Us" page of the website, she gives some ridiculous example of why she needed to do this. And no, she didn't do this just for the gays and lesbians. She did this to get the accurate translation into the hands of a misled world. She just happened to name it the Gay and Lesbian Bible.

And lastly as I was doing some research, I found out that the original NIV translation had a very open, very active lesbian on it's translating team. In fact, she believes that God is a woman. She also believes that Jesus was born parthenogenetic (because Mary had a child without male fertilization); meaning that "born in parthenogenesis; that parthenogenetic births are always female; that in some cases, therefore, he would be willing to refer to Jesus as 'she' -- up until the last minute of sex reversal, in which case Jesus remains chromosomally female throughout life, but functions as a normal male and looks like a normal male". If your curious about who helped translate the holy, infallible word of God into the train wreck that is the NIV, do a search for Virginia Ramey Mollenkott. She's very proud of her work.

Being an engineer, I have a theory. I think we should pick and island and put the sterilized ladies (and their mates) as well as the gay and lesbian christians on an island. Let them have all the food and water they need for survival. Than check on them in 50 years. See how the commune is thriving. I have a feeling that Darwin may have been right. The weak of the species would die out. Obviously the sterilized men/ladies won't be reproducing. Even more obviously the gays and lesbians won't be reproducing (unless they're cheating). How can this thinking be right? Do they not understand science and biology? My head hurts...

Works, Faith and Salvation

Answering the comment left on the "Faith, Works and Salvation" post: No. This gentleman was not saying the same thing. He has no assurance of his salvation. He feels that he has to fight and work everyday towards gaining his salvation. His belief does not offend me. If he has no surety of his salvation, I feel sorry for him, but he does not offend me or my faith.
As for you not changing your worldly ways after you're saved, true conversion will bring about heart changes. Heart changes bring about the desire to change your life. A circumcised (converted) heart is crushed at the thought of offending God. That's what James is saying about faith and works. True faith brings about works. Think of Simon the sorcerer in Acts. He believed Philip when he preached; was even baptized. I doubt his conversion was real. Why? He still had his heart set on himself. He wanted to wow the people with the Holy Spirit. So much so, he was willing to pay for that power. He hadn't changed. Read in chapter 8 of Acts, verses 20 through 24. Peter doubted his conversion also. So much so that he said he was going to perish along with his money. His heart was "not right in the sight of God". Doesn't sound like a saved person to me. Salvation starts in the heart and ends in the heart. I can't give you faith, nor can I take your faith.
I'll finish with a few verses.
Galatians 2:20 and 21 - ²⁰I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.²¹I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Hmmm, Paul says he lives his life by faith in the Son of God. He also says that if we are living by the law (works) that we are frustrating [to set aside, that is, (by implication) to disesteem, neutralize or violate: - cast off, despise, disannul, frustrate, bring to nought, reject] the grace of God; AND that when we frustrate the grace of God, we have caused Christ to die in vain. That's pretty harsh.
Galatians 5:1-26 (focus 4-6) - ⁴Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.⁵For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.⁶For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. Is it fair to say that the circumcision that Paul speaks about is a work?
When we work in our flesh, our works always die out. I've seen many times where people try to take on the ministry (or lifestyle) of someone else without Spiritual conviction, only to become frustrated and swing 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Not once or twice, but time and time again. Like the man in James who doesn't ask in faith, he's "like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."
Once again, I know that I didn't exhaust the scriptures, but I do hope that you see where I'm coming from. I also hope you read some of the referenced scriptures from the other post.

Ghost Town

It’s just after nine o’ clock and it’s like a ghost town in here (work). Why? Deer hunting season started yesterday. Judging by the quietness of the office area and the emptiness of the cubes and shop floor, I’ll bet that the company is at about 20% today. Yesterday was about 25%. The beginning of gun season is like a holiday. In fact, up until a couple years ago, the whole shop shut down as a paid holiday on the first day of gun season. Then, with much surprise to management, they found out that not everyone was hunting on this day off! At that point, they re-instated November 15^th as an actual work day and gave everyone an additional vacation day to use at the employees discretion. It’s obvious to me that most people still use this day as a holiday. Hunting is still a way of life up here.

 

Another factual specimen. A couple years ago, President George W. Bush made a trip up to the UP. He’s only the second U.S. president to visit the UP. He actually expressed a desire to tour our facility. They had his secret service come through and talk to the employees and management. The tour was scrapped when they realized that too many people carried firearms to work or actually had firearms stashed in their desks. They couldn’t guarantee this would be a weapon-free facility and had concerns for the president’s safety. Not that anyone had any intentions to harm him, just that the possibility was there. Having said that, I don’t come to work in fear for my safety. Just as hunting is a part of life, so are firearms. Obviously, they go hand-in-hand. That’s not to say that someone couldn’t become disgruntled and go on a rampage. That could happen in Washington DC where gun control is the most stringent. What it does mean is that if someone does come in here with the intent to harm with a firearm, he will not make much headway with the other people also carrying firearms. Just some more UP history I thought I’d pass along.

Faith, Works and Salvation

I know that I'm way overdo to finish my thoughts on the Headships post. This should be relatively brief.
I've only ever met one man that verbally told me that you could only find salvation through works. Most people will dance around the issue and dip their toe in the water, but will stop short of jumping in with both feet and actually saying that salvation comes through works. This man could not imagine that God would only require your faith. His example; "If I stood here and told you I had a fifty dollar bill and you could have it, believance alone will not get you this fifty dollars. You have to step up here and grab it."
Ephesians 2:8 starts:⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹Not of works, lest any man should boast.

This is pretty clear as to what saves us. It is by the grace of God, through our faith (once again, made available by God) that we are saved. Not by works. If it were by our good works, what is the point of the coming and suffering of Christ? So many before Christ lived lives of good works. Alright, so what about verse 10 of the Ephesians passage? Ephesians 2:10: ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Yes, it says that we were created to do good works. No, it does not say that we are saved through good works. I already pointed out to you what salvation comes by. God loves for us to do good works. It pleases Him. A couple more references. Jesus himself said that a persons faith has saved them. See Luke 7:50 (read the preceding verses also). The woman who anointed his head with oil and kissed his feet. He forgave her of her sins and made the proclamation "Thy faith hath saved thee". Also in Luke 18:42 he also made the same statement to the blind man. Also in 2 Timothy 3:15, 1 Peter 1:9 and more. In fact, in Galatians 5:4, it says that if you are justified by the law (works), you have fallen from grace. Meaning if you put your faith in the law, you have turned away from God's grace. Your faith is in works, not in God. Also see Romans 4:4.
What about James 2:17 which says: ¹⁷Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. This passage does not say that faith coupled by works saves. It says that faith without works is dead. It's eluding to your faith producing works. Read verse 18 (James 2:18). It says that his faith will produce works. He also says that you can't have one without the other. He is not condoning the thinking of faith and works separated. He said that his faith is proven through his works. Good works is a by-product of true faith. A faith without works is not faith, or is dead faith.
How do you keep your salvation? Through faith! Read: 1 Peter 1:5 ("kept through faith unto salvation"). Jude 1:3 says to "earnestly contend for the faith" unto salvation. Many places he tells them to hold onto the things that first saved them (faith). To go back to that which first saved them (faith). In Hebrews 3, more than once the writer tells them to hold fast the confidence unto the end.
Alright, now that I made my case for salvation, back to the headship. If the un-spiritual husband tells you to cut your hair, put on pants, put on make-up, wear jewelery and stay home from church...does this mean the end of your salvation? Of course not. I just showed that your salvation comes through faith. I also showed that your salvation is kept through faith. Your mean heathen husband can make you do a lot of things, but he can't take away your salvation. Just like the martyrs of history. The biggest push of their persecutors was for them to recant and or deny their faith. Turn their backs on their salvation by grace through faith. They screwed their tongues to wood. They disemboweled them. They burned them and threw them into the wild animals. They took their scriptures and destroyed them. Locked them up and prevented them from going to church. But they went to the death and grave with their faith in salvation. Just as a woman can live amongst a cruel husband and be obedient to him, and still keep her faith; which in turn is confirming her salvation.
I know this is elementary stuff for some. Anyone who chooses to pick up the scripture, read it and actually believe what it says knows this. But the contrary is being preached from pulpits and believed among the congregation. Make sure that your confirming the preaching in your church with the authority of the scriptures. And as a final note, I certainly did not exhaust the scriptures with the passages I used. I know there are more to support this. I just ran out of time to run them all down. Besides, it will give you something to do.