Tag: Love

Awesome Puritans Get a Bum Rap!

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Family, Father, Freedom, God's Love, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, MotherLeave a comment

An engraved illustration of the Pilgrim Fathers leaving England, from a Victorian book dated 1886 that is no longer in copyrigh

In modern times, the earliest American settlers have been wrongly whitewashed as a dour, always somber-faced people who led unpleasant legalistic lives constrained by an overly oppressive and complex matrix of strict rules they believed had Biblical origin. Ugh! Who would want to live that way?

However, to understand a historical people, it is always far better to read what they said and wrote themselves, rather than rely on third party historians who are often biased. The process is called using primary source material.

The Puritans left or handed down an abundance of personal diaries attesting to their colorful clothing (They may have worn black and whites on Sunday morning.), vibrant sense of humor, and enthusiasm for throwing a good party. Their personal testimonies are at stark odds with the modern stereotype.

Nevertheless, there is an overarching principle that drove the everyday lives of the Puritans, a principle that we desperately need to learn today. They made no distinction between the sacred and the secular. To the Puritans, all of life is sacred. Their view is refreshing, incredibly simple, elegant, and powerful.

But how did they derive such a view? The Puritans regarded every moment and every breath we take as a gift from our awesome, loving, God. What we do with every moment and every breath we take is our gift back to God. It our expression of gratitude, guided by His love for us.

The holistic Puritan view and example does not mean that we should live each day with a persimmon-mouth appearance, driven by an overly churchy attitude, while living the monastic life of a medieval monk.

It does mean that an overarching purpose of our life is to love and meet the needs of others. It also means that, whether we are with our family, at work, or enjoying recreational pursuits, we are continually sensitive to God’s desire for our life and well-being. After all, since He created us, He knows what is best for us and that deviations from God’s best always carry a price, sometimes a painfully heavy price. What is best for us? His Word, the Bible says it best!

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

Diversity Madness and Matrimony

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Father, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Marriage, Mother, Same Sex Marriage, Wedding Vows4 Comments

Marriage License Closeup

Diversity! Diversity! Diversity! It’s everywhere; it’s proclaimed incessantly by the media; it’s embedded in many textbooks and taught as axiomatic throughout the educational system; it’s treated with Humanistic reverence by politicians. Diversity is the buzzword and allegedly one of the most important cultural goals of our time.

In truth, it is a powerful liberal/progressive/Humanistic weapon designed to convert America’s beautiful Judeo-Christian culture into a chaotic scrambled eggs-like mass of languages and customs that can be easily controlled by the globalist elite. Break the American culture by breaking the whole into an infinite number of parts that are easily scrambled and easily subdued.

Celebrate the differences, they said. Yet, there is one glaring exception to the insane diversity craze.

For decades, the same groups championing diversity without substance have loudly proclaimed that there is no difference between a man and woman except for a few pieces of external plumbing. Men and woman were regarded as interchangeable. A single parent was all that was necessary for a “family.” The God of the Bible was replaced by the god of government.

The attacks on the traditional American family have been brutal and relentless. The attacks are an essential part of the liberal/progressive/Humanist strategy of breaking the culture to facilitate a fundamental transformation from a democracy to a socialist state. The results have been so disastrous that they have become conspicuously clear to most people.

Celebrate the sameness, they said. But, the simple and relentless proclamation of no difference between a man and a woman is no longer sufficient. The differences are far too obvious. Then came Plan B. Instead of simply proclaiming sameness, they sought to smear the obvious differences.

The liberal/progressive/Humanist movement has increasingly smeared the two sexes into an imagined spectrum of maleness, femaleness, and gender identity. The movement has latched onto LGBTQ causes as the Plan B weapon. Regardless of obvious physical, emotional, and spiritual attributes, a man may self “identify” as a woman or a woman may self “identify” as a man.

God, it seems, can be overruled by a single selfish, self-serving statement of feelings. Humanist surgeons are all too happy to rearrange the external plumbing to accommodate perceived sexual “feelings.”

Further confusion is facilitated by emerging concepts such as gender and species-fluidity. Someone may identify as a man today, a woman tomorrow, a four-year old child the third day, and cocker spaniel on the fourth day. Watch out for the self-identified rabbits! That should slow down the body-mutilating surgeons a bit. Consider just two absurd examples.

Canadian Lauren Southern is clearly all woman. As an underground reporter, she exposes how easy it is to convince a doctor to certify that she’s a man. Using the doctor’s letter, she visits a government agency and obtains a government ID card legally declaring that she’s a man. Finally, Lauren exposes the disastrous cultural repercussions of such idiocy. Refer to “Lauren Southern Becomes a Man”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGpZSefYvwM Know in advance that there is a little bit of course language in the opening seconds of the video.

Lauren quickly observes that this diversity madness forces society to give up its sense of honesty, objectivity, and respect for facts. Reality is replaced by a “toxic hedonism” that celebrates feelings over objective honesty.

The second illustration is provide by the Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW) who visited Seattle University. In a series of interviews, the university students were genuinely unable to explain one of the most obvious facts of human existence, the difference between male and female. Statistically, at least a few of them must have been Judeo-Christian believers. Refer to “College Kids Say the Darndest Things on Gender,” https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=robo&p=YouTube+University+of+Seattle+male+v+female+interviews#id=1&vid=0b8857b4d833e74925f211394d5fed8a&action=click

Tragically, many Judeo-Christian believers have bought in to this insanity.

Folks, we’re in deep tapioca!

The problems incited by all the cultural lunacy are numerous, huge, and devastating. For now, consider just one. Each of us carries between 50 trillion and 100 trillion cells in our body. Each cell contains a nucleus, within which resides a strand of DNA that loudly and unambiguously proclaims the YOU are either a man or a woman. Nearly 100 trillion witnesses “take the stand” certifying that you are either a man or a woman. That binary distinction is clear, unarguable, and permanent. Feelings or identity does not change this simple conspicuously obvious biological fact.

It is astonishing how easily the public, including, believers, accepts the sheer idiocy of no difference or alternatively an unbroken spectrum of sexual “identities.”

The distinction between a man and a woman, is a creation of God and emerges from His limitless wisdom. In His infinite genius, God, “…created them male and female and blessed them.” [Genesis 5:2 NIV] “Jesus answered, Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’” [Matthew 19:4 NAS] “However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’” [Mark 10:6 NAS]

Celebrate the differences, God said.

If God made YOU a man that is awesome; if He made YOU a woman that is incredible. Be excited, thankful, and humbled by the God that created YOU as one sex or the other. Either way, you have an important and powerful role in the family of God and in your own home family. Celebrate the differences between a man and a woman, as God created them.

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

The next blog will explore the magnificent differences between a man and a woman.

Wedding Vows? Anchor or Valentine?

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Family, Father, God's Love, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, Mother, Wedding VowsLeave a comment

At a time when our national culture is rapidly declining and serial-marriage seems to be becoming a tragic new norm or marriage is avoided altogether, this may be one of the most urgent and important messages I’ve written. The vital question is simple. Are the traditional wedding vows the immutable anchor expressing the Biblical worldview or have they devolved into the equivalent of a valentine?

No civilization has ever survived the breakdown of the family. Cohesive families are the bedrock foundation of all sustainable cultures. Sustainable families cannot exist unless anchored by a strong marriage that begins with a powerful, binding, and highly respected wedding. “Let marriage be held in honor among all…” [Hebrews 13:4 ESV]

A Godly wedding is an extraordinarily beautiful picture of the ultimate wedding between the perfect bridegroom, Jesus, with His bride, the body of believers. [Revelation 19:7-10; Ephesians 5:22,23; 2 Corinthians 11:2 KJV] The genius of God’s heavenly reunion is pictured by the earthly union. A marriage between a man and a woman honors God, when they enthusiastically live according to the sacred vows and tenaciously adhere to the exclusive and binding relationship to which they voluntarily committed. The preliminary process is familiar.

Following an initial meeting, a man and a woman form a physical/intellectual bond (mutual respect and appreciation, building to admiration), an emotional bond (What a hunk or chick! That hug feels rrrreally good!), and ultimately a spiritual bond (sense of peace knowing that the other is a mature and actively growing believer). At a later time, when they have grown sufficiently together, he proposes and she agrees to marry.

CAUTION: After months of preparation, many couples are so anxious and exhausted on their all-important wedding day that the vows seem to go by in a blur of sensory experiences. The vitality of the moment is often lost. Later, the married couple may attend other weddings as a guest, but may pay to little heed to the vows. After all, they’ve “been there; done that” and they are looking forward to the reception. Occasional mentions of wedding vow fragments on television shows or in the movies cannot possibly fill the gap of insufficient understanding.

In contrast, consider the genius, incomparable elegance, conspicuous power, and profound security of the traditional wedding ceremony illustrated in the graphic.

wedding-vows-3

It begins with a solemn promise that is total, sacred, and voluntary. As a commitment “before God,” confirmed by “these witnesses,” the promise declares that the entire ceremony is an act of worship.

The vows themselves are comprehensive. Each requires valuing the other before self:

  • Love—unconditional, holding spouse in higher esteem than self
  • Comfort—console and reassure at all times
  • Cherish—guard with care and affection; hold dear
  • Honor—show high regard, appreciation and respect
  • Keep—remain absolutely faithful, no exceptions

The scope is unlimited; it has no boundaries and the relationship is absolutely exclusive. They mutually pledge that nothing will ever inhibit or damage their marriage, regardless of life conditions (better/worse; richer/poorer; sickness/health).

The marriage is rock solid regardless of standard-of-living (aggregate value of accumulated stuff) or quality-of-life (personal health and richness of network of interpersonal relationships, beginning with the family and working outward. No outsider will ever be permitted to breach its bulwark.

The commitment is ultimate and ironclad, “…as long as you both shall live!”

The wholeness of bond is characterized by firmly binding together, “…my life, my heart, and all my worldly goods.” They have unalterably bound themselves together, physically/intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.

Finally, the seal becomes irrevocable, when they call for their marriage to be sealed by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The earthly representation of that seal is the married couple’s first encounter with God’s incredible gift of physical intimacy, often referred to as consummating the marriage. Physical intimacy is the capstone of God’s process of bringing two people together in the unique, exclusive relationship called marriage.

Tragically, in modern America, far too many couples succumb to temptation, experiencing physical intimacy before marriage. When they do so, the experience is so powerful and binding that it effectively “scrambles the brain,” interfering with the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual bonding process, which is a vitally important prelude to the marriage decision. It becomes exceedingly difficult to determine whether or not a sex partner is the best candidate for a lifelong, exclusive marriage.

Now—What do YOU think? Are the wedding vows an immutable anchor or merely a valentine?

God’s way is always the best way. Your happiness depends on it; your future depends on it; your spouse depends on it. Your family depends on it. America depends on it.

There is nothing in any other social relations in any way parallel to the mutual attraction of the sexes. By missing this simple point, the modern world has fallen into a hundred follies…There is no dispute about the purpose of Nature in creating such an attraction. It would be more intelligent to call it the purpose of God; for Nature can have no purpose unless God is behind it.

G. K. Chesterton

The happy State of Matrimony is, undoubtedly, the surest and most lasting Foundation of Comfort and Love; the Source of all that endearing Tenderness and Affection which arises from Relation and Affinity; the grand Point of Property; the Cause of all good Order in the World, and what alone preserves it from the utmost Confusion; and, to sum up all, the Appointment of infinite Wisdom for these great and good Purposes [sic].

Benjamin Franklin

What does it take to wake-up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake-up the clergy?

 

Margaret Thatcher on Faith, Freedom, and America

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Judeo-Christian Culture, VoteLeave a comment

margaret-thatcher

“The Decalogue—Ten Commandments—are addressed to each and every person. This is the origin of our common humanity and of the sanctity of the individual. Each one has a duty to try to carry out those commandments. You don’t get that in any other political creed…It is personal liberty with personal responsibilities.

Responsibility to your parents, to your children, to your God. This really binds us together in a way that nothing else does. If you accept freedom, you’ve got to have principles about the responsibility. You can’t do this without a Biblical foundation.

Your [American] Founding Fathers came over with that. They came over with the doctrines of the New Testament as well as the Old. They looked after one another, not only as a matter of necessity, but as a matter of duty to their God. There is no other country in the world which started that way.”

Margaret Thatcher

Former British Prime Minister

Interview 1996

The Family is God’s First and Most Important Support Group!

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Family, Father, Freedom, God's Love, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, MotherLeave a comment

Families

It’s been trendy, among churches, in the last two or three decades to create all manner of support groups. There are support groups for people dealing with alcohol addiction; drug addiction; divorce; mentally or physically disabled children; and older people, with various forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease or other chronic illnesses (caregiver support groups).

However, God created the first and by far the most important support group. It’s called the family. Tragically, as Judeo-Christian believers, we have become professionals as slicing and dicing the family in every imaginable way. Walk into virtually any church and find the family shot gunned into widely dispersed groups based on gender, age, marital status or educational level. Each group is tightly proscribed, narrowly limited, and quickly becomes isolated, especially from the family.

The same situation exists whether the church is traditional (Sunday School) or contemporary (home-base groups). The contemporary church simply scatters the traditional Sunday School around the neighborhood, scattering the family as in the traditional church. The increasingly popular home based groups in some cases exert even more pressure on the family, because they are scheduled at different times and places, during the week.

The result is that the family is forcefully splintered at the very place where they should be reinforced as well as worshiping and learning together. Family members lose a sense of the panorama of time and how they fit into that panorama.

Of course, God views the entire panorama of time from the Garden of Eden to the return of the Messiah. Even with our human limitations, it is extremely important that we understand our debt to the 3-4 generations of ancestors who preceded us and our duty to the 3-4 generations of descendants who follow us.

The usual rationale for slicing and dicing the family at church is that each family member is at a different place in life and has different needs. Balderdash! Every family member has exactly the same need to learn that “God is love” and that His love is manifested through us as humility, forgiveness, mercifulness, longsuffering, and a servant’s spirit. Collectively, they represent the character of God and the lifelong journey to grow in them. Those are lessons the entire family can learn together. Each family member helps the others learn those lessons daily.

 

In modern America, the family is being blown apart. The modern church is structured in a way that facilitates the breakdown of the family. No statistics are necessary. It is self-evident that the family is breaking down among the bodies of believers nearly as fast as it is breaking down in the background secular culture.

The church, whether traditional or contemporary must be restructured to strongly reinforce and build up the family, rather than tearing it apart. Families must meet together, worship together, and learn together as they have for millennia. The devastating slicing and dicing of the family has only been part of the church structure for the last 100 to 150 years.

The family is God’s only support group. It is far more powerful than any other. There are major limitations created by the collapsing American culture. Generations are often separated by long distances. People find themselves single following a divorce that was not of their own choosing. There is also enormous cultural pressure to satisfy self, rather than serve others.

Here is a Biblical remedy. Consider forming numerous family support groups, where groups of families can reinforce each others experiences and learn about high risk activities and how to help family members who fall prey to those risks before the crisis occurs. Thus armed, a family, demonstrating a servant’s spirit, may want to consider informally “adopting” someone in crisis as a means of helping that person. Similarly, when generations are separated by long distances, a family may choose to adopt an older or younger generation family locally.

There is still a place for some of those support groups mentioned in the opening paragraph, but only for those people who don’t have the support of an immediate family.

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

Five Frightening Election Words!

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Family, Father, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Judeo-Christian Culture, Marriage, Mother, Vote12 Comments

donald trump

Here are five frightening words for all voters who backed losing candidates in the Republican primaries and who are threatening to sit out the November election because they don’t like Donald Trump:

Supreme Court Justice Barack Obama.

The choice in November is clear – it will be either Donald Trump or

Hillary Clinton, and a no-vote or a third party vote is the same as a vote for Hillary Clinton.

If Hillary Clinton, arguably the most dishonest and corrupt person ever to run for President of the United States, wins, she likely will name President Obama to the Supreme Court for several very good reasons:

  1. he has covered her backside, no easy task that, in the email server scandals and now wants payback;
  2. he claims credentials as a Constitutional lawyer;
  3. he is buying a mansion in Washington D.C. and has made no secret of his desire to stay in the capitol; and
  4. he could complete his “fundamental transformation”  of our Republic during a lifetime on the Supreme Court.

If that’s not enough to scare everyone into voting, I don’t know what will.

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

Greatest Destroyer of Peace is Abortion!

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Family, Father, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, Mother2 Comments

mother-teresa-2

“I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself, and if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?…Please don’t kill the child…give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child and be loved by the child.”

Mother Teresa

National Prayer Breakfast

February 3, 1994

The Time for Believers to Act is Now—or Perhaps Never!

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Family, Father, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Judeo-Christian Culture, Marriage, Mother, Same Sex Marriage2 Comments

woman reading the bible in the darkness

The time for believers to act—and to act aggressively is now! There may not be another chance to be a positive and effective ambassador for the Lord until He returns. Generational drift has produce believers who are astonishingly ignorant of the Bible and its application to today most vital issues. Consider God’s own perfect words:

“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.” [James 4:1-6 NKJV Emphasis added]

The body of believers has become far too friendly with the world. It is a friendship that has distorted the Biblical worldview as perceived my many believers, especially the younger generations. The worldly-influenced distortions of the Biblical worldview has produced generations of sincere believers who are astonishingly ignorant of the pervasive nature of the Biblical worldview and how it applies to the powerful and devastating issues of our time.

Ponder just a few examples:

  • Abortion—Many have a vague notion that abortion is wrong, but are unable to clearly articulate why it is wrong. They may generally recall a Scripture verse where the Lord says, “I knew you when you were in the womb,” but many believers don’t know where to find it. Tragically, many believers have bought into the commonly held abortion exceptions for conceptions resulting from rape or incest and for protecting the health of the mother. They might even consider abortion when tests indicate that the baby might be born with some physical or mental limitations. Bottom line: Statistically, there is no difference between the rates of abortion among conservative Bible believers and the rate of abortion among atheists/agnostics.
  • Divorce—Today, many believers have essentially accepted serial marriage as a new norm. With unmistakable clarity God proclaims in Malachi, “I hate divorce.” Exactly what part of “I hate divorce” do people not understand? Most readers already know and understand the Biblical passages dealing with marriage and divorce. Nevertheless, the political notion of no-fault divorce that easily swept through most state legislatures greased the skids for believers to follow the world’s concept of divorce. Bottom line: The divorce rate among conservative Bible believers is statistically indistinguishable from the divorce rate among atheist/agnostics. Indeed, the United States, driven by Judeo-Christian tradition for centuries, now has a divorce rate among the top five highest in the world.
  • Same-Sex Marriage—For many believers, there is comfort in the God-given Biblical concept of marriage as one man, one woman, for one lifetime. Yet, they are unable to articulate why. They have gradually accepted alternative lifestyles up to and including so called “same-sex marriage.” Traditional marriage is carpet-bombed daily, by the media, the entertainment industry, liberal/progressive politicians, and the public educational system. Bottom line: Like Lot of old, many believers have long ago pitched their tent toward Sodom and have effectively since moved in. The tragic result is the catastrophic collapse of the American culture.
  • Strangers (largely government employees) raising the children of believers—In a devastating about face, the American culture now reveres career as a higher priority than family. Believers have succumbed to that siren song. There is no way a child can emerge into adulthood with solid soul-deep Biblical values unless the child is raised by his/her biological mom who is a full time homemaker, at least during child rearing years, and biological dad. It will not happen when a child is subjected to an endless round of babysitters, infant child care, nursery schools, before school care, after school care and so on. There is no substitute for a child’s God-given parents. Bottom line: The family is being intentionally obliterated by the myriad of forces that oppose it, while believers effectively roll over and play dead. The American culture, envied by the world since its inception, is rapidly falling into the dust bin of history.
  • Pornography—The explosion of the Internet has brought with it an explosion in pornography. It has become nearly impossible to avoid. While many believers will readily acknowledge that habitually viewing hard core pornography is wrong, they quietly accept the notion that a bit of soft porn is no big deal. Bottom line: Porn in any form is a big deal; it destroys relationships; it destroys marriages; it destroys families, thereby causing lasting damage to children. Yet most believers do not understand why and certainly are unable to articulate it.
  • LGBT adoptions—When they hear about LGBT adoptions, believers my feel a ripple of discontent pass through their heart and mind. Once again, they are unable to clearly articulate the associated problems from the perspective of a Biblical worldview. Bottom line: The rate of LGBT adoptions continues to increase with devastating effects on the American culture, while being tacitly supported by many believers.

Believers have become nearly indistinguishable from the world. If we want our children and grandchildren to experience even a fragment of a remaining free culture, the body of believers must act now, with determination and persistence. There is no time left. An occasional Bible class lesson or sermon on a controversial life-damaging topic will not come anywhere close to overcoming the widespread ignorance among believers.

There must be a very intense, all-out effort lead by the clergy. Here are a few recommendations:

  • Weekly group discussions—There must be intense weekly discussions for at least 8-12 weeks to cover all relevant issues. The discussions could occur within the traditional Sunday School or in home-based groups at any time.
  • Weekly sermons—Throughout the same period, there must be a reinforcing series of sermons on the same topics. People desperately want to hear from their spiritual leaders.
  • Suggested resource—An excellent resource is Dr. James L. Garlow’s book, Well Versed: Biblical Answers to Today’s Tough Issues. His book was just published within recent weeks and addresses many of today’s most vexing issues in 3-5 page bite size chunks. A sampling of topics includes political correctness, school choice and parental authority, marriage, schools universities and the Christian faith, abortion, sexual orientation, the judiciary, social justice, Israel, racism, and many more. All topics are addressed from an uncompromising Biblical world viewpoint.

We cannot fail to arm the believers within our sphere of influence with clear, accurate, easy-to-articulate Biblical information to wage the ongoing spiritual war.

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their intimidation; do not be shaken.” But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to articulate a defense to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But respond with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you will be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.… [1 Peter 3:14-15 NIV]

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

 

Why Do We Insist on Sending Our Children into the Darkness?

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Family, Father, God's Love, Government, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love2 Comments

Boy Covers his Ears, hear no evil concept, grey background

Many Judeo-Christian believers and their leaders in the clergy fret and wring their hands about the loss of young adults to the faith. Christian and Jewish communities alike are losing massive numbers of young people as soon as they reach the age of moving away from home. Could the public school systems be part of the reason?

Consider the opening words of Psalm 1, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” [KJV] It is powerful Scriptural counsel.

Our children and grandchildren are precious gifts from God. Yet, we continue to immerse them, in the public school system, for 12 years in the “counsel of the ungodly,” smack dab “in the way of sinners,” all while occupying the “seat of the scornful.” The children are taught repeatedly that

  • the concept of sin is a relic of the religious myth;
  • all forms of behavior and lifestyles are morally acceptable;
  • none should have any form of a stigma attached. Refer to a previous blog (What the Public School is Teaching Your Children/Grandchildren is Shocking!) for a lengthy list of anti-Biblical messages relentlessly taught in the public schools

The authority figures with whom our children and grandchildren spend most of their waking hours are continuously teaching ungodly humanistic values. Why then should we be surprised by teenagers,

  • engaging in immoral—sometimes illegal—behaviors,
  • causing teen pregnancies,
  • displaying extremely selfish attitudes,
  • promoting ungodly liberal/progressive views,
  • using drugs and alcohol, and
  • ultimately, leaving the faith.

The Apostle Paul asks in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “…what fellowship can light have with darkness?” [NIV] None, of course! Then why do we insist on sending our children and grandchildren into 12 years of darkness?

There are few alternatives. Many faith-based schools have become elite to the point of demanding tuition in the range of $10,000 to $14,000 per year per child, simply outside the range of the average family. Some have also compromised the Judeo-Christian values that originally launched the schools. Consider two other options:

  • Home schooling: Home schooling was started by God, “Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” [Deuteronomy 11:19 NIW] God assigned the responsibility of education to the parents and has never changed His mind.

In modern times, the home schooling movement has massively matured. Consider A Beka Academy as one example of many. (http://www.abekaacademy.org/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 ) Today, the number of home schooling families should be increased by at least a factor of 10.

  • Faith-based schooling: Drive across any city and observe church after church and synagogue after synagogue that are occupied on occasional week nights and on weekends. These places of worship ranging from a small neighborhood church to large campuses at mega-churches lie empty during prime weekday hours virtually all day every day Monday through Friday.

The physical facilities for Christian schools already exist just waiting to be used for schools. It is shameful to waste God’s resources on empty buildings, while the American culture continues to implode. However, to use the existing facilities as schools requires cooperation and collaboration among churches even across denominational lines.

I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme. Every institution that does not unceasingly pursue the study of God’s Word becomes corrupt…I greatly fear that the [schools], unless they teach the Holy Scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, are wide gates to Hell. Martin Luther

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Judeo-Christian Culture, Same Sex MarriageLeave a comment

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act” Dietrich Bonhoeffer bonhoeffer3

America and Believers Go From Selfless to Selfish! (Part 3)

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Family, Government, Judeo-Christian Culture, Marriage5 Comments

Personal Responsibility

Judeo-Christian tradition insists on personal responsibility, meaning that each individual is responsible for the consequences of both selfless and selfish behaviors. Each individual will enjoy the benefits of selfless behaviors and live with the extended pain of the selfish behaviors, without external intervention.

Secular Humanism minimizes personal responsibility and readily accepts claims shifting the blame to others. Government programs, euphemistically called ‘entitlement programs,’ often pay for and therefore reward the consequences of sin. Examples include the vast bureaucracies designed to support divorce, government-financed abortion, child care, and alternative lifestyles. The table compares the ultimate outcomes of both lifestyles. In effect, the government is saying we are entitled to sin.

Selfless Living Assures

Selfish Living Breaks Down

Bullet proof marriage

 Marriage

Cohesive family

 Family
Sustainable culture

Culture

National Stability to Posterity

Nation

Sin hides in the darkness; love thrives in the light. Sin and love always have opposing consequences that ripple through the third and fourth generation. Selfish behavior puts career first. Selfless behavior puts family first.

To fully understand the benefits of selfless living contrasted with the ultimate pain of selfish living, we must understand the enormity of the gap between good and evil; God and Satan; and love and sin. Compare sinfulness and godliness.

Sinfulness

Sinfulness is a mindset predisposed to sin and satisfying the needs and desires of self. Sin is natural and reinforced by modern culture. Sin is driven by pride, always selfish and at the expense of others, typically many others. Sinfulness leads to the addictive use of technology, sex without marriage, cohabitation, abortion, giving up a child for adoption, premature use of a nursing home, divorce, adultery, illegal drugs, gambling, pornography, gay/lesbian couple adoption, excessive materialism, time/money devoted to self-indulgence, and the avoidance of marriage and children.

Abortion is a crime against God and the unborn baby; it is not birth control

Sin blocks or destroys a person’s desire to share faith with others; Love magnifies (amplifies) the desire to share faith. Love simply overflows from the selfless believer.

Godliness

Judeo-Christian godliness is a mindset predisposed to love and satisfying the needs and desires of others. Due to inborn pride, godliness is unnatural. It usually grows slowly and can only be protected and reinforced by surrounding oneself with likeminded believers. God never intended the believer to stand alone.

One cannot live for God, family, and others apart from the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, especially in today’s “everybody’s doing it” culture. Believers must be surrounded by faithful people who do not engage in the self-centered lifestyle. Standing alone against powerful Humanistic cultural pressure, constantly amplified by the news and advertising media, commercial entertainment, politicians, and academia, is a bit like spitting into an oncoming tsunami.

God blesses the life of those who wait and their descendants through the third and fourth generations with:

  • Fullness of marriage
  • Devotion of children
  • Comfort of lasting love
  • Certainty of faithfulness
  • Less stress
  • Less anxiety

Compare God’s many blessings with the modern predisposition to sacrifice marriage, by avoidance or divorce, and sacrifice children, by not having them or by allowing them to be raised by strangers. How many of the selfish behaviors have you personally experienced? How many have you actively or tacitly endorsed among your friends (HINT: Silence is an endorsement.)?

Has the comfort of other compromisers scarred your conscience or is there still room for the piercing conviction of God’s Word? The transformation to a true Judeo-Christian culture can only happen one person at a time. It begins with YOU. You MUST take a stand, supported by other believers, rather than compromise and seek the support of other compromisers. Spread God’s love every waking moment and vote for candidates of strong character.

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

America and Believers Go From Selfless to Selfish! (Part 2)

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Family, Father, Freedom, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, Mother1 Comment

All Behavior has Specific Worldview Roots

World Globalization International Life Planet Concept

Selfish behavior is promoted by the Humanist worldview, provides short-term happiness leading to long-term pain, excessive personal stress and lasting uncertainty as well as broken families and cultural chaos. There are profoundly negative consequences to self, those within immediate contact, and continue to ripple through many others. Such behaviors are called sinful, because they are offensive to God and at the expense of others. Nevertheless, the apparent attractiveness of the short-term delight is so powerful that large numbers of people will go for it, regardless of the cost. Have YOU ever succumbed to the siren call? How did it work out for you?

Selfless behavior is promoted by the Judeo-Christian worldview, provides long-term, soul-deep joy, life satisfaction, greater certainty, strong families, a sustainable culture, less stress and reduced anxiety. However, the life enriching benefits do not come easily because they emerge slowly and seem a bit abstract compared to the immediate physical thrills of the Hedonistic pursuit of personal pleasure. Waiting is unnatural, especially in the modern culture, which demands instant everything. Still, the wonderful rewards are absolutely worth the pursuit and the wait!

For now, consider that many of the selfish behaviors are incited by the natural and powerful attraction between a man and a woman. The lure of physical intimacy can become nearly uncontrollable, especially in our modern American culture that has separated sex from love. Life is far more beautiful than when they are combined within the context of the marriage created by God.

Sex is the Capstone

Sex is the capstone of a loving, godly, relationship after two people have bonded intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. After a couple is married, physical intimacy “seals the deal.” Premature or illicit sex is such a powerful and bonding experience that it renders the parties virtually powerless to determine whether or not they are good candidates for a life-long marriage. Love has been sidetracked by lust.

The consequences of all sin ripples. Selfish behaviors always negatively affects others (many others). The particular consequences of sexual sin include:

  • sexually transmitted disease, which may cause death or result in lifelong medically forced abstinence
  • pregnancy and the stresses of dealing with an out of wedlock pregnancy
  • scarred and loss of rich and lasting family and other interpersonal relationships
  • damaged relationship with God
  • negative consequences rippling through family and friends for up to four generations

The reward of waiting, for physical intimacy until after marriage is a lifelong commitment and faithfulness of spouse and children. Sex and love cannot be separated without huge negative consequences that are painful and lasting. Rewards of waiting far exceed the apparent benefits of caving in to temptation.

Part 3 considers the impact of the acceptance or rejection of personal responsibility on individuals, families, and the American culture as well as a comparison of sinfulness and godliness as applied to daily living.

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

America and Believers Go From Selfless to Selfish!

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Church, Education, Family, Judeo-Christian Culture, Marriage3 Comments

The rapidly growing rate of selfishness among Judeo-Christian believers is astonishing! The cultural collapse of America and the collateral collapse within the body of believers is the result of large numbers of believers moving away from God. Virtually every family, social, and cultural controversy is rooted in and caused by historically unprecedented indifference among Judeo-Christian believers.

The number of people caught in the cultural drift increases with each successive generation. The inevitable consequence is a migration from God-inspired selfless behavior to Humanist-inspired selfish behavior, from stability to instability, from order to chaos and from limited government by the people to a metastasized increasingly tyrannical government, controlling the people.

Only YOU can stop and reverse the ungodly drift. If you want your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and beyond to grow up in the culture we inherited up until the mid-1960s, YOU must trade your indifference for a positive and aggressive effort to make a difference. Not convinced? Consider the table.

Americans and Believers Go From Selfless to Selfish
Selfless Behavior Selfish Behavior
Frequent lifestyle giving Addictive use of technology
Sex without marriage
Willingness to wait for what is right Cohabitation
Abortion
Willingness to wait for others Give up child for adoption
Premature use of nursing home
Seek godly marriage Divorce
Adultery
Eagerness for children Illegal drugs
Gambling
Avoid selfish behavior Pornography
Materialism
Time/money devoted to the needs of others Time/money devoted to self-satisfaction
Avoid marriage/children
Gay/lesbian couple adoption

 

Each of the listed selfish behaviors are so common today that they are considered to be a “new norm.” Tragically, the rates of divorce and abortion among conservative believers are statistically indistinguishable from the rates among atheists and agnostics. The same is likely true of the other selfish behaviors as well. Whatever the churches and synagogues have been doing for the last 40 years clearly is not working.

People tend to perceive “normal” as the conditions that existed while they were growing up. Later, changing conditions are perceived as abnormal and discomforting, producing criticism of the rising generation. Conversely, as the younger generation experiences a new normal, they tend to criticize their predecessors as old fashioned and out of touch with the times. The pattern is so culturally ingrained that it is taken for granted. However, modern America has produced conditions that are distinctly new in American history.

The generation that grew up prior to the mid-1960s experienced an American culture that was largely driven by Judeo-Christian tradition and values. Their normal was essentially the same normal that was experienced by all generations for the last 400 years on this continent, beginning with the earliest settlers. It was the same value system experienced by hundreds Judeo-Christian generations before anyone ever came to America. Consequently, the widespread acceptance of selfish behaviors today is the real abnormal. The devastating behaviors are not simply different from the previous generation; they fly in the face of thousands of years of deep-rooted stability established by God.

Part 2 will demonstrate that all behavior is rooted in a specific worldview and many behaviors are related to the use and abuse of physical intimacy.

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

America Unmoored from Three Vital Anchors (Part 3)

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Church, Education, Family, Freedom, Judeo-Christian CultureLeave a comment

All three, once rock-solid, anchors (Bible, U.S. Constitution, and Family) have been continuously attacked for over 60 years. God’s perfect wisdom has been progressively replaced by man’s often erroneous and easily corrupted wisdom. As Humanist thinking has cancerously swept the elite in politics, the media, academia, and Hollywood, the results have been so tragic that they need not be catalogued here.

Anchor with chain

Judeo-Christian believers historically have always impacted their surrounding cultures to an extent far greater than their actual numbers. That influence can be either positive or negative. For over 400 years, the believers have had a positive impact on the American culture. However, for the last 50 years their impact has become increasingly negative. For example, presuming a believing family, what would YOUR mother or grandmother think about how you live your life today? Are you wiser than both of them and 6,000 years of their predecessors?

Where have the Judeo-Christian believers been? Ask any group of believers today to describe their beliefs. Typical responses will be “religious,” “spiritual, but not religious,” “somewhat religious,” or “moderately religious.” Alternatively, they may claim that their faith is “very important,” “important,” “moderately important,” “somewhat important,” or “relatively unimportant” to their daily lives, depending on the language of any contemporary survey. All such terms reflect some extent of compromise. What are they actually saying?

Many will intellectually agree that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, Word of God, but it is merely an intellectual assent, not a spiritual conviction. The Bible is the ultimate anchor of the American culture and the primary influence on the other anchors. Since the founding documents and traditional family, are derived from the Bible, all three anchors are rock-solid. Any deviation or erosion of that foundation must necessarily give man’s imperfect thinking a priority higher than God. “Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” [James 3:15 NIV] “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” [1 Corinthians 3:19 NIV] “And he said to man, the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom; and to shun evil is understanding.” [Job 28;28 NIV]

How can any honest believer replace any of God’s perfect instructions for living with man’s imperfect constructions? Abandoning God—to any extent—undermines and eventually destroys the family, the Constitution, capitalism, and freedom. The result is a runaway government and tyranny. Now, more than ever before, believers MUST overlook their doctrinal differences and unite to save the family, the freedom that came from God, and the beloved American culture that has been blessed by God and the envy of the world for hundreds of years.

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

America Unmoored from Three Vital Anchors

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Judeo-Christian Culture2 Comments

Three vital rock-solid anchors have made America strong and virtually impregnable for hundreds of years. Today, all three are targets of relentless attacks that threaten to destroy the American culture and the nation.

Anchors Part 1

The strength of a culture emerges from the continuous interactions of the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the culture. Each must have its own anchor. The interactions among the three become a strong tether that assures a cohesive family and a sustainable culture that will be passed from generation to generation. “And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” [Ecclesiastes 4:12 KJV] In America, the three anchors are:

  1. The Bible—spiritual anchor
  2. U.S. Constitution—physical/intellectual anchor
  3. The Family—emotional anchor

The Bible is the spiritual anchor—the ultimate anchor. It is known by many believers as the inspired, inerrant Word of God. It is directly inspired by God and is without error.

The combination of the Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution is the physical/intellectual anchor. It is an earthly embodiment of the Biblical message. It was the Founders’ desire to build Biblical principles into the founding documents in such a way that those principles would operate freely for posterity. Although the documents are not inspired by God, they are informed by scriptural principles as the Founders understood them.

The family, as God created and designed it is the emotional anchor. The three anchors are rock-solid. Anything that weakens any one or all of them is like whittling away at one or more legs of a three-legged stool. Eventually, the stool will fall.

All three anchors are a reflection of God’s infinite love and perfect wisdom. Any effort to change, alter, dilute, move away from, or re-characterize any of the anchors places man’s wisdom higher than God’s wisdom, causing individuals and the national culture to drift away from God.

Millennia ago, God identified through scripture certain thoughts and activities as sin, because they puff self and weaken the family. The family, as God designed it, is the only way to preserve a thriving human culture from generation to generation. Banning sinful thoughts or activities is God’s way of bolstering and protecting the family. America’s network of pre-1960 temporal laws prohibiting Biblical sin, reinforced the integrity of the family.

Personal growth in godly character is a lifetime journey learning to value others before self. Such learning must begin early within the family as parents and children learn from each other as they face daily challenges that tend to reinforce prideful self at the expense of others. If people do not learn to exercise self-restraint and value others before self, within the family, they are unlikely to learn it anywhere else. In the absence of collective, cultural self-restraint, a culture or country declines rapidly into chaos and self-destruction.

What happened? The answer will be in the next blog.

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

The Genius of the God-Designed Family

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Family, Father, God's Love, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, Mother2 Comments

God’s arrow of time from the Garden of Eden to Heaven passes through the family. Yet history is littered with the baggage of broken families. The amount of baggage increases just before the collapse of every civilization and culture in all of recorded history.

Genius of Gods Family

The genius and power of the God-designed family is jaw-dropping. The family is one of God’s greatest creations. The specific roles of the man and woman were assigned directly to Adam and Eve. They have never changed. To do so would compromise God’s infinite genius.

Man was created in the likeness of God. The God-designed family is a picture of God. We know Him as one God manifested to us in three Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Similarly, the one impregnable family is represented by Dad, Mom, and the children. The family is an unbeatable team. It is the only way to carry out God’s commandments in a reliable way throughout posterity. It is the only way to enjoy all God’s blessings and the fullness of the life experience.

Marriage was created in the Garden of Eden, before Adam and Eve were disobedient to the Lord. God said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” [Genesis 2:24 KJV] Since marriage was created in the Garden of Eden, it was created in an environment of virtual perfection. After disobeying God by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God, proclaimed their respective, but perfectly complementary roles in a fallen world.

God’s Assignment for the Man

“…unto Adam he said, Because thou has…eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying you shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground: for out of it were you taken; for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return.” [Genesis 3:17-19 NKJV]

The man protects and provides for his mother, wife, and children. When his father and son do the same, they form an unbroken shield of protection assuring a perpetually safe, secure environment within which the family can thrive. His protection of the family is fueled by God’s love. As such, the man is the primary, but not exclusive, model for the commandment to love God with body, mind and soul:

“And you shalt love the Lord your God with all thine heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: You shalt teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in thine house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up…You shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates.” [Deuteronomy 6:5-7 & 9 NKJV]

God has assigned to the man a vital role in developing the character of his children. His role is far greater than merely providing for security and financial needs, for food, clothes, and shelter. He is the protector of his family physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.

The man actively and routinely provides emotional and spiritual nourishment by being a conduit of God’s love. The man protects his family from outside influences that would weaken the character of his wife or interfere with or disrupt the development of character in their children.

God’s blessings for the obedient man are, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband does safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” [Proverbs 31:10-12 NKJV]

However, God requires of the husband an ironclad ultimate commitment, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it…” [Ephesians 5:25 KJV] The husband’s love and commitment to his wife must be so great the he would be willing to risk death for her.

God’s Assignment for the Woman

“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.” [Genesis 3:16 NKJV]

The woman is the connector and propagator of life assuring a continuity of generations from the Garden of Eden to Heaven. All reproduction, physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual pass through the woman. As the connector and propagator of life, she is the primary, but not exclusive, model for the commandment, “…you shall love your neighbor as yourself…” [Leviticus 19:18 NKJV]

God’s blessings for the obedient woman are, “She opens her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looks well to the ways of her household, and…Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. [Proverbs 31:25-28 NKJV]

However, God requires a commitment of her, “Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” [Ephesians 5:22 KJV] Submission merely means voluntarily choosing to respect and defer to his leadership even when he is wrong. When he does make a wrong choice, the shared consequences will be character building for the whole family. Actually, God’s perfect family plan is mutual submission, “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” [Ephesians 5:21 KJV]

The practice of mutual submission should characterize all interpersonal relationships. Within the context of marriage and family, the stakes are simply higher than anywhere else. The blessings of mutual submission are greatest in marriage. The consequences of lack of mutual submission are more painful in marriage.

Together the Married Man and Woman Are Truly Awesome!

Combining the man’s vertical responsibility with the woman’s horizontal responsibility, Jesus proclaimed, “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.” [Matthew 22:40 KJV] Their roles are perfectly complementary. After all, they were created by the greatest genius of the universe, God Himself.

Multi-generational contact is vital to the maintenance and stability of the chain of life. The woman is responsible for the cohesion of the family and the sustainability of the culture. She is the primary facilitator of the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.

There is nothing like the genius of the God-designed family. Dad and Mom are an awesome team specifically designed by God to:

  • Create a cohesive family that mirrors God’s relationship with humanity.
  • Solidify the family assuring that God’s symbolic representation of His relationship with us is maintained throughout all generations.
  • Establish a sustainable culture that remains unbroken for posterity.

The God-designed family minimizes overall stress by reducing time pressures, encouraging character development among parents and children, and building warm close interpersonal relationships. When the woman’s career is at home pursuing God’s design, there are an additional 40 hours per week available to destress the entire family, compared to the married career woman trying to have it all.

If either Dad or Mom contemplates and chooses divorce or any path that undermines and devalues the family, the continuity is broken and the surviving family fragments become especially vulnerable to all manner of evil.

Today, the American culture has almost completely lost sight of God’s plan. The results have been tragic. It is up to us as Judeo-Christian believers to step up, restore, and magnify His amazing and magnificent vision.

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?

Value of a Soul!

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Freedom, God's Love, Judeo-Christian CultureLeave a comment

Value of a Soul

What is the value of your soul? Don’t miss this 28-minute video! Three lives search for true worth as their worlds crumble. Follow their unexpected journeys as Franklin Graham addresses the real value of the soul. Just click on the link below or copy/paste into the address block on your Internet browser.

Value of a Soul

Is this why some women are miserable?

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Family, Father, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, MotherLeave a comment

This message is awesome. The American Christian woman has been smothered by worldly messages. The result has been the tragic loss of the American culture.

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Episode 1613

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Big Guns are Aimed at YOUR FAMILY! Will It Survive? (Part 4F)

On By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Baby Boomers, Church, Education, Family, Father, God's Love, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, Mother8 Comments

mother and child little daughter planting vegetable in home garden field

Leverage the Forgotten Power of the Homemaker

Acclaim and demonstrate the vital importance of the homemaker—The Biblical homemaker enjoys the most vital and exciting career in the universe. Family and culture decline rapidly when the homemaker leaves home. To destroy a culture, remove the homemaker from the home. A major strategy of the spiritual and temporal enemies of the traditional family is to deflate or collapse the family by enticing the homemaker out of the home. But God says otherwise, “The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory forever. Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.” [Micah 2:9, &10 KJV] All roads go through the homemaker; she is the real, not just metaphorical heart of the home:

The homemaker is the heart of the home physically—Everyone is born through the womb of the mother. The bond between mother and child begins at the moment of conception and strengthens throughout the child’s growing time in the womb. No other bond in the universe comes close to matching the early mother-child bond. The bond is reinforced during the period of breast-feeding and continues to grow even as the mother lets go of the emancipated adult. Her loving bond with the father cements the continuity of generations, is a source of personal satisfaction for both, and provides desperately needed role models for the children. Her efforts to maintain or improve the home environment are an expression of love for her husband and children.

The homemaker is the heart of the home intellectually—Scripture assigns parents the responsibility of educating the children. For millennia, the mother was the primary teacher, later assisted by the Church. Schools were created by the Church to teach children about life, God, and His amazing creation. The great universities, including most Ivy League schools, were founded to teach young men to be ministers. But in the last century, the Church and parents have largely abdicated their roles and responsibilities for education in favor of government schools that have become increasingly abusive regarding all aspects of Judeo-Christian tradition. Raising the children is far more than simply taking care of the children.

The homemaker is the heart of the home emotionally—Children learn emotional awareness and compassion far more from the mother than from the father. Indulging a sports analogy, dad is primarily a coach; mom is the quarterback, the source and catalyst of virtually all action in the family and the home. What would happen on game day if the quarterback decided to go fishing instead of instead of going to the stadium? The athletic coach probably has a backup quarterback who may not perform quite as well as the star quarterback. But in the home, every homemaker is a star and there is no backup when she is not there.

The homemaker is the heart of the home spiritually—In most homes, it is the mother who primarily instills spiritual principles through day-to-day training. Often it is the mother who takes the children to church or synagogue. Shame on the dads who are not the spiritual leaders in their homes as well. But even in the homes where dad is a strong spiritual leader, the children still spend far more time with the mother and are therefore more available to her for spiritual training. Dad becomes the reinforcer.

These vitally important lessons are not learned when strangers, such as nursery schools, babysitters, an endless round of age-graded day care centers, and government-run schools raise the children. Lifestyle absentee parenting is tragic and leads to disastrous consequences.

To survive, a family must actively and irrevocably commit to Biblical values and fight aggressively and continuously to maintain those values.

No civilization has ever survived the breakdown of the family.

If parents want their children and grandchildren to enjoy a free society (country), they absolutely must deeply embed Biblical family values in their children. It is an impossible task for absentee parents.

In perilous times, there will be people “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” [2 Timothy 3: 5 & 7 KJV] Never be satisfied with a “form of godliness.” Do everything God’s way. You will be glad you did.

What does it take to wake up the body of believers?

What does it take to wake up the clergy?