The Influence of the World

The pressure of our world’s social value system is hostile to Christ, and it is taking a toll on biblical morality and the family. Many people are willing slaves to the culture of the media. Our culture’s domination to make us think and act the way it wants us to live is incredibly powerful!

Once, in Corrientes, Argentina, thieves broke into our house while we slept and stole what they wanted. We never awoke. However, the following day, we all felt violated. That is what the world does to us today, invading our homes, families, and lives while we sleep. It takes what it wants from us and leaves its filth and corruption.

Socialism and communism were responsible for more than 100 million deaths under Stalin and Mao. With such stains of death and violence, how could this system have any attraction today? There are 5 fully communist countries today, China, North Korea, Laos, Cuba, and Vietnam. These nations suffer under brutal dictatorship, depriving their people of freedom and prosperity. Some of these people are starving to death. None of these nations can come close to the economic success of America. Yet, there is a powerful movement to make the United States and many parts of the world Marxist nations. This is beyond comprehension. There may be a lot of problems with capitalism and democracy, but they are far less than totalitarian states.

I ask myself how it is possible that pedophilia can be normalized by replacing the term pedophiles with “minor-attracted persons.” This is also being accomplished by dropping the age of adulthood in many countries. One of the most shocking things going on today is encouraging children to switch their gender by feeding them insidious lies that switching their gender is simple, easy, and wonderful. The switch involves very harmful hormones and genital mutilation that cannot be fully reversed. The degrading of women by enabling sexual assault by allowing men “identifying as women” to enter women’s bathrooms and locker rooms is deplorable. The sexualizing of our children by having them participate in drag queen hours at school libraries is beyond the pale. This very activity is against the law in most states.

There is also an attack against men. The culture wants to feminize boys and men and take away their masculinity. This is a sinister attack of confusion. The more significant problem is a vicious cycle whereby the state, by undermining the family, erodes the father’s place in the family. Men are at greater risk for substance abuse and suicide than ever before. All this and so much more is presented and even bombarded at us daily as normal and acceptable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Characteristics of a Good Mother

When the Apostle Paul was in prison in Rome for the second time he wrote his last letter to Timothy. Paul never referred to himself as a prisoner of Rome but of Jesus Christ. He considered his imprisonment the will of God. His attitude reflects the highest maturity. Consequently, we have the second Epistle to Timothy. Paul was executed soon after this letter was written. His attitude was an inspiration to Timothy. He remembers from his damp prison cell, “Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy” (2 Tim 1:4).

Stay Tender Mothers

The Apostle is filled with emotion as he remembers Timothy’s tender heart. This tender heart, no doubt, came from his mother and grandmother, as did his faith. Young Timothy was an introvert and naturally shy, but he had a tender heart and sincere faith.

Stay True to Your Faith Mothers

Paul writes, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Tim 1:5). His grandmother and mother were Jews who came to Christ. The possessed “sincere faith.”

Their faith was genuine, and such faith characterized Timothy as well. He had seen faith in them, and that is what brought him to Christ, and his life demonstrated the same authenticity. Timothy’s mother and grandmother had a proven faith. A sincere faith means that it had stood the test of time. It is not easy to come through the storms of life, but for this grandmother and mother—they were anchored to God. You can be sure there had been deaths to endure, problems to resolve, and unanswered questions, but their faith remained.

The effect of mothers and grandmothers is worth noting. A grandmother is in a position to influence her grandsons and granddaughters in unique ways. That influence can impact those grandchildren in ways that will affect them for the rest of their lives, even in ways we may never imagine. Long after we are gone the impact of our faith and legacy continues to inspire our children and grandchildren. My grandmother’s sincere belief had a powerful effect on my father’s life, and his faith greatly impacted my life. I pray my faith has that kind of impact on my family.

Stay Authentic Mothers

Paul writes, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Tim 1:6-7). The soil of Timothy’s life is watered by love and faith. Paul wants Timothy to use his gifts and rely on the Holy Spirit. God was using Paul to fan the flame in Timothy’s life—the flame that had been lit by his grandmother and mother. God will use our lives to fan the flames of our children and grandchildren.

When children are raised in a home where conflict is resolved, self-regulation of emotions is modeled, and they feel accepted and loved, they develop healthy self-esteem and learn healthy relationship patterns that will serve them later in life.

The impact of your life on that little child will remain as they grow up. If you remain true to your faith and don’t allow the hard knocks of life to take away your tenderness then you will fan into flames your child’s gifts. If you exhibit that authenticity that says, “I love Jesus, and I always will, your child will embrace your faith.

Earl Campbell, NFL pro. He went to the University of Texas. When he went to college he got smart and too busy for his old life. He called his mom and wanted to come for some home cooking and bring some buddies. She asked him if he was loving Jesus. He said not now momma. When you return to loving Jesus, you come home and bring those boys.

 

 

 

The Creator Who Sustains Everything

After Jesus’ resurrection, Christ ministered for over forty days, appearing to his disciples and even to some large groups. During this time, he taught them about his Kingdom. But at the end of the forty days, he gathered them at Jerusalem and charged them with this task: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

As Jesus ascended to heaven, disappearing from their sight, the disciples were left in a state of awe and sadness. They continued to gaze at the sky, their hearts heavy with the loss of his physical presence.  In this moment of vulnerability, two angels appeared, offering words of comfort and encouragement. They reminded the disciples to trust in Jesus’ promise to return, just as he had ascended (Acts 1:9-11).

Jesus’ final ascension to heaven was a moment of grandeur, a public display of his divine power.  Paul’s words echo this, as he tells us that Christ was not only raised from the dead by the mighty power of the Father but also that the Father “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, (Eph 1:20-21).

This story affirms our belief in Christ as our creator and sustainer. Paul tells us he will also be our final judge with authority over all. Knowing who Christ is gives us courage and peace.

 

Christ’s exaltation at the Father’s “right hand in the heavenly realms” was glorious! Christ has been given authority over every power in the universe. Not only is Christ the creator, but he sustains everything by his Lordship. Jesus created and set in motion the entire universe. Sir Isaac Newton, it is said, had an exact replica of our solar system made in miniature. At its center was a large golden ball representing the sun, and revolving around it were smaller spheres attached at the ends of rods of varying lengths. They represented Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and the other known planets. These were all geared together by cogs and belts to make them move around the "sun" in perfect harmony.

 

One day as Newton was studying the model, a friend who did not believe in God stopped by for a visit. Marveling at the device, and watching as the scientist made the heavenly bodies move in their orbits, the man exclaimed, "My, Newton, what an exquisite thing! Who made it for you?" Without looking up Sir Isaac replied, "Nobody." "Nobody?" his friend asked. "That's right! I said nobody! All of these balls and cogs and belts and gears just happened to come together, and wonder of wonders, by chance they began revolving in their set orbits and with perfect timing." His friend got the message. The Scriptures proclaim that Jesus is the Creator! By virtue of his Creatorship and then his Saviorhood, everything is twice his because he made it and bought it.[i]

---

[i] R. Kent Hughes, Ephesians, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, 1990, P. 61.

Three Things

The Apostle Paul prayed an incredible prayer for the Ephesian believers, recorded in his letter to them. He prays that their spiritual eyes will be opened so that they will see three things that will change their lives.

Ephesians 1:18-19 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

The first thing is Hope, “that you may know the hope to which he has called you, (Eph 1:18).

Paul wants each of us to have a clearer vision of “the hope God has personally made available to us. Our hope, unique to each individual, has its source in the fact that we were chosen before the creation of the world. God saved us by his grace through faith and has given us the Holy Spirit as a down payment of what is to come. This hope is “the hope of the glory of God.” Living in this troubled world, we each need that hope. Hope is what fights away despair.

 C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity

 “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, then; there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same”

 Without hope, we get stuck. Only with the hope of heaven can we navigate the complexities of life with purpose and resilience. Despair is a devastating enemy. This world is broken, and it has always been broken, and it will always be broken. That does not mean we should crawl into our shells and do nothing to make this world right. It does, however, mean we do not put our hope in this world. Our world is in another place. It is in Christ and what he has prepared for us. We need this hope daily—to get out of bed and fulfill our obligations. We need this hope to stand in the face of a depraved world and not cave into its demands.

The second thing is the Riches: “the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people” (Eph 1:18). Paul prays that our eyes will be opened to the riches God has for us.  What he wants us to see is that we are God’s riches—“his possession.” He owns all the heavens, but we are his treasures. The redeemed are worth more than the universe. What makes one truly rich are wisdom, truth, gentleness, kindness, love, joy, peace, contentment, self-control, and many other attributes and not material wealth.

The third thing is Power, “and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms” (Eph 1:19-20). This power changes us and gives us victory over sin in our lives. We will see it visibly someday in the resurrection of our bodies, but of now that power helps us navigate life. 

Once, the prophet Elisha was pursued by an enemy army. They surrounded his house in an attempt to capture him. However, that would be more challenging than they thought. Elisha’s servant rose early and went outside, and when he saw the enemy, he was gripped with fear,“Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Elisha, calmly prayed for his servant: “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:15-17).

This is a picture of what is available to us in our scary world. We need hope, God’s riches, and his power to be victorious.