PSALM 36
Total Depravity of man verse 1- 4
The transgressions of the wicked say with my heart
that there is no fear of God before his eyes
for he flatters himself in his own eyes
until his iniquity be found to be hateful
the words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit
he hath left off to be wise – and to do good
he devises mischief upon his bed
he sets himself in a way that is not good
he abhors not evil
Providence of God verse 5- 9
YOUR mercy – O LORD – is in the heavens
and YOUR faithfulness reaches unto the clouds
YOUR righteousness is like the great mountains
YOUR judgments are a great deep
O LORD – YOU preserves man and beast
How excellent is YOUR lovingkindness – O God
THEREFORE the children of men put their trust under the
shadow of YOUR wings
they shall be abundantly satisfied with the
fatness of YOUR house
YOU shall make them drink of the river of YOUR pleasures
for with YOU is the fountain of life
in YOUR light shall we see light
Judgment of God verse 10- 12
O continue YOUR lovingkindness unto them that know YOU
and YOUR righteousness to the upright in heart
Let not the foot of pride come against me
and let not the hand of the wicked remove me
There are the workers of iniquity fallen – they are cast down
and shall not be able to rise
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
:2 “For he flatters himself in his own eyes, When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). (Flatter 2505 חָלַק, חָלַק, חָלַק [chalaq /khaw·lak/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 669; GK 2744 and 2745 and 2746; 65 occurrences; AV translates as “divide” 40 times, “flatter” six times,… 2 to be smooth, slippery, deceitful. 2A (Qal) to be smooth, slippery. 2B (Hiphil). 2B1 to be smooth. 2B2 to flatter. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).
DEVOTION: We live in a world that seems to desire flattery and deceit. We are continually being fed with the siren call of worthiness and equality. No child can fail and no individual has to take the blame for the weakness and sin they have committed! It seems that everyone is worthy and no one is guilty any longer. The wicked have become a group that flatters themselves with this flagrant deception that they do not have to fear God. This illusory hope that the psalmist describes causes the people to deceive themselves. Lying is truth, stealing is justified, immorality is satisfying desires and murder is the removal of an obstacle. God’s rules and standards are no longer to be followed but are optional based on relativism and what is right in our own eyes!
Flattering ourselves leads to iniquity and shame. Take heed to the word of the Lord and follow that which it teaches. Pride comes before a fall and flattery to oneself is the beginning of that fall!
CHALLENGE: Take a moment to consider what form of flattery you yearn. Is it a secret desire, a moral or religious lifestyle that makes you smug or perhaps that activity that you do to ensure your Christian position? Beware, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” Rev. 3:17 (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he has left off to be wise
and to do good. (4820 “deceit” [mirmah] means trick, fraud,
disillusionment, a misleading falsehood, treachery, riches gained by
fraud, betrayal, or subtilty.)
DEVOTION: David is descripting the actions of those who are workers of iniquity. They are the servants of the devil and are against those who want to serve the LORD.
Their wisdom is not God’s wisdom but the wisdom of the devil. They do everything in their power to hurt those who love the LORD. They will say anything that will cause others to not follow the LORD.
Today we find that people don’t want to have any standard that the LORD wants them to have in their lives. They want to do as they please and anyone who says anything against them receives their wrath.
It is hard to reach those who will not listen to the truth of the Word of God. They don’t want to have anything to do with the LORD and they don’t want any of their friends or family to have anything to do with HIM at all.
Our world is teaching in our schools things that are against the Bible and those who have children in those schools can’t get their children out of these classes because the world thinks they need to be educated in that way and they don’t think that they are wrong.
It is not easy to raise a family today that wants to honor the LORD each moment of each day. This means that parents have to re-teach their children what the standard of the Bible is for those who are followers of Christ.
Pray for those who are raising children today that are in public schools. Our world is changing and it is not for the better.
Here we have David during his time period having the same problems that we are having today. There is nothing new under the sun. Sin is sin today and it will always be sin.
CHALLENGE: Our homes have to be teaching homes where the Word of God is taught on a DAILY basis if our children and grandchildren are going to be strong enough to fight the teachings of the world.
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: 7 How excellent is YOUR lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children
of men put their trust under the shadow of YOUR wings. (2617
“lovingkindness” [checed] means loyalty, joint obligation, faithfulness, goodness, graciousness, an unfailing kind of love, kindness, or goodness, or loyal love.)
DEVOTION: God has a love for those who are HIS children through Christ that no one else can every have. HE cares for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. HE wants us to know that love is real.
We need to trust the LORD to help us when the world is against us on a daily basis. We have to make sure that we spend time with HIM each morning and each evening. HE wants us to come to HIM with our every need and trust HIM to give us what we genuinely need each day.
Our world is not getting closer to the LORD. Our churches seem to be drifting away from sound teaching from the Word of God. Too often people come to church to be entertained instead of instructed.
It is because of the lack of instruction that many people who think they are believer are acting like they don’t know what the LORD expects of them each day. HE expects us to honor HIM in all that we say and do.
HE loves those who have accepted the invitation to become one of HIS followers. HE wants to show us that HE is faithful and we need to be faithful too. Our obligation is to learn from HIM first and foremost and then apply this learning to what the world is trying to teach us.
Where there is a conflict we need to side with the teachings of the LORD. HE loves us and wants HIS children to trust HIM to guide and direct them each day.
CHALLENGE: Are we trusting in the shadow of HIS wings in our life? What that means is that we look to HIM for answers to the challenges of life.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 9 “For with YOU is the fountain of life: In YOUR light shall we see light.”
(“Light,” 216 אֹור [ʾowr], 1 light. 1a light of day. 1b light of heavenly
luminaries (moon, sun, stars). 1c day-break, dawn, morning light. 1d
daylight. 1e lightning. 1f light of lamp. 1g light of life. 1h light of
prosperity. 1i light of instruction. 1j light of face (fig.). 1k Jehovah as
Israel’s light. [Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham,
WA: Logos Bible Software.])
DEVOTION: The godly and the ungodly are contrasted in this psalm. David points out that the godly enjoy God’s loving-kindness and joy in fellowship with Him. The fellowship is characterized by the light that is given by God to those who follow Him. This is the same light that is described as given by God in Psalm 119:105 through His Word. It is also interesting that light was the first thing created by God (Genesis 1:3).
Jesus’ life was characterized by being light to those around Him (John 1:4-5). This was contrasted with the darkness that is a part of sin. It is said that it only takes a little light to do away with the darkness, and that the darkness needs to be total in order for it overwhelm the light. God is characterized by total light (1 John 1:5), and we need to come to God’s light in order to be cleansed of our sin and learn how to live life from God’s perspective (1 John 1:7).
So our goal should be to draw closer to God’s light, so that we reflect more of His light to those around us (Matthew 5:16). How much light is your life characterized by? Do you reflect the same light in your life Monday through Saturday as you do on Sunday?
CHALLENGE: God never intended for us to walk around in darkness. He is the only one who can give us true light. Is there an area of your life today that you need Him to show you His light? (Dr. Marc Wooten – board member)
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11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me. (5110 “remove” [nuwd] means to shake, waver, wander, move to and fro, flutter, show grief, or have compassion on.)
DEVOTION: The life of a followers of the LORD is not an easy life. There are many ups and downs in our growth in the LORD. We have many influences surrounding us on a daily basis. Our family and friends seem to have the greatest influence. Next might come our church family. Finally the world around us is full of those who don’t love the LORD. They usually have a negative influence regarding our closeness to the LORD.
David didn’t want the wicked to influence his actions. He didn’t want the wicked to affect his relationship with the LORD. He wanted to stay true to the coarse the LORD has set before him. He didn’t want the foot of pride to influence him.
David gives a wonderful description of the relationship of the LORD with HIS people. He mentions HIS mercy, righteousness, judgments, and loving-kindness. He says that the followers of God are abundantly satisfied with all that HE provides. He wants his fellow Israelites to realize that they can see the light as they walk in the light.
We sometimes allow the unsaved of the world to influence us to go to the wrong places or do the wrong things. Sometimes it is the programs we watch on television. Sometimes it is the movies we watch.
We are drawn away of our own lusts and enticed to sin. Sometimes we do this on our own because we feel we are missing out on life. We need to pray with David that we don’t allow the world into our lives and cause us to act or do things displeasing to the LORD. We know the outcome of the unsaved.
Help us to understand all the attributes of God mentioned in this psalm. Do we realize that HIS mercy is great toward us? Are we satisfied with what HE sends our way? Are we looking for more light to serve HIM better? We need to answer these questions daily.
CHALLENGE: We need to check the BIBLICAL map found in the Word of God daily to see if we are going in the right direction. Prayer is an encourager in that direction.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Pray for protection from wicked verse 10- 12
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 1, 7
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 5- 7
Mercy
Faithfulness
Righteousness 2x
Judgments
Lovingkindness 2x
In the heavens
Faithfulness
Righteousness
Judgments
Preserves man and beast
Fatness of YOUR house
River of YOU pleasures
Fountain of life
Light
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Children of men verse 7
Wicked verse 11
Workers of iniquity verse 12
Cast down
Not be able to rise
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Transgression verse 1
Wicked verse 1, 11
No fear of God
Flatter verse 2
Iniquity verse 2, 3
Hateful verse 2
Deceit verse 3
Devises mischief verse 4
Way that is not good verse 4
Evil verse 4
Foot of pride verse 11
Hand of the wicked verse 11
Workers of Iniquity verse 12
Cast down – not able to rise
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Do good verse 3
Abhors evil verse 4
Mercy verse 5
Trust under the shadow of HIS wings verse 7
Drink of the rivers of God’s pleasure verse 8
Abundantly satisfied verse 8
See the light verse 9
Know the LORD verse 10
Upright in heart verse 10
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
David – author of this Psalm verse 1- 12
Has the fear of God
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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DONATIONS:
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QUOTES regarding passage
The psalmist finds himself stationed on the disputed ground between human wickedness (1–4) and divine grace (5–9); so he turns to urgent prayer. Twice he has praised the steadfast love of God (5, 7); now let it reach out to the place of need (10)! There is no belittling of the enemy, though the Hebrew and ancient versions do not support the stronger word ‘crush’ (11a, neb, etc.) in place of come upon (which is itself a hostile enough expression: cf. e.g. Job 15:21; 20:22). But the last verse shows the victory already claimed; it speaks as though the scene were present and clearly visible. ‘There they lie, the evildoers’ (neb). This is the faith defined in Hebrews 11:1 (Phillips) as ‘putting our full confidence in the things we hope for; … being certain of things we cannot see’.
So the early eloquence was genuine. The evil which David portrayed in the first stanza he was ready to fight; the grace which he praised in the second he was ready to invoke; and, once invoked, to accept as given and as settling the matter. (Kidner, D. (1973). Psalms 1–72: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 15, pp. 165–166). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
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36:10–12. David prayed that the Lord would continue His protective love (cf. vv. 5, 7) so that his integrity would be preserved from the influence of the proud and wicked who would be destroyed. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 821). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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What a privilege it is to be God’s children! We are resting safely under His wings, feasting joyfully at His table, drinking abundantly from His river, and walking confidently in His light! In response to these blessings David prayed that the Lord would continue His blessings on His people (v. 10) and one day judge the wicked (vv. 11–12). God will continue to bless us if we love Him, get to know Him better, and walk in obedience to His will. David knew that the enemy was subtle and that he dared not become overconfident, so he prayed for the Lord’s protection from their hands and feet. He didn’t want to be knocked down and trampled upon and forced to leave his own land. By faith, David looked ahead and saw the enemies of the Lord completely defeated, and on this confidence, he continued to serve the Lord. (Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be worshipful (1st ed., pp. 140–141). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)
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10–12 The last part of the psalm, wherein he prayeth for all believers, himself being included, and then for himself in particular. Whence learn, 1. The true mark of a godly man standeth in the conjunction of faith in God with sincere study of obedience to him, for he is the man that knoweth God, and is upright in heart. 2. Albeit what the believer hath found in God by experience, he may expect it shall be continued unto him, both for his entertainment by God, and defence and deliverance in his righteous cause from his enemies; yet must he follow his confidence with prayer: O continue thy loving-kindness unto them that know thee, and thy righteousness to the upright in heart. 3. As we have no right to any benefit, but in so far as we are of the number of upright-hearted believers, so should we seek every benefit we would have, as being of this number, and as seeking that others may be sharers with us, as David doth before. 4. It is the Lord only who can divert proud persecutors, that they hurt not his children, and it is the Lord only who can keep his children in the course of faith and obedience, when the wicked employ their power against them. Therefore David prayeth, let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me. 5. The ruin of the enemies of the godly is as certain as if it were already past, yea, faith may look upon it through the prospect of the word of God as if it were to be seen and pointed out to others to behold with their eyes; there are the workers of iniquity fallen. 6. The fall of the wicked is not like the fall of the godly, for though the godly fall sundry times, yet they recover their feet again; but a fall is prepared for the wicked, after which they shall not recover themselves; they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise. (Dickson, D. (1834). A Brief Explication of the Psalms (Vol. 1, pp. 196–197). Glasgow; Edinburgh; London: John Dow; Waugh and Innes; R. Ogle; James Darling; Richard Baynes.)
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Then there is a sudden change of tense to the perfect of certainty. He is sure that his prayer will be answered. It is likely that in the living worship an oracle of assurance was uttered by the priest immediately following the rendering of the petition in verses 10–11. The oracle does not appear in the psalm, but from the sharp change of mood from lament to certainty it may reasonably be inferred that the oracle had been spoken. Thus the psalm closes in this assurance that the psalmist’s enemies will be destroyed. (Leslie, E. A. (1949). The Psalms: Translated and Interpreted in the Light of Hebrew Life and Worship (pp. 226–227). Nashville; New York: Abingdon Press.)
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Ver. 10. O continue thy loving-kindness to them that know thee, &c.] That is, spiritually and experimentally; and such are they that trust in him and love him: and these are the objects of the love of God; not that their knowledge, faith, or love, are the cause of his love to them; but these things describe and point at manifestly the objects of it; and this request regards the open discovery of it unto them: for the love of God itself always continues, though the manifestations of it are not always the same; and it is for the enlargement and continuance of them the psalmist here prays: for it may be rendered, draw out thy loving-kindness; that is, to a greater length; make a larger and clearer discovery of it, that the height and depth, and length and breadth of it, may be more discerned. And thy righteousness unto the upright in heart; who are sincere and without guile; who have new hearts created and right spirits renewed in them, and have truth in the inward parts; and unto and upon such is the righteousness of Christ, and where it always continues, for it is an everlasting one; but here it means a clearer and constant revelation of it from faith to faith; unless it should rather intend the righteousness of God in protecting his people from the insults of their enemies, and the continual exertion of it for that purpose. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 679). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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10. “O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee.” We ask no more than a continuance of the past mercy. Lord, extend this grace of thine to all the days of all who have been taught to know thy faithful love, thy tenderness, thine immutability and omnipotence. As they have been taught of the Lord to know the Lord, so go on to instruct them and perfect them. This prayer is the heart of the believer asking precisely that which the heart of his God is prepared to grant. It is well when the petition is but the reflection of the promise. “And thy righteousness to the upright in heart.” As thou hast never failed the righteous, so abide thou in the same manner their defender and avenger. The worst thing to be feared by the man of God is to be forsaken of heaven, hence this prayer; but the fear is groundless, hence the peace which faith brings to us. Learn from this verse, that although a continuance of mercy is guaranteed in the covenant, we are yet to make it a matter of prayer. For this good thing will the Lord be enquired of. (Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 27-57 (Vol. 2, pp. 160–161). London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant
– Maximilien Robespierre
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2 Timothy 1
Paul exhorts Timothy to rekindle his zeal for the Christian life and ministry.
INSIGHT
A number of years have passed between the writing of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. During that time, Timothy has faced great trial and opposition and is in danger of discontinuing his ministry. Paul writes a terse letter of exhortation, urging strength and constancy. A list of phrases used in this book include: “stir up,” “do not be ashamed,” “hold fast,” “be strong,” “endure hardship,” “be diligent, “flee youthful lusts,” “pursue righteousness,” and “preach the word!” In the heat of battle, short and powerful commands are easy to comprehend. (Quiet Walk)
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GOD DWELLS IN US
No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:12
God dwells in us. That is one of the grounds of my assurance, my certainty. “No man hath seen God at any time.” Very well, then, do we go on in doubt and almost in despair wondering whether there is a God? No! says John; “if we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”
Now, I confess very readily that I approach a theme like this with fear and with a sense of awe. Consider the great statement in John 14 of this intimate union between the believer and God the Father and God the Son, of Their abiding in us and dwelling in us. We are familiar with chapters 14, 15, 16, and 17 of John’s Gospel, and here we have the same thing again. “God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” And John goes on to say in 1 John 4:13, “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit,” and in verse 15, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”
At this point, like Moses, we take off our shoes! We are concerned with something that is glorious and magnificent, and so we have to be very careful as we handle it. The statement is that if we love one another, God—God who is love, God the Almighty, God the eternal—dwells in us. I think that the great thing at this point is to realize that we must not materialize that conception. We must not think of God in material terms; God is spirit. It is God, who is spirit, who dwells in us.
A Thought to Ponder
It is God, who is spirit, who dwells in us.
(From The Love of God, p. 85, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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ON BEING A PASTOR by Derek J. Prime & Alistair Begg
The qualification for elders that they should be able to teach (I Timothy 3:2) may include not only the ability to teach Christian doctrine and conduct, but also the passing on of information and skills so that people achieve the works of service God has foreordained for them. (p. 224)
Proper delegation eliminates pastoral elitism. (p. 225)
However, if we do not delegate, we have little or no time to consider development and progress, and we place ourselves on the treadmill of being pushed on by the pressures of busyness through immediate tasks labelled “urgent” rather than being free to consider the really important tasks of leadership. (p. 226-7)
Reluctance to Delegate
There are always reasons behind failures to delegate, and we need to identity them in order to cure them. Some are not easy to admit, such as our fear that delegating responsibility may give someone else prominence and perhaps push us out of the public eye. We may fear that we will be displaced in people’s affections. There may even be the fear that the person concerned may eventually prove to d the job better than we do it ourselves, and thus prompt people to feel we could have done better. Or behind our slowness to delegate may be sheer possessiveness. We need to recognize the evil of thse and similar attitudes. We are to rejoice in the usefulness God gives to others, not to be jealous of it. We must not see the Church as our kingdom, but as Chrsit’s. If we engage in His work successfully, we must decrease in it, and He must increase – and since delegation furthers the great goal, it is a priority. (p. 228)
It may well be that we can do a task better than the person to whom we entrust it, but how else will he or she learn if we do not provide the opportunity? (p. 229)
A criminal aspect of the failure to delegate is that other people’s potential for responsibility and leadership may remain untapped and undeveloped. (p. 230)
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The Golden Age of Education Innovation: There are Alternatives
by John Stonestreet and G. Shane Morris
Last month, we learned that the Orange County California Board of Education will not allow parents to remove their kids from classes that discuss “gender, gender identity, gender expression, [or] sexual orientation.”
Now, parents have apparently have found a loophole: they can remove their children from the entire sex-education program, just not from the specific parts they don’t like. An attorney for the Orange County Department of Education failed to mention that detail when he announced to parents they “do not have a constitutional right to excuse their children from portions of the school curriculum they find objectionable.”
Sorting through the back and forth and sleight of hand to keep your children out of ideologically-opposed classes is a nightmare. And it’s not just in California.
Across the country, curriculum is being used to force students, even grade schoolers, into a set of beliefs about gender and sexuality that run contrary to the Christian view of creation, not to mention common-sense morality.
In Illinois, the Senate passed a bill requiring public schools to teach “the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of this country and this State.” If passed by a Democrat-controlled House, it will take effect next year. There’s no sign that this rising tide of public school indoctrination will ebb.
So Christian parents face tough decisions: whether to keep their children in government-run schools or find some alternative. Let me repeat something I’ve said before: there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Each family will have to make this choice for themselves, considering the options available to them given a lot of considerations.
Even so, millions of parents have reached the end of their patience, and are searching for alternatives. Maybe you’re one of these parents, too. If so, I’ve got some good news: we’re living in what might be the golden age of education innovation.
Within my lifetime, the number of options for teaching Christian students has exploded. Not just homeschooling, which thanks to organizations like the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, is now well protected in most states. There are also charter schools, co-ops, affordable Christian schools, even online classes.
My colleague Warren Cole Smith and I gave a few inspiring examples in our book, “Restoring All Things”—projects like Cornerstone Schools in Washington, D.C., which offers pre-K through twelfth-grade to 200 students in a disadvantaged part of the country, or like Brookstone Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina, where ninety percent of graduates perform above their grade level in one of the worst public-school districts in the state.
Today, almost one in twelve American students attend religious schools, and another two million are homeschooled. That number will certainly grow in the years to come as all of these choices become mainstream alternatives to public education. Finding ways to teach children outside of public schools isn’t some marginal practice anymore. It’s normal. And as demand increases, so will our innovative options.
There’s still a lot of work to do, of course. As Neil Postman observed, the problem with most public education isn’t just that it often teaches the wrong things, but that it fails to teach, period. In place of a targeted, coherent education, it often gives students mere proficiency in a set of skills. Worst of all, it doesn’t prepare them to deal with the wild and often dangerous world of ideas.
Right now, I’m working with Shane Morris, another colleague of mine—himself educated in a hybrid homeschool co-op setting—on a new book to help with that problem. Our field guide to help Christian students identify ideas and worldviews, and to understand their consequences will be available later this year.
All of this should encourage you. Christians might still choose public schools, and many do. But if you live in a district that you feel has crossed the line, there are alternatives—lots of them. It’s not impossible, folks. And look, we’re in this together.
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Evil Choices Produce Evil People
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.” (Romans 1:28)
The apostle Paul provides a chilling analysis of the process by which the human mind progresses through rejection of the evidence of God’s existence to ultimately worshiping the creature more than the Creator and finding pleasure only among those of like mind.
God has displayed His “eternal power and Godhead” since the creation of the world (Romans 1:20). Those who reject that clear physical evidence are “without excuse” since they do know God but will not recognize His existence and engage in such destructive thinking that “their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:21-23).
That foolish behavior so shifts their intellect that they serve “the creature more than the Creator” and wind up so distorting their lifestyle that they become unable to tell what gender God made them (Romans 1:24-28). Once that kind of behavior is sanctioned, their emotions become consumed with hatred of God and all things good, winding up inventing “evil things” and living within a godless world (Romans 1:29-31).
Having rejected the truth that God has openly displayed for everyone to see and having plunged into a foolish and damaging lifestyle that warps their intellect and emotions beyond repair, they can find pleasure only in those who live, think, and love as they do. All the while heaping a “treasure” of wrath that will be poured out upon them when the Creator returns (Romans 2:1-6). (HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
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My husband and I went through the McDonald’s driveway window and I gave the cashier a $5 bill.
Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her 25c.
She said, ‘you gave me too much money.’
I said, ‘Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar back.’
She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request.
I did so, and he handed me back the 25c, and said ‘We’re sorry but we don’t do that kind of thing.’
The cashier then proceeded to give me back 75 cents in change.
Do not confuse the people at MacD’s.
We had to have the garage door repaired.
The repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a ‘large’ enough motor on the opener.
I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower.
He shook his head and said, ‘You need a 1/4 horsepower.’
I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4 and he said, ‘NOOO, it’s not. Four is larger than two.’
We haven’t used that repairman since…
I live in a semi rural area.
We recently had a new neighbor call the local city council office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road.
The reason: ‘Too many deers are being hit by cars out here! I don’t think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.’
IDIOT SIGHTING IN FOOD SERVICE.
My daughter went to a Mexican fast food and ordered a taco.
She asked the person behind the counter for ‘minimal lettuce.’
He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked,
‘Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?’
To which I replied, ‘If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?’
He smiled knowingly and nodded, ‘That’s why we ask.’
The pedestrian light on the corner beeps when it’s safe to cross the street.
I was crossing with an ‘intellectually challenged’ co-worker of mine.
She asked if I knew what the beeper was for.
I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red.
Appalled, she responded, ‘what on earth are blind people doing driving?!’
She is a government employee…..
When my wife and I arrived at a car dealership to pick up our car after a
service, we were told the keys had been locked in it.
We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver’s side door.
As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked.
‘Hey,’ I announced to the technician, ‘its open!’
His reply, ‘I know. I already did that side.’
STAY ALERT!
They walk among us, they breed, and they vote…….
You now have 2 options…
Delete it…..
or
Send it along to put a smile on someone’s face today!.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
(From Facebook)
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Maybe If We State Telling People the Brain is an APP, THEY’LL START USING IT!
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We now have a Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.