Freedom: In Northern Ireland, President Obama repeated an old canard about religious schools being at the root of division there and elsewhere. In reality, hatred comes from state power and poisonous political ideologies.
Sticking his nose in Northern Ireland's internal affairs at the Group of Eight summit in Belfast, the president pretty much told the Irish to dimantle their Catholic and Protestant schools, on the grounds they're hotbeds of hatred.
"If towns remain divided - if Catholics have their schools and buidings and Protestants have theirs, if we can't see ourselves in one another, and fear or resentment are allowed to harden - that too encourages division and discourages cooperation," Obama told an Irish audience of 2,000, many of whom were children in religious school uniforms.
It was an odd statement coming from an American president whose nation's founding was premised on the idea that diverse religions could flourish together as long as there is freedom. America has been a beacon of this idea's success for more than 200 years.
It also reeked of a broader dishonesty pushed by the global left that somehow religion - along with national identity, sovereignty, patriotism and religious schools - bear the blame for everything from the troubles in Northern Ireland to the great wars of the 20th century.
In reality, the oppostie is the case. State power and, in Ireland's case, the British Empire's refusal to allow the Irish to practice their religion in peace, were at the root of Northern Ireland's troubles, which were exacerbated by the U.K.'s sociaist failures in the '60s and '70s and Marxist terrorism.
"True partiots are always democrats," noted Dutch politician Geert Wilders at an American Freedom Alliance conference last week in Los Angeles, debunking the leftist truism that patriotism, sovereignty and religious identity are petri dishes of trouble.
Catholic and Protestant schools in reality have a better record on teaching respect and tolerance than do state schools, particularly in America.
Catholic school graduates, for instance, are likelier to vote, earn higher wages, be more civic-minded, show more tolerance of diverse views and be more committed to service as adults than the state alternative that Obama favors, according to three studies by Notre Dame University. Protestant schools can almost certainly show comparable results.
President Obama likely knows this - because he sends his daughters to a Protestant school.
(Investor's Business Daily, June 20, 2013)
Friday, June 21, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Does the World Know Him?
But somewhere among you stands a man you do not know....On the following day, John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, "Look, there is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the man I meant when I said ' A man comes after me who is always in front of me, for he existed before I was born!'" John 1:26,29,30 (J.B. Phillips N.T.)
Jesus was "....in the world and the world knew Him not." (John 1:10) He was the "true light" (John :9). Those that recognize and receive Him walk in the light and those who reject Him continue to walk in darkness.
He is still in the world and much of the world still "knows Him not". Why is it that much of the world is kept in darkness? There is an enemy, the "ruler of darkness" (Ehesians 6:12) who is competing for the souls of men. Jesus is the only challenger that he cannot compete with and his efforts are concentrated on keeping men in darkness as concerning Jesus.
Someone estimated that there are more than 600 religions in the world. Organizations like the "Freedom from Religion" group are concentrating on Jesus Christ and His Gospel with no thought of the other 600+ religions. Why?
The Gospel is the only threat to the enemy. A religious man who beieves that he can earn some choice position in his "Valhalla" by detonating an explosive device that mangles and kills innocent women and children is no threat to the devil. They are on the same side? "The thief (devil) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy..." (John 10:10)
Jesus came to bring, "Life and that abundantly" and the enemy doesn't want men to know that.
We have this great advantage, light is more powerful than darkness. When the light comes in, the darkness has to go. "The light still shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put it out." (John 1:5, Phillips) God has said that His work, "...shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)
The opposition will continue their efforts to frustrate the Gospel messae but no one can extinguish its light.
Gamaliel of old offered good advice, "But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." (Acts 5:39) We know that the gospel is of God and the devil knows it is of God and in the end the whole world will know.
(Pastor Bill Cummins, June 17, 2013, drbc@bresnan.net )
Jesus was "....in the world and the world knew Him not." (John 1:10) He was the "true light" (John :9). Those that recognize and receive Him walk in the light and those who reject Him continue to walk in darkness.
He is still in the world and much of the world still "knows Him not". Why is it that much of the world is kept in darkness? There is an enemy, the "ruler of darkness" (Ehesians 6:12) who is competing for the souls of men. Jesus is the only challenger that he cannot compete with and his efforts are concentrated on keeping men in darkness as concerning Jesus.
Someone estimated that there are more than 600 religions in the world. Organizations like the "Freedom from Religion" group are concentrating on Jesus Christ and His Gospel with no thought of the other 600+ religions. Why?
The Gospel is the only threat to the enemy. A religious man who beieves that he can earn some choice position in his "Valhalla" by detonating an explosive device that mangles and kills innocent women and children is no threat to the devil. They are on the same side? "The thief (devil) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy..." (John 10:10)
Jesus came to bring, "Life and that abundantly" and the enemy doesn't want men to know that.
We have this great advantage, light is more powerful than darkness. When the light comes in, the darkness has to go. "The light still shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put it out." (John 1:5, Phillips) God has said that His work, "...shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)
The opposition will continue their efforts to frustrate the Gospel messae but no one can extinguish its light.
Gamaliel of old offered good advice, "But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." (Acts 5:39) We know that the gospel is of God and the devil knows it is of God and in the end the whole world will know.
(Pastor Bill Cummins, June 17, 2013, drbc@bresnan.net )
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Several Items of Interest
NFL Player Rejects White House Visit Over Obama's Support of Abortion
Retired Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk, who won a Super Bowl with the team last year, skipped the team's visit to the White House due to President Obama's support for Planned Parenthood, the Washington Examiner reports. "I have great respect for the office of the presidency but about five or six weeks ago, our president made a comment in a speech and he said, 'God bless Planned Parenthood,'" Birk, a former Minnesota Viking, told a local Minnesota sports blog. "I'm very confused by [Obama's] statement," he explained. "For God to bless a place where they're ending 330,000 lives a year? I just chose not to attend. Planned Parenthood performs about 330,000 abortions a year. I couldn't endorse that in any way." Obama spoke at the national Planned Parenthood conference this year, stating, "As long as we've got to fght to make sure women have access to quality, affordable health care, and as long as we've got to fight to protect a woman's right to make her own choices about her own health, I want you to know that you've also got a president who's going to be right there with you, fighting every step of the way. Thank you, Planned Parenthood. God bless you. God bless America."
Anti-Religion Group Blasts Teen Valedictorian's Prayer
The Freedom From Religion Foundation blasted what it called the "open defiance" of a valedictorian who delivered the Lord's Prayer during a high school graduation ceremony last Saturday in SouthCarolina, Todd Starnes reports. Roy Costner, a senior at Liberty High School in Pickens, created national attention when he ripped up his pre-approved graduation speech and instead led the crowd in a recitation of the Lord's Prayer. A video of the speech was posted on YouTube and has since gone viral. It shows the 18-year-old setting aside his speech and saying, "I think most of you will understand when I say, 'Our Father, who art in heaven...'" As the crowd cheered, he concluded his remarks by pointing to the sky and saying, "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen." A school district spokesperson said the valedictorian will not be penalized for what he did, and Costner said he has absolutely no regrets. "I'm happy with what I did," he said. "I want this to glorify God. I want to use this as a witnessing tool and I hope others will stand up for God in our nation." As for his critics,Costner quoted a passage of Scripture from the Gospel of Matthew. "If you deny me among men, I will deny you to the Father," he said. He also had a special message to the Freedom From Religion Foundation: "We are not in a country where we have freedom from religion. We have freedom of religion."
USAID Sponsors Pro-Homosexual Events in Developing Countries
The U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID) normally provides food, drugs and other essential items on behalf of the U.S. to poor countries around the world, but under the Obama administration, the agency has expanded its portfolio: it now ships homosexual activism around the world. In April, with help from the Levi Strauss Foundation and millionaire and homosexual activist Tim Gill, USAID began spending $11 million to train homosexual activists in other countries, WORLD magazine reports. The training began last week, in Columbia, which has recently affirmed traditional marriage. "This partnership leverages the financial resources and skills of each partner to further inclusive development and increase respect for the human rights of LGBT people around the world," said Claire Lucas, senior adviser of the USAID Office of Innovation and Development Alliances during a panel at the Ronald Reagan Building in D.C. "It can be a real game-changer in the advancementof LGBT human rights."
Homeschooling Skyrockets in the U.S.
The number of homeschooled children in the United States has increased by 75 percent since 1999, according to a new report published in Education News, CBN News reports. The study's findings serve as more proof that a growing number of parents are rejecting public schools. According to the report, discrepancies in achievement between sexes, income level and ethnicity are nonexistent in homeshcooling. "Recent studies laud homeshcooler's academic success, noting their significantly higher ACT-Composite scores as high schoolers and higher grade point averages as college students," the report said. Researchers also found the number of primary-aged homeschool kids is growing seven times faster than public school kids. According to Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute, the increase is partly because the large number of children homeschooled in the 1990s are now homeschooling their own children. Currently, 4 percent of all school-age children are educated at home.
(Above atticles from Religion Today Headlines, June 11 & 12, 2013, www.ReligionToday@crosswalkmail.com)
Retired Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk, who won a Super Bowl with the team last year, skipped the team's visit to the White House due to President Obama's support for Planned Parenthood, the Washington Examiner reports. "I have great respect for the office of the presidency but about five or six weeks ago, our president made a comment in a speech and he said, 'God bless Planned Parenthood,'" Birk, a former Minnesota Viking, told a local Minnesota sports blog. "I'm very confused by [Obama's] statement," he explained. "For God to bless a place where they're ending 330,000 lives a year? I just chose not to attend. Planned Parenthood performs about 330,000 abortions a year. I couldn't endorse that in any way." Obama spoke at the national Planned Parenthood conference this year, stating, "As long as we've got to fght to make sure women have access to quality, affordable health care, and as long as we've got to fight to protect a woman's right to make her own choices about her own health, I want you to know that you've also got a president who's going to be right there with you, fighting every step of the way. Thank you, Planned Parenthood. God bless you. God bless America."
Anti-Religion Group Blasts Teen Valedictorian's Prayer
The Freedom From Religion Foundation blasted what it called the "open defiance" of a valedictorian who delivered the Lord's Prayer during a high school graduation ceremony last Saturday in SouthCarolina, Todd Starnes reports. Roy Costner, a senior at Liberty High School in Pickens, created national attention when he ripped up his pre-approved graduation speech and instead led the crowd in a recitation of the Lord's Prayer. A video of the speech was posted on YouTube and has since gone viral. It shows the 18-year-old setting aside his speech and saying, "I think most of you will understand when I say, 'Our Father, who art in heaven...'" As the crowd cheered, he concluded his remarks by pointing to the sky and saying, "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen." A school district spokesperson said the valedictorian will not be penalized for what he did, and Costner said he has absolutely no regrets. "I'm happy with what I did," he said. "I want this to glorify God. I want to use this as a witnessing tool and I hope others will stand up for God in our nation." As for his critics,Costner quoted a passage of Scripture from the Gospel of Matthew. "If you deny me among men, I will deny you to the Father," he said. He also had a special message to the Freedom From Religion Foundation: "We are not in a country where we have freedom from religion. We have freedom of religion."
USAID Sponsors Pro-Homosexual Events in Developing Countries
The U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID) normally provides food, drugs and other essential items on behalf of the U.S. to poor countries around the world, but under the Obama administration, the agency has expanded its portfolio: it now ships homosexual activism around the world. In April, with help from the Levi Strauss Foundation and millionaire and homosexual activist Tim Gill, USAID began spending $11 million to train homosexual activists in other countries, WORLD magazine reports. The training began last week, in Columbia, which has recently affirmed traditional marriage. "This partnership leverages the financial resources and skills of each partner to further inclusive development and increase respect for the human rights of LGBT people around the world," said Claire Lucas, senior adviser of the USAID Office of Innovation and Development Alliances during a panel at the Ronald Reagan Building in D.C. "It can be a real game-changer in the advancementof LGBT human rights."
Homeschooling Skyrockets in the U.S.
The number of homeschooled children in the United States has increased by 75 percent since 1999, according to a new report published in Education News, CBN News reports. The study's findings serve as more proof that a growing number of parents are rejecting public schools. According to the report, discrepancies in achievement between sexes, income level and ethnicity are nonexistent in homeshcooling. "Recent studies laud homeshcooler's academic success, noting their significantly higher ACT-Composite scores as high schoolers and higher grade point averages as college students," the report said. Researchers also found the number of primary-aged homeschool kids is growing seven times faster than public school kids. According to Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute, the increase is partly because the large number of children homeschooled in the 1990s are now homeschooling their own children. Currently, 4 percent of all school-age children are educated at home.
(Above atticles from Religion Today Headlines, June 11 & 12, 2013, www.ReligionToday@crosswalkmail.com)
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Several Items of Interest
Churches Boot Boy Scouts for Lifting Ban on Openly Homosexual Members
Following the Boy Scouts' recent vote to lift its ban on openly homosexual members, a number of churches across America have announced they will be cutting ties with the organization, Christian News Network reports. The majority of entities that charter with the Boy Scouts are either faith-based organizations or churches; however, some churches have now decided not to allow the Scouts to use their facilities any more as the organization no longer represents their moral values. Pastor Mike Shaw of the First Baptist Church of Pelham, Ala., is among those ending his alliance with the Scouts. He recently explained that his church could not in good conscience support the acceptance of sinful behavior. "We don't hate anybody," Shaw told reporters. "We're not doing it out of hatred. The teachings of the Scripture are very clear on this. We're doing it because it violates the clear teaching of Scripture." Pastor Ernest Easley of Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga. said his church woud no longer support the Scouts either. "It is extremely sad," he stated. "I'd never dreamed that I'd be standing in front of a group preaching on Sunday, encouraging parents to pull kids out of Boy Scouts of America. It we're a church that affirms God's word as the inerrant word of God that we're going to live by, that we're going to raise our families by, that we're going to church by, then it may be sad, but it's a simple decision. We are not going to put our arms around organizations that openly oppose the moral guidelines taught in God's word." TheSouthern baptist convention plans to vote next month on a resolution in regrd to the Scouting policy, which may result in additional churches distancing themselves from the organization. A number of Christian organizations are predicting a mass exodus from the Boy Scouts of America following last month's decision.
Obama Administration Defends Massive Phone Record Collection
The Obama administration on Thursday defended its collection of a massive amount of telephone records from at least one carrier as part of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, re-igniting a debate over privacy even as it called the practice "critical" to protecting Americans from attacks, Reuters reports. The admission came after Britain's Guardian newspaper published in Wednesday a secret court order related to the records of millions of Verizon Communications customers. A senior White House official said the metadata request included phone numbers and length of calls but not users' personal information or the calls' content. Such information is "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats to the United States," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "It allows counter-terrorism personnel to discover whether known or suspected terrorists have been in contact with other persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities, particularly people located inside the United States." But privacy and free speech advocates say the president has overstepped his bounds, again. His administration is already under fire for searching Associated Press journalists' calling records and the emails of a Fox News Channel reporter as part of its inquires into leaked government information. Verizon has declined to comment. It remains unclear whether the practice extends to other carriers, though several security experts and at least one U.S. lawmaker said that was likely.
Nigerian Village Attacked Just Prior to Boko Haram Being Officially Banned
On Tuesday morning, gunmen surrounded the village of Rucuki in Nigerian's Nasarawa State, killing at least 16 people and destroying at least 25 homes, Open Doors USA reports. The motive for the attack is unknown, but it appears that the perpetrators may have been members of the Islamist group Boko Haram escaping the government clampdown under the state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. The Nigerian government carries on efforts to bring an end to the Boko Haram insurgnecy; on Wednesday, Boko Haram was officially banned while the U.S. government declared a $7 million bounty for the capture of its leader, Abubakar Shekau. Boko Haram has killed hundreds of Christians and moderate Muslims and has a goal of establishing sharia law in all of Nigeria.
Pastor Saeed's Wife Pleads With Human Rights Council
The wife of American Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, jailed and tortured in Iran for his faith, pled her case before the U.N. Human Rights Council Monday, CBN News reports. Naghmeh Abedini joined Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice to urge the panel to defend the persecuted church, specifically asking the member states to take more action on her husband's behalf. Pastor Saeed was sentenced to eight years in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison on account of his Christian faith. He has been abused physically and suffers from internal bleeding, but prison officials have refused to allow him to be treated for his injuries. Sekulow wrote on the ACLJ's website: "I implored the nations represented on the Human Rights Council to stand up for the most basic of human rights - the right to peaceably assemble in exercise of one's religious beliefs - and urge Iran to release Pastor Saeed Abedini." Despite a call by U.S.Secretary of State John Kerry in March for Saeed's "immediate" release, Neghmeh has said she's been "disappointed that this great country is not doing more to free my husband - a U.S.citizen."
(All of the above articles from Religion Today Daily Headlines, www.religiontoday@crosswalkmail.com)
Following the Boy Scouts' recent vote to lift its ban on openly homosexual members, a number of churches across America have announced they will be cutting ties with the organization, Christian News Network reports. The majority of entities that charter with the Boy Scouts are either faith-based organizations or churches; however, some churches have now decided not to allow the Scouts to use their facilities any more as the organization no longer represents their moral values. Pastor Mike Shaw of the First Baptist Church of Pelham, Ala., is among those ending his alliance with the Scouts. He recently explained that his church could not in good conscience support the acceptance of sinful behavior. "We don't hate anybody," Shaw told reporters. "We're not doing it out of hatred. The teachings of the Scripture are very clear on this. We're doing it because it violates the clear teaching of Scripture." Pastor Ernest Easley of Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga. said his church woud no longer support the Scouts either. "It is extremely sad," he stated. "I'd never dreamed that I'd be standing in front of a group preaching on Sunday, encouraging parents to pull kids out of Boy Scouts of America. It we're a church that affirms God's word as the inerrant word of God that we're going to live by, that we're going to raise our families by, that we're going to church by, then it may be sad, but it's a simple decision. We are not going to put our arms around organizations that openly oppose the moral guidelines taught in God's word." TheSouthern baptist convention plans to vote next month on a resolution in regrd to the Scouting policy, which may result in additional churches distancing themselves from the organization. A number of Christian organizations are predicting a mass exodus from the Boy Scouts of America following last month's decision.
Obama Administration Defends Massive Phone Record Collection
The Obama administration on Thursday defended its collection of a massive amount of telephone records from at least one carrier as part of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, re-igniting a debate over privacy even as it called the practice "critical" to protecting Americans from attacks, Reuters reports. The admission came after Britain's Guardian newspaper published in Wednesday a secret court order related to the records of millions of Verizon Communications customers. A senior White House official said the metadata request included phone numbers and length of calls but not users' personal information or the calls' content. Such information is "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats to the United States," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "It allows counter-terrorism personnel to discover whether known or suspected terrorists have been in contact with other persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities, particularly people located inside the United States." But privacy and free speech advocates say the president has overstepped his bounds, again. His administration is already under fire for searching Associated Press journalists' calling records and the emails of a Fox News Channel reporter as part of its inquires into leaked government information. Verizon has declined to comment. It remains unclear whether the practice extends to other carriers, though several security experts and at least one U.S. lawmaker said that was likely.
Nigerian Village Attacked Just Prior to Boko Haram Being Officially Banned
On Tuesday morning, gunmen surrounded the village of Rucuki in Nigerian's Nasarawa State, killing at least 16 people and destroying at least 25 homes, Open Doors USA reports. The motive for the attack is unknown, but it appears that the perpetrators may have been members of the Islamist group Boko Haram escaping the government clampdown under the state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. The Nigerian government carries on efforts to bring an end to the Boko Haram insurgnecy; on Wednesday, Boko Haram was officially banned while the U.S. government declared a $7 million bounty for the capture of its leader, Abubakar Shekau. Boko Haram has killed hundreds of Christians and moderate Muslims and has a goal of establishing sharia law in all of Nigeria.
Pastor Saeed's Wife Pleads With Human Rights Council
The wife of American Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, jailed and tortured in Iran for his faith, pled her case before the U.N. Human Rights Council Monday, CBN News reports. Naghmeh Abedini joined Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice to urge the panel to defend the persecuted church, specifically asking the member states to take more action on her husband's behalf. Pastor Saeed was sentenced to eight years in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison on account of his Christian faith. He has been abused physically and suffers from internal bleeding, but prison officials have refused to allow him to be treated for his injuries. Sekulow wrote on the ACLJ's website: "I implored the nations represented on the Human Rights Council to stand up for the most basic of human rights - the right to peaceably assemble in exercise of one's religious beliefs - and urge Iran to release Pastor Saeed Abedini." Despite a call by U.S.Secretary of State John Kerry in March for Saeed's "immediate" release, Neghmeh has said she's been "disappointed that this great country is not doing more to free my husband - a U.S.citizen."
(All of the above articles from Religion Today Daily Headlines, www.religiontoday@crosswalkmail.com)
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The Rise & Fall & Rise of Motherhood in America, Part 4 of 4 Parts
Motherhood Will Triumph
There is an important reason why motherhood will not be defeated - The Church is her guardian. As long as she perseveres - and persevere she will - motherhood will prevail.
The Church is the ultimate vanguard of that which is most precious and most holy. She holds the oracles of God which dare to proclaim to a selfish, self-centered nation: "Children are a blessing and the fruit of the womb is His reward." Psalm 127:3.
The Church stands at the very gates of the city, willing to receive the railing complaints of feminists, atheists, and the legions arrayed against the biblical family, and she reminds the people of God:"Let the older women teach the young to love their children, to guide the homes." Titus 2:3-5.
It is this very love of the life of children, this passion for feminity and motherhood which may be God's instrument of blessing on America in the days to come. As the birth rate continues to plummet, divorce rates rise, and family life in America dissipates to the point of extinction, life-loving families will not only have an important message to share, but they will have an army of children to help them share it.
The Question
Teacher: Susie what do you want to be when you grow up?
Susie: I want to be a doctor.
Teacher: How wonderful! and what about you Hannah?
Hannah: When I grow up I want to be a wife and mother!
Teacher: [dead silence]....
After years of society belittling the calling of motherhood, something wonerful is happening - something wonderfully counter-cultural! In the midst of the anti-life, anti-motherhood philosophies which pervade the culture, there is a new generation of young ladies emerging whose priorities are not determined by the world's expectations of them. They have grown up in homes where fathers shepherd them, where children are not merely welcome, but where they are deeply loved. Some of these women have been home educated, which means that many of them have grown up around babies and their mothers. They have learned to see motherhood as a joy and a high calling, because their parents see it that way.
And when asked about their future, these girls know their own minds. These are the future mothers of the Church. Young women who are not afraid to say that the goal of all of their education and training is to equip them to pursue the hghest calling of womanhood, the office of wife and mother.
The Cost of Motherhood
Once a lady went to visit her friend. During the visit the children of the friend entered the room and began to play with each other. As the lady and her friend visited, the lady turned to her friend and said eagerly and yet with evidently no thought of the meaningof her words: "Oh, I'd give my life to have such children." The mother replied with a subdued earnestness whose quiet told of the depth of experience out of which her words came: "That's exactly what it costs."
There is a cost of motherhood. And the price is no small sum. And if you are not willing to pay this price, no amount of encouragement about the joys of motherhood will satisfy.
But the price of motherhood is not fundamentally different from the price of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. In fact, Christian mothers see their duty as mothers flowing from their calling to Jesus Christ. And what is this cost? Christian motherhood means dedicating hyour entire life in service of others. It means standing beside your husband, following him, and investing in the lives of children whom you hope will both survive you and surpass you. It means forgoing present satisfaction for eternal rewards. It means investing in the lives of others who may never fully appreciate your sacrifice or comprehend the depth of your love. And it means doing all these things, not because you will receive the praise of man - for you will not - but because God made you to be a woman and a mother, and there is great contentment in the biblical calling.
In other words, Motherhood requires vision. It requires living by faith and not by sight.
These are some of the reasons why Motherhood is both the most biblically noble and the most socially unappreciated role to which a young woman can aspire. There are many people who ask the question: Does my life matter? But a mother that fears the Lord need never ask such a question. Upon her faithful obedience hinges the future of the church and the hope of the nation.
In 1950, the great Scottish American preacher Peter Marshall stood before the United States Senate and he explained it this way: The modern challenge to motherhood is the eternal challenge - that of being a godly woman. The very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other kind of women - beautiful women, smart women, sophisiticated women, career woman, talented women, divorced women, but so seldom do we hear of a godly woman - or of a godly man either, for that matter.
I believe women come nearer fulfilling their God-given function in the home than anywhere else. It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife than to be Miss America. It is a greater achievement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second-rate novel filled with filth. It is a far, far better thing in the realm of morals to be old-fashioned than to be ultramodern. The world has enough women who know how to hold their cocktails, who have lost all their illusions and their faith. The world has enough women who know how to be smart.
It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct.
As we approach America's national Mother's Day celebration, let's remember that we are fighting for the Lord, and it is He who prioritizes motherhood and home as the highest calling and domain of womanhood "that the word of God be not blasphemed." Titus 2:5.
May the Lord fill our churches with faithful mothers.
(By Douglas Phillips, President,Vision Forum Ministries, May 10, 2013, www.visionforum.com)
There is an important reason why motherhood will not be defeated - The Church is her guardian. As long as she perseveres - and persevere she will - motherhood will prevail.
The Church is the ultimate vanguard of that which is most precious and most holy. She holds the oracles of God which dare to proclaim to a selfish, self-centered nation: "Children are a blessing and the fruit of the womb is His reward." Psalm 127:3.
The Church stands at the very gates of the city, willing to receive the railing complaints of feminists, atheists, and the legions arrayed against the biblical family, and she reminds the people of God:"Let the older women teach the young to love their children, to guide the homes." Titus 2:3-5.
It is this very love of the life of children, this passion for feminity and motherhood which may be God's instrument of blessing on America in the days to come. As the birth rate continues to plummet, divorce rates rise, and family life in America dissipates to the point of extinction, life-loving families will not only have an important message to share, but they will have an army of children to help them share it.
The Question
Teacher: Susie what do you want to be when you grow up?
Susie: I want to be a doctor.
Teacher: How wonderful! and what about you Hannah?
Hannah: When I grow up I want to be a wife and mother!
Teacher: [dead silence]....
After years of society belittling the calling of motherhood, something wonerful is happening - something wonderfully counter-cultural! In the midst of the anti-life, anti-motherhood philosophies which pervade the culture, there is a new generation of young ladies emerging whose priorities are not determined by the world's expectations of them. They have grown up in homes where fathers shepherd them, where children are not merely welcome, but where they are deeply loved. Some of these women have been home educated, which means that many of them have grown up around babies and their mothers. They have learned to see motherhood as a joy and a high calling, because their parents see it that way.
And when asked about their future, these girls know their own minds. These are the future mothers of the Church. Young women who are not afraid to say that the goal of all of their education and training is to equip them to pursue the hghest calling of womanhood, the office of wife and mother.
The Cost of Motherhood
Once a lady went to visit her friend. During the visit the children of the friend entered the room and began to play with each other. As the lady and her friend visited, the lady turned to her friend and said eagerly and yet with evidently no thought of the meaningof her words: "Oh, I'd give my life to have such children." The mother replied with a subdued earnestness whose quiet told of the depth of experience out of which her words came: "That's exactly what it costs."
There is a cost of motherhood. And the price is no small sum. And if you are not willing to pay this price, no amount of encouragement about the joys of motherhood will satisfy.
But the price of motherhood is not fundamentally different from the price of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. In fact, Christian mothers see their duty as mothers flowing from their calling to Jesus Christ. And what is this cost? Christian motherhood means dedicating hyour entire life in service of others. It means standing beside your husband, following him, and investing in the lives of children whom you hope will both survive you and surpass you. It means forgoing present satisfaction for eternal rewards. It means investing in the lives of others who may never fully appreciate your sacrifice or comprehend the depth of your love. And it means doing all these things, not because you will receive the praise of man - for you will not - but because God made you to be a woman and a mother, and there is great contentment in the biblical calling.
In other words, Motherhood requires vision. It requires living by faith and not by sight.
These are some of the reasons why Motherhood is both the most biblically noble and the most socially unappreciated role to which a young woman can aspire. There are many people who ask the question: Does my life matter? But a mother that fears the Lord need never ask such a question. Upon her faithful obedience hinges the future of the church and the hope of the nation.
In 1950, the great Scottish American preacher Peter Marshall stood before the United States Senate and he explained it this way: The modern challenge to motherhood is the eternal challenge - that of being a godly woman. The very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other kind of women - beautiful women, smart women, sophisiticated women, career woman, talented women, divorced women, but so seldom do we hear of a godly woman - or of a godly man either, for that matter.
I believe women come nearer fulfilling their God-given function in the home than anywhere else. It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife than to be Miss America. It is a greater achievement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second-rate novel filled with filth. It is a far, far better thing in the realm of morals to be old-fashioned than to be ultramodern. The world has enough women who know how to hold their cocktails, who have lost all their illusions and their faith. The world has enough women who know how to be smart.
It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct.
As we approach America's national Mother's Day celebration, let's remember that we are fighting for the Lord, and it is He who prioritizes motherhood and home as the highest calling and domain of womanhood "that the word of God be not blasphemed." Titus 2:5.
May the Lord fill our churches with faithful mothers.
(By Douglas Phillips, President,Vision Forum Ministries, May 10, 2013, www.visionforum.com)
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
The Rise & Fall & Rise of Motherhood in America, Part 3 of 4 Parts
Lenin's comrade Trotsky played a key role in communicating the Marxist vision of what he called the "new family." Lenin and Trotsky believed in the overthrow of Christianity by destroying the biblical family. They sought to build a new state, free form historic Christian presuppositions concerning the family. This meant denigrating the biblical notion of male headship and hierarchy within the family. It meant eliminating any sense that there should be a division of labor between man and wife. This required delivering women from the burdens of childbirth and childcare. It meant adopting tools like birth control as guarantors that women could be free to remain in the workforce. Trotsky said this: Socialization of family housekeeping and public education of children are unthinkable without a marked improvement in our economics as a whole. We need more socialist economic forms. Only under such conditions can we free the family from the functions and cares that now oppress and disintegrate it. Washing must be done by a pubic laundry , catering by a public restaurant, sewing by a public workshop. Children must be educated by good public teachers who have a real vocation for the work. Then the bond between husband and wife would be freed from everything external and accidental,and the one would cease to abosorb the life of the other. Genuine eauality would at least be established....
The most disturbing part of quotes like those above is how similar they sound in sentiment and spirit to voices today from individuals who claim to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ. Even more disturbing is how many of the anti-family social reforms are presuppositions of modern Christians in America. Presuppositions which have been fully accepted.
How Ameraica's Conscience Was Seared Toward Motherhood
But motherhood is not easily defeated. It was here from the beginning and it has always carried the Church and civilization forward. Motherhood not only perpetuates civilization, it defines it.
At first Jamestown was a bachelor society struggling for survival. But she became a civilization when the women arrived. Plymouth, on the other hand, began as a civilization - families of faith committed to fruitfulness and multiplication for the glory of God, an impossibility without motherhood. Motherhood is not easily defeated because God has placed reminders of its importance in the very bodies of the women He created. To defeat motherhood, the enemies of the biblical family must do more than make it a social inconvenience, they must teach women to despise themselves by viewing their own wombs as the enemy of self-fulfillment. This means minimizing the glorious gift of life which is only given to womankind. It means redefining what it means to be a woman.
But even this is not enough. To defeat motherhood the enemies of the biblical family must sear the conscience of an entire generation of women. This is done through the doctrines of social emancipation from the home, sexual liberation, birth control, and abortion - all four of which cause a woman to war against her created nature. Instead of being the blessed guardian of domesticity for society, she is taught that contentment can only be found by acting, dressing, and competing with men. Instead of being an object of respect, protection, and virtue, she sells herself cheaply, thus devaluing her womanhood. Instead of glorying in a fruitful womb she cuts off the very seed of life. Sometimes she even kills the life.
Years of playing the part of a man hardens a woman. It trains women to find identity in the corporation, not the home. It teaches them to be uncomfortable around children and large families - the mere presence of which is a reminder of the antithesis between God's design for womankind and the norms of post-Christian societies.
But women are not the only ones with seared consciences. Men have them too. Consider that fifty years ago a man would have winced to think of female soldiers heading into combat while stay-at-home dads are left behind chinging diapers. Today's man has a seared conscience. He no longer thinks of himself as a protector of motherhood, and a defender of womankind. He comforts himself by repeating the mantras of modern feminism, and by assuring himself of how reasonable and enlightened he is - how different he is from his intolerant and oppressive fathers. But in his heart, modern man knows that he has lost something He has lost his manhood.
To be a man, you must care about women. And you must care about them in the right way. You must care about them as creatures worthy of protection, honor, and love. This means genuinely appreciating them for their uniqueness as women. It means recognizing the preciousness of femininity over glamour, of homemaking over careerism, and of mature motherhood over perpetual youth. But when women are reduced to soldiers, sexual objects, and social competitors, it is not merely the women who lose the identity given to them by the Creator, but the men as well. This is why the attack on motherhood has produced a nation of eunuchs - socially and spiritually impotent men who have little capacity to lead, let alone love women as God intended man to love woman - as mother, wives, sisters, and daughters.
(By Douglas Phillips, Vision Forum Ministries, May 10,2013, www.visionforum.com)
The most disturbing part of quotes like those above is how similar they sound in sentiment and spirit to voices today from individuals who claim to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ. Even more disturbing is how many of the anti-family social reforms are presuppositions of modern Christians in America. Presuppositions which have been fully accepted.
How Ameraica's Conscience Was Seared Toward Motherhood
But motherhood is not easily defeated. It was here from the beginning and it has always carried the Church and civilization forward. Motherhood not only perpetuates civilization, it defines it.
At first Jamestown was a bachelor society struggling for survival. But she became a civilization when the women arrived. Plymouth, on the other hand, began as a civilization - families of faith committed to fruitfulness and multiplication for the glory of God, an impossibility without motherhood. Motherhood is not easily defeated because God has placed reminders of its importance in the very bodies of the women He created. To defeat motherhood, the enemies of the biblical family must do more than make it a social inconvenience, they must teach women to despise themselves by viewing their own wombs as the enemy of self-fulfillment. This means minimizing the glorious gift of life which is only given to womankind. It means redefining what it means to be a woman.
But even this is not enough. To defeat motherhood the enemies of the biblical family must sear the conscience of an entire generation of women. This is done through the doctrines of social emancipation from the home, sexual liberation, birth control, and abortion - all four of which cause a woman to war against her created nature. Instead of being the blessed guardian of domesticity for society, she is taught that contentment can only be found by acting, dressing, and competing with men. Instead of being an object of respect, protection, and virtue, she sells herself cheaply, thus devaluing her womanhood. Instead of glorying in a fruitful womb she cuts off the very seed of life. Sometimes she even kills the life.
Years of playing the part of a man hardens a woman. It trains women to find identity in the corporation, not the home. It teaches them to be uncomfortable around children and large families - the mere presence of which is a reminder of the antithesis between God's design for womankind and the norms of post-Christian societies.
But women are not the only ones with seared consciences. Men have them too. Consider that fifty years ago a man would have winced to think of female soldiers heading into combat while stay-at-home dads are left behind chinging diapers. Today's man has a seared conscience. He no longer thinks of himself as a protector of motherhood, and a defender of womankind. He comforts himself by repeating the mantras of modern feminism, and by assuring himself of how reasonable and enlightened he is - how different he is from his intolerant and oppressive fathers. But in his heart, modern man knows that he has lost something He has lost his manhood.
To be a man, you must care about women. And you must care about them in the right way. You must care about them as creatures worthy of protection, honor, and love. This means genuinely appreciating them for their uniqueness as women. It means recognizing the preciousness of femininity over glamour, of homemaking over careerism, and of mature motherhood over perpetual youth. But when women are reduced to soldiers, sexual objects, and social competitors, it is not merely the women who lose the identity given to them by the Creator, but the men as well. This is why the attack on motherhood has produced a nation of eunuchs - socially and spiritually impotent men who have little capacity to lead, let alone love women as God intended man to love woman - as mother, wives, sisters, and daughters.
(By Douglas Phillips, Vision Forum Ministries, May 10,2013, www.visionforum.com)
Monday, June 3, 2013
The Rise & Fall & Rise of Motherhood, Part 2 of 4 parts
The War on Motherhood
But this birthright would be exchanged during the last century for a mess of pottage. Perhaps the greatest legacy of the 20th century has been the war on motherhood and biblical patriarchy. Feminists, Marxists, and liberal theologians have made it their aim to target the institution of the family and divest it from its biblical structure and priorities. The results are androgyny, a radical decline in birthrate, abortion, fatherless families, and social confusion. Incredibly, the biggest story of the 20th century never made headine news. Somehow we missed it. It was the mass exodus of women from the home, and the consequent decline of motherhood. For the first time in recorded history of theWest, more mothers left their homes than stayed in them. By leaving the home, the experience and reality of childhood, family life and femininity were fundamentally redefined, and the results have been so bad that if this one trend is not reversed, our grandchildren may live in a world where the both the true culture of Christian family life and the historic definition of marriage are the stuff of fairy tales.
Many "isms" have influenced these trends - evolutionism, feminism, statism, eugenicism, Marxism, and more. But in the end, the philosophical gap between the presuppositions of the Atheists, eugenicists, and Marxistsof the early 20th century, and the presuppositions of the professing Church in the 21st century, have narrowed dramatically. The goals of the state and the goals of the mainstream church have so merged, that the biblical family with its emphasis on male headship, generational succession, and prolific motherhood are a threat to the social order of both institutions.
Less than one hundred years ago, the architects of the atheistic communist Soviet state anticipated the death of the Christian family. They explained the need for destroying the Christian family with its emphasis on motherhood, and replacing it with a vision for a "new family." Lenin wrote: We must now say proudly and without any exaggeration that apart from Soviet Russia, there is not a country in the world where women enjoy full equality and where women are not placed in the humiliating position felt particularly in day-to-day family life. This is one of our first and most important tasks.....Housework is the most unproductive, the most barbarous and the most arduous work a woman can do. It is exceptionally petty and does not include anything that would in any way promote the development of the woman.... The building of socialism will begin only when we have achieved the complete equality of women and when we undertake the new work together with women who have been emancipated from that petty stulifying, unproductive work....We are setting up model institutions, dining-rooms and nurseries, that will emancipate women from housework....These institutions that liberate women from their position as household slaves are springing up where it is in any way possible....Our task is to make politics available to every working woman.
In his 1920 International Working Women's Day Speech, Lenin emphasized: The chief thing is to get women to take part in socially productive labor, to liberate them from "domestic slavery," to free them from their stupefying [idiotic] and humiliating subjugation to the eternal drudgery of the kitchen and the nursery. This struggle will be a long one, and it demands a radical reconstruction, both of social technique and of morale. but it will end in the complete triumph of Communism.
(by Douglas Phillips,Vision Forum Ministries, May 10, 2013, www.visionforum.com)
But this birthright would be exchanged during the last century for a mess of pottage. Perhaps the greatest legacy of the 20th century has been the war on motherhood and biblical patriarchy. Feminists, Marxists, and liberal theologians have made it their aim to target the institution of the family and divest it from its biblical structure and priorities. The results are androgyny, a radical decline in birthrate, abortion, fatherless families, and social confusion. Incredibly, the biggest story of the 20th century never made headine news. Somehow we missed it. It was the mass exodus of women from the home, and the consequent decline of motherhood. For the first time in recorded history of theWest, more mothers left their homes than stayed in them. By leaving the home, the experience and reality of childhood, family life and femininity were fundamentally redefined, and the results have been so bad that if this one trend is not reversed, our grandchildren may live in a world where the both the true culture of Christian family life and the historic definition of marriage are the stuff of fairy tales.
Many "isms" have influenced these trends - evolutionism, feminism, statism, eugenicism, Marxism, and more. But in the end, the philosophical gap between the presuppositions of the Atheists, eugenicists, and Marxistsof the early 20th century, and the presuppositions of the professing Church in the 21st century, have narrowed dramatically. The goals of the state and the goals of the mainstream church have so merged, that the biblical family with its emphasis on male headship, generational succession, and prolific motherhood are a threat to the social order of both institutions.
Less than one hundred years ago, the architects of the atheistic communist Soviet state anticipated the death of the Christian family. They explained the need for destroying the Christian family with its emphasis on motherhood, and replacing it with a vision for a "new family." Lenin wrote: We must now say proudly and without any exaggeration that apart from Soviet Russia, there is not a country in the world where women enjoy full equality and where women are not placed in the humiliating position felt particularly in day-to-day family life. This is one of our first and most important tasks.....Housework is the most unproductive, the most barbarous and the most arduous work a woman can do. It is exceptionally petty and does not include anything that would in any way promote the development of the woman.... The building of socialism will begin only when we have achieved the complete equality of women and when we undertake the new work together with women who have been emancipated from that petty stulifying, unproductive work....We are setting up model institutions, dining-rooms and nurseries, that will emancipate women from housework....These institutions that liberate women from their position as household slaves are springing up where it is in any way possible....Our task is to make politics available to every working woman.
In his 1920 International Working Women's Day Speech, Lenin emphasized: The chief thing is to get women to take part in socially productive labor, to liberate them from "domestic slavery," to free them from their stupefying [idiotic] and humiliating subjugation to the eternal drudgery of the kitchen and the nursery. This struggle will be a long one, and it demands a radical reconstruction, both of social technique and of morale. but it will end in the complete triumph of Communism.
(by Douglas Phillips,Vision Forum Ministries, May 10, 2013, www.visionforum.com)
Saturday, June 1, 2013
The Rise & Fall & Rise of Motherhood in America, Part 1 of 4 parts
Only Women Can Be Mothers. Have We Forgotten This Fundamental?
Only a woman can carry in her body an eternal being which bears the very image of God. Only she is the recipient of the miracle of life. Only a woman can conceive and nurture this life using her own flesh and blood, and then deliver a living soul into the world. God has bestowed upon her alone a genuine miracle - the creation of life, and the fusing of an eternal soul with mortal flesh. This fact alone establishes the glory of motherhood.
Despire the most creative plans of humanist scientists and lawmakers to redefine the sexes, no man will ever conceive and give birth to a child. The fruitful womb is a holy gift given by God to women alone. This is one reason why the office of wife and mother is the highest calling to which a woman can aspire.
This is the reason why nations that fear the Lord esteem and protect mothers. They glory in the distinctions between men and women, and attempt to build cutures in which motherhood is honored and protected.
In his famous commentary on early American life, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville explained: Thus the Americans do not think that man and woman have either the duty or the right to perform the same offices, but they show an equal regard for both their respective parts; and though their lot is different, they consider both of them as beings of equal value. They do not give to the courage of woman the same form or the same direction as to that of man, but they never doubt her courage; and if they hold that man and his partner ought not always to exercise their intellect and understanding in the same manner, they at least believe the understanding of the one to be as sound as that of the other, and her intellect to be as clear. Thus, then, while they have allowed the social inferiority of woman to continue, they have done all they could to raise her morally and intellectually to the level of man; and in this respect they appear to me to have excellently understood the true principle of democratic inprovement.
De Tocqueville contrasted the American understanding of women, with European sentiments: There are people in Europe who, confounding together the different characteristics of the sexes, would make man and woman into beings not only equal but alike. They could give to both the same functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant to both the same rights; they would mix them in all things - their occupations, their pleasures, their business. It may readily be conceived that by thus attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both are degraded, and from so preposterous a medley of the works of nature nothing could ever result but weak men and disorderly women.
America's glory was her women. De Tocqueville believed this when he wrote: As for myself, I do not hesitate to avow that although the women of the United States are confined within the narrow circle of domestic life, and their situation is in some respects one of extreme dependence, I have nowhere seen woman occupying a loftier position; and if I were asked, now that I am drawing to the close of this work, in which I have spoken of so may important things done by the Americans, to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply: To the superiority of their women.
(by Douglas Phillips, Vision Forum Ministries, May 10, 2013, www.fisionforum.com)
Only a woman can carry in her body an eternal being which bears the very image of God. Only she is the recipient of the miracle of life. Only a woman can conceive and nurture this life using her own flesh and blood, and then deliver a living soul into the world. God has bestowed upon her alone a genuine miracle - the creation of life, and the fusing of an eternal soul with mortal flesh. This fact alone establishes the glory of motherhood.
Despire the most creative plans of humanist scientists and lawmakers to redefine the sexes, no man will ever conceive and give birth to a child. The fruitful womb is a holy gift given by God to women alone. This is one reason why the office of wife and mother is the highest calling to which a woman can aspire.
This is the reason why nations that fear the Lord esteem and protect mothers. They glory in the distinctions between men and women, and attempt to build cutures in which motherhood is honored and protected.
In his famous commentary on early American life, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville explained: Thus the Americans do not think that man and woman have either the duty or the right to perform the same offices, but they show an equal regard for both their respective parts; and though their lot is different, they consider both of them as beings of equal value. They do not give to the courage of woman the same form or the same direction as to that of man, but they never doubt her courage; and if they hold that man and his partner ought not always to exercise their intellect and understanding in the same manner, they at least believe the understanding of the one to be as sound as that of the other, and her intellect to be as clear. Thus, then, while they have allowed the social inferiority of woman to continue, they have done all they could to raise her morally and intellectually to the level of man; and in this respect they appear to me to have excellently understood the true principle of democratic inprovement.
De Tocqueville contrasted the American understanding of women, with European sentiments: There are people in Europe who, confounding together the different characteristics of the sexes, would make man and woman into beings not only equal but alike. They could give to both the same functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant to both the same rights; they would mix them in all things - their occupations, their pleasures, their business. It may readily be conceived that by thus attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both are degraded, and from so preposterous a medley of the works of nature nothing could ever result but weak men and disorderly women.
America's glory was her women. De Tocqueville believed this when he wrote: As for myself, I do not hesitate to avow that although the women of the United States are confined within the narrow circle of domestic life, and their situation is in some respects one of extreme dependence, I have nowhere seen woman occupying a loftier position; and if I were asked, now that I am drawing to the close of this work, in which I have spoken of so may important things done by the Americans, to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply: To the superiority of their women.
(by Douglas Phillips, Vision Forum Ministries, May 10, 2013, www.fisionforum.com)
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