Category marriage

Jun 15 2013

Father, Where Are You?

It is Father’s day.

But unfortunately many homes resonate with the questions “where is daddy?” or “who is my daddy?”

As the feminist movement progresses, and as women have become liberated and independent over the years, more and more children are born out-of-wedlock.  The CDC released a report last year with shocking data showing that 40.7% of children in the US are born outside of marriage, and many of these children do not have a father figure in the home to shape a complete family that nurtures them to adulthood.

A boy needs a father  in his life to identify with and show him the world through a God-given priesthood installed in the family by God Himself.

A girl needs her father to give her confidence and a critical approach to future relationships. This is in addition to showing her Christ as the center of the family.

Many families (some Christian) do not have a father to provide this critical role, and this has become a national tragedy.  The National Fatherhood Initiative has compiled many studies (here) to show how devastating the absence of the father has become.  These are some of the conclusions:

  • Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor.
  • Children born to single mothers show higher levels of aggressive behavior than children born to married mothers.
  • Infant mortality rates are 1.8 times higher for infants of unmarried mothers than for married mothers.
  • Even after controlling for income, youths in father-absent households still had significantly higher odds of incarceration than those in mother-father families. Youths who never had a father in the household experienced the highest odds.
  • Being raised by a single mother raises the risk of teen pregnancy, marrying with less than a high school degree, and forming a marriage where both partners have less than a high school degree.
  • The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth found that obese children are more likely to live in father-absent homes than are non-obese children.
  • Father involvement in schools is associated with the higher likelihood of a student getting mostly A’s.

And the list of such studies goes on and on.  America will suffer greatly in the coming generation(s) because fathers are no longer in the home.  Our children will not be complete socially without fathers, and they will also be a at severe spiritual disadvantage because the husband and father is the spiritual leader of the household.  Whatever the reason is for his absence, it will most likely leave the family unit in disarray.

So true sound the words of the wise man who says in Proverbs 20:7 “The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him!” We must turn back to the God-ordained family unit of one father and one mother who raise their children in the fear of the LORD.

I wish all fathers who visit Delight in Truth a blessed Father’s Day!

image credit: istock/Andrew Penner
May 20 2013

France’s Moral Revolution Not Enough to Stop Gay Marriage

The two largest rallies in the history of France occurred this year as folks came out in an attempt to sway the government against approving gay marriage and adoption.  They dubbed it France’s Moral Revolution.  Each rally had over 1 million participants, with one rally estimated at 1.4 million.

Despite the voice of the people, France’s constitutional court approved a pro gay-marriage and adoption bill that has already passed through parliament.  The president is expected to sign it in into law.

2.4 million demonstrators with “1 Father, 1 Mother = That’s Marriage” and “Father, Mother, Children, It’s Natural!” slogans were not enough to sway the progressive French legislature and courts.

This is hardly surprising.

This is proof that what the Bible is telling us is true.

Biblical commands on the issue of life and lifestyle which stood the test of time, are now trampled under the banner of love, acceptance, progress and enlightenment.  Apostle Paul warned us about this degeneration in one of his famous lists in 2 Timothy 3:

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

This is a normal progression of social degeneration.

It will continue until the coming of our Lord, and it tells us that His return is that much closer.

Despite this development, the Church will continue to proclaim the Gospel and biblical truth.

image credit: Angela Fallentine

Dec 22 2012

Is “Christianity Today” Christian?

I have tried to follow the magazine Christianity Today (CT), but every other time I read an article there it seems like it is written either from a secular standpoint or by someone who might not be a Christian.  Really nice image being portrayed by a so-called Christian magazine…

Case and point, the editors just came out with their 2012 CT Music Awards.  I love Christian music, so I was excited to see check out the top Christian artists of the year.  But the top 12 albums of the year include names like Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Rait, and Bob Dylan.

Most of the names there are secular with the blasphemous Springsteen leading the pack.  His famous concert tirades mocking Christians and mocking God are now being rewarded by CT with a top 12 status!  Reformed rapper Lecrae somehow made it at the bottom of the list. 🙂 This is the explanation for their choices:

“Our annual best albums list includes the usual mix of clearly Christian and “secular” music. The loosely defined criteria for making the cut is essentially this: The album should indicate some sort of spiritual search, a quest for life’s meaning. Sometimes the music comes from an orthodox Christian worldview, and sometimes not.”

It is no longer about a quest for the God revealed in the Bible… the Bible that Christians from Christianity Today should believe as God’s inerrant and infallible Word.  It is now about “some sort of spiritual search.”  Is Christianity now reduced to Universalism?

This is just a symptom of the counterfeit Christianity prevalent in CT.

CT’s stance on homosexuality is readily apparent by the large amount of articles with relatively friendly positions toward the gay agenda.  They frequently include topics on gay membership in church and ordination of gays in ministry.

They have previously endorsed a definition of marriage as that being between a man and a woman, but with lukewarm stipulations: “Far more than the protection of the legal definition of marriage, our society needs a fresh understanding of marriage.”  A fresh understanding? Really? I guess what Moses wrote in Genesis and what Paul and Peter write in the New Testament about marriage is too old fashion.

The Bible calls on believers to separate themselves from the world, because as Jesus said even though we are in the world we are “not of the world.”  We cannot follow CT’s example in endorsing positions that require us to have to serve two masters.  Since Dylan is on their top 12 list maybe they should listen to his song “Gotta Serve Somebody.”  Since Paul quotes a pagan poet in Acts 17, I will quote Dylan here to prove this point:

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

The words of apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6 ring truer then ever in this era when the church is increasingly mixing with the world:

“14…For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God”

I question if Christianity Today is really Christian.