Click Here for part one. As a mom who is striving to raise children who live lives wholly surrendered to Christ, I find myself denying permission to watch, go to, play with, or listen to something.  I hate always saying "no".  It is that pressure many of us face and in many cases the weight is so heavy we crack and allow permission against our better judgment. When we allow permission against our better judgment and "hope for the best" we are doing our children a disservice.  At worst we are planting the seed of rebellion.  A child may not like boundaries yet they will respect parents who set them and stand by them.  When we illogically give a child what he wants the child is happy for the moment but in time he sees only his parents inability to hold true to conviction.  This will cause damage that will have a lasting negative effect.  The child will learn that flesh comes before conviction. Another failure in expressing boundaries of those we set for ourselves.  Our children … [Read more...]

You hear the stories all the time.  You catch the whispers between the church pews.  Pretty soon someone will come up to and ask, “Did you hear that The Smith’s son was arrested for doing drugs?” The congregation is consumed with how a dedicated deacon’s daughter was caught with a boy in her bedroom.  There are stories like these in every church running around wildly leaving the red faced parents to catch it with a net and cage it. Such stories are like reality TV for some and concern for prayer for others. The treatment of these stories provides the distance between us and them.  The “us” being those who could never have such a trial darken their door.  The “them” are the ones who failed spiritually and paying the high price of watching their children walk in disobedience.  What is the difference between “us” and “them” or is there one? If you ever grieved with a parent whose child takes the road of disobedience you know the anguish this causes.  Parents blame themselves, a bad … [Read more...]