MESSAGE

FROM THE

WORD

PREVENTING THE SPIRITUAL SECUCTION

OF OUR CHILDREN

Daniel 1:1-23

SERIES:  Daniel                              Message # 3

            At the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston, Pat Buchanan was roundly criticized because he stated that, “we are in the midst of a culture war…”  25 years later, it is pretty clear that he was right.  In the past 25 years, we have seen same sex marriages validated by a state supreme court, a judge removed from office for putting the Ten Commandments in his courthouse, the U.S. Supreme Court refuse to rule that “one nation under God” should remain in our national pledge, assisted suicide approved as law in several states, virtual internet child pornography legalized, and the creation of several youth oriented television networks which are totally dedicated to the destruction of all moral values.  Whether Mr. Buchanan was mean spirited when he spoke, time has proven him correct. 

            As I contemplated this issue and how it relates to our children, it suddenly struck me that the means by which our culture woos our children into their fold is right here in the middle of Daniel 1.  This is why I said earlier that the Bible is very relevant on the cultural issues of today.  In this passage there are six weapons the culture uses to seduce our children and seven weapons which we can use to inoculate our children from this attempted seduction.  We need to burn into the hearts of our children a passion for God so they can remain faithful to Him. 

            Before we get started, let me state the obvious.  In its relationship with God, our nation is in trouble.  More importantly, the church has gotten off track.  While there are congregations and ministries that are living out God’s will and calling people to a life of holiness, that is not the direction for the church as a whole.  Because of this, our message today will take on a negative tint.  It is important that you know that, because this is not intended as a negative message.  Here is why.  A negative message centers on the problems.  We are going to examine the problems, but we are going to focus on the solutions.

            Let me illustrate this from the life of Nehemiah.  The book of Nehemiah takes place at the end of the Babylonian captivity, which are the final chapters in the book of Daniel.  Nehemiah was one of the Jews in exile and learned that the city of Jerusalem was in shambles and the Jews were discouraged.  He got depressed and went to the Lord in prayer.  God laid it on his heart to return to Jerusalem and repair the city.  Through some divine acts of God, Nehemiah was released from his obligations in Susa and sent to Jerusalem to rebuild the city.

            Upon arriving in the city, Nehemiah did something very important.  We read         NEH. 2:11-17              What was Nehemiah doing?  He was surveying the community to find out damage, resources and obstacles.  He then could go to the people of God and say “Here are the problems, the resources, the obstacles and most importantly, here is what God is going to do”.  The people had become very discouraged.  You will remember from our series on “Encouragement” that the word for courage comes from a word meaning “To touch the heart”.  Nehemiah came into the city and encouraged the people by telling them how God was going to solve their problem.  The result of this was a big boost on the courage meter for the people of God.

            This is what we are doing in this message.  What are the damaged areas of our nation and church and what does God want us to do to repair the breeches in those walls?  This is not the first time in our nation that we have had problems.  In the middle of the 1700’s, the most popular club on campus at Harvard was the cursing club.  God raised up men such as John Wesley and John Whitfield to preach repentance and a spiritual awakening took place bringing millions of people to Christ and to a holy life.  This is what we are praying for, that God would raise up young men and women who will be filled with God’s Spirit and lead a revival which will turn America around.  It begins with an honest evaluation of the situation.  What principles does our culture use to lure young people into rejecting God’s plan for their life?

            First, remove parental influence.  You do not read that Nebuchadnezzar brought these young men and their chaperones.  They did not bring their parents.  When a society wants to drastically move from its traditional roots, it must isolate children from their parents.  We read                      VERSE 3            Hitler did this in World War II by convincing school children to tell on their parents.  Up until this generation, our nation has not had a problem in this area.  That has changed.  Children can now get an abortion without their parent’s approval.  In a case last year, the Palmdale School District decided to teach sex education without parental notice.  After a parent sued, the 9^th District

            What has resulted from removing the influence of parents on children?  They have become the most narcissistic generation in history.  In a recent survey of college freshmen, the question was asked,  “What do you consider to be your highest goal in life”?  81% said getting rich was their goal.  51 % said becoming famous was a goal.  Only 30 % said helping others was important.  After studying this culture, psychologist Jean Twenge of San Diego State University wrote a book entitled, Generation me:  Why Today’s Young Americans are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and more Miserable Than Ever Before.  The culture does not want a new generation that is following in the steps of a righteous generation.  God’s desire for parents is to raise up a generation of young people who will want to be significant, not famous.

            Second, change their name.  Names are important.  There was a reason the angel revealed the name of the Christ child and it had to do with the meaning of Jesus.  After arriving in Babylon, the first order of business was to change the names of these Jewish boys to pagan names.   We read              VERSE 7            We see this often as people joining cults change their names, gang members all have gang names and pop singers and rappers all change their names.  Even on the “net” people rarely use their real name when they enter a chat room.  There is something about changing your name which frees you from the standards of the past.  God even does this as he changed the names of Abram, Sarai, Jacob, Saul, and Simon after their behavior had changed.  The primary reason for a name change is to separate a person from their past.  A woman changes her name at the wedding to show here allegiance is no longer to her parents, but to her husband.  From the past to the future.

            One of the key phrases in our nation is “E Pluribus Unum”.  It means “Out of many, one”.  In other words, our nation is made up of many different groups that merge into a single people, Americans.  That has changed in our generation.  Such terms as “Baby Boomers”, Baby Busters”, “Gen X’ers”, “Generation Y”, and “Gen 9/11” are all means to divide and isolate us into our own groups.  We also divide along ethnic, racial, and age groupings.  The term for this is diversity.  Its motive is to change us from being a “one people” to being a separated people.

            In addition, there is certainly the desire to change our young people from followers of God to followers of the culture. 

            Third, indulge their flesh.  If you really want to destroy a young person, indulge their flesh while having no expectations as to accepting responsibility or accountability for their behavior.  When Daniel and his friends arrived in Babylon we are told that they were to eat the food from the king’s table.  It was the finest food on earth.  We read of David’s son,             I KINGS 1:5, 6        Adonijah became a rebel, because his father never disciplined him.  He was given everything he ever wanted.

            How do we indulge the flesh of our children?  Let me give you several ways this is done in our culture.  1) Give them more financial resources than they need.  2) Don’t require them to earn their finances.  3) Take their side in any dispute, even if they are wrong.  4) Fulfill their sensual desires without moral judgment.  5) Entertain them to death.  The Roman Empire was destroyed when the people concluded that the games were more important than their freedom.  Video games fall into this category.  Chat rooms and text messages can be a wonderful means of communication when people are separated by distance.  However, in today’s youth culture, they are simply means of young people sharing their boredom with each other.  The average home has more television sets than it does people living in the home.  It is a sin to be bored.  6) Make sure they understand that the world revolves around them.  We wouldn’t want them to have a bad self image.  Make sure that they never have to do anything or go anywhere they don’t want.    7) Don’t require them to serve anyone else.  After all, we should remember that, “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR” is an idea from the past.  8) Spend little time with them.  Give them stuff rather than time.  Let them pick up their values from others.  9) Don’t teach them the value of hard work.  In God’s law, hard work is commanded.  It teaches so much.  10) Don’t give them any spiritual foundation.  They might become a radical.  Besides, you need to let them decide for themselves when they get older.

            Fourth, give them a pagan education.  We read  “…HE ORDERED THEM TO TEACH THEM THE LITERATURE…OF THE CHALDEANS”.  These young men were to be indoctrinated into the educational beliefs of the Babylonians.  Nearly all of the first 100 colleges established in our nation were for the purpose of training ministers.  The motto of Harvard University is “VERITAS” which is Latin for “TRUTH”.  The charter of Harvard says it was being created in part for, “the education of the English & Indian youth of this country in knowledge and godliness…”  The first Bible printed in the United States was printed at Harvard and was in an Indian dialect so that the Indian clergy could reach their tribes with the gospel. The motto at Yale University is “Urim and Tumin” which is the garment worn by the Jewish High Priest.  It translates from the Hebrew into English as “LIGHT AND TRUTH”.  The Yale insignia has an engraving of the Urim and Tumim.  Princeton has as its motto a paraphrase of Psalm 36:9, “IN THY LIGHT WE SHALL SEE LIGHT”.  Things have changed in our lifetime.  One judge in Texas last year ruled that a school had to remove all of its green and red decorations because they represented “a Christian holiday”.  Columbia University has a web sight, Goaskalice.com where teens are allowed to log on and either discuss or ask questions about the most bizarre immoral practices imaginable.

            Several states in our nation have laws requiring that the public schools promote and teach on subjects such as patriotism.  A legislator in New Jersey recently presented a bill which would remove the responsibility of public schools from teaching on the subjects of Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, Columbus Day and Thanksgiving Day.  The bill was approved unanimously.

            Every school and school district is different.  There are many wonderful principals and teachers in most districts.  However, at its core, the American educational system rejects God’s standards.  Many public school teachers are believers, but they are stifled in presenting their beliefs to their students.  Whether it is downplaying the role of Christians in establishing our nation, mandating evolution and ruling out any other explanations, secular sex education classes, or politically correct text books, our culture is devoted to raising up a generation that knows nothing about God and His word.  The goal of the public school system is found in the book of Judges.  We read             JUDGES 2:10          Does this mean you need to pull out your children from the public school?  Not necessarily.  Whether a child receives a pagan education has little to do with what school they attend.  If they are taught nonsense in their public school, come home so they can talk to you about it, and are then instructed in what the truth is and how to find the truth, they have not received a pagan education.  They have learned to be discernful.

            If they attend a Christian School and memorize Bible verses apart from holy lifestyle applications, they are in trouble.  They are on their way to being a religious pagan.  They know what the Bible says, but have no intimate relationship with God.  A pagan education can be described as learning information separated from God’s point of view and from a commitment to a holy life.  Learning must be tied into applying God’s truth.  We read        II TIMOTHY 3:5           It is not enough just to learn, students must apply what they have learned.  This is why current science classes and sex education classes are so dangerous.  The information is presented under the umbrella of “God in not relevant on these subjects”. 

            Parents need to be aware of what their children are being taught and how it relates to God’s truth.  There is a phrase in the Declaration of Independence that relates to this.  It states, “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them…”   The founders understood that nature lived under laws that had been created by God.  When you separate nature from the God of nature, you end up believing nonsense.  G. K Chesterton once stated, “When you reject God, you don’t believe in nothing, you believe in anything”.  How can intelligent people believe nonsensical information?  How can college graduates believe that men are unimportant in raising children, men and women are basically identical, children don’t need discipline, everything we see came from nothing, and that all value systems are equal?  When you reject God, you believe anything. 

            When you travel on an airline, they often show in-flight movies.  The airlines work with the studios to remove words and scenes that are inappropriate for the traveling public.  Recently, the movie The Queen became available to the airlines and the appropriate “take out the offensive words” orders were given.  When the film was shown, all references to God were deleted.  In one scene a little girl hands Queen Elizabeth some flowers and says “****** bless you your majesty”.  The word “God” had been bleeped.  When the Christian film, Facing the Giants was released, it received a PG-13 rating, which warns parents of some problem content.  When asked for an explanation why a movie with no sex, no violence, no swearing and no drug use was given a warning label, the ratings board gave as their explanation that one of its themes was having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Parents needed to be warned of this dangerous problem.  How can that be?  When you reject God, you believe nonsense.

            Fifth, change their language.  Verse 4 tells us they were to learn the “…LANGUAGE OF THE CHALDEANS”.  We sometimes make fun of the language of the younger generation, because we can’t understand it.  Whether it is Gangsta rap, Valley girl, Ebonics, or a dozen other offshoots, that is not the critical issue.  It is no different than if they spoke German or French.  The main issue is whether they are speaking the language of man or the language of God.  The problem with the language of our nation’s young people is not that you can’t understand it; it’s that you can understand it and it is crude, vulgar and offensive.  It is our responsibility as parents to teach our children how to speak properly.  If you don’t know where to begin, simply take a notebook and read through the book of Proverbs one chapter each evening.  When you come across a verse dealing with speech, write it down.  After reading through Proverbs a few times, you can then begin to get a feel of how to talk to people.  Take those principles to your children and begin discussing them. 

            A child needs to learn how to address their peers with grace.  They especially need to learn how to talk to those who are older than they are with respect.  If an adult talks, that young person needs to reply in a proper way.  Ignoring them is rude and coarse talk is a sin.  Paul wrote         COL. 4:6             Teens need to be respectful and gracious with their words.  If they want to have fun with “Teen talk” among their peers, there is nothing wrong with that as long as the words don’t get crude.  On the other hand, the words of the MTV style rap and pop videos are filled with gross characterizations of women and are especially laced with disrespectful attitudes towards those in positions of authority. 

            There is another aspect of this language instruction and I am indebted to Josh McDowell for his insight and research into this subject.  Until this generation, both American and Christian language was pretty much universal.  I am not talking about speaking the King’s English, but about the definitions of words.  One could read the King James Version of the Bible and understand it pretty clearly, even though it was written 500 years ago.  The words written then changed some, but basically had similar meanings.  That is no longer true. We saw earlier that the writers of the Declaration of Independence believed that, “…these truths are self evident…”  We have raised a generation of young people who no longer believe there are “self evident truths”.  In the past, something was true because we searched the historical evidence and came to the conclusion that “this is true”.  Something was true because it could be proven by the evidence.  Today, something is true because you believe it is true.  Abortion is wrong!  That is no longer a consensus.  This is why the argument states, “Abortion is wrong for you, but you have no right to impose that value on someone else”.  The issue on same sex marriage goes along the same lines.  The question comes, “How can legalizing same sex marriage in Massachusetts damage my marriage in California”?  The answer is that it can’t.  However, legalizing murder or rape in Massachusetts probably wouldn’t personally affect me either.  No law can be effective just because I believe it.  No law can be removed just because I don’t believe it.  However, that is where we are as a nation.  Homosexuality is a sin, only if you believe it is wrong.  Assisted suicide is wrong only if you believe it is wrong.  If it is wanted, it is a baby.  If it is not wanted, it is a fetus.  Change the language, and you change the debate.

            Bring this into the church.  We ask the question, “Did Jesus rise from the dead on Easter”?  The answer in the past would have been to look at historical evidence and come to a conclusion.  The answer today is, “It is true, if you believe it is true”.  “Is the Bible the word of God”?  The answer is “yes”, if you believe it.  It is true or false based on my personal beliefs.  There are no “Self evident truths” anymore.  We read    JUDGES 21:25        The individual is now the decider of what is true and false.  My truth might be different from your truth, but that is the way it is.  This is the language our children are growing up with.  It is our responsibility to teach them that truth is absolute.  It sets the standards, not our personal beliefs.  Personal beliefs are important, but are not the basis of truth.

            Sixth, change their gods.  This is really implied in chapter 1, but specifically commanded in chapter 3 where Daniel’s three friends are required to bow to the king’s idol.  We have looked at this before, but let me add to it.  In the 19^th century, students learned to read by using the McGuffy Reader.  100,000,000 of these primers were sold nationally.  They taught students how to read while giving moral instruction at the same time.  Then came, “See Dick run”.  You now have situations where students who want to talk about God are required to be quite, while books promoting immorality are acceptable.  Anyone who wants to talk about Jesus could find themselves in trouble.

            What are the new gods of today?  We read           COLOSSIANS 3:5; ROMANS 1:22-27          The gods of today are the same as they were 2000 years ago and 2000 years before that.  The gods of this generation are stuff and sex, cash and carnality.  The year I was born the illegitimacy rate was 5% and there were two STDs.  Today, nearly 40% of the children born in our nation are born to single mothers, there are more than 50 STDs and more than 20% of our nation’s population has at least one.  8000 teenagers contract a STD every day.

            I decided two years ago to do a survey on the marriage values of prime time television dramas.  I took out my TV Guide and examined all of the dramas that were in the top 40 rated shows.  I then added up the number of the main characters and asked the question “how many of the characters playing key roles are married”?  The answer was rather startling.  There were nearly 100 key roles.  Out of those 100 key roles, there where two male characters who wore wedding rings but whose wives were never seen.  Two men had wives who appeared in bit parts on their show.  Only one woman was married.  That was it.  In prime time television dramas, the marriage rate is less than 5%.  I considered writing an article for publication on this subject, but then three television events took place.  Both of the married male characters were served with divorce papers.  The one married woman saw her husband killed in an automobile accident.  At the same time, ABC television unveiled its new hit show “Desperate Housewives”.  Many characters on that show are married.  That is primarily how Hollywood sees marriage.  Marriage is not normal and when it does occur, it always involves outside relationships. 

            If I was to do a similar study on those same shows to determine how many characters had been sexually involved with another character, I’m sure the statistics would probably approach 80-85%.    That philosophy has had a staggering impression on our young people.  What would happen if every character on a prime time drama having sexual relationships outside of marriage contracted a STD? 

            It is no coincidence that singers such as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, and Christina Aguilera come out with sexually suggestive videos.  It is no coincidence that universities have now mandated co-ed dorms.  It is no coincidence that 65% of the web sights on the Internet are pornographic.  It is no coincidence that the uniform malfunction on Janet Jackson’s outfit accidentally occurred during the halftime of the Super Bowl.  It is not an accident that President Clinton’s approval ratings went up after his inappropriate behavior.  We live in a culture seeking to convince our children that this cesspool of immoral behavior is normal.  The educational establishment is a part of this action.

            We live in a culture that wants to sexualize our children beginning at Kindergarten.  What should our response be?  Many might think we should send them to a monastery.  Do you think that Daniel was exposed to some pretty graphic stuff as he served in the court of the king?  Our response should always be the same  We teach our children             JOB 31:1; II TIMOTHY 2:22                We cannot remove our children from all temptation.  We must teach them how to spot temptation and then close their heart to its lure.  In Greek mythology, Hercules tied himself to the mast of his ship so that he would not fall to the temptations of the Sirens. 

            When our children were younger we went to a family reunion.  At the end of the reunion, Nicki’s parents took the kids with them for a week.  My wife and I were foot loose and fancy free so we decided to splurge and go to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Westlake for their all you can eat buffet.  We got our plates and headed for the salad and appetizer bars.  Then, we headed for the main dish bar.  We had roast beef, shrimp, ham, fish, macaroni and everything else we could pile on our plate.  Then, I loosened my belt and we headed for the dessert area.  After all that, we had a cup of coffee and decided that we had not quite gotten our money’s worth.  We went and filled up one more time.  As we paid our bill and headed for the door, we realized that we could not walk.  We were so stuffed that we had to sit down in the lobby and rest for an hour before we could head for the car.  We did not eat again until lunch the next day. 

            As we were sitting in the lobby trying to get up and walk, what if there had been a chef’s convention featuring Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, Emeril, Wolfgang Puck, and Martha Stewart all walking through the lobby passing out their finest creations?  We would not have been tempted to eat one cracker.  When you are stuffed to the gills, you don’t want any more.  Do you know why young people fall into sin and turn their backs on God?  It is because they are half full of God and there is a lot of room to taste the goodies of the world.  Our primary responsibility as parents is to help our children develop a relationship with God where they are filled with the love and presence of God.  This is why Moses wrote                      DEUT. 6:4-9            We are to help our children totally fall in love with God.  This rarely happens if you as parents are not filled up with God.  If you are dabbling in your walk with God, your children will follow your example.  You need to have a passion for God if you want your children to have a passion for God.

            Daniel 1 does not just give us the way our culture lures us to “the dark side”.  It also gives us the means to overcoming these temptations.  In Daniel 1, we learn how to prepare our children to stand up against the influences of the “Zeit Geist”.  That is a German phrase meaning, “Spirit of the times”.  It manifests itself in the question, “What is everyone else doing”?  How do we prepare our children to be used of God to change a culture?

            First, give them early spiritual instruction.  John R. Rice was a dynamic evangelist a generation ago.  He was asked how old a child should be before discipline should begin.  He replied, “You should begin to discipline a girl about two weeks of age.  With a boy, you cannot wait that long”.  The Jews understood this.  Every year the Jewish nation celebrated the Passover with a meal and spiritual instruction.  We just read Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and the role of parents in teaching their children to love God.  The passage goes on to say              DEUT. 6:20-25             One of the primary reasons the Jews remained as a people was because they kept the Sabbath and the Passover on a regular basis and passed those traditions on to the next generation.  Spiritual instruction is not you reading the Bible, going to church and having devotions.  Spiritual instruction is you teaching your children how to do those things.  In addition, one of our most important tasks is to teach our children to love God.  It is not enough to teach children the religious activities; we need to help them “LOVE GOD WITH ALL THEIR HEART…”   

            When our children were younger, we thought it was important that they have music instruction so we required them to take piano lessons.  Every week we drove to the teacher’s home and came back 30 minutes later to pick them up.  After some time, we received a notice that there was going to be a recital.  We were very excited about this because we wanted to see the fruits of our investment.  An amazing thing took place when we showed up for the recital.  The teacher never even played one note.  You would have thought that she would have sat down and tried to impress all of the parents with how well she could play.  However, that never took place and for a very good reason.  We did not attend the recital to see how well she could play; we went to see how well she could teach our children to play.  We wanted to know if she could transfer some of what she knew to our children so that they could be efficient as well.  One of the primary reasons for the Passover is to raise up the next generation to love God and serve Him.

            We also see this illustrated in the New Testament.  The Apostle Paul had a man traveling with him, named Timothy.  We read          II TIM. 1:5; 3:14, 15        Timothy was taught at a very early age the word of God and the ways of God.  Why was Jesus able to stand before the religious leaders at the age of twelve and both ask and answer deep questions?  It was because His parents had begun at an early age to instruct Him.  My wife and I began to read the Bible and sing Christian songs to our children right after they came home from the hospital.

            It is important that we understand a very important point.  We are not advocating that you simply fill your children’s mind with Christian propaganda.  Our goal is not simply to get them to memorize answers which they can recite at the appropriate time.  Our goal is to teach them how to think Biblically.  In Isaiah 1, God states, “COME, LET US REASON TOGETHER…”  We want our children to think, but we want them to think from God’s perspective.  This is what is known as a Christian World View.  The Apostle Paul practiced this in his life.  We read              ACTS 17:2, 3             The word used for “REASONED” is the word from which we get “dialogue”.  It is used 13 times in the New Testament and in half of those occurrences it is translated as “DISPUTED”.  It is not just sitting down and having a talk over a cup of coffee.  It is debating the important issues of life.  It is not sufficient to give our children information.  We need to help our children understand and defend the truth.  It is not stated, but certainly implied that Daniel and his three friends had learned God’s word so that when they stood before the pagan king as young men, they could stand for God.

            Second, help them develop Biblical convictions.  A Biblical conviction is a self imposed standard on our lifestyle rooted in God’s word which we will not violate regardless of the consequences.  That last part separates preferences and habits from convictions.  All of us have preferences and habits.  Many of us have preferences that we think are convictions.  I happen to user the New American Standard Bible.  I believe it is the best translation and one which most people can understand.  Others use the King James Version or the New International Version.  For me, the NASB is a preference, not a conviction.  If someone paid me $50,000 to use and advertise another version, I would do so.  However, I do have a conviction on preaching the Bible.  If someone offered me $50,000 to preach from the Koran, Book of Mormon, or writings of Rev. Moon, I would reject that offer.

            Many Christians believe attending church on Sunday is a conviction.  Some people attend church because they always have.  Good people attend church and they are a good person.  That is not a conviction, it is a habit.  Some believe going to church is good maybe even a necessary part of life.  However, things come up periodically and they only attend some of the time.  That is not a conviction, it is a preference.  Many believers live their life thinking they have convictions, because those convictions have never been challenged.  It is when those convictions are challenged that they realize there is room to bend. 

            A Biblical conviction is a lifestyle standard that is self imposed, but which comes out of a true belief that God’s word rewards obedience and disciplines disobedience.  When we take the principles of God’s word and impose them on ourselves, we begin to develop convictions.  You might talk to people and they will call this legalism.  Legalism is when I impose a standard on myself for which I expect God to reward me just because I do the activity.  Legalism is also imposing my Biblical standards on someone else, expecting them to follow in my footsteps.  We read         DANIEL 1:8          God’s laws on Kosher forbid His people from eating pork, shellfish and some other foods.  It also restricted the eating of meat which had been first offered as a sacrifice at a pagan temple.  This may have been the situation with Daniel.  However, there were no restrictions on drinking wine.  The Bible forbids getting drunk and counsels against drinking hard drink and becoming known as a drinker, but it does not forbid drinking in every situation.  There was an exception to this and it was known as a Nazirite vow.  This is mentioned six times in Numbers 6 and nowhere else other than for several references to Sampson.  There were several restrictions placed on the one taking the vow, and not drinking any grape product was one.  However, this vow was only for a short period of time and there is no indication that Daniel had taken this vow.  This was a self imposed standard that he believed God would have him hold. 

            We saw earlier that our culture wants to indoctrinate our children into the philosophy of the culture.  The convictions our culture wants our children to buy into would include such issues as tolerance of immoral behavior, a rejection of God’s role in our society, an understanding that all cultures are equal, and a denial of the traditional Judeo-Christian value system.   The only way to overcome that indoctrination is to have beliefs that are stronger than the lure of the culture.  Those beliefs are called convictions.

            How do you help your children develop Biblical convictions?  Let me give you several principles that might help you in this critical venture.  1) Read the Bible and look for commands.  Any command is a good place to look for a conviction.  It needs to go beyond that, though.  Let me give you an example.  The Bible commands us to “STUDY TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED…”  In other words, we need to study the Bible.  A conviction might say, “I will study the Bible”, but that is very vague.  A true conviction might say, “I will study the Bible 15 minutes every day”, or “I will read three chapters every day”, or “I will read through the Bible every year”.  A conviction cannot be just a desire.  It has to have some application.  “I want to…” is a desire, not a conviction.  2) Examine the culture to see what commands of God are being violated and ask how you might respond in a specific way.  Let me give you an example.  When I was in the youth ministry I had a college age couple who began dating and made the commitment that they would not kiss until their wedding day.  That was not a Biblical command, but they looked around and saw the 1970’s permissive sexual practices and felt lead to set that standard for themselves.  They didn’t impose it on others, but placed it on themselves.  That is why it was a conviction and not legalism.  This can be applied to such issues as the entertainment you watch, the sports in which you participate, and the way you dress.  3) Look through history and find how godly men and women of the past lived their lives.  This is one of the reasons we give you the “Glimpses Across the Ages” insert.  It tells you about godly individuals and how God used them.  One way to begin this is go down to the Christian bookstore and find short biographies of godly individuals.  Don’t come home with a 700 page biography of Martin Luther.  Find short books that can capture their imagination.  4) Help them see the incredible power of a life lived by Biblical convictions.  Look at Bible stories and historical events in which the culture was changed and in which God honored those who lived by their convictions.  Such individuals as Joseph, Esther, Ruth, Gideon and David come to mind.  Historical figures such as John Newton, William Wilberforce, Abe Lincoln, Nathan Hale, and Booker T. Washington are good historical examples.  5) Live by convictions yourself and share with your children how those convictions work out in your life.  Share the blessings and the costs associated with living by convictions.  Share with your children the problems you are going through and how God has provided for you.  That is how our children learn that trials are a normal part of life and God promises to deliver them from those trials.  In a world in which nothing is worth suffering for, you need to help them see why that idea is wrong. 

            Third, help them see God working in their life.  The Founding Fathers referred to this as “Divine Providence”.   Divine Providence is God acting in such a way that His power is evident, but He remains anonymous.  This shows up in Daniel 1.  We read   DANIEL 1:9              In other words; God was working behind the scenes to nudge the unbelieving guards into doing that which promoted Daniel.  We see this in the life of Esther, Moses, Joseph and so many other Biblical characters.  It is seen in our passage under the word “FAVOR”.  As your children try to live out their convictions, instances will arise that will stump them and they will ask, “What do I do in this impossible situation”?  Your children should become very familiar with Hebrews 11.  Every example in that chapter is an impossible story which God solved.  The answer is to cry out to God and seek His leading.  This is what we refer to as the walk of faith.  Out problems test our faith.  God’s solving our problems develops our faith and confidence.  Paul struggled with this.  We read         II CORINTHIANS 4:7-11            Our role is to help our children see God working in their trials and give Him credit when He comes through with a victory.  We do this by sharing our trials with them and how God has worked through these difficulties.  This is when we talk about God’s favor being manifested in our life.  David was able to take on Goliath because he had seen God deliver him from the lion and the bear.  Your children will learn how to deal with their impossible situations by watching you deal with your impossible situations.

            Daniel himself provides us with a great example.  In Daniel 2 we are told that the king had a dream and could not remember its contents and wanted to know its meaning.  He ordered his wise men to come, tell him the dream and give him the interpretation.  When they couldn’t obey that command, he ordered all of the wise men executed.  This included Daniel and his three friends.  When the soldiers came to take them away, Daniel questioned what was taking place.  We read                        DANIEL 2:14-23            Daniel knew he could appeal to God, because he had seen God do great deeds in the past.

            When an impossible situation arises, it is always good to evaluate.  If what you are doing is right and your desire is to bring glory to God, it is best to wait on God’s timing.  This is when we pray and don’t grow weary.  This is why Isaiah wrote                ISAIAH 40:38                  What happens is that we often we get side tracked trying to do God’s work for Him.  When we wait on God, it allows Him to bring about a solution and usually in a way that is totally unexpected.  This keeps the wonder and the majesty of God in tact.  If all that happened was God did what we wanted and when we wanted it, we would be in charge, not God.  When God delivered the Jews from Egypt, changed the king’s heart in Esther, promoted Joseph and delivered the Apostles from their trials, it was always in a way they didn’t plan.  Over issues that God places us in charge, we need to plan.  Over issues in which He calls us to wait and obey, we simply pray, anticipate and respond to the open door. 

            In other words, we are to teach our children how to pray for and then anticipate God’s move.  We are to teach our children how to anticipate God’s moves.  We are to teach our children how to respond when God moves.  This is the exciting part about being a believer.  Every morning we wake up and wonder how we get to be a part of God’s plan today.  Our children learn this by hearing and watching us.  When a trial arises, how do we handle it?  If we panic and throw in the towel, our children learn something about God; He isn’t much help in times of need.  If we take it to God, pray about every aspect of the trial, wait patiently for Him to work, and see Him answer in a miraculous way,             PSALM 46:1          Our children learn that God can be trusted and that He answers in powerful ways.

            Fourth, help them develop a gentle spirit.  The first word in verse 12  is, “PLEASE…”  In verse 8 we are told, “HE SOUGHT PERMISSION…”  We read             PROVERBS 15:1               One of the fruit of the Spirit is a quality called “GENTLENESS”.  One of the distractions in talking to people about the Lord is the stereotype that Christians are “Mean-spirited”.  Part of this is because they have dealt with mean Christians.  Part of it is because we hold to high standards.  We do not believe that people can do anything they want.  A gentle spirit defuses that stereotype.  We still hold to high standards, but we are to do it with love and compassion.

            On February 3, 1994, Mother Teresa spoke at the National Day of Prayer in Washington D.C.  She spoke about prayer and then asked President Clinton to do all he could to stop abortion in the United States.  She then guaranteed that she would find homes for every child whose mother chose adoption rather than abortion.  She received a standing ovation from everyone in the room except for the president and Mrs. Clinton and Vice-president and Mrs. Gore.  Had those words been uttered by Jerry Falwell, James Dobson or Pat Robertson they would have been dismissed.  They have been stereotyped as being mean-spirited. Trying to portray Mother Teresa as mean is a tough sell.  We need to stand for God, but do so with a gentle heart.  We read           1 PETER 3:15           When we act this way, people respond.  Even when discipline is required, we read               GALATIANS 6:1        Only once did Jesus describe Himself.  We read         MATT. 11:28-30       It is a wonderful tradition that we pursue, to stand for a great God in a spirit of gentleness, love and compassion.  We do not become angry, we become Christ-like.  We change the culture by holding to godly standards and having a compassionate heart.

            Fifth, we help them become wise.  Wisdom is seeing life from God’s view point.  This is why wise people never panic.  They see things from God’s point of view and see Him preparing to do a great work.  In Daniel’s situation, wisdom was demonstrated when he offered an alternative to eating the king’s food.  He did not seek to be belligerent, but he was trying to help them see the benefits of what he was asking.  How does one become wise?  We read           JAMES 1:5, 6               God wants all of His children to be wise.  Proverbs tells us wisdom begins in an interesting place.  We read          PROVERBS 1:7             Wisdom is a by-product of fearing God.  Psalm 111:10 says the same thing.  To fear God is to understand that He hears and sees everything we say, do and think and will hold us accountable.  When we understand that God is the one who oversees everything, we learn to wait on Him and trust He will accomplish what He wants.  That helps us to not rush ahead and do our own thing.  We learn to wait for Him and when He leads, we respond.  That results in wisdom, which is making the decision He would make.

            Sixth, help them recruit godly friends.  Paul wrote 1 CORINTHIANS 15:33            One of the important roles of parents is to help children learn to choose the right friends.  David had a very close relationship with Jonathan.  Paul had Silas, Barnabas and Timothy.  Ruth had Naomi.  These were men and women who had help to develop a deeper walk with God.  Against the advice of godly people, Sampson chose Delilah and Solomon chose a multitude of wives.  Both men crashed and burned after those decisions.

            Out of the 50-75 young men who came to Babylon, Daniel seemed to develop a closer walk with Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.  These three young men were kindred spirits with Daniel.  Daniel had his lions, these three men had a furnace.  Both were a result of standing strong for God.

            When your children look for friends, what should they look for?  1) Someone who is right with God.  Going to church is not sufficient; they need to be applying God’s word.  2) Someone who has a respectful attitude towards their parents and others in authority.  3) Someone who treats others with compassion and respect.  Do they play mean tricks on weak people?  Do they participate in destructive pranks?  4) Someone who has a godly lifestyle.  Are they involved in drugs, alcohol, or immorality?  5) Do they see life as having a purpose?  Are they living just for the moment, or wanting just to be rich and famous?  In a recent survey, high school students where asked, “What is your goal in life”.  The number one answer was, “I want to be rich”.  The second most popular response was “I want to be famous”.  We need to help our children understand the difference between fame and significance.  God wants our children to lead a significant life and try to make Him famous.

            One of the great friendships of all time was that between William Wilberforce and William Pitt.  Wilberforce lead the fight to abolish slavery in the British Empire and Pitt became the youngest Prime Minister in British history.  Their friendship was mutually beneficial as each was encouraged by the other during the dark days.  It was during one of those dark days that Wilberforce received a letter from another friend of his encouraging him to stay the course.  It was the last letter John Wesley ever wrote.

            Friends like Wesley and Pitt can encourage you to take on the greatest evil in human history and emerge victorious.  Or, as we have seen in the entertainment pages of our papers, friends can take us down into the depths of carnality and lock us into a lifestyle that becomes self destructive.  Teach your children to choose their friends wisely, because they will determine their future.

            Seventh, help them become intellectually informed.  In the spiritual life, ignorance is not bliss, it is dangerous.  When God wanted to build the Temple, He called for the educated builders and skilled craftsmen to do the job.  Solomon was a brilliant man.  Paul not only knew the scriptures, he also knew the contemporary poets and intellectuals of his time.  He could debate the rabbis and he could debate the philosophers. 

            Our task as parents is to make sure our children can stand before the king and discuss the issues of our time from God’s point of view.  We read      DANIEL 1:19, 20          This means they need to be able to discern the truth and present it to others.  On any subject that is important in our society, our children should be able to talk intelligently.  They need to know God’s word, but they also need to know their world.  We read            1 CHRONICLES 12:32        The sons of Issachar “…UNDERSTOOD THE TIMES…”  That means they were up on their culture.  They were not influenced by their culture, but they understood it.  They knew the truth of God’s word and they knew their culture.  Because our world does not believe in truth, this puts us in conflict with our culture.  Rather than seeing this as a problem, we need to seen this as an opportunity for God to show Himself to be strong.  In the midst of a society committed to rejecting God, He raised up Daniel to challenge his world.  He wants to do that in the lives of our children.  This does not mean we have to have a Mensa IQ.  God does not expect us to be geniuses.  He does expect us to be learned.  Daniel impressed the king with his insight.  We read                PROVERBS 22:29        Daniel was informed and he was sensitive to God’s spirit. 

            Throughout history, many of the most significant discoveries in medicine, astronomy and science were made by men devoted to God.  It was their Biblical World View that allowed them to say, “If God created a world of order then this situation will have order and reason”.  All truth is God’s truth.  Our task as parents is to help our children learn all of the wonders of God’s creation.  This is why it is a sin to be bored.  There is so much to learn.

            One of our greatest scientists was a former slave by the name of George Washington Carver.  He was an intellectual giant.  He was also a spiritual giant.  In his quest for learning, he understood that “Nature’s God” had secrets that needed to be discovered.  He went to God and said “Lord, I want to know all of the secrets of the universe”.  God came back to him and said, “My son, you are not ready to learn all of the secrets of the universe.  However, I will reveal to you all of the secrets of the peanut”.  It sounds funny, but what George Washington Carver discovered in the peanut has changed the lives of every American.  At his death in 1943, he was credited with more than 300 different uses for peanuts.  He also discovered hundreds of uses for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes.  Those discoveries include adhesives, axle grease, bleach, buttermilk, meat tenderizer, metal polish, paper, briquettes, ink, instant coffee, synthetic rubber, mayonnaise, linoleum, pavement, shaving cream, shoe polish, talcum powder, paint, wood stain and crop rotation.  In his lifetime, he only applied for three patents.  He felt his discoveries were gifts of God and he gave them to humanity.  His tombstone reads, “He could have added fortune and fame, but caring for neither, found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world”.  If you want your children to be significant, maybe they should read books about George Washington Carver.

            All truth is God’s truth.  Whether it is in math, anatomy, astronomy, or history, all truth is revealed by God.  Several years ago researchers discovered how to unlock the human genome.  This is the building block upon which all life derives its uniqueness.  The human genome consists of more than three billion building blocks and reads the same forwards and backwards.  Far from disproving creation, this project showed what the psalmist wrote, “WE ARE FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE…”

            The believer should learn all they can about the world.  It is also important that we understand the distinction between true science and fad science.  Our world is filled with an over abundance of fad science.  Over the past decade, the Kansas state school board has gone back and forth between approving text books promoting evolution and text books allowing for Intelligent Design to be promoted.  In the last election the evolution advocates won more seats on the school board.  In an article (2/13/07) discussing the consequences of the election, the AP wrote, “The board on Tuesday removed language suggesting that key evolutionary concepts—such as common origin for all of life on Earth and change in species creating new ones—were controversial and being challenged by new research.  Also approved was a new definition of science, specifically limiting it to the search for natural explanations of what is observed in the universe”.  If you change the definition of science to fit a predisposed end, you no longer have science, you have propaganda.  A true scientist begins with a hypothesis and examines the information.  If the information does not prove his point, he changes his hypothesis.  Scientists are only interested in truth.  The conclusions come out of the evidence; they are not imposed upon it. 

            The latest scientific fad is “Global Warming”.  Former vice-president Al Gore recently won an Oscar for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth.  In that film, Mr. Gore says that the ice caps are melting and the water level in the ocean will soon rise 20 feet, flooding all beach front property.  In his film, half of the state of Florida ends up under water.  The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Control will be releasing a report in the near future on the fate of our environment.  A short summary was released recently.  The study is a follow-up on another study released five years ago.  That study claimed that sea levels would rise at least three feet.  This latest study is now back peddling on the rise of water level and says it is more likely that the ocean will rise 1-1½ feet in the next century.  In this report, it was decided that the report had to be agreed on by consensus.  That meant that everyone had to agree to the conclusions.  In order to do that, no scientist who denied the dire predictions of the environmental movement was allowed to participate.  In addition, the report was not written by the scientists, but by politicians.  After all that, the report claims that its assertions have a 90% probability of being accurate.  If you are shooting free throws in a basketball game, 90% is pretty good.  In science, that is a failure.  No experiment can be labeled “scientifically accurate” with a 10% failure possibility.  A true scientist would take that report and say “show me the 10%.  Why can’t they be reconciled”?

            The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines Scientific Method as “Principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment and the formulation and testing of hypotheses”.  The scientist never says, “That’s close enough”.  You will never hear a true scientist say, “That information disagrees with my hypotheses, discard it”.  The true scientist looks at contrary information and solves it, or reworks his hypotheses.

            The vice-president’s hypothesis is that global warming is caused by humans and can only be solved if humans stop putting certain chemicals into the atmosphere.  He is partially correct.  Some of what humans use and discard do pollute the environment.  However, Mr. Gore then concludes that environmental catastrophe is inevitable unless his plan is carried out.  That is the 10% that goes unverified.  His repeated comment is simply “The debate is over”.  That is not true.

            When the Vikings discovered Greenland in about 900 AD, it was named because of all the fertile fields that they found.  In 1100 AD, more than 3000 people were living there.  By 1400 AD the temperature dropped nearly 3 degrees, the glaciers turned the countryside into an iceberg, and the Vikings died out.  In Europe, the temperatures also fluctuated.  From 200-600 there was the Roman Warming period.  From 600-900 the Dark Ages also saw a cold time.  900-1300 had the Medieval period of warming.  From 1300-1850 another ice age occurred. 

            In our own nation, 1900-1910 saw a cooling period.  From 1910-1940 we saw a warming take place.  Remember the “Dust Bowls” of the 1930’s?  In fact four of the hottest years in the 20^th Century were in the 1930’s.  From 1940 to the late 1970’s we saw a cooling take place.  That is when scientists began to discuss the next ice age.

            A news release this past week indicated that Icelandic fishermen were having problems with their catches because the ice had grown too thick.  Some have talked about polar bears being stranded on ice flows without mentioning that the polar bear population has increased 500% over the past thirty years.  When the Alaskan pipeline was installed, many environmentalists claimed that the pipeline would destroy the caribou herds.  The opposite has taken place.  The oil going through the pipes has created heat and the caribou are mating at a record level.

            The ice mass in Greenland has increased and the temperature has dropped 4 degrees during the past 20 years.  While some glaciers in Antarctica are melting, over the past 30 years the entire continent has seen the ice sheet grow.  In fact, the ice caps on Mars are melting.  A significant number of astro-physicists believe this is caused by the activity from the sun.  This is also an explanation for the Earth’s temperature fluctuations.

            In An Inconvenient Truth, Mr. Gore claims that Hurricane Katrina was a result of global warming.   However, the year after Katrina, no hurricanes hit land anywhere in our nation.  While Katrina was a major disaster, the primary cause of the damage was the failure of the levy’s to hold.  In 1977 the Army Corp of Engineers sought to build sea gates in the levies to prevent flooding in the lower areas of New Orleans.  The Environmental Defense Fund went to court to stop the plan because it would disrupt the spawning grounds of certain fish.   

            Mr. Gore also claims that the primary cause of air pollution is the releasing of Carbon Dioxide emissions.  He may be right.  Who can forget the smog levels in our major cities during the 1970’s.  However, during the period of 1940-1975 when our nation did see a sharp rise in CO2 emissions, we also saw the temperatures drop.

            Mr. Gore has so far refused to debate any scientist who rejects his view point.  How can he and his fellow environmentalists get away with this view point being unchallenged?  A major cause for this is the fact that government grants go to researchers who can create panic.  If I do a study and discover there is no problem with the weather, how likely am I to receive another grant to study the weather?  Why study what is in good condition?  On the other hand, if I can raise a “the sky is falling” scenario, I might get grants to study this impending doom for the next decade.  Is the world climate changing?  The best estimates are that the temperature has risen 1 degree in the past century.  The question is not whether the world is getting cooler or warmer, the issue is what are the causes and the solutions?  This is where you need to help your children learn.  Rather than buy into the current rage, examine all of the evidence, discern what the truth is and come to a conclusion.  In this area of science, that bumper sticker which states “QUESTION AUTHORITY” is good advice.  An inquirer into truth asks questions.  You need to help your children to ask questions.

            Global warming is simply the latest scare.  Some of you can remember the 1960’s scare of “The Population Bomb”.  Stanford professor Paul Ehrlich wrote that the population would rise so fast that by 2000 AD, the Earth could not produce enough food to support the world’s population.  Europe bought into this myth, advocated small families, and now has no nation with a birth rate of more than one child per family.  The consequences of this will be catastrophic in the next fifty years.  The population of Europeans on the continent in fifty years will be half of what it is today.  Several European countries have now begun to offer large cash gifts to couples who will have more than one child.  The only two groups taking the offer are evangelicals and Moslems.  Even though the world’s population has tripled since the 1960’s, the entire world’s population can stand within the boundaries of Ventura County.  Our county has 1880 sq. miles of land.  There are 640 acres per sq. mi. and 43, 560 sq. ft. per acre.  1880 x 640 x 43,560=64 billion sq. ft.  Giving everyone a 3 x 3 section of land in which to stand, 7.1 billion people can stand inside of Ventura County.

            We have more food today than we need to feed the world.  Populations starve, not because of a lack of food, but because of corrupt governments.  An example of this is North Korea where the entire nation’s population has lost an average of two inches in height in the last twenty years because of starvation caused by political corruption.  Another example of this is India where rodents are allowed to eat the grain, cattle eat about 10% of the available food and no animals are allowed to be killed for food.

            Some of you might remember a decade ago that we were told about the danger of heterosexual AIDS.  Activists told us that heterosexuals were just as likely to develop AIDS as were homosexuals.  That was a lie, but anyone daring to challenge the statement was called “homophobic”.  90% of the AIDS victims in the United States contracted the disease through immoral sexual practices, drug use, or infusions of tainted blood.  That means that an individual who is not given tainted blood, doesn’t use drugs, or has sexual relations only with their marriage partner has a zero chance of contracting this disease.  This is how your need to help your child think.  Ask questions that present accurate conclusions to propaganda that opposes God’s order of life.

            Beginning in the 1960’s a move was made to ban the pesticide DDT.  The reason for this move was a book by author, Rachel Carson entitled, Silent Spring.  Her claim was that DDT was destroying the eco system of the planet.  In Sri Lanka, the number of cases of malaria dropped from 2.8 million cases and 7000 deaths, to 17 cases and no deaths after DDT was used to kill mosquito larvae.  In other words, DDT eradicated malaria.  Because of Carson’s book, Sri Lanka banned DDT in 1968 and malaria cases jumped to 480,000 cases.  In Africa, the death rate from malaria has topped two million people per year.  Those restrictions were finally lifted last year, but not before millions of cases of malaria were reported and millions of people died.

            A recent article appeared in the New York Times stating that 51% of our nation’s women have chosen to live outside of a marriage relationship.  On the surface the implication of the article is that marriage is becoming a thing of the past.  That is how it was reported on all of the regular news channels.  However, asking questions causes one to come to a different point of view.  The definition of woman was any female who was 15 years old or above.  That means that high school and college female students were listed as opposing marriage.  The survey also considered widows and wives of military personnel serving overseas as not being in a marriage relationship.  In one of the final paragraphs, the article concluded that more than 90% of the females in our nation would be married at some point in their life.  That changes the meaning of the survey greatly.  Unless you dig and ask questions, you will fall for the cultural propaganda.

            The beginning of science is to question the premises until all questions have been answered.  The “Global Warming”, “Population Explosion”, “Heterosexual AIDS”, “Feminist Liberation” crowd does not seek to question, encourage questions, or debate.  It seeks to stifle debate.  In a recent column (2/9/07) in the Boston Globe, Ellen Goodman wrote, “I would like to say we’re at a point where global warming is impossible to deny.  Let’s just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and the future”.  How do you deny the accuracy of future events?  Many of you can remember that Newsweek magazine ran an article on April 28, 1975 on the subject of “The Cooling World”.  Thirty years ago, you denied the future if you rejected the coming ice age.  In Oregon, the governor is trying to fire George Young, the state’s chief climatologist, because he doesn’t buy into the hysteria on global warming.  The nature of science is to question.  The nature of propaganda is to stifle debate and demand conformity.  This is why Paul wrote               ROMANS 12:1           Our task as parents is to teach our children not to conform just because the culture says to.

            Our responsibility as parents and as believers is to help our children seek the truth.  If it agrees with us, we pat ourselves on the back.  If we learn something new, we change our position.  We start with the position that God put the world together in an orderly manner and we would therefore expect to discover orderliness in His creation.  When we hear something, we ask questions. 

            We study history in the same way.  We look at psychology and know that God created the mind, emotions and soul.  We can therefore look at His word and see how the heart works and what steps to take to repair a damaged soul.  We look at the human body and assume that because an organized God put it all together, certain facts are a given.  When we do surgery, we assume the parts will be in the same area as in every other body.  Because the life is in the blood, we know we don’t have to kill an embryo to get stem cells.  We assume they are everywhere.  Recently, that assumption became a reality.

            When you know the truth and can defend it against what are both false and nonsense, you are a powerful tool in the hands of God.  Paul is a great example of this.  When he came to Athens, he addressed a culture very similar to ours.  We read              ACTS 17:16-32            Our culture, like ancient Athens, loves to dwell on “…THE TELLING AND HEARING OF SOMETHING NEW”.  Paul took them from where they were to the truth of the person of Jesus Christ.  He took them in their ignorance and brought them from creation, to the resurrection, to the judgment of God.  This was hardly a seeker friendly message.  Why did he do that?  It is because they were confused about the nature of truth.  The only battle that matters today is a battle over truth.  If we lose that, we lose everything.  This is why Daniel stood out.  He had learned the truth, had developed convictions based on the truth, and was convicted of his need to share the truth.  God’s response was to bring him into the presence of the powerful and the influential.

            God wants to heal our nation.  The process begins with             II CHRONICLES 7:14           When the people of God are right with Him, the culture is blessed.  God usually begins that process by moving in the hearts of parents to raise up a generation of godly young people who will walk in His power and challenge the norms of the culture.  That is what we are praying for.  We read              NEHEMIAH 6:15, 16         When the enemies saw that God was working through and in His people, they became frightened and backed down.  We need to raise up a generation of young people who believe God when He speaks, see Him working in their lives, and are willing to take that God into their culture.

            Solomon gives us a great illustration of this battle.  We read             PROVERBS 1:10-19               That is the battle.  Our culture cries out, “THROW IN YOUR LOT WITH US…”  The answer from the people of God must be           PROVERBS 22:6         In a culture that is devoted to win the hearts of our children, our task is to train them to resist that lure, love God with all of their heart, see the importance of standing for God, learn all we can about God’s word and our world, and send them into the battle. 

            At the end of his life, the Apostle Paul was arrested and sent to Rome, where he was tried and executed.  On his way to Rome, he stopped and spoke to the leaders of the church in Ephesus.  As he spoke and cried with these men, he warned them of danger ahead.  We read                  ACTS 20:25-32                   He warned them to be on guard, he shared his personal experiences in standing for God, and then he committed them to God and His word, which was their source of strength.  God is calling to the church to prepare a generation of Daniels who will devote themselves to serving God and being a beacon light in the world so that people might look at them and want to know the God whom they serve.

This message is from the teaching ministry of Glen Jackson, pastor of Faith Christian Church in Simi Valley, CA.  He can be reached at Pastorglenfcc@sbcglobal.net