“Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.”
It’s why the Church is so crippled, so impotent. It’s why 75% of Americans claim to be Christians, and yet our culture doesn’t reflect that influence.
I stayed home Sunday and listened to David Platt as he expounded on this truth in a way that forced me to examine my own motives.
” ‘God loves me’ is not the message of biblical Christianity.”
Wow. Interesting the cliches we adopt as theology. He admits that this truth is completely counter-culture. But how often we adopt the vision of the culture rather than that of God. Look at the object of that sentence…”ME”. And “Me” is not the object of Christianity….not even close.
“God loves me so that His grace and His love and His glory and His majesty may be made known among the nations through me.”
It doesn’t end with ME. He didn’t just die for ME, but so that I could make his grace and forgiveness known in the world. That’s why salvation is only the beginning. After that, we are indebted to a Savior and all we do in life is supposed to exalt Him. Convicting anyone?
“So, God had an ulterior motive when He sent His Son to die? ‘Yes.’ ” Platt says.
So that through His redeemed, He would be glorified.
“How could any of us be so arrogant to think we are at the center of His universe? GOD is at the center of His universe.”
And so it’s not about what I want in life, really….a true disciple is sold out (“at once they left their nets and followed Him”), surrendered to the call of Christ on his life–a lump of clay, willing to be conformed to the shape of His Creator.
God help me…I am so self-centered.
“We can only have a God-centered mission when we have a God-centered God.“
I’m no scholar; but the common sense within me keeps asking,”Where has the common sense of the masses gone?” It’s not rocket science.
“Oh, let’s give no heed to tomorrow, let’s live for today and enjoy our lives. Birth control rocks.” “Oops…seems we’ve made a bad decision…a population decline that likely cannot be reversed. That means a fallen civilization. Hmmm…that’s really bad news.”
But wait, more irrationality will ensue:
“Here she goes again…writing another post about birth control to defend her choices. Why can’t she just live her life and let everyone else live theirs?”
Really? So it couldn’t have anything to do with real, widely publicized concerns about how our “personal” choices aren’t so personal, and so greatly affect our nation–the one in which my children and grandchildren will grow up? If I ever got a tattoo, I think it would say, “because your choices affect me…a lot.” I “meddle” for bigger reasons than myself…and you should too.
“Depopulation is, thus, a truly genuine and notable crisis of disastrous proportions whose ultimate magnitude is still not completely known; the massive birth dearth is, therefore, quite undoubtedly real, not an extravagant exaggeration of supposedly overworked imaginations.”
The so evident destruction of society, culture, and civilization can be, however, prevented if the true cause for such pandemic devastation is plainly made better known. World Population Implosion is Real
Overpopulation? Where do they get this stuff? And why? And why do we believe it? Can we not do simple math? Or does believing a lie just make it convenient to live for ourselves?
“Most people think overpopulation is one of the worst dangers facing the globe. In fact, the opposite is true. As countries get richer, their populations age and their birthrates plummet. And this is not just a problem of rich countries: the developing world is also getting older fast. Falling birthrates might seem beneficial, but the economic and social price is too steep to pay.”
“In the USA, where nearly one-fifth of Baby Boomers never had children, the hardship of vanishing retirement savings will be compounded by the strains on both formal and informal care-giving networks caused by the spread of childlessness. A pet will keep you company in old age, but it is unlikely to be of use in helping you navigate the health care system or in keeping predatory reverse mortgage brokers at bay. Philip Longman, secular liberal The Global Baby Bust
Deuteronomy 30:5 says, “The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.” Notice the language of Scripture contradicts ours. The words “prosper” and “multiply” usually aren’t found in the same sentence in our vocabulary.
“Longman says we should all be asking ourselves why nations would choose decline and death. You could understand why people in the poorest countries would forego large families, but why is it that, in the richest societies the world has ever known, the birthrate decline is the most severe?”
Read more: Population Decline: The Fall of Nations
These statistics reveal an overall concern for our civilization, acknowledged even by the liberal media with no religious, “ulterior motive”. Apply it to the impact (or lack thereof) of Christianity for a completely different debate.
“The putrid pursuit of materialism unbounded leads to nihilism accepted and the proposition of death required by its own integral and Nietzschean logic; deliberate sterility is a prerequisite for, ironically, that joyless joy.” World Population Implosion…
Longman also wrote a book called, The Empty Cradle–linked here is a succinct article about it.
Waiting is good.
But we’re Americans and waiting is not something to which we are accustomed.
Want fries? Three minutes.
Want popcorn? Four minutes.
Want to see the earthquake in Japan? One minute.
Want a tan? Thirty minutes.
We are in control. We want things and we want them fast.
So as I wait for a baby to come, the Lord gently reminds me that I am NOT in control. He calls forth the young and I can’t flip it, press it, microwave it or order it.
I can only wait. And the waiting reveals how impatient I am, how frustrated we can become when we are given all we want upon demand.
Photo courtesy of Olivia, taken at my baby shower.
So while I wait, I ponder. And I praise Him for this little lesson where He delights to show me who is really in control. I turn my face upwards, smile, and exhale...”In your time, Lord.”
“David learns to read at age four; Rachel, at age nine: In normal development, when both are 13, you can’t tell which one learned first—the five-year spread means nothing at all. But in school I label Rachel “learning disabled” and slow David down a bit, too. For a paycheck, I adjust David to depend on me to tell him when to go and stop. He won’t outgrow that dependency. I identify Rachel as discount merchandise, “special education” fodder. She’ll be locked in her place forever…
Government schooling is the most radical adventure in history. It kills the family by monopolizing the best times of childhood and by teaching disrespect for home and parents.”
From John Taylor Gatto’s, “I Quit, I Think”, Wall Street Journal (Gatto is a former New York “Teacher of the Year” who quit his job after he decided “he was no longer willing to hurt children”.
Think Outside the Classroom
$6.97 
Are you a homeschooling mother who worries that you aren’t “doing enough”? Are you thinking of homeschooling but feel afraid that you aren’t qualified? If so, read more…
Even the secular culture is noticing it: a generation of perpetual boys: men who refuse to grow up.
“…the culture of the boy-men today is less a life stage than a lifestyle…Permissive parenting made children less submissive, and the decline of deference coincided with the rise of consumer and media cultures celebrating the indefinite retention of the tastes and habits of childhood…”From Newsweek’s The Basement Boys, Gary Cross
I was reading an excerpt to the kids about Ben Franklin. And while I suppose he may be an exception among men, it struck me how young his virtue and ambition shined, contrasting him with most young men of today.
At a very young age his zeal for learning, reading, improving his mind and preparing for the future was unparalleled. He copied the writings of great authors and thinkers because he wanted to write and think like them. He would skip meals just to be able to have more time to read. And at the age of 15, he made three goals for himself: 1. Be frugal and do not go into debt 2. Speak ill of no man, even if it’s truth 3. Be honest in all things
I was subconsciously comparing his character with the typical 15-year-old boy of our day. Sadly, the contrast is just as stark when compared with many 25-year-olds. Where is the personal ambition, the drive, the zeal for what is noble and true and productive?
Instead, we have an epidemic of perpetual adolescence who spend inordinate amounts of time playing video games or just playing in general. They live with their parents longer, wait longer to choose a vocation, marry and have children. They live for today and almost disdain the suggestion of preparing for the future or aims at betterment. Worse yet, our society seems to encourage this limbo state of self-indulgence.
Contributing factors.
Why such a contrast in the young men of our day? What has contributed to this epidemic of man-boys?
1. At the top of the list among common theories are effects from the feminist movement.
Women now make up the greater part of the workforce and are more likely to hold college degrees, and therefore make more money. They “arrived” with their independence and now men don’t have to grow up or take responsibility. Prior to this era, men answered the innate call within them to “protect and provide”. But women have proven themselves without a need for provider and protector so men have gladly defaulted to a life of video games and adolescence.
“…the large-scale entry of women into the workforce made many men feel marginalized, especially when men were simultaneously bombarded by new parenting theories, which cast fathers as their children’s pals…My generation’s obsession with youth and its memories, stands out in the history of human vanity.” From Newsweek’s The Basement Boys, Gary Cross
2. A national (global?) effort to undermine traditional marriage and family.
“Today’s prime-time television,” the Parents Television Council concludes, “seems to be actively seeking to undermine marriage by consistently painting it in a negative light.” From Newsweek’s Why I am Leaving Guyland
It’s not only en vogue to postpone marriage and family, (where once it was an early-sought goal), but those early to the alter are destined for scorn. Family demands responsibility so, which came first? The disdain for family to avoid responsibility, or the disdain for responsibility, thus avoiding family?
Besides that, “family” insinuates “Mom, Dad and children”. And well, you know, since this isn’t the norm for families anymore, we don’t want to offend, so we do away with the standard and create a new one. Only to do that successfully, we have to vilify the old one. If the traditional family is no longer something to aspire to, why bother?
3. Spoiling parents.
A post-depression era generation who had to work for what they had, which wasn’t much, determined to “give their children something better” ended up giving them something worse. A perpetual trend of parents doting on children, buying them all they needed to compete with their peers bred several generations of spoiled, “entitled” youth.
Prosperity breeds apathy. Do the math. Need I say more?
The phenomena are deep and varied. There isn’t one factor but many. But at the end of the day, we can trace them all back to a departure from the wisdom of God. That’s the one factor we can safely peg.
Our job.
We need men. And there’s hope…there is a new generation looking back to the wisdom of God, seeing their children as catalysts of change through the gospel of Christ. Ready and willing to do the hard work of raising not just mediocre humans who can survive life, but contenders for the faith, men of valor and virtue, men who have vision and embrace manhood.
This is the privilege we are given as parents to reconstruct our civilization. We don’t have to settle for what is; we can change it and glory in what will be!
“Men, you are to be creators and cultivators. God is a creator and a cultivator and you were made to image him. Create a family and cultivate your wife and children. Create a ministry and cultivate other people. Create a business and cultivate it. Be a giver, not a taker, a producer and not just a consumer.” From The Washington Post, Mark Driscoll “The World if Filled With Boys Who Can Shave“
What do I bring as an offering to Him?
“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the LORD. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the LORD Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.” Malachi 1:13, 14
There are no animals to bring anymore, but we owe him the best of our offerings and sacrifice all the same. Where are you today? What has the Lord given you to do?
Will you do it “as to the Lord”, and bring Him the best you have to offer? Or will you offer the “lame and sick”, go through the motions, and insult His position as Great King?
Not everyone could bring the same animal. Some brought lambs and goats, but others couldn’t afford such expensive animals…they may have only been able to bring birds; it wasn’t about the value of the offering, but that whatever you did have to bring, it was your best.
I am a wife and mother and this is my service to the Lord right now. It’s tempting to offer a “blemished sacrifice”. But if I remember to Whom it is I offer my life each day, perhaps I can meet my work with new zeal and enthusiasm.
Sacrifice was bloody, messy work. Sometimes our work is too. May we bring our best.
We are so distracted. Everywhere I look–iPhones, iPads, iPods, televisions in every public place, demanding schedules, cell phones ringing constantly, texts demanding answers, media blasting–a continual bombardment of information through all the technology available.
Can we hear each other? Can we hear the voice of our Creator–it is a small, still voice.
“The earth declares his glory.”
Do we look? Do we listen anymore? Do we ever just sit quietly and think, and talk, and ponder? Do we let Him speak?
“Be still and know that I am God.”
Give me, Lord, a quiet heart
While all about is loud,
Help me find some solitude
When pressing is the crowd.
When life brings change, and even tears
Let my soul stay calm,
Be my constant, steady Guide,
My tender, soothing Balm.
When I find the waves are high,
Let me look to Thee,
The burning Beacon in the night
Reared high above the sea.
In the midst of change and tireless rush
Be my constant Peace,
Lead my thoughts to quietness
And cause the noise to cease.
Sovereign are Your ways, O Lord,
If I will just believe,
The whole world spins upon your palm,
And this, my soul, relieves.
Kelly Crawford
May 15, 2008
Well, I have to document one last pregnancy picture for my “journal’s sake”. I think I’m actually bigger than the picture makes me look (tempting as it was, I didn’t use “insta-thin” editing)
There are 13 days until my due date. This part is so very challenging for me. I’m too big to do much of anything, I want to keep the house fairly in order for whomever stays with our children (though my children trip over themselves to try to keep me from that), and frankly, I’m pretty miserable. (But part of the misery, my doctor just discovered, is severe anemia, so I’m taking iron which should make me feel much better soon.) It’s like waiting for company you know is coming but don’t know the time.
And yet, it’s a precious time. My children are giddy. We spend a lot of time just sitting on the couch or outside reading these days. Lots of snuggles, conversations and eager anticipations about what he will look like. Our children have a pretty varied mix of characteristics, so it’s always interesting to see. They love to watch him move around and for children who have so many siblings already, from the oldest to the youngest, they don’t know what “too many siblings” means.
I’ll save the name as a surprise, but we’re excited about it. As for birthing plans (hee hee), well, all the planning I can do won’t guarantee anything. Many of you remember watching my first natural birth with the last baby. (I still remember it vividly.) And I still admire you natural birth mamas. If there’s anything I’m sure of, I do plan on staying home a lot longer this time, as my last five babies have proven that I just have long labors. So pray this isn’t the baby that changes that tradition. I would prefer NOT to deliver in the car on the way to the hospital (1 hour away). Though I feel sure my husband is up to the task.
Pregnancy is not easy, though I’ve had it much better than some. But I think of pregnancy as mission work, only with much less suffering and the sweetest cuddles and kisses at the end. This waddling and heaviness is a small price to pay for the treasure of another child and I’m so grateful to my Heavenly Father who carries me.
AND…
Happy birthday to my oldest daughter today! Bria is 17 which means I’m old.
Wonderful insight from my wise friend, Jasmine Baucham…
“If our convictions do not flow from a heart that realizes daily that it is only by God’s grace that we even desire to please him… if the choices we make come from a prideful need to exalt ourselves above others… if we cannot reach out to others with the glorious news of the gospel because we somehow feel they are beneath us… if our gospel begins to include steps that will make the hearers look more like us than like Christ…
In essence our righteousness does not exceed those empty works of the Pharisee (Matthew 5:20), and unless our hope is solely in the righteousness of Christ Jesus (Romans 3:20, 1 John 2:2)…”
Read the rest of “When All the Ducks are in a Row”