What should we do.....

I am at home and I click on my email and see I have "367" spam messages. Personally I usually look to see if I recognize names in the spam section before opening the site. As I scroll down looking I notice not one not two but about half a dozen times the same spam is showing up. It is a site that says something like this, "Russian Brides". I was not expecting what I was about to see. It wasn't nudity but it was as close as you could get legally. I immediately hit the delete forever button I have on my computer. I got to thinking and I know how Satan works. Are you quick to hit the delete button or.....

When times are rough in your home life, guys, do you feel you have a right to just tease yourself with these sites that satisfy a visual sinful lust that attacks us all. When you are alone in a hotel do you say to yourself - Hey no one will ever know and look at the ads and follow it up with a search of the Internet for other more provocative sites. I am finding that more and more of us Christian young men and men are falling prey to suggestive emails initially but which leads to much more. We are victims of the justification for ourselves and so we give ourselves a free pass. Hey I deserve this or that because of my circumstances.

I have always felt strongly about two things only because when growing up I saw just the opposite of what was right when it comes to how you should treat women and especially if it applies to your wife. I have, I mean zero tolerance, for a man who will hit his wife. That is the most atrocious thing a man can do (women should not hit men either by the way). I also have no respect for men who look at pornography and call it a need. I have had two youth pastors in the last 31 years I am aware of who actually told their wives that they had to have the pornography to satisfy their needs physically. Ladies if that is the case, you need to pray, and give the ultimatum it is either me or the screen and if you choose the screen that means the highway until you get help and "change" happens.

This is a "loaded gun" we are playing with and we think no one should speak out boldly and call men to righteousness and name the sin and call for change. The only way we are going to see homes restored is for us to stop the sin of lust and change to love for God. It is all about how much I love God. It is not about how much I love my wife even. How much I love God determines how I treat my wife as a Queen or not. Now, is it easy not to give into temptation. No. We all battle the daily barrage of television, the Internet, the printed page and so much more, but a real man for Jesus will stand up and be counted as a man that will not give in. I, you, our brother, could fall tomorrow if it were not for the powerful grace that we have to have to say no to temptation. Say no if you have been saying yes. Clean up your mind with Bible verses, read it, clean up your computer and press the delete for ever. If you don't you are a two timing weasel, that is in danger of the justice of God if you don't change. My "Russian Brides" site is deleted every time now that I know what is happening. How about you. REAL MEN LOVE JESUS. I speak the truth in love.

What does a Christian home look like?

A Christian Home is important. A Christian home can be a single-parent Christian home. It can be a home where Mom and Dad are both facilitating the growth and maturity of their children. The Christian home today has many challenges, however. The culture alone causes the homes of our country function unlike any home of 25 or 30 years ago. Every culture comes along with its new challenges. I'm sure that the homes of 25 or 30 years ago were like nothing the 1920’s and 1930’s families had ever seen.

The fact is, either our homes change our world, or the world changes our homes.

The wonderful news is there is always hope. The bad news is Satan never stops trying to do whatever he can to destroy the Christian Home. Then there are homes where the name of Christ is mentioned infrequently if at all. I remember an old saying that really does work. “A family that prays together stays together”. “A family that worships together is more likely to stay together.” “A family that reads the Bible stays together.” The homes of our city and county are worth more value than we see being placed on them.

One of the problems is that we parents today are either not getting our children trained or we are simply failing to step up to the plate and take responsibility for our roles as parents. I realize there are times children can become unruly even children from God fearing homes and you may want to pull your hair out but there is no quit in parenting. One tired mother opened the front door to her home to find a young minister from the neighborhood who said, “I’m collecting donations for the new children’s home we’re building. I hope you will give what you can.”. “To be sure “ said the beleaguered woman, “I’ll give you two boys, two girls or one of each”. While that may be a little humorous it is not far from the truth. Children every day are abandoned, abused and neglected.

I remember in college hearing a speaker make a statement I found hard to believe at the time. It was during the cold war and he said the communist had a motto, “Give me a child until he is one to five years of age and he will be a communist the rest of his or her life." If the communists can have that much effect on a child’s life, I know a Godly mom and dad and the power of the life-changing Christ can change the hearts of children to want to know Christ. I find it true more and more. The children that are in Sunday School, Church, Sunday night choir, Wednesday activities at the church are the ones who come earlier than others realizing they need to accept Christ as their Savior.

What does a Christian Home look like? One that honors God and loves him with all their heart, soul and spirit.