November 5, 2009 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following is edited and adapted from a message preached by the late J. B. Buffington (1923-2009) at Calvary Baptist Church, Lakeland, Florida, in the early 1970s.

Rearing a family ought to be a thing of joy. You ought to sit down at home and laugh about all the little things that happen. You ought to be happy.

I can talk about teenagers because I have had four of them. My youngest daughter is 23 years old, so I know a little bit about teenagers.

I’ve heard people say, “Everything went along alright until my children became teenagers and then something happened.” But I beg your pardon, that’s not the case. Most of it happened before five years old. That’s why I exhort mothers, “Don’t let anybody be a baby sitter of your children except you and other godly people.” Those first five years, attitudes, security, goals, and many other things are already developed, and they will come into full blossom in teenage years. A child is like a computer. What you put in comes out. You can put something into a computer and pray that something else will come out, but it won’t happen.

I am writing about the Integrated Church Movement and Vision Forum in one report, because they are so closely tied together. While the Integrated Church Movement is larger than Vision Forum, Vision Forum is probably the most influential part of it.

The Integrated Church Movement (ICM), also called the Family Integrated Church, is defined as follows:

“The family-integrated model jettisons all age-graded ministries. Those who adhere to this model view each family unit (single or married, with or without children) as one ‘block’ that comprises the local church. That is, they view the church as a family of families. They view the church’s purpose as equipping the parents, primarily the fathers, to evangelize and disciple their children” (Terry Delany, “Three Perspectives on Family Ministry,” March 18, 2009).

It is not an organization but a philosophy, and there are many varieties of Family Integrated churches.

THE GOOD

There are many biblically-sound things that are emphasized by the Integrated Church movement.

It emphasizes building godly families and it resists the cultural way of parents abdicating their responsibilities to government schools and church programs.

October 21, 2009 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

In a recent e-mail we recommended a service called Covenant Eyes, which monitors the individual’s internet usage and emails reports to selected people for accountability. Covenant Eyes also has a filtering service that can be used in combination with the accountability service. Complete information and pricing can be found at
http://www.covenanteyes.com

Pornography has become a massive problem in the internet age. This powerfully addictive sin is only a mouse click away when we are browsing the internet, and it has taken many captive.

We would like to recommend a new service called Covenant Eyes, which monitors the individual’s internet usage and emails reports to selected people for accountability. A husband can have the e-mails sent to his wife. A pastor can have them sent to his deacons. Parents can receive reports on their children’s browsing history.

The accountability report lists web sites visited, internet searches, and the times of day when the Internet is used. It also features a score that ranks the individual’s level of objectionable internet usage.

Covenant Eyes also has a filtering service that can be used in combination with the accountability service.

Complete information and pricing can be found at

http://www.covenanteyes.com

January 29, 2009 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
 
The following is by Dr. Terry Coomer. God has given Brother Coomer some special wisdom about the building a godly Christian life and family. He is the Pastor of Elwood Bible Baptist Church and the Director of For the Love of the Family Ministries. He holds Family Conferences in local churches. He may be contacted at For Love of the Family Ministries, P.O. Box 535, Elwood, IN 46036, 765-552-1973, tlcoomer@juno.com.
 
This is one part of a multiple part message. See Coomer’s web site for other parts -- www.fortheloveofthefamily.com.
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REARING SPIRITUAL CHILDREN
TRAINING UP IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO
By Terry Coomer
 
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
 
“My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.” Proverbs 23:26
 
The Bible has a lot to say about rearing children. This lesson or message undoubtedly will be different from the normal thinking or perhaps even what you have ever heard before. It is not my purpose to criticize anyone. God knows my heart. Just as the Bible gives principles for other areas of life, it gives principles in this area as well. I know there is a lot of confusion in this area. Parents are hurting. Children are hurting. We certainly are not seeing children grow up and serve the Lord today. Why?

PROPER DISCIPLINE OF THE CHILD

November 4, 2008 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following is by Dr. Terry Coomer. God has given Brother Coomer some special wisdom about the building a godly Christian life and family. He is the Pastor of Elwood Bible Baptist Church and the Director of For the Love of the Family Ministries. He holds Family Conferences in local churches. He may be contacted at For Love of the Family Ministries, P.O. Box 535, Elwood, IN 46036, 765-552-1973, tlcoomer@juno.com.

This is one part of a multiple part message. See Coomer’s web site for other parts -- www.fortheloveofthefamily.com.
_________________

PROPER DISCIPLINE OF THE CHILD
By Terry Coomer

Proverbs 23:13-14 -- “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.”

We now move into a different section from where we have been, as we now move into the proper discipline of the child. I firmly believe that both parts are important, but I believe the first part is extremely important. The first part was our spiritual relationship and conveying our spiritual relationship with God to our children. Part of the training is the correct, godly, and Biblical discipline of our children.

The book of Proverbs mentions proper discipline five times. It is interesting to me that the book of Proverbs mentions communicating our spiritual relationship to the child twenty-five times. Many Christians have different ideas about the discipline of our children. We live in a very undisciplined society. The lack of discipline and spiritual communication is sending our society into major problems.

One of the areas that this lack of discipline shows up is in the peer influence of our children and allowing our children to make their own choices. What is happening today is the culture we are living in is rearing our children instead of the parents. The culture and peer influence rears our children because in many instances the parents are not there to rear them. Listen to me very carefully, if you desire to rear spiritual children, you have to make a decision in your life to be the main influence in your children's lives. Three of the most corrupting influences upon our children today are television, music, and friends. Do not be deceived folks; the devil wants the culture to rear our children. Do not underestimate the power of these influences. Many children will listen to their peers before they will listen to you, if you allow it to be that way. Again, you must make a decision to be the most important influence in the children's lives.

The Lord has blessed us with two wonderful daughters, Teresa and Jennifer, who have been trained by their parents to have a heart to serve God. They have been taught by their parents not to allow the influence of their peers to lead them into sin. Both daughters are preparing to serve the Lord on the mission field. At the time of this writing one has graduated from Bible College and married a godly young man. The other is in her second year of Bible College and will spend her summer on a foreign field because of her desire to see others come to know Christ as Savior. They are not interested in what the world has to offer. Why? Because they were taught and trained from the time they were small children that what God wants is more important than friends and peer influences.

My wife and I made a decision as young parents that my wife would stay home and become the most important influence in their lives (Titus 2:3-5). Their mother home schooled both of our daughters. They were not academic misfits. In fact, one of the girls scored in the top three percent in the country on the English portion of the ACT test. We heard all the talk about lack of socialization. Folks, those of you who know our daughters know they are not social morons. We made sure their socialization was godly. We made sure to guard their training and influences. Why did we do that? We know that the Bible tells us that Satan wants to destroy their lives.

1 Peter 5:8-9 -- "Be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."

As a Christian parent, you better understand these verses. I can hear someone say, "I bet their home was like a prison, they never had any fun." In fact, quite the contrary is true. Our children had a great time growing up. They learned to have the right kind of fun from their parents. Their mother taught them to enjoy proper music, not music that appeals to the flesh. She taught them to be godly young ladies as the Bible instructs in Titus 2. She taught them to dress as a godly young lady should. She taught them to cook, and we both taught them to be hard workers.

They were taught to do their best for God in whatever they did (1 Corinthians 10:31). My wife, Kim, was a huge godly influence in their lives because she committed herself to be there and to be the most important influence in their lives. Kim worked very hard and prayed much for their lives.

Parents today start out by allowing their children to make their own decisions. I have observed parents interacting with their children like this: The parent lays out the small child's clothes and the child says, "I do not want to wear that!" The parent says, "Honey, I am sorry I did not know you did not want to wear that. You do not have to wear that." The child and parent continue this dialogue throughout the child's life in almost every instance. Most parents do this today.

What happens is that the child grows up making his own choices, and when he gets to be eighteen he will not listen to a word you say because you have taught him from the time he was a little child not to listen to you. You have now opened his life up to be reared by his culture. His friends will be the most important influence in his life, fueled by television and music of the culture. He will become a spiritually undisciplined person who is lead by his emotions rather than by the Word of God. Unfortunately, most Christians fall into this category today and do not have a clue why their children have turned out the way they have. YOU MUST DETERMINE TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT INFLUENCE IN THEIR LIVES.

However, you have to be a spiritual person to see the truth in what I am talking about here. I can again hear someone say, "I bet his girls do not have any friends." On the contrary they both became spiritual leaders in Bible College and have like-minded friends who desire to live for God. You see folks; we trained them to have a spiritual disciplined life as a child and protected their influences for God as small children and teens so that as they matured they would be able to make godly choices. Why, because they saw their parents make godly, disciplined choices.

A fifteen-year old is not mature enough to make choices on a life's mate and does not need to be put in situations where he or she might be tempted to do so. Parents, do not be stupid.

We very seldom allowed our children to spend a night away from home unless we really knew the spiritual life of the family they were with. We certainly would not allow them to spend the night with the unsaved or carnal Christians, which included extended members of our family.

We also told our daughters as they were growing up that there was no reason for them to consider dating. They had plenty of time when they went to college to start considering young men. They were also instructed as to what they needed to be looking for in young men who could possibly be their life's mate. Teenagers are not mature enough to make decisions that are as serious as this. They also should not be put in relationships and situations that would encourage them to be involved in the lusts of the flesh at an age where they need to concentrate on their relationship with God not the opposite sex. Most parents make serious errors here and believe their children will lack in social skills if they are not allowed to date. In fact, what happens is the parents are allowing the culture to rear their children and heartbreak can come out of social peer pressure (Galatians 6:7).

We were not going to be bullied or begged to make stupid spiritual decisions in light of 1 Peter 5:8-9. Again, we are to live disciplined lives, not weak, emotional, feeling-lead lives. Our decisions are to be made based on the Word of God not on a whim of feelings.

We communicated to our children as they were growing up that Jesus wants to reproduce His character in their lives and the devil wants to reproduce his character in them. To a Christian who has a relationship with the Lord, living for Christ and walking with Him is more important than whether or not he is a good ballplayer. Folks, I know the influence that peers have on your lives in sports, as I was a former professional baseball pitcher. The Christian life is a disciplined spiritual life. If you do not understand this principle, you will fail in the task of rearing your children to love and serve the Lord. The culture will rear your child if you allow it to do so and bring heartbreak to you and your home.

So, why do I have to take this position on a disciplined Christian life?

Psalm 51:5 -- "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

Psalm 58:3 -- "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."

A child is a sinner at birth. You never have to teach a child to do wrong. They will do so automatically. You have to teach them to do right. The will of the child must be dealt with while it is weak. The child must understand that he or she cannot live by their lusts alone.

Parents, discipline is a strong form of love that gives the child security. The child has to learn self-control.

Proverbs 13:24 -- "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chastenth him betimes."

The word here "betimes" means "early" in his life. Proper discipline of the child must start early. Babies have a will and they start to exercise it early. From the time they are babies we must let the children know they cannot have their own way. The Bible tells us to discipline early.

Proverbs 19:18 -- "Chasten thy son while there is hope and let not thy soul spare for his crying."

Did you notice the phrase "while there is still hope?" There will come a time for the spiritually ignorant or disobedient parent that there is no hope.

Proverbs 22:15 -- "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child: but the rod of correction shall drive it from him."

In these two verses there is a prominent word, "rod." My understanding is the Hebrew word for rod is a branch or a stick or a staff. It is like the rod of a shepherd. The rod was a symbol of authority in the hands of a ruler. Basically folks, this deals with spanking and using an object to spank. On this Biblical basis, I never used my hand to discipline our children. I used a paddle as a symbol of authority. Parents we are to discipline early and the Bible tells us to discipline consistently and correctly. Obviously, we do not spank for every infraction. Sometimes there is verbal correction.

Let me give you a very important rule: A child should never be told more than once. If you are not careful here the child will develop a pattern with you. How far can we go before the parent will get this done?

A child must understand that parental authority is God's authority. Someone says, "Pastor, are you saying I should spank my child?" They will think I do not love them."

Proverbs 3:12 -- "For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth: even as a father the son in whom he delighteth."

The proper correction shows you love your child.

Let me give you another pattern to look for. As soon as you say, "I am going to spank you," the child says, "I am sorry." The child is not really sorry; he is a con artist! You need to make sure he knows and understands what is expected of him.

Another important rule is never discipline a child for failure to understand. Again, here some children can be con artists in this area.

Something that is very important is that we should discipline for attitude. When a child says "No" to you or makes a face, etc., proper discipline is in order. In this battle of the wills you may have to spank more than once. Remember I said spank not hit, slap, yell, cuss, pull their hair, get them on the floor and beat them, chase them around the house with a belt, or scream at them. God has given us the perfect place to spank. It has no bones that will break and has been provided by the Lord for the "rod of correction."

Parents who yell and scream all the time are only building a rebel. The child will hear you yell and scream and ignore you, and when he grows up he will never listen to a thing you tell him. I have talked to many parents who have disciplined in this manner and they firmly believe they are a disciplinarian. "You know, Pastor, my kids got it when they back-talked me; I hit them right in the mouth. I yelled and they listened." Sure they did, right up until the day they got out of your house. Now they live the way they want which does not include living for God. You did not train them, you browbeat them! They longed to get away from you.

Listen carefully, proper discipline of the child requires not disciplining in anger. When our children disobeyed, we calmly went into the bedroom and talked with them about their disobedience and spanked them on the area God has provided. We always told our children that we were displeased with their behavior and God was displeased. We then told them we loved them and wanted them to grow up to have good character and to be obedient to the Lord. We also told them that Jesus loved them and wanted them to have good character. We always hugged them and made sure they knew we loved them and that the discipline was for their own good.

Quite frankly, we really never had to spank either child after the fourth grade. We broke their will early. I will talk about this matter of breaking the will further in the next message.

I have talked to many criminals in jail. I always ask them a question: “Did your parents spank you when you were growing up?" The answer is surprising in many instances, but it is something for us to think about. Almost always, they will answer, “Dad or mom (they usually do not call them that) beat me when I needed it," or something similar. They always seem to have a smile on their face when they talk about it. Then I ask, "How did they spank you?" I get something like, "He chased me with the belt or he got me down and whomped me," etc. They never talk about a Biblical, godly form of discipline. Most people do not understand what proper discipline is.

Parents, I can hear someone say, "I will never spank my child!" Then you may be affecting that child's salvation.

Proverbs 23:13-14 -- "Withold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell."

Parents, this is a will matter. Remember, I said parental authority is God's authority. If a child will not submit to his parents, he will never submit to God. When we did spank our children, we did not allow them to scream, yell, or excessively cry. If they did, we spanked them until their wills were submissive. This may take several times. Many people in our culture now say spanking is child abuse. I agree there are people out there who do abuse their children. The lie of the devil and the greatest form of child abuse that has ever been put upon a society is putting children on drugs for their behavior. Many public school children are now on drugs for what has been called Attention Deficit Disorder.

I would agree that there is a great Attention Deficit Disorder in our society and it is on the part of the parents, not the children. Many of the children in our society are being put on drugs because the parents are not home and when they are home, they are too tired to give the child any attention. The child is banished to the back of the house, put in front of a television, or a video game. When discipline is brought forth it is in the form of yelling, screaming, hitting etc. The parent does not have the time or the energy to do any real parenting as God has commanded. Therefore, we put drugs in our children because we do not have time to deal with them. This is one of the great sins of our society and many Christians have bought into it.

The sadness is we have multitudes of children who will grow up never learning to obey as God has intended them to and they will always have an excuse for their poor behavior. The culture has given them a reason to be a rebel and to be disobedient. Their parents are off the hook because they have a child with a problem. Do I believe there are children with real mental problems out there? Yes there are but the percentage is very few. What we are experiencing now is a society that is extremely undisciplined and is dependent upon drugs for behavior rather than the Word of God.

Parent's let me finish this message with this important thought. I believe proper discipline of the child is important. I really do not believe it is as important as the first section we looked at. Your relationship to God and developing Junior's relationship to God is your most important task in rearing spiritual children. Listen carefully, if you have a spiritual relationship with God you will understand the importance of proper discipline and will seek God's will in the matter.

Folks, I can tell a lot about a person's relationship with God by the godly discipline in their life or the lack of spiritual discipline in their life. I can tell a lot about the spirituality of a church by looking at the Pastor's children and family. As a Pastor it is my responsibility before God to have a godly family, or I cannot teach anyone else what God's word says on the matter. It is my responsibility to develop in my wife and children a passion for the Lord. My testimony before God is important in this matter. This is an area where we cannot fool anyone. The Bible makes it plain it will come back to get us if we are not obedient to God in this matter. Something I have learned is this takes hard work. We cannot be lazy and slothful in this matter of spiritual training, which I believe is the most important matter we have outside of our salvation and our children's salvation.
________________

This article is by Dr. Terry Coomer. God has given Brother Coomer some special wisdom about the building a godly Christian life and family. He is the Pastor of Elwood Bible Baptist Church and the Director of For the Love of the Family Ministries. He holds Family Conferences in local churches. He may be contacted at For Love of the Family Ministries, P.O. Box 535, Elwood, IN 46036, 765-552-1973, tlcoomer@juno.com.

This is one part of a multiple part message. See Coomer’s web site for other parts -- www.fortheloveofthefamily.com.

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GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS: TEMPTATIONS YOUNG PEOPLE FACE GROWING UP IN THE CHURCH

September 18, 2008 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following is by Dave Crowe, an Australian missionary to Papua New Guinea. It was sent to us by Buddy Smith, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Malanda, Queensland, Australia .

“Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him” (1 Samuel 3:7).

“Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD” (1 Samuel 2:12).

The 23rd of March this year was the 25th anniversary of my Salvation. As far as I know, I was the first of a long line of unbelieving ancestors to call upon the name of the Lord. I am a first generation believer. As such, some might not consider me qualified to deal with the subject matter of this article. That could quite well be so, if it were not for the fact that over the course of the last 15 years my wife and I have had the privilege of rearing five reasonably normal and healthy children, all of whom profess to be Christians, second-generation Christians.

Through an amazing work of Providence, on the 23rd of March this year our son Samuel who is now 15, was also saved. Samuel was not saved from a life of drugs, drunkenness, and debauchery as were his parents, but rather from a life of religiosity and ritual, a life of outward appearances and conformity to a creed he knew well, but loved little.

This is the issue upon which this short article is based.

Samuel is a Home Schooled MK (Missionary Kid). Samuel arrived on the mission field at seven months old (in his mother’s womb). Samuel was born early Thursday Morning on the 17th December 1992, and was in church on Sunday, not yet three days old. Probably the first time Samuel ever heard his father’s voice loud enough to be recognised was from the pulpit in the local Baptist Church.

We could count, probably, on one hand the number of Sundays Samuel has missed since that day. Samuel will be 16 in December this year. At a conservative estimate, Samuel has been in church well over 3,000 times since he was born. If you count up Sundays, morning and evening, for 15 years, that brings you up to a total of 1,560 sermons, add to that the weekly prayer meetings, 780 of them, not to mention Sunday Schools, 780 of them as well.

A text from 2 Timothy 3:15 comes to mind when I think of my son Samuel. “And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.” Samuel, like thousands of other kids growing up in Christian homes, has from a child been immersed in the Word of God. Besides his regular church attendance, Samuel has been home schooled from day one. He has memorised hundreds of Bible verses; he knows most of the major stories by heart, as do his four sisters, the youngest of whom is Hadassah, who is now 8. Hadassah can recite numerous lengthy portions of Scripture almost word perfect. All of our children are the same. They all attend church and youth group weekly; we have family devotions most days. If the Lord tarries, Hadassah, like Samuel, would have heard over 3,000 sermons by the time she is 15.

Does all of that make my children Christians? No, sadly not. In fact, despite all those sermons, my children can remain hardened sinners, too proud to see their real need to repent. Not even fifteen years on the mission field and 3000 sermons can make a child acceptable to God and ready for Heaven. No, according to John 3:3, they, like everyone else in the world, “must be born again.”

As we have found out by personal experience within our own family circle, it is possible for children to sit through, and endure thousands of hours of religious instruction, and still be none the better for it. “For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” Until such a time as a child is truly and powerfully saved by a miracle of God’s Grace, even something as wholesome as sound Biblical preaching and the fellowship of the local church can become a source of temptation and a snare to him.

Boredom, Unthankfulness, Apathy, Indifference, Cynicism, Scepticism, Duplicity, Hypocrisy, Hardness of heart, even outright Atheism and Rebellion are only a few of the nasty and eternally destructive fruits that can grow almost undetected, right on the front row of our Sunday School Classes. How can that be?

Though my children are privileged and certainly blessed to have been raised in a Christian home, taught by their own loving mother, and exposed to sound and wholesome Bible preaching all of their lives, they are not exempt from temptation. Far from it! In fact, they are actually subject to some very serious and destructive religious temptations children from unsaved homes never face.

Temptation for my children is quite different than it was (and is) for me. I have struggled in my life with the seedier side of the flesh; my children face more subtle temptations, like Nicodemus or young Samuel in the Old Testament. I was an irreligious and naughty child; my children are mostly moral and good. I was corrupted very early in life; and to my great detriment and lasting regret, I became wise concerning the things that are evil. My children, on the other hand, are mostly innocent and, thankfully, quite naïve concerning evil, but they face a host of temptations that in some ways are just as dangerous and harder to discern and much more subtle.

It is important for us here to understand a very important Biblical precept.

THE NATURAL MAN OR A NEW CREATURE?

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man” (1 Corinthians 2:14-15).

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

There is a great difference between being religious and good and being a new creature in Christ. Nicodemus was a good man, but he certainly wasn’t a new man. Samuel in the Old Testament was a religious lad, a very polite and respectful boy, “but he didn’t yet know the Lord” (1 Samuel 3:7). Eli's sons served the Tabernacle but they were “sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.”

God recognised something about Samuel and the sons of Eli that few Christian parents discern today. They were in the right place, but not in a right spirit. Nicodemus in the New Testament was a good man, but a natural man still. His religion was based solely on the natural light of his ritual and outward form of religion, but there was no illumination. Samuel was the same.

Nicodemus knew the Scriptures by heart; he was a Doctor of the law, a ruler of the Jews, but he was unregenerate. The things of the spirit were foolishness unto him, and “he could not know them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Young Samuel heard the voice of the Lord three times and thought it was Eli; he hadn't yet had his heart opened by the Spirit of God.

So it is, I believe, with many of our children. They hear the voice of God and think it is the preacher or only their parents.

Most children in Christian homes profess faith at an early age. Our Samuel called on the Lord the first time when he was about six. We did our utmost to encourage his walk with the Lord, but over the course of the years it became quite evident to us that though Samuel was a good lad, he wasn’t a “new creature.” Like Samuel of old, “he didn't yet know the Lord.”

As he entered into his teenage years we began to detect a definite resistance to and disliking of spiritual truth. This greatly concerned us and because of that we challenged him a number of times concerning his salvation.

I have been impressed more and more over the years that the phrase “if any man be in Christ” in 2 Corinthians 5:17 also applies to children. It wasn’t only the Apostle Paul who used that phrase, The Lord Jesus also said in Luke 9:23, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

In actual fact, if you will look closely, you will notice that the word “man” in Luke 9:23 is not in the original. Jesus said, “If any will come after me let him deny himself...” That certainly includes children born into Christian homes. Why do we expect others to manifest a new life, but not our own children?

We ought not to be congratulating ourselves that our children are good kids and that at least they are in church. No, that position comes far short of Bible salvation. We ought to search out the matter and make diligent inquiry as to whether our precious children are truly born again; are they regenerate? Can we see Biblical evidence of a New Creature? Or are they just, going through the motions?

Children are creatures of habit. They can very easily adapt to their environment, especially if it’s the only one they have ever known. “Christian” children become experts at duplicity; they know all the right words to say at the most appropriate times. They can say their verses and get their awards. They know how to dot all their i's and cross all their spiritual t's, and all the while many of them are complete strangers to the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Often it’s not all their fault. Many Christian parents, even pastors and teachers, take much too much for granted when it comes to the souls of their children. There seems to me to be a great lack of discernment in hanging all of our hopes for our children’s eternal destiny upon some long gone profession of faith that has absolutely no bearing or impact on the general course of their present day lives. Salvation is a today issue.

Don’t ever forget that our children’s sinful natures will only be restrained for a time under the heavy yoke of the Christian home and church culture. Many Christian children in church are just doing what kids do naturally, conforming to the majority mindset around them. They are just going through the motions. That’s all fine and well whilst they are youngsters, but once the hormones begin to kick in and old Adam begins to assert his authority, Mum and Dad look out!

If children continually chafe, complain, and defy and even despise and rebel against the authority of the Scriptures and their parents, it is quite as likely as not that we are dealing with unregenerate offspring. This ought to challenge us, as it is quite obvious in Scripture that the Biblical criterion for salvation is not an empty profession of faith, but rather a new creature. If you doubt that read again Galatians 6:15, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

If we take the Scriptures seriously we will understand that our children, just like adults, are sinners that need repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If there is genuine repentance, there ought to be genuine fruit. If after a Biblical evaluation of our children’s lives and testimonies we fail to see the evidences of a new creature overcoming the old, we need not despair. No, we need to go to prayer.

We prayed for Samuel his whole life, but we never really took up the matter of his salvation seriously, even unto fasting, until a few years ago. As I mentioned, as Samuel began to enter his early teenage years, old Adam began to make his presence known and it wasn't pleasant.

This was not the normal flesh/spirit conflict of the true Christian mentioned in Romans 7 and Galatians 5:17. We saw this very different spiritual conflict in our daughter Lydia, who was very clearly saved in the year 2000 whilst we were on furlough. She was only six at the time, but we have had no cause since then to doubt her decision, again because we have very clearly seen the “new creature.”

In Samuel we hadn't seen the new creature until just recently. Since Samuel was saved on the 23rd of March this year (he had no idea at the time that it was my spiritual birthday as well), we have seen a definite change. He himself has confessed Christ openly on a number of occasions; he has told me he now understands and gets fed from what he reads in Scripture. He is also experiencing the conflict with his old nature. He desires to be baptised and has expressed a very clear desire to go back to the mission field.

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature...”

Don’t settle for less. By making excuses for worldly-minded, unspiritual children, we are giving place to the devil and also encouraging deceit and hypocrisy. Look for the tell tale signs of dead religious observance, and pray against it for all your worth. Your child’s eternal well being could well depend on you being discerning enough to see it for what it is, unregenerate flesh.

“He that is spiritual judgeth (discerns) all things” (1 Corinthians 2:15).

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Over the past few years a number of people have asked me about Greater Joy Ministries operated by Michael and Debi Pearl, and as I have traveled on preaching trips I have found that many families in good fundamental Baptist churches are using their materials.
The following is a report on my investigation into this ministry. I have read two of Michael’s books as well as issues of No Great Joy magazine, and I have looked carefully through the material available at their web site.

There is much to praise in Greater Joy Ministries. The Pearl’s book To Train up a Child contains many very helpful things (though it often goes beyond clear biblical precepts and enters into a legalistic “Pearlosophy,” which is presented as dogmatically as the parts that are supported directly by Scripture, such as some of his teaching about education and other things that almost require an Amish-like lifestyle). The Pearls rightly avoid “Christian” psychology. They promote godly husband-wife relationships. They teach parents how to reach the child’s heart rather than enforcing mere externals. They focus on how crucial it is for the parents to live what they preach, to avoid hypocrisy. They teach a biblical approach to corporal punishment without apology. They teach parents how to jealously and carefully protect their children from evil influences. They give some excellent and timely warnings about the danger of the average church youth group that throws young people together in a secular fashion and thus allows strong but worldly personalities to corrupt heretofore innocent youth (which is exactly what happened to me as I grew up in a Southern Baptist congregation). They are clear about parental responsibility, that the “buck stops here” with Christian parents in regard to child training.

I am sure that the Pearls are genuine salt-of-the-earth people who try to practice what they preach, but I want to mention some serious errors that those who use their materials should be aware of.

THE ERROR OF EXALTING THE FAMILY BEYOND A SCRIPTURAL BOUND AND RELEGATING THE CHURCH TO A LESSER REALM OF IMPORTANCE

No Greater Joy has some excellent practical teaching on the family, but I do not believe that it is presented within a scriptural balance and framework in regard to the church. In the topics listed at the No Greater Joy web site, “The Church” is glaringly absent. When Michael Pearl speaks about the church it is almost always in a negative context.

While the family is the foundational unit in the church and society and is very, very important, I believe it is possible to turn the family into an idol, when it is emphasized beyond biblical bounds and when it becomes an end unto itself.

I don’t believe the Pearls themselves have made an idol of the home, but I believe that many associated with the home schooling movement have, and the Pearls should do more to resist this error. Debi Pearl wisely says: “Do not get caught up in pouring your life into a good cause--even the rearing of a large family. Pour your life into knowing and serving the Savior and desiring that every life you touch be touched with the knowledge of forgiveness in the shed blood of Jesus. We are called to be soldiers in the army of the living God. Raising up young new recruits is exciting” (To Train up a Child, fifteenth printing, 2004, p. 119).

The problem is that this is only a brief postscript in their book on child training, and it is not something that seems to be properly emphasized. In the dozens of articles I have read by the Pearls, this is the only time I have seen that type of emphasis. The Pearls have 150,000 on their mailing list and their book To Train up a Child has sold more than 400,000 copies. They therefore have a vast influence among home schoolers.



Christ’s Great Commission is to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth and to plant churches that are discipleship centers, the pillar and ground of the truth, where believers are trained in the service of God and in the work of world evangelism (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:17; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8). This is what we see lived out in the book of Acts and it is a program that is to be perpetuated until Christ returns.

Parents who are committed to Christ will have this Great Commission before them at all times as they raise their children.

To raise wholesome, talented, law-abiding, hard-working citizens is not enough, because it falls short of what Christ commanded.

I believe home schooling is by far the best way to educate children. That is how our own children were educated, but within some home schooling circles there is neglect toward and misunderstanding of the New Testament church.

For example, on my last preaching trip to Australia I met some godly families in one of the churches. The children play various musical instruments; they have a wide variety of interests and talents; they have serious goals in life; they are getting a wonderful education; they are separated from the wicked things of the world. There is nothing wrong with any of this, of course. It is a great blessing to see close and godly families in this wicked age. The problem is with the emphasis and balance. These families do not place the church and the Great Commission in a Scriptural priority. They attend services only once service a week, forsaking the other services for “family time,” in direct contradiction to Acts 2:42 and Hebrews 10:25. They brazenly neglected the special services that the church was hosting and thus gained no benefit from the visiting preacher. Their lives could have been challenged by that preaching, but other things were more important to them.

These parents are teaching their children many good things, but they are wrong in teaching them to slight the church.

My friends, the Bible plainly states that it is the church that is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). Why doesn’t it say that the home is the pillar and ground of the truth? And this is not some vague “universal” church. The context is a scripturally organized assembly that has pastors and deacons (1 Tim. 3:1-14). The believer’s service to the Lord is to be in and through such a church, in submission to God-ordained pastors and elders (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:7, 17).

Any family that is not in proper relationship with and submission to God-ordained church authority is not in the will of God (unless, of course, no such church exists in the area). I say this on the authority of the Scriptures. I would ask such a family, “Who has the rule over you?” If the reply is, “God does,” I would rejoin that God Himself says that church elders are to have the rule over us (Heb. 13:17), not as lords over us but as under-shepherds who must, in turn, give account to the Great Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:1-4).

I understand all too well that pastoral authority has been abused at times and that this is an hour of great compromise in churches, but that is no excuse to reject it. Husbands and fathers have abused their authority at least as much as pastors have abused theirs, but that does not mean that we are free to reject them. The Lord Jesus Christ said, “I will build my church” (Mat. 16:18). It is His plan and program, and it is not to be despised.

There is nothing wrong with a “house church” as such, if that church is scripturally organized, but a loose knit gathering in a home is not necessarily a church, and a father of a family is not a pastor unless he is qualified and called and ordained (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-11; Acts 14:23).

Paul wrote to Titus and informed him that he was to “set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city” (Titus 1:5). The thing that was wanting, or lacking, was for the new converts to be organized into proper New Testament assemblies, and this required the ordination of qualified, God-called elders (Titus 1:6-16).

This is the pattern that we see in the first missionary journey. After Paul and Barnabas had preached in many places, they returned to each place and organized the new groups of believers into churches and ordained elders in each one (Acts 14:23).

A home Bible study, a home prayer meeting, a loose knit group of home schoolers, is not in itself a proper New Testament church and has no scriptural authority to replace such a church.

If Michael Pearl agrees with us on the importance of the New Testament church, he should be very careful to preach about this, as it is an essential part of “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). He should also speak out plainly against the practice of many today who neglect and discount the value of the house of God (1 Tim. 3:16). We would expect to see such a warning prominently given at his web site, since his ministry is attractive to such people.

Such teaching and warning is lacking, though. In fact, in his article “Sanctuary” (March 2005) he refers sympathetically to “several families” who have “traded church attendance for a DVD player,” and he does not explain that this is unscriptural.

Pearl complains that “church today is not a sanctuary from the world nor is it a ‘holy’ place.”

While I agree that too many churches are worldly from top to bottom, meaning that even the leaders and workers are worldly, it is equally true that a scriptural New Testament church will never be completely holy. If a church is reaching the world for Christ as it should, there will always be unsaved and newly saved people in attendance who are not very holy, to say the least. In fact, if we were to be honest with our own hearts, we would admit that there is plenty of unholiness in the most mature of saints, as even the apostle Paul lamented in regard to his own life. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Rom. 7:18). And the apostle John added his Amen to this when he said, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:9).

The New Testament church can never be a complete sanctuary from the world or a perfectly holy place for the simple fact that it is made up of sinners who are in the business of reaching sinners. Paul referred to the unsaved who attended the meetings of the church at Corinth, and said nothing to discourage the church from having the unsaved in attendance but rather encouraged them to live in such a way that they would reach the unsaved for Christ (1 Cor. 14:23-25).

A church that is busy reaching the unsaved will not only have the unsaved in attendance at services and events but will have new believers in attendance, as well, and these will be far from “entirely sanctified” and separated from the world.

I remember when I was first saved and joined a fundamental Baptist church in central Florida. I was saved; I knew the Lord; I had truly repented; but I was still a mess! I still had hair down to my shoulders; I still smoked and listened to rock & roll and attended worldly movies. Yet the church members were so patient and kind to me, opening their homes to me, spending time with me, discipling me; and it was this that helped me to grow and to begin shedding the things of the flesh and the world and putting on Christ.

The man that led me to Jesus Christ had the same attitude. He was not ashamed to spend four or so days traveling with me, living with me, enduring my foul language and disgusting habits and vain arguments against the truth.

The apostolic churches that are described in the New Testament scriptures were far from sinlessly perfect. Consider the seven churches of Asia Minor addressed in Revelation 2-3. Most of these apostolic churches had serious problems. The church at Ephesus had left its first love. The church at Pergamos allowed false teachers in their midst, including the false doctrine of Balaam that was associated with idolatry and fornication. The church at Thyatira allowed a false prophetess to teach worldly heresies. The church at Sardis had a name that it lived but was dead. The church at Laodicea was so lukewarm that Christ warned them that He would spew them out of His mouth.

Consider the apostolic church at Corinth. This church was established by the apostle Paul himself, but it was a genuine mess! The members were carnal and divided (1 Cor. 1-3); they did not discipline even the most glaring sins (1 Cor. 5); they took one another to court (1 Cor. 6); they fellowshipped with idols (1 Cor. 10); they grossly misused the spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 14); they allowed false teachers in their midst, even those who preached false christs and gospels (2 Cor. 11:3-4) and denied the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12).

The church at Philippi was an excellent church, but two women in the congregation were so at odds with one another that they had to be corrected by Paul in a public letter (Phil. 4:2).

The apostle Peter played the hypocrite and Paul had to rebuke him publicly (Gal. 2:11-14).

Even Paul and Barnabas had such a “sharp contention” that they could no longer work together (Acts 15:36-40).

None of this is an excuse to think that it does not matter what type of church we attend or how we live, but it is a fact of Christian living and church life that we must understand and learn to deal with.

This is not something that Michael Pearl preaches properly. In his article “Sanctuary” (March 2005) he does advise someone, “Don’t leave the church, anymore than a missionary would leave the field because there are sinners there,” but having read two of his books and dozens of his articles, I am convinced that the message to exchange the church for a DVD player and to look lightly upon one’s responsibility to the church is louder than the message to stay in the church and be a faithful, fruitful member thereof.

For more on this subject see “Seven Keys to Fruitful Church Membership” at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/sevenkeys.htm.

THE ERROR OF SINLESS PERFECTIONISM

The most grievous error that I found in No Greater Joy ministries is the heresy of sinless perfectionism or “entire” sanctification. We see this in the article “Living Parallel Lives in the Same Space” from the Jan.-Feb. 2005 issue of No Greater Joy.

The doctrine of perfectionism is first of all clear from what Michael Pearl plainly states. He has entitled his teaching “Sin No More” (p. 21).

He says the doctrine of sanctification does not consist of “principles for you to apply” (p. 11), meaning there is nothing to do to achieve sinless sanctification but to understand and accept one’s position in Christ.

He speaks of “the gospel of sanctification” (p. 11) and refers to the gospel of justification through grace as “half of the gospel” (p. 20). Yet the Bible nowhere refers to such a “gospel.” There is only one true gospel and that is gospel of the grace of Christ (Gal. 1:5-9). That one true gospel is defined by Paul as follows: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). This is the gospel that Paul preached, nothing more and nothing less. Notice that this gospel does not consist of sanctification, though it results in sanctification. Holiness and godly Christian living is an important doctrine of the New Testament, but it is not the gospel and it is very dangerous to use such terminology.

This reminds us of the Pentecostal “full gospel” or “four square gospel” terminology, which is just as unscriptural. To add anything to the gospel of the grace of Christ, whether it is tongues or healing or holy living or Spirit baptism, is to corrupt the gospel of grace alone by Christ alone through faith alone. Holy Christian living is not the gospel; it follows the gospel (Eph. 2:8-10; Phil. 1:27).

Pearl’s heresy of sinless perfectionism is perhaps why he is comfortable preaching in Assemblies of God congregations. He is scheduled to conduct a seminar at the First Assembly of God in Searcy, Arkansas, September 10, 2005.

Michael Pearl actually claims that he is living in sinless sanctification:

“WE SHOULD AND CAN SIN NO MORE! ... I have been preaching AND LIVING this gospel of sanctification for many years. It is not a theory. It is practical, Scriptural reality” (“Living Parallel Lives in the Same Space” No Greater Joy, Jan.-Feb. 2005, p. 21).

He says we should and can sin no more and in the same context claims that he has been “living this gospel of sanctification for many years.” The natural meaning of such words is that Michael Pearl has been living in complete, sinless victory for years. If this were true, it would mean that he has continually performed every biblical commandment and duty with a perfect heart.

The advertisement for Pearl’s Bible Study Series entitled “Sin No More” is as follows: “We receive many letters seeking advice. The source of most problems is personal sin, but you already know that. The big question is: ‘So how do I stop sinning?’ ... I assure you, God not only saves his children from the penalty of sin but he saves them from its power as well. YOU CAN STOP SINNING. If you want to know the Bible doctrine of Sanctification by Faith, you will hear THE COMPLETE GOSPEL in this series of messages by Michael Pearl."

My friends, any believer who would make a claim to be walking in entire sinless sanctification is either deceived or is a deceiver or he has significantly lowered the definition of sin.

Michael also says that his preaching has caused others to live in complete sanctification:

“I preach it in the prisons, and it works on men who have lived lives of total addiction and enslavement. They come unto me all the time, bubbling over with joy, and TELL ME THAT THEY ARE NOW FREE FROM ALL SIN. ... walking in complete victory over sin and self” (“Living Parallel Lives in the Same Space” No Greater Joy, Jan.-Feb. 2005, p. 21).

I can say on the authority of the Bible, that this is a deception (1 John 1:8-10).

Pearl’s doctrine of perfectionism is also clear from what he fails to mention. In the aforementioned issue of his magazine he is counseling a mother who wrote to him and described her struggle with sin. In his reply he did not mention any of the following important biblical truths:

There is nothing in Pearl’s reply about the indwelling sin nature or the struggle with the flesh that Paul describes so plainly (Rom. 7:18; Gal. 5:16-17).

There is nothing in Pearl’s reply about confessing sin and walking in the light (1 Jn. 1:6-10). (In fact, in his booklet “1 John 1:9--The Protestant Confessional,” he wrongly believes that this verse is about salvation, that one confesses sin for salvation but that to confess sins after salvation is wrong. The truth is that the context of the first chapter of 1 John plainly refers to “fellowship” and to how we “walk” or live (see 1 John 1:3, 6, 7), rather than to salvation.

There is nothing in Pearl’s reply about spiritual growth and progress, that sanctification is not a matter of a one-time experience but of gradual change (2 Pet. 3:18).

There is nothing in Pearl’s reply about the fact that the Christian life is described as an active warfare against sin and not merely believing in a position. There was nothing in his reply about yielding (Rom. 6:16), walking in (Gal. 5:16), putting off and putting on (Eph. 4:22-24), putting away (Eph. 4:31), mortifying (Col. 3:5), fleeing (2 Tim. 2:22), laying aside (Heb. 12:1; 1 Pet. 2:1)

False teaching is often characterized by the neglect of part of the truth, and this is the case here.

My maternal grandmother was a very godly woman, a prayer warrior, a saint who prayed and fasted and saw serious answers to prayer (such as the dramatic conversion of her wayward “hippie” grandson David Cloud in 1973 at age 23). After I had been saved about a year and was struggling with many things in my new Christian life I visited my grandmother and asked her about sin in the believer’s life. I said, “Grandma, do you still have any problems with sin in your life?” She was probably the godliest person I knew at that time (that was before I met my wonderful wife!), the person I most looked up to spiritually. She was about 78 years old then, and I was hoping she would reply (as Michael Pearl teaches), “Well, Dave, I used to have some struggles with sin but that is long over, praise God! I am walking in sinlessness!” Instead, she replied: “Dave, I still have struggles with sin every day. I do still sin, though it grieves me and I look forward to that day when I will sin no more.”

That elderly saint expressed more solid biblical truth to me that day than you will find in all of Michael Pearl’s muddled teaching on sanctification.

I have written to Michael Pearl twice, but he has refused to reply to my questions and concerns. I did not ask for a long drawn out reply. I simply asked, “Do the following statements from your magazine truly reflect your doctrine? Do you live sinlessly?”

A simple “yes” or “no” would have sufficed.

My friends, the error with Michael Pearl’s ministry is subtle but I believe it is dangerous.

In the October 2007 edition of No Greater Joy, two years after I published my article, Pearl finally addressed my concerns, but in doing so he only proved that he is duplicitous. I was very sad when I read his reply, because it demonstrated a serious level of dishonesty, and I am pretty sure that dishonesty is not a reflection of sinless living!

First, he was duplicitous in not giving his readers my name and telling them where they could read my report about him. He only identified me as “my accuser.” On the other hand, I gave exact quotes from Pearl’s writings and told my readers where they could check my statements.

Second, he was duplicitous in not telling his readers that I tried to communicate with him personally TWO TIMES and that he refused to answer. I did not ask for a long drawn out reply. I simply asked: “Do the following statements from your magazine truly reflect your doctrine? Do you live sinlessly?” I was trying to make sure that I had not misunderstood the man, but he didn’t have the courtesy to answer me. He could have taken a moment to answer me personally or could have instructed his secretary or someone else to answer me, but he did not. This is a very important fact that he hid from his readers.

Third, he was duplicitous in not telling his readers that I prefaced my report by saying that there is much to praise in Greater Joy Ministries, that they have some excellent practical teaching on the family (I described eight of these in particular), and that “I am sure that the Pearls are genuine salt-of-the-earth people who try to practice what they preach.” Those are not the words of someone who is out to slander a man by taking a cheap shot at him, but that is exactly how Pearl tried to characterize me.

Fourth, he was duplicitous in saying: “I have never said I am sinless.”

In “Living Parallel Lives in the Same Space,” No Greater Joy, Jan.-Feb. 2005, Pearl says: “WE SHOULD AND CAN SIN NO MORE! ... I have been preaching AND LIVING this gospel of sanctification for many years.”

If that is not a statement of sinless living, I don’t know what it is.

Further, in the same article Pearl claims that prisoners that he ministers to “come to me all the time, bubbling over with joy, and tell me that they are now FREE FROM ALL SIN” (p. 21).

If those words don’t mean what they appear to mean, he should admit that he has been sloppy in his published statements and should correct them and thank me for pointing out this matter.

Fifth, he was duplicitous in making the following claim: “I have never used the terms ‘sinless perfection’ or ‘entire sanctification,’ nor have I taught anything that is remotely similar. All one need do is search the web, or a good church history book, to determine the specifics of that heresy in history. The doctrine of sinless perfection is the belief that believers can have a second work of grace whereby the old nature is eradicated, making it impossible for them to sin again. There is nothing in my teaching that is similar in any way.”

I never said that he taught a second work of grace or the eradication of the sin nature, but regardless of what terms he uses, he does teach sinless perfection and I proved this from his own writings. His pretty little smokescreen changes nothing.

Sixth, Pearl was duplicitous in saying: “Either he has not familiarized himself with my teaching, or he has another agenda that provokes him to deliberately slander my Biblical doctrine. What could prompt a man to attack a ministry on such false premises?”

Here he gives his readers the impression that I am either a careless and ignorant man or a wicked one who is simply out to hurt him. But that I have familiarized myself with his teaching is evident from my article in the quotes I gave from his writings, and to speak the truth about a man is NOT slander. There is nothing slanderous or false about my premise.

Seventh, Pearl was duplicitous in saying: “My accuser admits in his diatribe against me that it is the name of the series that led him to conclude that I taught the old Salvation Army doctrine of ‘sinless perfection.’”

I “admit” no such thing. It was his own statements in print that caused me to understand that he teaches a form of sinless perfection, and I quoted those statements. Further, I did not say anything about the Salvation Army doctrine.

Eighth, Pearl was duplicitous in saying: “My teaching on ceasing to sin is exactly what Baptists and other Bible-believing Christians have taught for 1900 years.”

In fact, his teaching is not exactly what Baptists have taught for 1900 years. I have a large private library on Baptist history and Pearl’s statement is simply ridiculous. There has never been “one standard Baptist doctrine” on sanctification, but most Baptists have not taught that the believer can live a sinless life. We agree that Pearl’s teaching is not new and we never said that it is, but it is heretical.

Ninth, Pearl was duplicitous in saying: “If my material is read and understood, the only thing you could accuse me of is helping people to stop sinning. So what is the problem? The women whose husbands have ceased pornography or adultery are not complaining about their husbands listening to the series ‘Sin No More.’ ... It is people who are comfortable with the modern belief and practice that we are all slaves to sin and cannot overcome temptations in this life, who are hasty to draw false conclusions about what I teach, simply based on the title of an audio message.”

This makes it sound as if I am opposed to holy living and do not believe in victory over the flesh, which is a lie. My preaching has helped many of God’s people to have victory in Christ. I do not believe that the believer has to be a slave to sin or that he is unable to overcome temptation, but that is not the same as claiming that he can stop sinning and be free from all sin. Pearl is using the old bait and switch tactic here.

THE ERROR THAT JESUS BECAME A SINNER

In the articles entitled “God Made Jesus to Be Sin” and “Imputed Righteousness” Michael Pearl teaches the heresy that Jesus became a sinner. Consider the following statements:

“God was willing to see Jesus as a sinner that He might be permitted to see us as righteousness. Jesus became what we are that we might become what He is. By the imputing act of God, HE BECAME A SINFUL SON OF MAN so we could become sinless sons of God. It was a trade. He traded His righteousness for our sin” (Pearl, “God Made Jesus to be Sin”).

“The God who ‘calleth those things which be not as though they were’ called His Son something He wasn’t--A SINNER--so that He could call us something we are not--righteous” (Pearl, “God Made Jesus to be Sin”).

“Jesus became what we are, A SINNER--no, more than that, He became sin itself, “...that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” God was willing to see Jesus as a sinner, so He could see us as righteousness. Jesus became what we are, so we can become what he is. HE BECAME A SINFUL SON OF MAN, so we could become sinless sons of God” (Pearl, “Imputed Righteousness”).

It is blessedly true that the Lord Jesus bore man’s sin on the cross and He died to pay the price for our sin, but He was never a sinner and He never became a sinful son of man.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin...” Thus, though Jesus was made to be sin in our place, he still knew no sin. When Christ bore our sin, He did not do so by actually becoming a sinner; rather, He bore our sin in that God put that sin to His account and He bled and died to satisfy the Law’s requirement. Likewise, when a sinner puts his faith in Christ God applies Christ’s righteousness to that sinner’s account and declares him righteous. This is the doctrine of justification.

Note the following comments on 2 Corinthians 5:21 which give the sound view of Christ’s atonement:

“He hath made him to be sin; not made him a sinner, but a sin-offering, a sacrifice for sin. Made; that is, ordained a sacrifice to expiate sin, and to bear the punishment due to sinners” (William Burkitt).

“He was made sin; not a sinner, but sin, that is, a sin-offering, a sacrifice for sin” (Matthew Henry).

“A sinner, not in himself, but by imputation of the guilt of all our sins to him” (Geneva Bible).

“... not a sinful person, which would be untrue, and would require in the antithesis ‘righteous men,’ not ‘righteousness’; but ‘sin,’ that is, the representative Sin-bearer (vicariously) of the aggregate sin of all men past, present, and future” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown).

“... but now that this may appear to be only by imputation, and that none may conclude from hence that he was really and actually a sinner, or in himself so, it is said he was ‘made sin’; he did not become sin, or a sinner, through any sinful act of his own, but through his Father’s act of imputation, to which he agreed” (John Gill).

TESTIMONIES

I conclude with comments from readers who replied to me after reading the first edition of this article:

“I have just read your article about ‘A WARNING ABOUT MICHAEL PEARL’S NO GREATER JOY MINISTRY.’ I just wanted to write to you to provide a brief testimony and to further emphasize your warning regarding this subject. Please take full liberty to print this email.

“Approximately a year ago our church had the misfortune of losing at the time a dear member to the ‘Sinless Perfectionism’ preached by Michael Pearl. He was called to preach and was active in our church and outspoken against sin in people’s lives. Unfortunately his love for the Word of God and the Saviour was small in comparison for his love of man and vain doctrines.

“I want to illustrate the importance of folks following the leadership of the local pastor of your local New Testament Church. Our Pastor made every attempt to correct this individual on a number of occasions but the man’s heart had been stolen. He might have been saved except for his association with a friend of his from our sponsoring church who was feeding him lies along with the Michael Pearl heresy. He is now part of a cult and took a couple of families with him from our sponsoring church. I agree with you 100% that this is a very dangerous doctrine and exhort anyone who is reading his books to examine the doctrine carefully or to go one step further and just throw them out.”
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“Thank you for your helpful information regarding the Pearls and their Bible teaching. I am a pastor’s wife, and I have received their newsletters for several years and have also recommended their materials to others. I recently stumbled across a website that is hosted by their oldest daughter, Rebekah Pearl Anast, called ‘Dreaming Awake.’ Although Rebekah uses a penname (Ruby Archuletta, which she says comes from a movie) on the site, she also identifies herself within the site. The website is dedicated to recording her dreams, and she also categorizes them as ‘Assignment Dreams,’
‘Teaching Dreams,’ ‘War and Apocalyptic Dreams,’ etc. Although I have not seen any that are indecent to read about, they are very bizarre. ... You also pointed out that they tend to be negative about the church. There is another web site which is being started by Rebekah’s husband, Gabriel Anast, which he has billed as a ‘church’ being started on the internet.”
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“Bro. Cloud, I checked out Rebekah Pearl Anast’s website, www.dreaming-awake.com. At the very least, it is bizarre and very misleading. They record dreams that the family has had and they apply them to their lives Biblically just as the dreams that were told of in the Bible. I don't believe God works in dreams to tell his people how they should live or what they should do because we have the Holy Spirit and the Word for that. Not saying He couldn’t if He decides to but I don’t believe God uses dreams and visions today. I also checked out the online church that was mentioned, www.7xsunday.net. They don’t have the whole site built yet but they do have forums. And, as with any online forum, it is full of confusion and confused people bantering back and forth about ‘spiritual’ matters. I did not look at every thread but I had looked at enough to tell that, for the most part, people would not be edified or strengthened by this, only bewildered. Thanks for posting the warning. We have subscribed to No Greater Joy for a few years and have enjoyed some of the home schooling articles but it has bothered me for quite some time that Michael Pearl’s teaching is dangerous and, in some cases, heretical. After examining these other websites, I realized that we can’t try to ignore the bad while trying to glean the good because the bad will seep in some way or other. Satan is very clever and he will get to God’s people in any subtle way he can.”
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“Bro Cloud, thank you so much for your work for the Lord. Just a quick testimony about this article. I am in one of your supporting churches. It is a very strong church. Our pastor is great and preaches the Bible. About 5 years ago, the Pearl’s materials started circulating in our church. I have to admit that as a mother of five I eagerly read it all, often using their advice on child training. The Bible training CDs made it into the church bookroom and I decided to listen to the study of the book of Romans by Michael Pearl. After listening to it, my husband and I asked the pastor about it because he preached that a husband could have one wife at a time (not husband of one wife) and many other odd teachings that didn’t line up with our church or the Bible. The pastor agreed and eventually threw out all the Pearl things. To make a long story short, about 4 or 5 families have since left the church, all having their own excuses, but they have their home Bible studies and other ‘Pearl study things.’ These families were the type of families that you would think of being strong in the Lord. It was hard for me to see them leave. Since then, most of them have lost their standards, and all are going to different churches, but only on Sunday mornings and getting together Sunday nights for their private Bible studies. One other odd thing. My close friend went to one of his seminars on the teaching of Hebrews. She said that at the end Pearl turned off the taping and preached from the Bible on life before Adam and Eve, that there was another earth and that there is other life out there. And now she is convinced of it. Very weird. Thank you again for your work and your articles.”
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“What a wonderful and accurate article! I pastor a small church in Nashua, NH, and I have seen numerous of these ‘good families’ (and I agree with you they are good families that love the Lord and their family) that minimize the local church greatly. The local church is seen as secondary to the family, and yes they do view the family unit as ‘the pillar and ground of the truth.’ We have lost some families over this, because I do believe the Bible’s teaching on the local church and that it is ‘the pillar and ground of the truth’ and that the Great Commission was given to the Lord’s churches.”

[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 24th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://www.wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org ]

GIRLS’ FASHIONS AND DOLLS

July 17, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

This verse reminds us that training in modest attire best begins in childhood. Many married women in Bible-believing churches did not have an opportunity to grow up in a godly Christian home and were not taught how to be modest when they were young, but now they have the opportunity to provide such a home for the next generation. This is a great blessing as well as a large responsibility.

The best time to teach a girl how to dress modestly is when she is a toddler. When she reaches teenage years she will be habituated to dressing in a feminine and modest manner and will not feel strange wearing a nice dress. She will also know how to be decent wearing a dress, because she learned it from her mother (and hopefully grandmother, aunts, etc.) from childhood.

One of our granddaughters is three years old, and her mother dresses her in nice dresses all of the time except when she is bathing and sleeping or getting ready for bed and is in her pajamas. She is learning how to sit properly in a dress. She is learning that her brother wears pants but she wears dresses, because she is different. My earnest prayer is that she will never turn aside from this modest and lovely and scriptural way of dressing.

Of course, the key is not merely dressing a child properly but teaching her why she is dressed that way, and instilling in her the Bible principles of modesty throughout her childhood, and praying that she will be saved and take these principles into her heart because she wants to please the Lord. Female fashions change constantly, and the Christian woman must learn how to apply Bible principles to whatever comes along.

BEWARE OF THE GIRLS’ FASHION INDUSTRY

The fashion industry today is morally perverted and is seeking to sexualize children from very early ages. The following warning is very timely:

“It was a hot summer’s day in 2002 when I decided to buy sandals for our 4- and 6-year-old daughters. I never anticipated our retail excursion would prove to be so educational. We’re talking sandals, now. Plain, ordinary sandals, the kind every one of us grew up in. But after going to eleven different stores I still couldn't find anything even remotely suitable. Why? Because every pair of sandals I found--every single pair--had high heels.

“High heels for a 4-year-old? How can a child run and jump and play wearing high heels? I'll tell you the answer: She can’t. Apparently, girls’ sandals aren’t meant for running and jumping and playing. They’re meant to make little girls look like tarts. ...

“It amazes me that 40 years after the sexual revolution that was supposed to ‘free’ women from the ‘oppression’ of men, we find ourselves teaching our daughters that their only worth is in looking slutty. Boys don’t respect girls anymore because girls don’t require and demand it. And it all starts by buying 4-year-olds high-heeled sandals and Bratz dolls.

“So, who is at fault for pre-sexualizing our kids? Sure, we can blame a lot of things. Society. The fashion industry. Hollywood. Public schools. Pick one.

“But what it boils down to is you, the parent, allowing it. Yes, allowing it. ...

“I’ve heard some parents say they can't ‘stop’ pre-sexualization because kids will learn it in school or from peers. Many parents feel victimized, swept helplessly along the tide of society and unable to do anything about it. Hogwash. It’s parents who are permitting inappropriate clothing, toys, posters and music into their homes” (“Sexy Six Year Olds,” WorldNetDaily, May 31, 2008).

BEWARE OF THE TOY INDUSTRY

It is equally important for parents to beware of the toy industry. When our kids were growing up we never allowed Barbie Dolls or any other such thing in our house. Now there are Bratz (franchised by MGM) and a slew of other sexualized dolls.

The following timely warning is from a concerned grandmother:

“I attend a fundamental church but have noticed that some parents don’t seem to have any qualms about allowing their young daughters to play with Barbie dolls. And even Polly Pocket dolls are becoming more immodest in their clothing. Also the accessories for both Barbie and Polly Pocket dolls promote a worldly look and a worldly lifestyle. ... I believe that these kinds of dolls are too immodest for girls of any age to play with, much less little girls around the ages of 4 and 5. They definitely promote the wrong message and wrong focus in a young girl’s life, and I really don’t even want our granddaughters to bring their scantily dressed dolls into our home because I feel that by allowing them to bring their dolls into our home, we’re also condoning and promoting a wrong focus and mindset in the lives of our granddaughters.”

[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]