The following is excerpted from the book KEEPING THE KIDS: HOW TO KEEP THE CHILDREN FROM FALLING PREY TO THE WORLD, which is available in print and eBook editions from Way of Life Literature. (See complete summary at the end of this article.)

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When we think of “keeping the kids,” salvation is foundational. I was amazed at how few of the 250 responses to our questionnaire mentioned this as a factor, but it is absolutely essential.

Some who did emphasize this point wrote with great conviction. Consider the following examples:

“The biggest reason why so many ‘Christian’ youth are not present after reaching adulthood is they are not saved. I graduated in a class of 12 from a ‘respected’ Baptist Christian school in southern Virginia. From those 12, who by the way were praised as the best class from this institution in years, some were missionary kids, pastor’s kids, and deacon’s kids. After 10 years only two were still attending church, and I was the only one working in a ministry. What happened to the others? In a nutshell, drugs, sex, music, cults, and no remorse! All but one was planning upon attending a Christian College, and did, but only two graduated and the others dropped out. I have had contact with many of them, and the stories are all too redundant. They graduated and when the MAN-MADE restraints were removed they plunged into sin and have not to this date returned. All leaders can share similar stories. However, no one seems to think about their lost condition! ‘But, little Johnny prayed and accepted Christ when he was in Sunday School!’ Was his sin dealt with? Or was he just told something like this, ‘You want to go to Heaven one day, right?’ Everyone wants to go to Heaven! But not everyone wants to deal with his sin! Thus, many thousands of ‘decisions’ are made, and they are not made biblically. Child after child goes off to camp, is convicted of some sin, told to come pray about it, and talk it over. In this sequence, the child is told that he has done wrong and urged to make a decision to do right. Children make these decisions and go off in their lostness, fail, and become hardened and bitter. If the law of God is not applied so that there is personal conviction of sin, that child will never see the horrible aspect of his sin. He will be flippant about it! After all, he is going to heaven one day because he prayed a prayer, or believes in God. See how that transpired in James 2:19 and elsewhere in the New Testament. Christ and his followers sought to bring conviction of sin. Consider the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19. The problem is created by those teachers, pastors, parents, and leaders who do not deal with sin when salvation is approached. After the ‘prayer,’ salvation is never questioned and the child is dealt with as a fleshly or carnal Christian, even though no fruit has ever been present proving salvation. Christ is victorious, and a fruitless scenario should not take place if Christ is present (Romans 8)!”

The following is excerpted from Keeping the Kids, which is available from Way of Life Literature:

“... from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures” (2 Timothy 3:15).

One of the most important things that parents can do for their children it to help them develop a habit of daily Bible study. Though I grew up in church, I do not remember any instruction or challenge whatsoever about this.

It is by the Word of God that the young person can cleanse his way in this wicked world (Psalm 119:9). It must get down into the heart and soul and thus permeate the individual’s life, and this will not happen unless reading, study, memorization, and meditation become a daily practice.

We know that reading the Bible alone will not produce salvation and sanctification; it must be received and obeyed. But we also know that salvation and sanctification will not happen apart from the Word of God, because “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

It is never vain to put the Word of God into the child’s heart. Even though I wasn’t saved when I was young and didn’t take the Bible seriously, the teaching and preaching had a deep affect on me and after I was converted at age 23, much of it came back to me and I had a good head start in my Christian life.

Enlarged November 9, 2010 (first published February 16, 2010) (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) -

The following is excerpted from KEEPING THE KIDS: HOW TO KEEP THE CHILDREN FROM FALLING PREY TO THE WORLD, which is available from Way of Life Literature.

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Scripture Warnings that Apply to Television Viewing

The following Scripture passages have a direct application to this issue and are a loud warning to those who have ears to hear. Parents need to teach their children these biblical principles and guide them in learning how to apply them to their daily lives. It is not enough to have a list of do’s and don’ts.

“I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me (Psalm 101:3).

This verse single-handedly forbids the child of God to watch the vast majority of the movies and television programs that are made today. Consider just a few of the wicked things that you or your children will see:

* The breaking of God’s commandments
* Flaunted immorality
* Casual drinking and drug usage
* Drunkenness portrayed as humorous
* Sexually alluring fashions
* Sexually enticing dancing
* Violence and mayhem
* Casual dating and petting (Parents, do you want your children to date after the fashion portrayed in most movies and television programs?)
* Mockery of the things of God
* Mockery of God’s people
* Pagan religions depicted as truth
* Situational ethics
* Occultism, paganism, humanism, evolution, and New Age error (even in cartoons and in a large number of Disney movies)

October 5, 2010 (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) -

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gate” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

The daily family altar is very important. It is a time when the family can meet regularly to worship God and study His Word. It is a time to read the Bible and discuss it. It is a time to memorize Scripture. And it is a time to pray together.

Pastor Gene Haymaker says,

“The day of family altars is disappearing as quickly as our youth. Families have relegated the teaching of biblical truth to their church and to their Christian schools. It is my belief that the number of homes having a family altar, where the entire family is involved, would directly correspond to the percentage of young people leaving the church. The primary agency for teaching children biblical truth is the home.”

February 17, 2010 (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) -

Following are some of the testimonies that were sent to me recently by Christian parents who have gotten rid of the television. I requested these in the context of a new book I am writing entitled “Keeping the Kids.” These testimonies are extensive and there is some repetition, but I believe that it is important to publish them in order to offset the status quo that exists even in most allegedly staunch Bible-believing churches today.

“Sick of the nasty language, barely dressed women and/or men, sexual content, drugs, drinking, murder, the commercials, the list goes on, we have not had cable/antenna hook up for about six years in our home and we LOVE IT! The result has been wonderful! We are no longer couch potatoes. We enjoy the quietness in the home. We enjoy each other’s company. We enjoy more time spent with Father God. We spend more time in prayer, reading God’s Word and being with the each other. We do more out of doors activities--walking trails, driving to the mountains, etc.”

“Being engulfed in front of a TV has nothing to do with family time. Real family time is getting closer to God and developing an intimate, passionate, and personal relationship with Jesus!”

I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WORD OF GOD

If there is a basic truth that is universal in training children to be godly, it is the necessity of building a foundation of the Word of God in their lives. This is true for any born-again Christian and that includes the children of God’s people. I fear that Christian parents come to rely on Christian media, Sunday School teachers, church youth programs, and Christian schools to see their youth turn out right. All of these are potentially good and can be a great help; however, the foundation for godly living is often missing in the lives of the children and youth of God’s people. That foundation is a daily absorption of the Word of God.

A young person from a Christian home can go to a Christian school or be home-schooled with a godly curriculum, be faithful to Sunday School and church programs, go to church camp, and be carnal, rebellious, and worldly. Or more frequently, they are just lukewarm and go with the flow, but there are not true spiritual convictions in their hearts. The reason is as simple as it is singular. They are not in the Word of God on a daily basis.

January 21, 2010 (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 Pastor Buddy Smith of Malanda, Queensland, Australia --

In Genesis 18, God told Abraham his secrets. Not only the blessings of the future, but the impending judgment of Sodom. God tells His friends His secrets. He always has. But God doesn’t tell all His children his secrets, only a select few.

In Genesis 18:17-19, God deliberates over whether to tell Abraham his plans for Sodom. And as He does, he gives us a rare insight into the mind of God,

“Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? ... For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him...”

If we read the text over slowly and thoughtfully we see that the blessings promised became blessings possessed because Abraham exercised authority in the home. Abraham commanded his children. This does not sound like permissive parenting, does it? This doesn’t even sound like a hen-pecked father, does it?

The word “command” is the same as that used for the words of authority spoken by God to Adam, and to Noah. When God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh, He gave them a charge (command) that Pharaoh must let His people go. “Command” is a word that describes the vocalization of rightful authority. In Genesis 18:19 God said that He knew Abraham and that he would command all those in his household, and therefore God told him his secrets.

January 14, 2010 (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) -

We must resist the teenager concept, understanding that it doesn’t come from the Bible but from the rock & roll culture that began in the 1950s.

There was a “baby boom” in America following World War II. Whereas at the end of the war, there were about 5.6 million teens in U.S. high schools, by the time Elvis blasted on the scene in 1956 the number had almost tripled to 13 million (David Halberstam, The Fifties, p. 473). There was a corresponding increase in personal wealth and leisure. Between 1950 and 1960, per capita income increased from $1,500 to $2,788. Teens suddenly had free time and money, and a new music came along, preaching, “Do you own thing; live your own life; you can be a cool dude, a rolling stone; throw off the shackles.” The newly-invented, ultra-portable 45rpm record and the transistor radio enabled young people to have this exciting new music wherever they went. Radios were well entrenched in automobiles by 1956, so that the new “teen” class could tool around in their cars, listening to rock & roll and impressing one another with their coolness. Alan Freed, (shown above) Dewey “Daddy-O” Phillips, and many other rock disc jockeys used the radio to help create a new teenage culture with its own music, language, and moral code.

December 17, 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) -

“Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing” (Deuteronomy 7:26).

One of the wisest things parents can do today is throw out the television altogether, except for watching educational programs and perhaps some carefully selected movies, and the selection of the latter will be slim indeed.

In looking back on my childhood growing up in a Baptist church, attending services at least three times a week, the two major influences that stole my heart for the world were public school friendships and television programs. We got a television when I was about eight years old (1957), and though the programs were nothing like they are today, they certainly did not encourage me spiritually. We got our television about a year after Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. I remember that by the time I reached junior high school, I did everything I could to stay home on Sunday nights, because that was when the most exciting programs of the week were on, such as the Disney Hour and The Ed Sullivan Show and the Dinah Shore program (“See the USA in your Chevrolet”). I don’t remember if I was home that Sunday night in 1964 when the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan, but I could have been. I was in high school and about that time my parents were having a lot of problems and had pretty much given up on trying to keep me in church. I had already started drinking and carousing around with my buddies every weekend. There is no doubt that television and movies fed my carnal imagination in a way that nothing else could have and, together with rock & roll, inflamed me with a passion for the things of the world.

November 26, 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)

“Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing” (Deuteronomy 7:26).

In the United States and many other countries movies and television programs are rated by content, and many Christian parents use the rating system, but it is an unwise and unspiritual standard.

In America, the movies are rated by the Motion Picture Association of America as follows:

G- General Audiences
PG- Parental Guidance Suggested
PG-13- Parents Strongly Cautioned
R- Restricted - No children under 17
NC-17 - No one 17 or Under Admitted

The television ratings are similar, as follows:

TV-Y - Directed at young children; appropriate for all children
TV-Y7 - Directed to children 7 and older
TV-Y7-FV - Directed to children 7 and older with more violent content; e.g. Power Rangers
TV-G - General audiences; deemed appropriate for all ages.
TV-PG - Parental guidance suggested (may have “suggestive dialogue, mild coarse language, sexual situations, moderate violence”)
TV-14 - Recommended for people 14 or older (may have “highly suggestive dialogue, strong coarse language, intense sexual situations, intense violence”)
TV-MA - intended for mature audiences

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.

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

In response to this we received an e-mail from Randy Ross of Teens-4-Christ . Following is an excerpt:

Bro. Cloud. As you recall, we have ministered to teens for more than 13 years and we operate Teens-4-Christ.org.

Covenant Eyes is a great product for accountability's sake. In fact, I recommended this product for many years. However, it does not address a more critical problem: accidental views and problems with kids. Additionally, we have found that it was easy to bypass.

Here are some interesting statistics I have found in my research:

* 48 percent of students K-1st grade level interact with people on Web sites, while 50 percent indicate that their parents watch them when they use a computer, leaving the other half of those youngsters more prone to being exposed to predation behaviors or other threats posed by online strangers or even persons they know or regard as friends. (Rochester Institute of Technology, 2008)

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.
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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.

[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]

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).

[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]

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]