children getting saved

Since Carly and Isaac were conceived, we have prayed for their salvation. Since they were born, we have worked for their salvation. We have exposed them to gospel truth. And even though we've failed (and continue to fail) many times, we have strived to live our lives as such examples that would bring honor to Christ. As parents, we have no greater desire for our kids than that - to be saved.

I have wrestled with this question: How can I lead our kids to Christ? And then...How do I know if my child is saved? In all raw honesty, I have used bedtimes to manipulate our kids to come to Christ. We've read through the children's Bibles; we've talked through all aspects of the Gospel. They know the right answers. And with each child, I have prayed a little prayer with them for Jesus to come into his/her heart, whether or not this is good or bad for a parent to do. But are they saved?

Do I know what that question really means? What I'm really asking is...Is God working in the life of my child unto salvation? You see, what I'm beginning to understand is that salvation is a divine work of God, not a work of Mom or Dad. John MacArthur believes that a prayer, such as the one mentioned above, "is basically a human act and not necessarily consistent with the working of God."

MacArthur says, "You can't look at any event, at any specific prayer, at any specific formula, at any particular confession that they might make that in fact they have asked Jesus into their life or they've made a decision for Christ. That is not an indicator of salvation. You cannot look at any such event to know your child is saved. And I think that it is important to say because so many parents having heard their child pray such a prayer or make such a decision in early childhood then wonder how it is that the child reaching junior high, or high school, or college years completely turns their back on the Lord or treats God with indifference or is disinterested in the church and roams off into the world... And they wonder how in fact that could happen if they were saved at some point in time past. But you cannot look at an event as an indicator of salvation. The only thing you can look at is evidences of the working of God in the life."

So what he's saying is that the only thing we can look at are the evidences of God's work in our children's lives, and even then only God knows the true state of the heart. I found these evidences to be helpful [very summarized, of course]:

1. Honest, personal conviction of sin. Not because of their fear of our parental punishment or disappointment. This conviction should lead them to repentance. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
2. Understanding and belief of the Gospel. This is the fact that each one of us is sinful, in need of forgiveness - a Savior. Jesus Christ bore the punishment of God - the punishment that we deserved. To grasp that truth also requires the work of the Holy Spirit.
3. Sanctification. A pursuing of obedience - not because they want to please us, but because they want to honor God. Only by the help of the Holy Spirit is this even feasible.
4. God produces fellowship within believers. A desire to be around other believers. That desire comes from the work of the Holy Spirit as well.

Side Notes

I'm not saying that #1-4 SAVE.

God saves.

#1-4 are evidences of salvation already occurring.

A recurring phrase that is the whole point of this............"work of the Holy Spirit" or "God working." I get it. I can't save my own kid. (I say "my own kid." They're not even from me - they're God's children.) The prayer I prayed isn't a magic formula that will give them the ticket to Heaven. So what's our job? As parents, we will continue to provide the truth of God's Word, in which the Spirit of God can work in their hearts to bring about a miracle of salvation.

k-love

A positive and encouraging alternative to regular radio. We have our bathroom radio tuned to Positive, Encouraging K-Love. You can even listen online. While it can be considered a cleaner radio station than secular ones, we listeners need to be on guard.

Before church this morning, the K-Love news room shared a "positive" news story as they do throughout each day. They shared a short blurb from this 'Yappy Hour' article. (Please click to read the entire article.) Apparently, the First United Methodist Church in a couple locations has started a pet ministry, where the church has a "service of blessing the animals." People bring their beloved pets to church. You can read more details in the article. Not only is this ministry bizarre; it's UNbiblical. People and animals are different. Animals do not have souls. People do.

That's not the main reason for my outrage, though. I am very bothered that a "Christian" radio station would even air this story. Millions of people listen to K-Love. Airing a heretical story and calling it a "positive" piece of news, thus implying that it is Biblical truth-- is BAD, especially for those listeners who don't realize the untruth of it all.

Conclusion: K-Love may sound positive and encouraging at first, but that may not always mean Biblical and true. "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong" 1 Corinthians 16:13.

you are...

...what you read.

Do you believe it? I almost do. Rather, you become what you read.

Here I am, ranting again -- this time about books. Books are often viewed as sacred truth. It's because they're bound together in a nice, neat fashion with a pretty cover and a catchy title. It bothers me how influential some authors are. The books we choose to read shape our minds, whether we want them to or not. The Shack, for instance, is, in my humble opinion, a novel that raises many theological questions. One reviewer called it "a theological novel that teaches far too much unbiblical theology." If a person reads *too many* of these ungrounded novels or even shaky non-fiction "Christian" books, his own belief system could easily start becoming shaky. We may call ourselves "discerning" and tell ourselves we won't be changed by it, but we are what we eat.

Girl Meets God is an autobiography of a young woman searching for truth...somewhere within books stacked high. This woman is a prime example of how beliefs are altered from what you read. She claimed to have found the truth by the end of the book, but that's not what it seemed. This was another woman looking for truth in the wrong place, just like a blind, starving prisoner would grapple for crumbs in the middle of cold, dark, wet jail cell.

I could go on, listing more books that are not worth your time. You can visit the Discerning Reader website. I don't agree with everything the reviewers say, but they sure do bring up interesting points in their book reviews.

The bottom line...

Where do we find good truth? The only Book you can trust completely.

God's Word.

Read it.

And let yourself be transformed by it.

constancy

\ˈkän(t)-stən(t)-sē\

noun

the state of being constant; changelessness

steadfastness, as in purpose or affection; faithfulness.

God is immutable. Sounds like a simple, easy-to-understand sentence, yet how can one contain God to a sentence? In Knowing God, Packer is right when he says that God's life doesn't change. Neither does His character, His truth, His ways, His purposes, and His Son. The earth and the heavens "will perish, but you [God] will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end." (Psalm 102:26-27).

We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,

And wither and perish - but naught changeth Thee.

(from the Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise Hymn)

Do you ever think about this...how CONSTANT God is? We're all busy. We've got places to go and people to see. You might read this blog post quickly and get on with your day. And that's fine. I do it too. But how often do I honestly sit still, and know that He is God? Turn off that blasted cell phone. Shut that to-do-list notebook for a second. Get up even 15 minutes earlier to be still and acknowledge who God is! Right now, there are so many things occupying my mind and yours. My natural tendency would not be to ponder God's constancy in the midst of my busy-busy attitude, but He has reminded me of it lately.

If God is steadfast, why worry? If God is unchanging, why set our minds on any earthly thing? If God is who He says He is, why must we wallow in discontent and sorrow? God's constancy provides us such comfort and HOPE. The hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ IS "big enough to cover the whole area of our need." (Packer) That's what this life is about.

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!"

(Revelation 4:8b)

Here's a good related song.

And an even better version of it by Maggie Rose Amini.

holding people high

We all have our favorite people: authors, Bible figures, publishers, etc. We could all list them, and we'd probably start judging each other based on that list. Some of my favorite authors and theologians are Elisabeth Elliot, C.S. Lewis, Martha Peace, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Elizabeth George, Jerry Bridges, Frances Chan, and Francine Rivers, just to name a few.

Maybe it's my personality or my own mere humanness, but I've been finding myself holding these people high. Doesn't sound that bad, does it? But yep, it is. Do I dare call it idolatry? Yes, I do. There are even people within a 10-mile radius of our home whom I'd consider as favorite people.

The truth is...people are people. Human. Sinful. Fallen. Just like me. Anything good coming out of these people isn't from them at all. Anything good, righteous, or true is from God. "Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?" (Psalm 15:1) Obviously, we don't measure up. And neither do these authors and theologians. If we did measure up, there'd be no need for a Savior. We never will meet that standard.

But Christ does. We are to clothe ourselves with Christ. He is our righteousness. It does me no good to hold people or ideas high. It only does me good to look away from myself and this world and rest in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:1-2 challenged me this morning. "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Click here for more comments on Psalm 15 by Paul Tripp.

my problem

Another lie I didn't realize I believed...

"The Truth is that only by accepting full responsibility for our actions and attitudes can we ever be fully free from guilt. As one writer said:

Sin is the best news there is, the best news there could be in our predicament. Because with sin, there's a way out. There's the possibility of repentance. You can't repent of confusion or psychological flaws inflicted by {your parents--you're stuck with them}*. But you can repent of sin. Sin and repentance are the only grounds for hope and joy**."

*Myra's note: I'd rather use the word "others" here. How could I ever blame my parents for inflicting flaws? That's unfair. They're human, just like everybody else.

**Myra's second note: This is only through God's grace, through the shed blood of Jesus.

our rights

Controversial Topic: Rights.

I am reading a book called Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Lie #10 is "I have my rights." I found the following blog post to be a good summary of what DeMoss has to say about Rights.

LIE NO. 10: I HAVE MY RIGHTS

"The fact is, successful relationships and healthy cultures are not built on the claiming of rights but on the yielding of rights." DeMoss

truth: God is good

Do you believe that God is good?

The new book on my nightstand is Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy discusses 40 common lies that many women tend to believe. Lie #1: God is not really good. The real truth is: God IS good. Before starting this section I thought, Oh, this one should be easy. I know that God is good. As a kid, I prayed the "God is great, God is good, and we thank you for the food..." prayer at mealtime. Of COURSE I know that God is good. I grew up with that baseline truth.

What tempts me to question God's goodness? In my relatively easy life, it's hard to find an answer. After all, my struggles, disappointments, and pain are pretty minute compared to some. Even if I claim to know that God is good, there are many times that my attitude of worry, stress, selfishness, etc. is not indicative of believing that truth.

HOW do I know that God is good? The Bible teaches it, and God proves it. Everything He made is good (1 Tim. 4:4). His love endures forever (2 Ch. 7:3). God is good and what He does is good (Ps. 119:68). His Name is good (Ps. 52:9). He gives good gifts (Matt. 7:11). ...just to name a few... And if that isn't proof enough, read Ephesians 1:3-14. Do what Nancy suggests: make a list of all the blessings God has given to us from this passage.

• He has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
• He chose us to be holy and blameless.
• He adopted us.
• He gives us grace freely - Jesus, His Son!
• And through Jesus, we have redemption, forgiveness, grace with wisdom and understanding.
• He revealed the mystery of His will to us.
• He works things out for us according to His will.
• He marked us with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.

And WHAT ARE WE COMPLAINING ABOUT?!?! Why IN THE WORLD would my attitude be bad?!?! TASTE and SEE that He is GOOD! (Psalm 34:8) It's TRUE! God is good! And I can't just say that flippantly. I want to live with that in the forefront of my mind.

Conclusion...

Joe Eaton, a man with spina bifida writes: "Both pain and pleasure are meant to point us to the same reality; namely, that Jesus Christ is infinitely beautiful and so much more than enough for our every need. Living for Him, even suffering for Him, is worth every moment of affliction! Why? Because Jesus shows you such beauty in pain, because He is there and He is carrying us through."

It's not about me.

Hannah Whitall Smith writes: "A great many things in God's divine providences do not look to the eye like goodness. But faith sits down before mysteries such as these, and says, 'The Lord is good, therefore all that He does must be good no matter how it looks. I can wait for His explanations.'"