@glennbeck If you don’t vote Republican the democrats take over and it’s as simple as that. The system must change not be given up on. Better leaders need to be elected… why not run rather than give up.
Deuteronomy 13:6-8 “If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him.
Matthew 10:37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
For a few years now, I have preached at local pride events. These parades are full of mothers marching with their teenage sons and daughters. These mothers will often come up to us as we preach claiming to be Christians while defending their child’s sin.
These mothers, years ago before their children were grown, would never have dreamed of attending these wicked events.
Some of these were members of conservative churches opposed to sexual immorality but because their daughter at the age of 18 became a lesbian, they suddenly walked away from God’s truth. Some abandon the faith altogether. Others leave to find liberal churches that would affirm the sin.
Both the Old and New Testament teach us that our enemy will use even our own family against us. Scripture commands us to love God and His truths above all others.
The truth that homosexuality is an abomination hated by God doesn’t change because you have a close family member who now identifies as one. No, our commitment to God must come over every other commitment we have.
If we do not love Christ first, we are not worthy of Christ. And if we don’t love Christ first, we have an idol. This is the true idolatry of the family. Mothers are especially tempted to this because Mothers are naturally driven to protect the relationship at all cost.
What do you do if your son or daughter whom you love dearly comes to you and says they are involved in homosexuality (or some other sin for that matter) and want your approval?
If you love God and if you truly love them, you cannot go along with this invitation to idolatry. You cannot give your approval to what God calls evil. You cannot allow this sin to continue in your home. If they are an adult living at home and won’t abide by the rule of your home, for the sake of the rest of those in the home, for the sake of God’s glory, and for the sake of their soul make them leave.
Consider church discipline. When a member of a church is caught in sin and won’t repent, the church places them outside the church turning them over to the devil with some hope that this act of discipline will be used by God to restore them. In 1st Corinthians, Paul commands the church to do this very thing. In 2nd Corinthians it appears that the man who was disciplined repented and was restored. Sadly many churches lack the faith for this work.
It takes faith in your home to discipline. With little children you use the rod but as your children age that discipline changes from spanking to other forms. The most difficult form is the excommunication of the son from the family. It takes faith to practice this. It takes faith that God will use it for His glory. He may in his kindness use it to restore your son to the faith or He may use it to protect the rest of the family from temptation.
Discipline of our children always leaves open the possibility of the restoration of relationship. But the truest relationship between mother and son, father and daughter is found when Christ is honored. Reconciliation is found in Christ.
Therefore, even if you must put your adult son outside the family, you still preach the truth to them. You still call them to repentance. This is love.
When I went through a rebellious time in my 20s one of the things that annoyed me to no end but also convicted me and which I now praise God for is that my parents never stopped telling me the truth. My dad would text me every Sunday with a psalm and an encouragement to go to church. Now that I am a pastor, my dad still sends me the text and I look forward to it every Sunday.
There is too much to say for just one social media post regarding how to deal with an adult son or daughter in unrepentant sin especially of the nature of homosexuality but the most important thing is that our commitment to Christ and His word must come first. We must not let a false pity lead both us and them astray.
Appreciate this, @albertmohler. I’ll add:
1. If you pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” you’re political.
2. If you believe that God’s Word is sufficient for all things pertaining to life and godliness, you’re political.
3. If you believe we’re called to love our neighbors as ourselves, you’re political.
4. If you believe we’re supposed to be salt and light in the world around us, you’re political.
5. If you believe that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Christ is Lord, you’re political.
6. If you believe that Christians are to work for the common good of all people, you’re political.
7. If you believe Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, you’re political.
Staying out of the public square doesn’t make us more faithful, it just means someone else will shape the world our in which our children and neighbors live.
There is a chapter in Puritan Williams Gouge’s book -of Domestical duties on marrying in you estate for instance He advises against unequal yoking—marrying significantly above or below one’s own social/economic estate—because it often leads to practical troubles, discontent, and violations of the ordered roles God has designed for the family. He emphasizes seeking a spouse who is compatible in godliness first, but also in outward condition so that the marriage can function harmoniously under biblical headship and submission without unnecessary strife or temptation to discontent.
Are you positively sure the CREC denies penal substitutionary atonement? This is a core Christian reformed belief and what you are saying is the CREC does not believe in a core Christian doctrine. I believe you’re way off on this statement and spreading misinformation.
“Penal substitution is the doctrine that the salvation of God’s people is secured through a propitiatory blood sacrifice… The holy wrath of an infinitely perfect God was propitiated in the death of Jesus Christ on that cross.” Doug Wilson