tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50210368578015827702024-03-06T01:24:15.569-08:00100 Good MenWhat does it take for Christian men to change the world around them. Maybe 100 Good Men could be "critical mass" in a locality to bring about godly, lasting change genuinely benefiting society.Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-33916588118030805092013-01-09T18:42:00.002-08:002018-06-03T17:27:34.114-07:00100 Good Men "Bend in the Road" poster (free)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I have produced both print sized and HD sized versions of a poster to
encourage men & boys. More coming when I get time. See <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebarnesasia/8366563820/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebarnesasia/8366563820/</a><br>
<img src="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebarnesasia/8366590762/"><img alt="100GM poster" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8056/8366590762_a12ce08860.jpg"></div>
Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-44705545967779296542012-08-01T23:36:00.001-07:002012-08-01T23:36:46.506-07:00Internet Surveillance by Australian Government: STOP it before legislation gets through!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QAxZ-riGmyo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
Sign the petition! www.getup.org.au/protect-us-but-respect-us<br /><br />The
Government is considering the most sweeping and radical changes to
Australia's surveillance and intelligence laws since the establishment
of the original powers in 1979. <br /><br />We've put together a quick video
to explain the changes. Watch the video and sign the petition to
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon using the link above, asking her to
withdraw the Government's support for these controversial changes to
surveillance laws.</div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-91152670621295051202012-06-20T01:39:00.002-07:002012-06-20T01:40:15.541-07:00Julian Assange: key events leading up to WikiLeaks founder seeking asylum<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/20/julian-assange-wikileaks-founder-ecuador-asylum?CMP=twt_gu">http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/20/julian-assange-wikileaks-founder-ecuador-asylum?CMP=twt_gu</a> </div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-59080100417186015272012-06-20T01:30:00.001-07:002012-06-20T01:30:20.763-07:00American Grace - the book<a href="http://americangrace.org/authors.html#.T-GJ5xd0JrY.blogger">American Grace - the book</a><br />
<br />
Fascinating facts on 792 AM radio just now that statistically show churchgoers to be leading philanthropists & volunteers, and also better friends, neighbors etc. Not my words, but his after much research. There is apparently a link to an interview available. I will post it if I can find it.Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-42588948626558533912012-05-18T22:09:00.000-07:002012-05-18T22:14:20.367-07:00Tough Ministry of Vincent in Africa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I received this recently from Vincent in Kenya. Vincent lost his wife not too long ago, has two children, and still perseveres in serving. We witnessed from a distance their journey through this difficult time. They found us through a family ministry we used to be involved in. We have been to Ethiopia ourselves, and so understand the difficulties of which he speaks. You can hear the heart and real need in this...<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">This month we still desire to reach the Samburu. THE SAMBURU tribe of KENYA: Samburu women of Kenya, are circumcised. In some places, children of the uncircumcised women are killed. Other places disabled children are killed. Deadly Livestock theft and cattle rustling against neighboring tribes is common occurrence. This month, I HAVE TO DO MISSIONS IN THIS REGION THIS MONTH, We missed it last month. We need to cover basic needs and meet travel expenses. Since we do not have specific or regular missions funds support, PRAY AND SUPPORT ME and the mission team WITH ANY amount of love offering, PLEASE. We are praying about long planned mission to Baragoi division, Samburu villages.</span></span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Personal Needs and urgent prayer items, I would want to let you know the reasons why I am hasty, anxious and sounding desperate.</span></span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">1-Each time The month approaches and I need to pay house rent, I fail, only manage to convince house agents to give me more time to sort myself out, they allow me only up to some days which is also most of time not fulfilled on time.</span></span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">2-Schools opened. My children have always have hard time to report, for at a that given time I usually have nothing at hand to even just send them in.</span></span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">3-Some serious need for food. Those needs are always percistent.</span></span></span></i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
We are again forwarding him a donation to help with his work, as we have several times over the past six or so years. If you are interested in assisting, please contact me. Even $20 AUD makes a difference in Africa! <br />
<br />
Due to the overheads of a Western Union money transfer, it may work best to consolidate funds first. If you don't know me or feel uncomfortable doing so, we can provide you with Vincent's account details so you can do a transfer yourself. My only concern is that multiple transfers puts less money into Vincent's account at the end of the day.<br />
<br />
Here then is the footer of Vincent's email to me.<br />
<br />
Steve B<br />
======<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Rev. Vincent Barasa Maina is Founder & Director of Revival Gospel Ministries. It is a ministry with over six multi-cultural rural churches in Kenya, East Africa. He is involved in Church planting, evangelism and cross-cultural missions, slum charity, Heritage Missions for Orphanages and Schools, dedicated to feed, clothe, treat and educate poor orphaned children. He is widowed and lives with his son. Visit the websites and contact him at addresses below:</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Rev. Vincent Barasa Maina.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">P.O. Box 18202, Nakuru.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">20100. KENYA. East Africa.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Mobile Phone: +254721474165 (Safaricom)</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Email: maina104@hotmail.com </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">http://www.facebook.com/vincent.barasa1 </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">http://www.reviveg.webs.com/ </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">http://www.heritagec.webs.com </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">-----------------------------------------------</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Revival Gospel Ministries.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">P.O. Box 52383 GPO, Nairobi.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">00100. KENYA. East Africa.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Mobile Phone: +254732613085 (Airtel)</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Email: rmichurch2@hotmail.com </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">http://www.reviveg.webs.com/ </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">http://www.heritagec.webs.com</span></span></i></div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0Kenya-0.023559 37.906193-4.0850944999999994 32.852482 4.0379765 42.959904tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-58436530482067177372012-05-18T18:25:00.001-07:002012-05-18T18:25:41.240-07:00THE IRAN WAR PATH HAS RESUMED: With Another ‘Colin Powell Moment’?"The Ministry of Disinformation!"<br />
<a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30862#.T7b2Zcj2G4M.blogger">THE IRAN WAR PATH HAS RESUMED: With Another ‘Colin Powell Moment’?</a>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-54621255514227774442012-05-07T04:27:00.000-07:002012-05-07T04:27:40.889-07:00He Who Blesses Israel is Blessed?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This is a really good summary from Steve regarding a common misconception many Christians world-wide have about Israel, which has been blinded until the time of the gentiles is fulfilled. Thanks Steve for the accurate and succinct summary...</div>
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Steve B</div>
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======</div>
<h3>
He Who Blesses Israel is Blessed?</h3>
<span>by <cite>Steve Wohlberg</cite></span>Across America the line is heard, "He who blesses Israel will be blessed and he who curses Israel
will be cursed." This line, supposedly from the Bible, is even quoted as a Divine, behind-the-scenes
reason for the present prosperity of the United States. The idea is, America has become the most powerful
nation on earth because she supports Israel.<br />
First of all, America was en route to becoming a great
nation long before she began to support Israel (the nation was reborn in 1948).<br />
Secondly, the line, "He who blesses Israel will be blessed and he who curses Israel will be cursed" is
really not in the Bible at all. That oft-repeated phrase is really a misinterpretation of one verse,
Genesis 12:3.<br />
In Genesis 12:3, God said to Abraham, <br />
<blockquote>
I will bless them that bless you, and curse
him that curses you, and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.<br />
</blockquote>
Notice, the direct "bless-curse" line
concerned Abraham alone, not Israel, and "all
the families of the earth" were to be blessed in Abraham, which meant through "his seed," which
was Jesus Christ (see Galatians 3:16). In order to receive that very blessing, individuals must be
willing to be "turned away" from their sins by God's grace (see Acts 3:25,26).<br />
In Deuteronomy
28, God said if Israel followed Him she would be "blessed," but if she strayed,
she would be "cursed." Throughout the Old Testament, God's blessing or curse upon the Israelites
was connected to their faith and obedience to His will. In the Bible, there is NO UNCONDITIONAL BLESSING
upon any individual or nation that chooses to reject faith and disobey God. Paul said that "glory,
honor, and peace" would come upon "the Jew first, and also the Gentile," if they do what
is right, whereas "indignation and wrath" would come "upon every soul of man that doeth
evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile … for there is no respecter of persons with God" (Romans
2:8-11).<br />
If Jews respond to God's love, repent of their sins, trust in Jesus Christ as their promised
Messiah, and do good, they will be blessed. If they don't, they will be cursed. The same is true for
every human being inside Jerusalem, America, Russia, Europe, China, or Japan.<br />
There is no UNCONDITIONAL BLESSING
in the Bible upon any man or nation, including America or the modern nation of Israel.<br />
God pleads with us now,<br />
<blockquote>
<strong>I call heaven and earth to record against you this day, that I have set before you life and
death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live.</strong> Deuteronomy
30:19. </blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Steve Wohlberg</strong> is the Speaker/Director of <a href="http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/">White Horse Media</a>.
With B.A. and M-Div. degrees in Theology, he has been a guest on over
500 radio and television shows, produced numerous TV series, hosted the
nationally syndicated radio show <i>World News and the Bible</i>
(2004-2006), and has authored 21 books. An international speaker, Steve
has conducted Bible seminars in Russia, South Africa, Canada, Pakistan,
New Zealand, Australia, and in cities throughout the U.S.
1-800-78-BIBLE. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Source: <a href="http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/articles/?d=55">http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/articles/?d=55</a></span></div>
</div>
</div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-87759595225660558412012-03-06T20:02:00.000-08:002012-03-06T20:02:06.713-08:00The Life and Times of A Lump of Clay: The Missio Dei<a href="http://alumpofclay.blogspot.com/2012/03/missio-dei.html?spref=bl">The Life and Times of A Lump of Clay: The Missio Dei</a>: Gotta love this, it paints a picture of counter-cultural radical Christian behaviour that should be normal for us! Steve B ====== ...Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-1406829460603678442012-01-14T02:40:00.000-08:002012-01-14T02:40:03.631-08:00Cultural Sensitivity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Australia and many other countries are becoming increasingly multi-cultural. It's a real melting pot of dress, foods, habits, languages and even religions. As a Christian, how do we know what's best for us to do to relate to people from other cultures or even religions?<br />
<br />
As was pointed out in a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) course I am currently doing, habits can clash for good reasons, and may need resolving. Take water for example, we in Australia:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>keep our showers short as water is a precious commodity</li>
<li>and also wash our dishes in a tub of hot water with detergent, taking them straight to dry</li>
</ol>
This could be perfectly repugnant to an Asian person:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li> They may like to shower for 20-30 to get clean, and may need to shower a few times a day in wet season</li>
<li>They also often leave the tap running when doing the dishes and make sure each dish is rinsed properly.</li>
</ol>
In all, they use a LOT more water than we do, but for good reason!<br />
<br />
Sometimes a right or wrong is purely a cultural thing or necessity. Other times there may be a moral dimension involved. Take for instance the example from <a href="http://www.revelationmovement.com/">Vishal Mangalwadi</a>, which I read in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Truth-Transformation-Manifesto-Ailing-Nations/dp/1576585123">Truth and Transformation</a> recently, Vishal explains when living among the poor in mud huts in India, that his wife came upon a young boy in her travels. As usual she tried to chat and asked him how many children in his family. The answer came "four, or maybe three; or... four".<br />
"So how many?" she asked again.<br />
"Four, but one is dying; in there" pointed the boy to the hut.<br />
<br />
To cut a long story short, the dying child was a baby girl, the second baby girl in the family. She was unwanted, and being left to die. A girl was of little value in India; and the second girl was a real burden. With no abortions available, what choice was there but to leave the cild to die after birth.<br />
<br />
Vishal and his wife took a while to figure this out. They rescued the little girl twice, and each time they returned the child to her mother after recovery in hospital and at their home, she went down hill. After they returned her the third time, she was dead within days. The cow down the road was more valuable than the child because it was sacred in the Hindu culture.<br />
<br />
Why then was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller">Helen Keller</a>, for example, valuable in her parents eyes when she was not fully able (blind and deaf) from a young age? Why do my wife and I care for girls with disabilities cheerfully? Vishal is uniquely positioned to comment on this, as he has lived through the alternative. He is convinced it is the biblical foundation of western culture that has provided this ethic. We are all created in our Creator's image, and therefore valuable. This should drive all our interactions with people around us, no matter what colour they are, what language they speak, where they are from or what they believe.</div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-77845686256650686482012-01-14T02:27:00.000-08:002012-01-14T02:27:14.785-08:00Homeschool Blindspots - Joshua Harris<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Good on Josh for putting this on his blog. Good on Rob for having the guys to write it. I will write something complimentary soon, as I have been planning it for some time now.</div>
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Steve B</div>
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=====</div>
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<img alt="girl covering eyes ffound-1.jpeg" class="mt-image-center" height="276" src="http://www.joshharris.com/girl%20covering%20eyes%20ffound-1.jpeg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="540" /></div>
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<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I read the following article by <a href="http://www.familyministries.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reb Bradley</a> in the <a href="http://www.heav.org/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Virginia Home Educator Magazine</a> and was challenged by it. I appreciate Mr. Bradley's humility in admitting mistakes he's made as a dad. I see some of these tendencies in my own life and many of the observations he makes line-up with <a href="http://www.covlife.org/static/meeting_notes" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">things that God has been teaching our church recently</a>. Whether or not you homeschool, I'd encourage you to read this article prayerfully and ask the Holy Spirit to help you examine your motives in your parenting.</em></div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Exposing Major Blind Spots of Homeschoolers by Reb Bradley</strong></div>
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In the last couple of years, I have heard from multitudes of troubled homeschool parents around the country, a good many of whom were leaders. These parents have graduated their first batch of kids, only to discover that their children didn't turn out the way they thought they would. Many of these children were model homeschoolers while growing up, but sometime after their 18th birthday they began to reveal that they didn't hold to their parents' values.</div>
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Some of these young people grew up and left home in defiance of their parents. Others got married against their parents' wishes, and still others got involved with drugs, alcohol, and immorality. I have even heard of several exemplary young men who no longer even believe in God. My own adult children have gone through struggles I never guessed they would face.</div>
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Most of these parents remain stunned by their children's choices, because they were fully confident their approach to parenting was going to prevent any such rebellion.</div>
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After several years of examining what went wrong in our own home and in the homes of so many conscientious parents, God has opened our eyes to a number of critical blind spots common to homeschoolers and other family-minded people.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Having Self-Centered Dreams</strong></div>
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The reason that our dreams for our children are so vulnerable to crashing is because they are our dreams, imposed on our own children. As homeschool parents we make great sacrifices and invest a great deal to influence how our children turn out. The problem is that love for children can be lost in love for personal success as a parent. Our concern for ourselves ends up overshadowing our love for our children.</div>
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When my oldest son was 18 he developed habits of disrespectful communication and I had to ask him to leave my home for a season. Needless to say, my wife and I were devastated by the discipline we imposed. In the first month he was gone we wept each day for him. We were grieved that he was now unprotected from the junk from which we had worked so hard to shelter him, but more than that, I was heartbroken that my dreams for him and our family would no longer come true. I remember speaking the words to him - "Son, you've ruined my dreams." You see, I had a dream for my family and it involved adult children who lived at home humbly under parental authority, and who would one day leave home to marry, after following my carefully orchestrated courtship process. But now, my son had gone and "messed up" my perfect dream. Nothing is wrong with dreaming of good things for your children, but the truth was, my dream for my son was mostly about me.</div>
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In hindsight, what was particularly grievous was that I was more worried about the failure of my dream of "success" than the fact that my son and I had a broken relationship. Although he did come back and was restored to us 4 months later, it still took me years to realize that I had contributed to the damaged relationship.</div>
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It is only natural for parents to have high hopes and dreams for their children. However, when we begin to see our children as a reflection or validation of us, we become the center of our dreams, and the children become our source of significance. When that happens in our home it affects the way we relate with our children, and subtly breaks down relationship.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Raising Family as an Idol</strong></div>
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When we allow the success of our family to determine our security or sense of wellbeing we are seeking from it something God intends us to receive from Him. I am describing idolatry. If homeschoolers are not careful, family can easily become an idol.</div>
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At times in their history the Israelites worshipped idols. They didn't always forsake worship of the living God - they merely served other gods with Him. Sometimes they simply made an idol of something good. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they elevated issues of holiness higher than the very God who declared them holy (Mat 12:1-8; 23:24). An idol is anything other than God in which we seek security and fulfillment. It may be something biblical or good, but if it has the power to determine our wellbeing, we have elevated it higher than God meant for us. As those who are devoted to our families, and therefore invest a great deal of time, energy, and heart, it is easy to elevate the family too high.</div>
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A great problem with idolatry is that idols require sacrifice, and we end up sacrificing relationship with our children for the idol of the family. When we elevate the image of the family, we effectively trade our children's hearts for our reputation.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. Emphasizing Outward Form</strong></div>
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Preoccupation with results often leads to emphasis on outward form. When we are preoccupied with achieving results it is natural to admire the results others seem to have achieved with their children. We like the way the pastor's kids sit reverently in the front pew and take notes of their father's sermon, so we go home and begin to teach our children to sit reverently and to take notes. What we don't know is that the pastor's kids conduct themselves with reverence and attentiveness not because he "cleaned the outside of the cup" and simply drilled them to do so -- he lived a genuine love for Jesus that was contagious, and watched as the fruit was born (Matt 23:26). Parents are destined for disappointment when they admire fruit in others and seek to emulate merely that expression of fruit in their own children. Fruit is born from the inside -- not applied to the outside.</div>
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Imagine that the fruit you desired was the edible variety, so you went out into your yard and planted an apple tree. Just suppose that one day, while you were waiting for the apples to begin growing on your tree, you caught a glimpse of a neighbor's apple tree. You noticed in admiration that its branches were laden with big, luscious apples. What would you do? Would you run to the produce market to buy some apples, then go home, and in the dead of night, tie them onto your tree? If you did, the sight of your tree might really impress your neighbors. But that is not what you would do. You would likely go to the neighbor and ask how he cared for and fertilized his tree to produce such fruit. It is the same with our children - luscious fruit will be born from what we put into them - not from what we tie onto them. As a matter of fact, in no time, the fruit that we put onto our children will rot and fall off.</div>
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In the homeschool community I have observed that there can be a great emphasis on outward appearance, whether it is dressing for excellence, modesty, grooming, respectful manners, music style, or an attitude of sober reverence in worship. Some even take their children down a country path of humble fashions, raising food, and making bread. Nothing is wrong with any of these things, but we must be careful - we can model for our children outward changes and easily fall into molding their behavior and/or appearance, while missing their hearts. In some circles emphasis on the outward is epidemic.</div>
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A friend of mine, a homeschool mom, just passed away of cancer. In the week before she died, I asked her if she had any regrets in her life. She told me she wished she had baked less bread - she said if she had it to do over again she would buy bread and spend more time with her children. She had invested time and energy in pursuing the "path" because she thought it was part of the spiritual homeschool package.</div>
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Let us not forget that Jesus came against the Pharisees for their preoccupation with what they felt were legitimate expressions of spirituality. They measured holiness by what was avoided and by what would be seen by others (Mat 6:1-2, 5, 16; 23:5-6, 23-28; John 7:24). The Pharisees were earnest in their religion, but they were preoccupied with outward expressions of holiness rather than hearts of humility and love (Micah 6:8) that would bear genuine fruit. I find it fascinating that in the gospels there is not one mention of Jesus coming against immodesty, even though among his followers were prostitutes and the like. Jesus emphasized cleaning up the inside while the Pharisees were the ones preoccupied with cleaning up the outside. We must ask ourselves: Which are we more like - Jesus or the Pharisees? Even now do we justify ourselves, insisting we emphasize cleaning up both the inside and the outside?</div>
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I know that some react strongly to these assertions, so let me emphasize that I do want my wife and daughters to adorn themselves modestly. God did address it once in the New Testament (1Tim 2:9), but we must ask ourselves, is it possible that we have elevated modesty, or other issues of outward form, higher than Jesus did? If he only mentioned modesty once in the epistles and never mentioned it in his earthly ministry, but instead emphasized the importance of a changed heart bearing outward fruit, should we not follow his example and concentrate on reaching our children's hearts? Because He did address it in the first epistle to Timothy, let us teach our children the value of keeping private that which should be, but let us be careful of thinking that just because they look moral on the outside that they have God's values on the inside. Concurrently, let us also be careful of measuring everyone else's enlightenment by what we have decided is modest, spiritual, or holy.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Tending to Judge</strong></div>
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In setting standards for our family, each of us must work through a process of evaluation and analysis to decide what is safe, wise, or permissible. Once we become convinced of our personal standards, not uncommonly, it follows that we believe they should apply to others as well.</div>
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The Pharisees belittled others who didn't hold to their standards. We have gone their way when we judge others. It is easy to miss this area of pride because we may not express our judgments "arrogantly"; we may instead wrap them in compassionate-sounding words. Arrogance wrapped in concerned tones is deceiving.</div>
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Pride is so deceptive that we won't know our judgments are even judgments. We will think we are just making observations and feeling pity, when in fact, we are looking down on others from our lofty place of confident enlightenment. It is a high view of ourselves that allows us to condescend to and belittle others in our mind. And if you already knew all this, be careful - pride will even cause us to be amazed that others didn't see what was so obvious to us.</div>
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Typically, when we belittle others who don't measure up to our standards, we will also imagine others are judging us. Consequently, we will find ourselves frequently being defensive. We assume that others will think lowly of us for some perceived inadequacy, so we offer unsolicited explanations and clarifications for us or our children. For example, let's say we walked past a TV at Sears and saw something of interest - when we tell others what we saw, we are careful to clarify that we saw it at Sears and weren't watching a TV at home. If we live under fear of judgment, not only will we tend to be on the defensive, but whenever we are in a public setting where our children might be "watched," we will put pressure on them.</div>
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When pride is working its work in us, we sincerely believe our personal opinions reflect God's utmost priorities and standards. What we believe to be our "enlightened" perspective becomes a filter by which we gauge others' spirituality, and therefore limits our options for fellowship. We develop a very narrow definition of what we call "likeminded" people, based on the outworkings of our values and opinions. Now we are on a path to exclusivity when we will no longer associate with those who will be with us in eternity. Is it possible we have lost sight of fellowship based on love and devotion to Jesus, and have substituted personal standards and a narrow view of Christian liberty?</div>
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There are several serious consequences of raising children in a home marked by pride and judgment. Children may grow up also judging others. Or, they may hide their real values, acting as though they embrace our values, when, in fact, they are simply seeking to avoid discipline and lectures at home. Or, they may see the shallowness of our legalistic faith that consists primarily of "avoid this, wear that, attend this," and not be attracted to it in the least.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5. Depending on Formulas</strong></div>
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Homeschool parents often take a formulaic approach to parenting. Committed to achieving results with our children, we look for formulas and principles to ensure our success. Knowing the Bible is full of the wisdom and promises of God, we look to it for its self-working principles and promised methods. Yet, there's a problem with that. We are commanded to trust in God, not in formulas (John 14:1; Ps 37:5; 62:8). There is a monumental difference.</div>
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Trust in formulas is really dependence upon ourselves to carry out a procedure correctly. But anyone who really understands the grace of the gospel knows that we cannot take personal credit for any spiritual accomplishments. We are totally God's workmanship (Eph 2:10; Phil 2:13; 1:6) and everything good in our lives is a gift from Him (James 1:17). We can do absolutely nothing by ourselves for which we can take credit (Eph 2:8-9; Gal 6:14; Rom 4:2; 1 Cor 1:28-31; 2 Cor 11:30). Yet many of us lean toward a formulaic mentality, because our fallen natures are drawn toward self-reliance. We want to feel that by our own efforts (works) we have achieved something that will make us acceptable to God - by nature we are legalistic.</div>
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God doesn't want us to trust in principles, methods, or formulas, no matter how "biblical" they seem. God wants us to trust in HIM!</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">6. Over-Dependence on Authority and Control. </strong><br />Fruitful training of children and roses require a goal, a plan, and diligence in labor. However, the difference is that roses have no mind of their own and only grow as they are allowed. Children are people--self-determining individuals--and they ultimately choose how they will respond to parental influence.</div>
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No amount of parental control or restriction will guarantee that a child will turn out exactly as directed. Obviously, our training increases the likelihood our children will cling to the faith when they reach maturity, or turn back to Christ if they do enter a season of rebellion, but our training does not guarantee the desired outcome.</div>
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I know that some will struggle with the assertion that parents do not have total control over the outcome of their parenting, because of Proverbs 22:6. And I would have struggled too, ten years ago, but upon examination of the passage in question, I am convinced that it is a verse meant as an admonition of wisdom, not as a promise and guarantee of outcome. Like many of the sayings in Proverbs it is written as a statement of probability and not as a promise.</div>
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Solomon set for us a great example of balanced parenting - he admonished his young adult children and gave them commandments, but he knew that for them to honor his commands he needed their hearts. That's why he said, "My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways" (Prov 23:26). The apostle Paul knew how much he needed the hearts of those he exhorted, and therefore told them "... although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I appeal to you on the basis of love..." (Phile 1:8-9).</div>
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If we are to have significant influence of our teenage children we must have their hearts. Winning their hearts means gaining the opportunity to influence who they are, not just what they do.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">7. Over-Reliance Upon Sheltering</strong></div>
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An over-dependence on control in a family is often accompanied by an over-reliance on sheltering of children. It is not uncommon for homeschool parents to feel that since they filter whatever their children see and hear, they will control the results in their lives. That was me for many years. I remember saying to people, "I am controlling the influences in my children's lives, so I am going to control the outcome." I was absolutely certain that my children would be exempted from significant temptation and from developing particular bad habits because I was controlling what touched their lives.</div>
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In the last five years I have heard countless reports of highly sheltered homeschool children who grew up and abandoned their parents' values. Some of these children were never allowed out of their parents' sight and were not permitted to be in any kind of group setting, even with other "like-minded" kids, yet they still managed to develop an appetite for the world's pleasures. While I've seen sheltered children grow up and turn away from their parents' standards, conversely, I've known some Christian young people who went to public school, watched TV, attended youth groups, and dated, yet they walk in purity, have respectful, loving relationships with their parents, and now enjoy good marriages. Their parents broke the all the "rules of sheltering," yet these kids grew up close to their families and resilient in their walks with Christ.</div>
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Protecting from temptations and corrupting influences is part of raising children. Every parent shelters to one degree or another. All parents shelter - they just draw their lines in different places.Protecting our children is not only a natural response of paternal love, but fulfills the commands of God. The Scriptures are clear that we are to make no provision for our flesh (Rom 13:14) and are to avoid all corrupting influences (2 Cor 6:17-7:1). It warns us that bad company corrupts good morals (1 Cor 15:33) and that those who spend too much time with bad people may learn their ways (Prov 22:24-25) and suffer for it (Prov 13:20). Just as our Father in heaven will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Cor 10:13), we rightly keep our children out of situations they will lack the moral strength to handle. Young children are weak and we are to protect the weak (1 Thes 5:12).</div>
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God understood the vulnerability of human nature when he gave the Israelites instructions before they entered the Promised Land. He told them to chase out the idol-worshipping Pagans in the land, lest His people associate with them and be drawn into idolatry (Ex 23:32-33; Num 33:51-56; Josh 23:7-13). The Israelites disregarded God's protective warning and allowed some Pagans to remain in the land. Subsequently, each successive generation of young people was lost to idolatry. God instructed them to shelter their families, but their neglect of His warnings brought pain to their children and to their grandchildren for many generations.</div>
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However, we are imbalanced when sheltering from harm is the predominant expression of our parenting. Sheltering is a critical part of parenting, but if parents keep it their primary focus, the children will grow up ill equipped to handle the temptations in the world.A child isolated from disease may appear to be of the greatest health to his parents, but the health of the human body is only proven by how it withstands an attack. A weak constitution succumbs to every germ and virus - a strong one fights them off. Our spiritual and moral health is developed and proved in the same way.</div>
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If we isolate our kids from the world until they are adults they may appear to us to be spiritually minded and strong in character. However, it is how they ultimately engage the world that proves their spiritual resilience. This is because sheltering does not transform the human heart - it merely preserves it, temporarily.</div>
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It is true that a boxer trains without an opponent until his coach decides he is ready for an actual fight. And it is true that a farmer might raise plants in a greenhouse until they are mature enough to be transplanted and face the various elements of nature. So also, we keep our children away from bad influences when they are young and need to grow unhindered in character and spiritual wisdom. The problem is that sheltering without significant preparation to engage the world fails to equip them. In fact, it may insure that they will fall in their first solo encounters.</div>
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Growing up isolated from temptation can develop a child who appears spiritually strong, but the appearance is not reality. When I was in college I moved to northern California to live for a summer in a Christian commune. I was somewhat isolated from the world and surrounded by an amazing support system of my fellow "Jesus people." I remember feeling so full of faith, so committed to holiness, and so in love with God that summer. However, the "spirituality" I felt and the level of holiness I achieved was not real and could not endure testing. At the end of summer I returned to college in Southern California and discovered that I had not developed true spiritual muscles - when faced with temptation I fell flat on my face every time. The communal environment, isolated from significant temptation, had not prepared me for the battle I would face in the world. Valid spiritual growth required that I face temptation and develop the capacity to resist it, which eventually I did. My isolation from temptation had left me like a boxer who had shadow boxed, trained rigorously, and looked good in his trunks, but had never faced a sparring partner, let alone a true opponent.</div>
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I believe that a primary reason we over-rely on sheltering is because it is easy. It requires no planning or expenditure of energy. It takes minimal immediate brainpower. we simply assess that something might be harmful and say to our children, "No." I don't know if I would go so far as to call it lazy parenting, but I will say that investing in our children takes a lot more work and a lot more time.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">8. Not Passing On a Pure Faith</strong></div>
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We've all heard it said that faith is caught and not taught. The Galatian church polluted their faith by seeking to make themselves acceptable to God with what they did or didn't do" (Gal 3:3). In the same way, we may have started off years ago with a simple, undefiled faith, but the more we got caught up in all the "works" of intense parenting, the more we moved away from a simple faith contagious to our children. It is critical for our sake, let alone for our children, that we enjoy a life-giving faith in Christ with no religious trappings added to it.</div>
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As I look back, I see that with my older children I was too concerned with how they were perceived by others. I saw their behavior as a reflection on me, and I wanted to look good. They, therefore, sensed in me a measure of pretentiousness--not the genuineness of faith that would have drawn them to me or to the Jesus I spoke about. My sincere concern for their character was overshadowed by my concern for my reputation. I have discovered that, like me, multitudes of parents want their children's hearts but live a faith that fails to completely attract them.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">9. Not Cultivating a Loving Relationship With Our Children</strong></div>
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Relationships between parents and teens are weakest in control-oriented homes. Bev and I treated our children as if they were "projects." The more they became projects, the less we had significant relationship. The less we had relationship, the more we lost their hearts. Without their hearts, the less we were able to influence them or their values. We regularly spent hour coaching and admonishing them during the teen years, not realizing that without their hearts, the best we could do was make more rules and devise new consequences. The consequences affected the outside, but not the inside.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Our Story</strong><br />When my oldest son was almost 16 we let him get his first job washing dishes at a restaurant managed by a Christian friend of ours. As diehard shelterers we wrestled with whether or not our son was ready to enter the world's workforce. We knew we couldn't shelter him forever, and so finally concluded that he should be old enough to send into the world two nights a week. What we didn't realize was that he would be working with drug-using, tattooed, partiers, and our Christian friend was never scheduled to work our son's shift.</div>
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Within a month it became apparent that our son's new work associates were having an effect on him. He came home one evening and asked, "Dad, can I dye my hair blue?" After my wife was finally able to peal me off the ceiling, I laid into him, reminding him whose son he was, and that I would not have people at church telling their children not to be like the pastor's son. I explained that just because he wanted to use washable dye, it didn't make me any happier. (Note that my intense reaction had to do with "outward appearances" and the impact on me.)</div>
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Of course, my wife and I immediately began to evaluate whether we had made a mistake by letting him take the job. After an intense discussion we decided to coach him more carefully and let him keep his job.</div>
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Two months later he came home from work and asked me if he could pierce his ear. Again, my wife had to peal me off the ceiling. He thought it might be okay since he wanted a cross earring -- like I was supposed to be happy, because it would be a "sanctified" piercing. If that wasn't enough, he also wanted to get a tattoo! But it was going to be okay, because it would be a Christian tattoo!</div>
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As I was looking back on this experience several years later, something my son said shortly after he started his job kept coming back to me. When I picked him up the second night of work, he got in the car with a big smile on his face and said "They like me!" As I dwelt on that comment, it suddenly came clear to me - my son had finally met someone who liked him for who he was. Few others in his entire life had shown him much acceptance, especially not his mother and I. <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It is no exaggeration - in our efforts to shape and improve him, all we did was find fault with everything he did.</em>We loved him dearly, but he constantly heard from us that what he did (who he was) wasn't good enough. He craved our approval, but we couldn't be pleased. Years later, I realized he had given up trying to please us when he was 14, and from then on he was just patronizing us.</div>
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The reason our son wanted to adorn himself like his work associates, was because they accepted him for who he was. He wanted to fit in with those who made him feel significant. He wanted to be like those who gave him a sense of identity. The problem wasn't one that could be solved by extended sheltering - he could have been sheltered until he was 30 and he still would have been vulnerable. The problem was that we had sent our son into the world insecure in who he was. He went into the world with a hole in his heart that God had wanted to fill through his parents.</div>
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Whether believer or unbeliever, those young people who are least tempted to follow the crowd are those who are secure in themselves and don't need the approval of others. The Bible calls insecurity the fear of man - it is allowing other's opinions of us to affect our values and choices.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Solution</strong></div>
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In the Bible we see that people obeyed God for two reasons - fear and love. King David sang of his love for God (Ps 18:1; 116:1; 119:159) and he also sang of the fear of God (Ps 2:11; 22:25; 33:8). God wants His followers to be drawn to Him out of love (Jer 31:3), and that's why it is His kindness that leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4). But He also wants us to be kept on the path by fear of His authority (Luke 12:5; 1 Pet 2:17). That's why He told the Israelites He wanted both their fear and their love; "And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut 10:12). With our children, it should be the same.</div>
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Those who have the most power to influence our hearts are those to whom we are drawn: those who succeed with our values (which is what a hero is), those who can benefit us, those who make us feel valuable, and those who have earned our respect.</div>
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If our children grow up motivated only by fear of consequence, they will eventually get away with what they can whenever we are not around (Eph 6:6). If we have their hearts they will seek to honor us whether we are present or not, and their hearts will remain open to our influence.</div>
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I refer you to the apostle Paul who modeled this approach to leadership perfectly, "Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love..." (Phile 1:8-9a). Paul's pattern with the churches suggests he understood that appeals to love were more powerful than commands and threats.</div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Conclusion</strong></div>
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I am convinced that the most contagious parenting is living a heartfelt faith before your children. Fruitful interaction is not about what you do to your young people, but who you are with them. It's about having a real faith in God, and expressing it in a real relationship with a real person--not about methods and self-working principles. God intends that the side-effect of loving Jesus and enjoying the grace of the gospel will be that all people--including our children--will be touched by the Savior in us. I pray in Jesus' name that as you read these words you will experience the grace of God in a fresh and new way.</div>
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<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Reb Bradley is a writer and national conference speaker. Read the complete article from which this excerpt was taken <a href="http://www.familyministries.com/HS_Crisis.htm" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">here</a>. </em>Visit <a href="http://www.familyministries.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.familyministries.com</a> to order Reb's CD set <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Influencing Children's Hearts</em>.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #6b6b6b; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
Reprinted with permission from <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Virginia Home Educator</em>, Fall 2011.</div>
</div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-22364100213929972662011-12-12T01:49:00.000-08:002011-12-12T01:49:17.244-08:00Baptists oppose offshore and mandatory detentionMEDIA RELEASE<br />
For immediate release<br />
29 November 2011<br />
Baptists oppose offshore and mandatory detention<br />
<br />
The National Council of Australian Baptist Ministries has urged the federal government to process claims for refugee status within 90 days, and called on churches to oppose mandatory detention of asylum seekers and refugees.<br />
<br />
The National Chair of Australian Baptist Ministries, Rev Dr John Beasy, announced the policy which was adopted at a National Council meeting held in Melbourne on November 23.<br />
<br />
In the wide-ranging statement, ABM urged the Gillard government to place all child asylum seekers in appropriate community care while their claims for refugee status were assessed, and to cease the practice of sending unaccompanied minors to third countries.<br />
<br />
The statement called on all Australians to oppose xenophobia and discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, culture and religion, and challenged Australian politicians to demonstrate their moral convictions and to exercise non-partisan leadership in debates on immigration and refugee policy.<br />
<br />
The new policy also called on the federal government to increase Australia's refugee intake over the next five years.<br />
<br />
The ABM National Council encouraged its more than 900 member churches to oppose both offshore and mandatory detention of asylum seekers and refugees, to extend hospitality to asylum seekers and refugees, and to freely share with those in need.<br />
<br />
Media contact Rod Benson 0412 421 678<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Rev Rod Benson<br />
<br />
Ethicist & Public Theologian<br />
<br />
Tinsley Institute (Morling College)<br />
<br />
M 120 Herring Rd, Macquarie Park NSW 2113 P 02 9878 0201 F 02 9878 2175 M 0412 421 678 E rodb@morling.edu.au <mailto:rodb@morling.edu.au> W http://www.morling.nsw.edu.au/tinsley_institute/public_theology/Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-18010350678425258812011-11-25T14:49:00.000-08:002011-11-25T14:51:10.630-08:00BIRTH OF THE LAST-DAYS REMNANT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<h2 class="date-header"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">from David Wilkerson's blog...</span></h2><h2 class="date-header">Friday, November 25, 2011</h2><div class="date-posts"><div class="post-outer"><div class="post hentry"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5021036857801582770&postID=1801035067842525881" name="2414498857385983511"></a> <br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title"><a href="http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/2011/11/birth-of-last-days-remnant.html">BIRTH OF THE LAST-DAYS REMNANT</a> </h3><div class="post-header"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2414498857385983511"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">The prophet Samuel is a type of the last-days holy remnant—a prepared body of believers that rises out of the ruins of the old, decadent church.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">Hannah, Samuel’s mother, birthed her son through bitter tears and much prayer. “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish” (1 Samuel 1:10).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">Try to imagine the scene: Hannah was at the temple every day, on her knees before the altar, crushed and broken because she was childless. As she wept, her adversary—her husband’s other wife—made fun of her. “And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb” (1 Samuel 1:6).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">There are three important things I want to point out from this passage:</span><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">First, the remnant that Samuel represents is born in grief and intercession.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">Second, those who pray and grieve after God’s heart will be provoked by adversaries.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">And third, God’s remnant is always going to be misunderstood!</span></li>
</ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">Note what happened to Hannah as she prayed: “And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, ‘How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!’” (1 Samuel 1:12-14). Eli and his sons represent the dying, corrupt church that has forsaken the Lord’s way. Eli was so out of touch—so dead in his spirit—he thought Hannah was drunk!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">When Hannah was praying, she was filled with grief, burdened for the birth of a son. All she could do was move her lips because of her groaning in the Spirit. She prayed, “If You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and . . . will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 1:11).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">Here are two distinguishing marks of God’s holy remnant:</span><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">They pray like Hannah. Their burden is deep and their heart is stirred because of the wickedness in God’s house.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">Like Hannah, they give themselves to prayer every day of their lives.</span></li>
</ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffffff; font-family: arial;">God wants to make you like that. He wants you to be able to touch Him and hear from Him. He wants to give you a ministry to others who will come to you with their burdens and trials. And as you pray for them, His Word will come forth!</span></div></div></div></div></div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-6633419066193568752011-10-31T01:15:00.000-07:002011-10-31T01:19:51.251-07:00Lawful Rebellion?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I was just reading the other day how Jesus confronted injustice in the form of a religious puppet government under Rome in Israel, and how he healed people in situations that got right in their face, and then rode into Jerusalem with crowds supporting him, forcing the authorities hand to acknowledge his divinity and reform society OR get rid of him. The rest is history. Their sin was condemned in his innocent death on the cross, by which we have life.<br />
<br />
Looking at what is going on in the world at the moment with an immoral globalist cabal effectively ruling nations with increasing use of puppet governments, I have often wondered when someone would stand up against it. Hearing of this may be problematic with a mostly NWO controlled press mind you, but despite some large demonstrations going unreported in the mainstream media the past few years, mass strikes have now got to a stage where we are hearing of them. One flavour is the Occupy movement. <br />
<br />
It seems to me that Occupy has at its genesis an understanding of common law issues and human rights. I have spoken to a Brisbane organiser, who was just a good bloke, and did not have some of the solid background some others seem to, so not everyone is fully informed of the absolute rights this movement is based on. It will however be interesting to see where it goes. Spain, in particular has incredible numbers involved.<br />
<br />
One recent addition to visible dissent is <a href="http://www.tpuc.org/" target="_blank">http://www.tpuc.org</a>, which is non-political web site based on a movement that has been going for a while. At first glance, it has some interesting info, for example 'Acts and Charters' which form the basis of British Law. These help this group counter the corporatised entities that are draining the average man of wealth and freedom. This is what essentially prompted this email. I'm going to read some of this stuff. Have a read if you are interested. If you find it interesting, have a look at one of my other blogs, <a href="http://watching-the-new-world-take-order.blogspot.com/">Watching The New World Take Order</a>.</div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-51072723520037307492011-10-19T03:49:00.000-07:002011-10-19T03:50:51.441-07:00Siev-X Art Exhibition<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://goo.gl/photos/ho6l0wbPkX" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PbVfbOS9FY0/Tp6UvkQnhVE/AAAAAAAACJY/vxg9N88R8dY/s160-c/SievXArtExhibition.jpg" /></a><br />
Siev-X was a boat that went down with many women and child refugees drowned some 10 years ago. An exhibition in the State Library, Brisbane commemorates this tragedy. Click on the photo to see my Picasa Web Album of this exhibition.<br />
<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/ho6l0wbPkX" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a></div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-53832745759650094062011-10-17T15:21:00.000-07:002011-10-17T15:27:09.570-07:00The toll rises: Christians need to find their voice.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The toll rises: Christians need to find their voice.</div><div dir="LTR" id="post-body-5383274575965009406"> <div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">As Christians, we need to stand up for the widow, the orphan, the displaced, the refugee. We have embraced those affected by floods in our own land, but there are people in Pakistan and Solomon Islands (just two places from personal knowledge) living in tents after floods or tsunami. We also have refugees on our doorstep who need our care, and they are suffering mental anguish and breakdown in sub-human mandatory detention centres. The following from Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition in Australia highlights the severity of the situation. I believe Christ would have us do something to at least advocate for these people by lobbying our local members.<br />
<br />
<br />
Steve B.<br />
======<br />
<br />
<br />
DARWIN TURNS TOXIC AS SELF-HARM/ATTEMPTED SUICIDE TOLL KEEPS RISING.<br />
TIME TO END MANDATORY DETENTION<br />
<br />
Two serious self harm/suicide attempts in one day have rocked the<br />
Darwin detention centre.<br />
<br />
On Monday, 17 October, two Kurdish asylum seekers both in their early<br />
20s attempted suicide in the space of five hours, between 12.30 and<br />
5.00pm. Both are believed to be have been in detention around 20<br />
months. Both are believed to have been rejected and are now waiting<br />
for a Federal Magistrates Court hearing.<br />
<br />
The two incidents follow another hanging attempt only three days ago.<br />
The welfare of the two men is not known. But asylum seekers inside the<br />
detention had grave fears for both the men, one of whom was rushed to<br />
hospital with severe bleeding.<br />
<br />
“It is only a matter of time before there is a catastrophe in the<br />
Darwin detention centre,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the<br />
Refugee Action Coalition, “Only a week ago there were another three<br />
incidents and that is only what we know about.<br />
<br />
“The despair in the Darwin detention centre has turned toxic. There is<br />
no duty of care – only damage control. Serco and the immigration<br />
department are incapable of providing a safe environment for anyone.<br />
Asylum seekers are finding it impossible to cope with an environment<br />
in which self-harm and attempted suicide is a daily occurrence.<br />
<br />
“The Minister has admitted that he has the power to use bridging visas<br />
to get asylum seekers out of detention. There is no excuse for waiting<br />
any longer. Darwin is desperate for a solution.<br />
<br />
“Mandatory detention is not a deterrent. It is a form of systematic<br />
abuse. Refugee advocates have been calling for human rights observers<br />
to be placed in the detention centres for months. The need for some<br />
independent oversight is obvious and even more obvious, is the need to<br />
close the hell-holes.”<br />
<br />
For more information contact Refugee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div></div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-90842440722469328732011-09-27T19:11:00.000-07:002011-09-27T19:11:26.492-07:00Jesus Blog: Sexual Purity- Is it Out-Dated?<a href="http://www.jesusblogspot.com/2011/08/sexual-purity-how-important-is-it.html?spref=bl">Jesus Blog: Sexual Purity- Is it Out-Dated?</a>: Sexual purity ...a phrase you barely hear about these days. You'd actually be likely to get a smirk or raise a brow if you mention sexual ...Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-90529873011983414172011-09-12T03:39:00.001-07:002011-09-12T03:39:25.921-07:00GENERATE INCOME FROM HOME<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-5001082645861403968" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 676px;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We all would like more income. We would all like a better lifestyle. Here's your chance..<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.sendoutcards.com/stevebarnes/" style="color: #a2c4c9; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-size: medium;"><b>Join me in Send Out Cards!</b></span></a></div></div></div></div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-48667655962724520092011-08-28T01:02:00.000-07:002011-08-28T01:02:00.575-07:00Opportunity to learn more about refugees and make friends in these circles...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nhLTCGS0XbaSyGZxrPiavWY5YoPqu0CMlnPDDMKDfuB-8dujXA5zo7ctNMifiqnhe5tbmghj5Yl6hxuMTxR2m2HfZIJo5aUKsfct7JWfhFDH1vnWzMYxr_W6AibRAcjicuD-9bMZ/s1600/image002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nhLTCGS0XbaSyGZxrPiavWY5YoPqu0CMlnPDDMKDfuB-8dujXA5zo7ctNMifiqnhe5tbmghj5Yl6hxuMTxR2m2HfZIJo5aUKsfct7JWfhFDH1vnWzMYxr_W6AibRAcjicuD-9bMZ/s1600/image002.jpg" /></a></div><br />
</div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-72442947705235405392011-08-27T05:09:00.000-07:002011-08-27T05:10:31.538-07:00Urgent - Your online vote is needed - Herald Sun: 60% have voted YES to gay marriage(25.8.11)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: #ffd966;">To vote, click on the "Do you support gay marriage?" link below. Takes less than 30 seconds.</div><div style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #ffd966;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This is urgent friends - the Greens have mustered a counter to the current gay marriage issue - see the Salt Shakers article below.</span></div></div><div style="color: #ffd966;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></div><div style="color: #ffd966;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">We need to act</span></div></div><div style="color: #ffd966;"> </div><div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11pt;">PLEASE READ THIS AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION</span><span style="color: black;"></span> </div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #00789f;"><img alt="Salt Shakers" height="100" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=7a1f5d7afc&view=att&th=1320afca823199bc&attid=0.1&disp=emb&zw" width="669" /></span><span style="color: black;"></span></div><div style="border-bottom: windowtext 2.25pt double; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;"><h2 style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt;"><span style="color: #0055a5; font-size: 15pt;">MPs report on marriage 'opinions' + web vote</span><span style="color: black;"></span></h2></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">The media are reporting on the <b>Good News and bad news</b> from yesterday's MPs 'reporting' on constituents opinions re possible changes to the 'Marriage Act. in Federal Parliament.</span><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">The Herald Suns heading says "<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/greens-push-for-same-sex-unions-fails-to-win-support/story-fn7x8me2-1226121110331" target="_blank"><b>Greens push for same-sex unions fails to win support</b></a>" (live link)</span><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">"Most MPs who took part in the debate said their electorate did not support gay marriage, while just six said that their electorate supported change."</span><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><b><span style="color: navy;">But they decided to have a vote on it so PLEASE VOTE NO</span></b><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><b><span style="color: navy; font-size: 13.5pt;">VOTE </span></b><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">- Herald Sun </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/greens-push-for-same-sex-unions-fails-to-win-support/story-fn6bfmgc-1226121530691" target="_blank">"</a><a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/greens-push-for-same-sex-unions-fails-to-win-support/story-fn6bfmgc-1226121530691" target="_blank">Do you support gay marriage?</a> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">(live link)</span><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">We are losing badly - I suspect this vote has been hijacked - but we must try to turn it around.</span><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2011/s3301297.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: navy;">The ABC reports</span></a></span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> "Of the 30 MPs who took part in the debate, only five said that they would like same sex couples to be allowed to marry, and one other reported community support for a change to the Marriage Act.<br />
But there was significant support for relationships to be legally recognised in some way, perhaps through a system of civil unions."</span><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: windowtext 2.25pt double; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;"><h2 style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt;"><span style="color: #0055a5; font-size: 15pt;">Action </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">We must repeatedly show MPs and Senators the evidence - COMPROMISE FAILS.</span><span style="color: black;"></span></h2></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><i><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">As we reported yesterday - <b>ANY GROUND GIVEN (legal recognition) will reinforce the perception that same-sex relationships are 'natural' and 'normal' AND WILL advance their cause towards marriage.</b></span></i><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><i><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">NO COUNTRY that has given same-sex 'marriage' has ever gone straight to first base - they have 'progressed' through incremental steps to reach their goal.</span></i><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><i><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">We must keep showing how ANY compromise WILL eventually lead to defeat.</span></i><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><i><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Same-sex relationships are bad for society, bad for the individual, and VERY bad for children who get caught up in them - either by personally experimenting with such relationships or by being raised two parents of the same gender.</span></i><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt;"><i><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">We must try to protect children - not simply placate selfish adults.</span></i><span style="color: black;"></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #ffd966;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Peter Stokes</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br />
Executive Officer<br />
Salt Shakers<br />
p: (03) 9800 2855<br />
m: 0413 084 145<br />
w: <a href="http://www.saltshakers.org.au/" target="_blank">www.saltshakers.org.au</a></span></div></div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-38010190206462113312011-08-27T00:20:00.000-07:002011-08-27T00:23:13.531-07:00"Katter is a loose cannon" says banker<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I was talking to a local banker a few days ago, and as we talked about the nation, he stated that Bob Katter is a "loose cannon" and he thinks he is detrimental to Australian politics.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ausparty.org.au/uploads/im/who-we-are/profile_photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.ausparty.org.au/uploads/im/who-we-are/profile_photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I quietly asked him if he had gained this opinion from the media, or if he had actually actually looked at <a href="http://www.ausparty.org.au/">Katter's Australian Party web site</a>, in particular the <a href="http://www.ausparty.org.au/issues.html">Issues Page</a>. He said "no". I challenged him to consider the issues raised on this page.<br />
<br />
I challenge you also dear reader. Please do not just listen to the short snippets carefully extracted from long conversations and placed in another context by media with a barrow to push. If you want to be a thinking person, intelligent enough to form your own opinion, please look at the issues on the web site.<br />
<br />
People have very short memories. Don't you remember when the numbers were tight between Liberal and Labor last federal election, that Bob looked like a sane man with some good things to say? That was certainly the way the media portrayed him then. Nothing has changed with Bob. The media has just changed its stance because of the barrow it is pushing for its masters.<br />
<br />
You may find Bob Katter is not the lunatic the media has started to paint him as. Please, look; think for yourself. Feel free to comment AFTER you have looked :)<br />
<br />
Steve B<br />
<br />
ps. I am not trying to tell you to support Bob. I am merely trying to stop demonisation of a man with a conscience. If you are a Christian, look and think, line up the issues against your core beliefs.</div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-66948116965433782312011-08-26T23:59:00.000-07:002011-08-26T23:59:56.464-07:00ACL Marriage Petition: Thankyou and status from Jim Wallace<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Dear Steve,<br />
<br />
It's been a busy week at the office finalising the petition that you signed. I wanted to personally thank you for making a stand. However, it's important to realise that the agenda for same-sex marriage isn't over and this is just round one.<br />
<br />
I have recorded a short video message for you, which you can view by clicking the image below.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://createsend.acl.org.au/t/r/l/tjdtjyk/mtlhujyud/j/">An important message from Jim Wallace - click here to view</a><br />
<br />
God bless,<br />
ACL<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Jim Wallace, AM</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Managing Director,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Australian Christian Lobby</span></div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-67836167969539612762011-08-24T05:08:00.000-07:002011-08-24T05:08:37.555-07:0052,000 Australians sign Senate marriage petition<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="postdate">Posted by <strong>Katherine Spackman, PR Officer</strong> on August 24th, 2011</div><div class="entry"><div class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 245px;"><img alt="" height="176" src="http://australianchristianlobby.org.au/wp-content/uploads/IMG_0088.jpg" width="235" /><div class="wp-caption-text">ACL's MD Jim Wallace hands the petition to Senator Ron Boswell and Senator Helen Polley</div></div><strong>August 24, 2011 </strong><br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: left;"><strong>52,000 Australians sign Senate marriage petition</strong></div><strong></strong>In an extraordinary display of concern for the institution of marriage, more than <strong>52,000 </strong>people,<strong> </strong>mainly<strong> </strong>from the Christian constituency across Australia, have signed a Senate petition to keep the current definition of marriage between a man and a woman, the Australian Christian Lobby’s Managing Director Jim Wallace said.<br />
The campaign, man+wife4life on <a href="http://www.makeastand.org.au/">www.makeastand.org.au</a>, will be the largest petition to be tabled in Senate in the life of the 43rd parliament.<br />
<span id="more-9595"></span> As well as the petition, more than 20,000 people came to the website to send emails to politicians about the importance of marriage remaining between a man and a woman.<br />
“This depth of support shows that Australians believe marriage between a man and a woman is important for the social makeup of society,” Mr Wallace said.<br />
“Imagine this level of response multiplied across other faiths, which also support marriage between a man and a woman.<br />
“Many people are concerned that children should be given the opportunity to be raised by a mother and father, where possible, and revising the marriage definition would remove that ideal.<br />
“This petition shows that there is strong support amongst Christians for marriage to remain the same and debunks any poll suggesting otherwise,” he said.<br />
ACL has previously dismissed a Galaxy Poll, commissioned by the Australian Marriage Equality, claiming 53 per cent of Christians supported gay marriage.<br />
“Asking people what religion they belong in the poll is different than going to the Christian constituency directly, which we have done in the petition,” he said.</div></div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-77133709754093356842011-08-21T04:06:00.000-07:002011-08-21T04:06:20.925-07:00ACL: VERY URGENT HELP Marriage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Dear friends,<br />
<br />
This is really serious now. Christians can't just stand by and let our nation slide into this abomination. Let's show our support for the kind of marriage YHWH sets out in the Holy Bible.<br />
<br />
PLEASE read and vote.<br />
<br />
Steve B<br />
<br />
<blockquote><div><b>From:</b> Joan Anderson <<a href="mailto:joanruthand@hotmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">joanruthand@hotmail.com</a>><br />
<b>Date:</b> 20 August 2011 20:58:43 AEST<br />
<b>To:</b> John and Denise Hargreaves <<a href="mailto:john@hida.com.au" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">john@hida.com.au</a>><br />
<b>Subject:</b> <b>FW: VERY URGENT HELP Marriage</b><br />
</div></blockquote><div><span></span></div><br />
Just received Sat night. Forwarded urgently by Dr Joan<br />
<br />
<div> <div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">Hi All,</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="color: red;"> </span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="color: red;">I may have already sent you something regarding this but if you have not yet done so PLEASE urgently respond.</span></div></div><div> <div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div></div><div> <div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">This is an <b><span>urgent, urgent, urgent</span></b> matter concerning Marriage as we know and understand it and <u>which requires attention by close of business this Monday.</u></span><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div></div><div> <div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div></div><div> <div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">Please have a read through Jim Wallace's email and please act as he asks.</span><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div></div><span style="color: red;"> </span><br />
<span>We received this email today from Jim Wallace, Managing Director of the Australian Christian Lobby. We felt that it was important enough to send one to you to take action and pray about.</span><br />
<span></span><br />
Dear Pastors,<br />
<br />
I know that I pester you a lot on this issue of marriage, but it has reached another critical stage where it could be lost.<span lang="EN-GB"></span><br />
Until yesterday we were winning this politically, despite the media campaign, because we had won the battle of emails, letters and visits to local MPs and I thank you for your part in that. But GetUp, publicly stating it realised this, started a campaign that is generating a last minute flurry of letters, with one MP on our side registering 40 per day and saying it will be lost unless we act urgently. These are his words:<br />
<i><span>Just letting you know we are getting swamped with emails from the electorate in SUPPORT of gay marriage through a GetUp! e-mail campaign.</span></i><br />
<i><span>Since 5pm yesterday, I have had more than 40 emails in support of gay marriage and they keep coming through.</span></i><br />
<i><span>At this rate, by the time I give my speech next week, I will have almost more people tagged in support of gay marriage than not on my constituent management system which makes the case that harder to prosecute because it appears your electorate is for it.</span></i><br />
<i><span>I know that your troops are sending theirs in but can I say they are coming in at a snail's rate compared to the opposing camp.</span></i><br />
<i><span>Sorry to be a nuisance on this but I am firm on this and I can only wonder about some of my colleagues who are waverers and what they are thinking getting this massive reaction.</span></i><br />
It is crucial that we respond to his call to action, as the Greens have manufactured all parliamentarians reporting back to the Parliament next week on the consultations they have been having and in addition to this effort, a poll has been manufactured that says that most Christians support gay marriage, which we all know is not true of those who actually are practising believers.<br />
I don’t like to sound doomsdayish, but I know we have the numbers in the churches this Sunday to turn this around, but without a huge commitment this weekend I can see us loosing it which would be a disaster when politically we had been winning it.<br />
If we care about marriage we must act to turn this around. Could I ask that your churches be exhorted to respond to this and to go to the <a href="http://www.makeastand.org.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.makeastand.org.au</a> website and access the campaign 'Man+Wife4Life' and <b><span>send an email</span></b> to their politician. This is made very easy to do there and they should also <b><span>sign the petition</span></b> at the same time as it will be tabled next Wednesday and it is once again important that it can at least match anything thrown up by the other side.<br />
<span style="color: red;">Clearly the time imperative here, (emails must be sent by end work next Monday) means we must have our churches send this out on their email lists or we will not act in time.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">Clearly we also need to activate our prayer groups and chains on this.</span><br />
Thank you and God bless,<br />
<i><b><span>JJA WALLACE AM</span></b></i><b><i><br />
<i><span>Managing Director</span></i></i></b></div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-1313506416665831972011-08-20T05:00:00.000-07:002011-08-20T05:00:05.853-07:00The Non-Mythical Adam and Eve!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">For info on<span style="font-size: small;"> The Non-Mythical Adam and Eve, see </span><a href="http://creation.com/historical-adam-biologos">http://creation.com/historical-adam-biologos</a> </div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021036857801582770.post-30574876183564554602011-08-19T23:00:00.001-07:002011-08-19T23:00:46.337-07:00Time to wake up BLACK AND WHITE...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BqsZLQPmnAI?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BqsZLQPmnAI?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object></div>Want 2 Knowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606928364311329157noreply@blogger.com0