Churches Not Welcome

Downtown is no place for a church.  

The downtown church building was once a welcomed reminder in our society of the importance of the centrality of Christ.  Towering steeples announced to approaching travelers that the Christian faith was an essential part of community life.

Those days appear to be eroding fast.

Of course it is quickly recognized that a church building, towering steeple and religious activity is not necessarily a sign of a vibrant Christian faith.  The absence of them, however, speaks volumes.  

I have been hearing, for some time, about the move in many cities to ban churches from occupying space in their business districts.  However, I did not expect to find such nonsense in small-town Georgia.

Enter Jefferson, Georgia.  The Associated Press is reporting, “The Jefferson City Council has voted to ban churches from opening in the eight-block area surrounding the town’s central square.”

There is the fear that churches would take up parking space that could be better used for restaurants and that the existence of churches would hinder down-town alcohol sales.  In other words, Churches just are not good for business.  

How different from our Puritan forefathers who built “Meeting Houses” in the center of town.  Why would they do such a thing?  The Puritans recognized God as is the supreme Governor of all things.  The well-being of any family, town or nation was directly connected to recognition of the supremacy of God.

The Mayor and City Council of Jefferson don’t seem to get it.  For them it seems that the pragmatic concerns of business reigns supreme over ultimate things. 

It is not just the leadership in Jefferson, GA who are seemingly blind to eternal realities.  It is increasingly difficult in many communities for new churches to open. 

A community that welcomes churches is a community of long range vision that embraces the ultimate well-being of its citizens.

Godly churches are not opposed to the growth of business.  In fact it can be shown that faithful churches are strong contributors to the local economy at every level.  Their greatest contribution, however, is to the spiritual and moral well-being of a community. 

When local governments fail to consider the ultimate well being of their citizens then the door is open for all sorts of corruption.  Though there might be temporal successes the long-term impact is not good.

Perhaps you wonder why we should stick our collective noses in the politics of Jefferson.  What is happening in Jefferson is the latest in a wave of such decisions in which community leaders are determining that it is not in the best interest of the community to welcome churches downtown.  Today it is Jefferson.  Tomorrow it might be your town.

Ray Rhodes, Jr. is President of Nourished in the Word Ministries and Pastor of Grace Community Church.  You may reach him at www.nourishedintheword.org

Yes, 60 million!

“According the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC)

• 85% to 90% of the 876,213 persons reported missing to America’s law enforcement agencies in 2000 were juveniles (persons under 18 years of age). That means that 2,100 times per day parents or primary care givers felt the disappearance was serious enough to call law enforcement.
• 152,265 of the persons reported missing in 2000 were categorized as either endangered or involuntary.
• The number of missing persons reported to law enforcement has increased from 154, 341 in 1982 to 876,213 in 2000. That is an increase of 468%.” (Statistics from, http://www.klaaskids.org/pg-mc-mcstatistics.htm).

Alarming statistics to be sure but they do not come close to an accurate accounting of the true number of missing kids in the world. June 13, 2007 Fox News ran a shocking story.  The headline read: “Infanticide, Abortion Responsible for 60 Million Girls Missing in Asia” Sherry Karabin is the author of the column. 

 According to a recent United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of the World Population Report, these practices, combined with neglect, have resulted in at least 60 million “missing” girls in Asia, creating gender imbalances and other serious problems that experts say will have far reaching consequences for years to come.

“Twenty-five million men in China currently can’t find brides because there is a shortage of women,” said Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute in Washington, D.C. “The young men emigrate overseas to find brides.”

The imbalances are also giving rise to a commercial sex trade; the 2005 report states that up to 800,000 people being trafficked across borders each year, and as many as 80 percent are women and girls, most of whom are exploited.”

/**/ “Women are trafficked from North Korea, Burma and Vietnam and sold into sexual slavery or to the highest bidder,” Mosher said.

Surprisingly, even the United Nations admits that Infanticide and Abortion are responsible for at least 60 million “missing” girls in Asia.  The UN report points out a couple of the implications of these “missing girls.”  What are the “serious problems” of infanticide and abortion?  The result of killing girls is that now there is a “gender imbalance” in Asia resulting in “25 million men in China who cannot find a wife.”  The story gets darker as the commercial sex trade is growing by leaps and bounds.

Perceptively, Mosher recognizes that part of the problem can be traced back to “Beijing’s one-child policy, which took effect in 1979.   The policy encourages late marrying and late childbearing, and it limits the majority of urban couples to having one child and most of those living in rural areas to two. Female infanticide was the result, he said.

“Historically infanticide was something that was practiced in poor places in China,” Mosher said. “But when the one-child policy came into effect we began to see in the wealthy areas of China, what had never been done before in history — the killing of little girls.”

Mosher identifies exactly what is being done when he calls infanticide and abortion of females “the killing of little girls.”

That statement alone could go a long way to opening the eyes of our own country that increasingly is identified as a “culture of death.”  When President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an “Evil Empire” he clarified the issue.  He dared to recognize evil.  That statement alone is credited with beginning the process of undermining the Soviet Union.  Infanticide and abortion are indeed the killing of human life.  Though they may not often be defined these days as murder by national laws the Bible proclaims, “Thou shalt not murder.” 

The law of God still points out sin.  It convicts the sinner.  Though the law cannot save it certainly reveals the need for a Savior.  The Savior that the law requires is one who is both fully God and fully man.  The one and only Savior is Jesus Christ the Lord.  However, it is just those sort of direct and exclusive statements that is rejected in our culture.

Words are powerful.  The double talk and fuzzy speech of those who exalt a woman’s right to choose only cloud the issue.  People like Reagan and Mosher and the Bible believing Pastor down the road clarify the issue by calling infanticide and abortion “killing.”

But there is another issue that is a problem.  This problem exists in the hearts of folks who would never consider infanticide or abortion or kidnapping but who nevertheless are contributing to the problem of missing children.  These folks have adopted the policy of Beijing that encourages late marrying and late child-bearing.  Whereas the Bible refers to children as a blessing from God so many in our culture see children as an inconvenience to a life filled with materialistic pursuits.  This problem is not only a problem in the culture at large but even among professing Christians who advocate extending adolescence, delaying marriage and therefore delaying child-bearing.

How many missing children are there in the United States?  The number is far beyond the FBI statistics.

Herbert S. Klein, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, writes in regard to the changes in the American family:

All of these changes are having an impact on U.S. fertility rates. Not only is formal marriage no longer the exclusive arbiter of fertility, but more and more women are reducing the number of children they have. This is not due to women forgoing children. In fact, there has been little change in the number of women going childless, which has remained quite steady for the past 40 years. This decline in fertility is due to the fact that women are deliberately deciding to have fewer children. They are marrying later, thus reducing their marital fertility, they are beginning childbearing at ever later ages, they are spacing their children farther apart, and they are terminating their fertility at earlier ages. Not only did the average age of mothers having their first children rise by 2.7 years from 1960 to 1999, but it rose significantly for every subsequent child being born as well, while the spacing between children also increased. Although the average age of mothers at first birth for the entire population was now 24.9 years, for non-Hispanic white women it was 25.9 years.

Clearly the American family, like all families in the Western industrial countries, is now profoundly different from what it had been in the recorded past. It typically is a household with few children, with both parents working, and with mothers producing their children at ever older ages. At the same time, more adults than ever before are living alone or with unmarried companions and more women than ever before are giving birth out of wedlock. These trends have profoundly changed the American family and are unlikely to be reversed any time soon (from The Hoover Digest 2004 No.3).

 There is one way to reverse the trends.  However it would require a biblical awakening.  Such an awakening would result in embracing the following suppositions:

1.      God is the Creator.

2.      God commanded that married couples “be fruitful and multiply.”

3.      God forbids murder.

4.      Marriage is a good gift from God.

5.      Children are to be received as a blessing from God.

6.      Husbands are to love their wives by nurturing, protecting, providing for them.

7.      Wives are to submit to and respect their own husbands.

8.      Women are to value the call to homemaking above that of career making.

9.      Parents are to take time to teach their children about God.

10.  Children are to learn how to honor their parents.

11.  All of the above require looking to Jesus Christ alone for spiritual life and wisdom.

When these 11 truths are not embraced then we can expect a devaluing of God, of His institutions and therefore a myriad of implications that include missing children, abortion, infanticide, sex trafficking, fewer people to marry but most of all the guilt of living with little regard for the God who created us.

Ray Rhodes, Jr. is President of Nourished in the Word Ministries and Pastor of Grace Community Church in Dawsonville, GA.  To schedule Ray to speak at your next church, school, or community event then please contact him at ray@nourishedintheword.org.  You can read more of Ray’s writings at www.nourishedintheword.org   Ray is  a frequent speaker at Family Conferences throughout the Southeast. Lori is a frequent speaker at ladies events and a devoted blogger.  You can read Lori’s writings at www.nitw4ladies.blogspot.com

The time has come to celebrate what has been completed and yet has only begun.  I understand the nostalgia that sweeps through the mind at an occasion like this.  I have often danced with such thoughts myself.  Looking back is a normal part of our existence.  The backward glance can be our friend if used as intended.  Often I have looked through an old photo album only to find myself smiling or even wiping a tear.  Sometimes regrets fill my mind as I think of what could have been.  Looking back can and should encourage joy and motivate future striving.  It can also sober the mind and focus the thoughts. It should inspire thanksgiving at the forgiveness and mercy of God.  Nostalgia can be our friend and our teacher.  It can also be our enemy if it’s warden binds us and we become enslaved to what is sold to us as our “best days” which now are past.  Looking back without longing for what has been takes wisdom and courage.  We might retreat for a brief visit and find refreshment, focus, instruction and motivation but we must guard against the paralysis of the past.

You are at one of those many pivotal moments in life.  This is a time that calls you to look back.  Embrace the call but with the aforementioned warnings.  A deep breath of reflection will usher in much needed moments of restoration.  You are on a mountain top and from there you are able to see the path of providence that you have already walked and you are also able to see a vision for the future.  It is certain that the individual steps ahead cannot be well seen from the mountain.  However, your eyes can gaze, in a general way, upon the peaks and valleys; the curves and hills that paint the horizon.  The vision is enthralling and the view, like a giant magnet, will pull you forward.  That is unless you choose to only look back and long for the days of yesteryear.  Thankfully the Omnipotent One has chosen to keep the individual paths of the future hidden lest we become overwhelmed with the dangers and sorrows and lest we become prideful of future achievements.  He has chosen that we walk by faith as we pilgrim forward.  However, He lets us see the big picture of peaks, valleys and winding roads.  The specific pits and rocks and merriments may not be seen from the top but the breathtaking skyline beckons us onward.

Rachel you are challenged to march forward.  You do so bathed in prayer, saturated with love, and with hope in God.  As you think of us please recall patience, tenderness and forgiveness.  As co-sinners with you we have often failed you.  There are games not played, tempers lost, words unspoken, and encouragements not given.  We offer no excuses and ask only for forgiving love.  We also are looking back this day.  Tears of joy and regret wash our eyes.  We also are tempted to long for and listen for old opportunities to knock again.  We also are challenged to learn from our nostalgia, stand on what is eternally good, and look into the future.  We find ourselves with you.  We stand on the mountain at your side.  Your joy today is our joy.  Your hopes are our hopes.  With older eyes we can see with you the peaks and valleys that are ahead.  We are on the same journey– though we will stop in different villages along the way.  Let us go together to that “City upon a hill”.  We see it now with the eyes of faith.  Let us labor to make sure that we enter in.  Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.  We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (I John 3:2-3 NAS). 

Rachel, if our faith is in Christ and Christ only then the best is indeed yet to come.  That (future) “best” is exceedingly better.  With Christ as our hope we reach forward.  The mind can scarcely contemplate the words “we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”  These are hope inspiring words.  Rachel, cling to this hope and because He is pure—you—my dear daughter—walk in purity.

Your mother and I have loved you even before that first moment when through tear clouded eyes we saw you.  The journey has taken us through many fevers and ballgames.  It has winded through family, friendships and churches.  It has taken us through the waters of baptism and brought us to this day—a new day.  This is a day not to be lost on dreams of folly but gained by the hope of Christ.  Yes, we look back and remember.  We look inward and re-focus.  We look forward and gain new vision.  We look upward and long for Christ.  We move forward in purity.  This is a great day not to be wasted but to be celebrated.  He has brought us here.  He will lead us onward.  Take the next step with full confidence that you are in His grip.

I love you,

Daddy

1.  Show Appropriate Public Affection to your Spouse.  This communicates a sense of security for your children and gives them visionary hope of joy in their future marriage.

2.  Live an Ordered Life.  Chaos in the home fosters chaos in the heart.  A clean house, healthy meals, early rising, daily family worship, family exercise and fun activites encourage a sense of well being in the home.

3.  Go to Church Regularly.  It has often been said “Going to church won’t make you a Christian any more than going into a garage will make you and automobile.”   That being true the true Christian will want to go to church where the greatness of God is proclaimed and the hope of His coming is anticipated.

Love your children they are a gift from the Lord.

RR

Parenting requires great vision. The faithful parent simply must know how to see into the future and wrap their arms and dreams around things yet unseen. Psalm 78 captures the essence of the forward look with these words: “…tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done” (Vs. 4). Parenting the present generation requires thinking about the future generation. Thinking about the future generation while parenting the present generation requires thinking about the past generation. We are to teach our children that, “which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us” (3).

How can we apply these words?

1. We must put our minds around ancient biblical history.

What we are looking for is the greatness of God demonstrated in His superintendance of His people historically. This includes His provision, guidance and chastisement. Psalm 78 is filled with such instruction.

2. We must seek to impress the character of God upon the hearts of our children.

Children and adults learn to trust God for the future when they are able to see his faithfulness historically.

3. We must train our children with an eye towards our great grandchildren. That the generation to come might know…That they may arise and tell them to their children” (6).

4. Visionary training keeps great objectives in view.

What are we really aiming at when we teach our children who God is and what He has done? Our objective is three-fold.

A. We are aiming at the goal of faith in God (7).

B. We are aiming at the goal of remembrance of God (7).

C. We are aiming at the goal of obedience to God (7).

Visionary goal setting for our children requires that we and they know that God can be trusted. We know that by looking back. The very call to remember God requires that we look back. The call to obey God requires that we look back to the commands of God.

To have a visionary family we must see ahead. To see ahead we must learn to look back. Moving forward by looking back is at the heart of the message of Psalm 78.