Truth Encounter: Street Smart Godly Kids

"If you feel like having sex with someone and they agree, go ahead. This proclaims your love for life!" The responsible choice in this culture is not in controlling passions, but in being sure they are coated with thick enough plastic so that no viruses can escape to do their dirty deadly thing. Isn’t it about time for a lot of us to stand up and speak up. What about an old fashioned thing called the truth?

Choices--we all have to make them. Will we wear this shirt or that shirt this morning? Will we go out to eat or stay home tonight? Should we go to this college or that college? In the course of a life time thousands of choices will be made, and as a young person sets out down the path of young adulthood, their choices are life determining. How does a parent or grandparent help prepare these kids to make the right choices?

If your free from guilt, if you have truth on your side, if you are confident of love, you can look at others right in the eye with boldness and strength. This is the bearing of royalty and God wants all of His children to remember that this is exactly what they are if they have invited His Son into their lives.

Every one of our towns and cities needs a better business bureau to guard against con men and women who seek to make a fast buck on the naive and unsuspecting. I am sure that some of your local news stations have business reporters who seek to sniff out the latest sting. Why not learn to sniff them out for yourself?

“Fantasy island,” “fantasy vacations,” fantasy perfumes”—the word fantasy places magic, thrill, satisfaction before any word it modifies, but is it possible that our fantasies could destroy us? We can’t live without dreams, but when our dreams restrain us from doing the practical, uncomfortable, hard things that must be done today, they can turn our future into one tragic nightmare.

As you drive by this individual’s house, weeds have taken over the lawn, the door is blocked by thorn bushes, and the gate hangs on broken hinges. From the looks of the place you would conclude that a gang of marauders had invaded the place and torn it apart. But instead of this kind of overt attack, a more insidious silent destroyer has smothered prosperity. It is possible that this thief is already at work on your bank account, your home, your prosperity.

Lotteries, Las Vegas, Atlantic City—our country is crazed over the dream of getting rich quick with little effort! Why wait and save when you can borrow and enjoy? We all realize that illicit sexual desires destroy families, but have we realized that there is just as dangerous a foe that is probably destroying more homes than immoral liaisons? This is Truth Encounter and today we are going to talk about money!

Have you ever been on a trip and you made a wrong turn but you didn’t realize it? You kept driving, oblivious to the fact that you were not heading toward your destination. When you finally discovered your error-- oh the frustration! Lost time, wasted gas, missed opportunities. What road are you on in life? Have you made a wrong turn? Proverbs 4 has some fascinating things to teach us about this trip called “life.”

How do we keep the spiritual center of our being healthy? We all worry about whether or not we are getting the right information to our kids, but we need to be asking whether or not we are maintaining the intimacy factors necessary to insure a good relationship with our children and with our marriage partners. It needs to be a real internal thing, not just a canned talk thing.

Heart disease can be a disguised unsuspected killer. The person looks healthy. There are few warning signals. But suddenly there is that radiating pain down the arm or that pressure in the chest. All of us know loved ones and friends who have had this experience. But did you know that at the core of your being there is something even more important than the blood pump in your chest?

The atheistic philosopher Nietzsche once said, “If these Christians want me to believe in their redeemer, then they need to act a lot more redeemed.” One of Satan’s most powerful tools used to keep Christ followers enslaved under his rule is our failure to put what we believe into action. We need to have right thinking about God in our minds, but it needs to grab a hold of our hearts and get into our feet as we live in the office, the home, and the school.

Today’s Truth Encounter is committed to helping us discover exactly what it means to be a “good neighbor.” Our discussion turns to a forgotten art in contemporary America--the art of neighborliness. Dave shares some down home sense from Proverbs 3 on how to have a healthy relationship first with God and then with the people living next door and down the street.

The modern women’s movements love to paint themselves as the revolutionaries who set women free to be all they can be. For this reason it is fascinating to pick up a portrait of womanhood from 900 BC and discover that this noble woman from the past could give any superstar feminist a run for their money and yet, strangely, she still cherished the love and priority of home and family.

What are the virtues we should seek to develop in young women? Movies tend to mock the old fashioned idea that young women should be taught the feminine graces and some modern women’s groups call any emphasis on the distinction between the sexes bigotry. At the opposite extreme some traditional religious groups have locked women in a household slavery that denies their unique gifts. Where does the Bible fit into this tug of war between militant feminists and chauvinistic traditionalists?

Our society is convinced that the key to getting people to behave sexually is to give them facts about it. Having the right information in their heads will get the right actions into their bodies. Facts make a poor defense against lust’s heavy artillery. How do you conquer false loves? How do you find true love when all you keep finding is destructive, selfish lust? These are the questions to be answered in today’s Truth Encounter.

Abstinence from sex before and outside of marriage. Thousands have made vows of chastity and we need to encourage this return to purity. But what about those who have already fallen into the pit of sexual immorality? Is there any way to get out? Can there be cleanness again for those already soiled in sexual impurities? Today we turn to those already ensnared in its grip.

It keeps happening within even the church community. It soils the purity of white wedding dresses. It mocks the stability of covenant promises. It causes children to be robbed of adults who can model moral standards for them. What is this enemy that is causing so much pain and destruction? Sexual sin. From pastors to evangelists to kids in our youth groups, sex sin is destroying any credible witness to the power of Christ to change lives. Why has sexual scandal become so common among evangelical believers? What can we do about it? What about our own personal pulls into this dream like world of intrigue and lust?

Sounding the alarm against sexual sin—that is what the wise instructors in the book of Proverbs did and that is what we intend to do as we continue our series on how to raise godly kids in a godless age. The sixties generation believed it is impossible to control one’s sexual desires--they must be expressed--so their solution is to hand out condoms and hope the teenagers will use them. These so-called modern sex educators want our children to bet their lives that a condom will prevent them from disease and pregnancy. The ancient sex educators of the Old Testament gave far more protective advice.

Sexual immorality is tearing families and churches apart and our study today will take us into this world of the huntress and the hunter as we learn how God’s handbook for skillful living--the ancient book of Proverbs--still has the information we need to overcome the seduction of lust. We are in the midst of a vital series titled “Street Smart Godly Kids,” and it has been incredible to see how straightforward the biblical text is about sex.

Want to know what goes on in a seduction? As our culture debates over what we teach our children about sex and sexuality, Proverbs has words that have guided young people and protected them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. What about all the destroyed lives when our culture wakes up and discovers that their experiment with sexuality was not liberating but devastating? We only get to experiment with our own life once. It only makes sense to read what godly parents taught their kids about sex in Proverbs.

Sex is one of our strongest human drives and yet sometimes from the silence of the church you would think that this was forbidden ground as far as divine instruction is concerned. In fact the book of Proverbs has some very realistic things to communicate to us about this powerful force. With all the talk about sex education it is time for us to take a careful look at one of the oldest curriculums on this subject in existence.

Hollywood portrays it as the ultimate thrill ride of life that can satisfy the deepest longings and desires, but the church often condemns it as sinful or tolerates it as a necessity to keep the human race going. Sex –it is often taught in the classroom but avoided in home and church. How in the world has a group of people who pride themselves on their commitment to the Bible—a book that begins portraying a naked husband and wife--become so uptight about sexuality to the point that many young people believe that the devil created the human sexual response and all the pleasure that comes with it?

It’s a job that is never done. It’s a task that few appreciate. Mothers mend the holes in their children’s lives and who notices? Because it is often the unrecognized profession in today’s money driven economy many women are choosing to leave the stinky diapers and toddler’s temper tantrums for the self-fulfillment of a career. God’s word never states that a woman shouldn’t enter the work force but it does state that when a mother thinks it’s more important to sell real estate than to skillfully build her own house, values have become tragically twisted.

Thousands of Americans are pumping iron, pounding the pavement, doing the one, two, three, fours with their favorite workout tape. Millions are spent to gain the vital information needed to get in shape physically, but sadly in the end even the most sculptured body disintegrates into dust. There is a more important part of our being that needs to be strengthened—our internal spiritual being. What are you doing to get in shape spiritually?

Our continuing discussion about how to raise godly kids in a godless age takes us today to the most famous verse in all of Proverbs--Proverbs 3:5 & 6. Who should we trust? Who should our kids trust? And why? When we find the answer to these questions, we will know the will of God. Let’s find out why trust is so fundamental to the wise individual.

How would you as a parent feel if you suddenly received word that a deadly contract had been put out against your child? There was a mad man who desired to snuff out their life? Obviously, your heart would be full of fear. But suppose I told you that I could pass along some information that could preserve your child’s life? I am certain you would be all ears. God’s handbook for skillful parenting--the Old Testament book of Proverbs--reveals that there are three demolition artists who want to slam a wrecking bar into the tender lives that live in our homes.

Rebates—from government rebates for energy efficient appliances to the large cash rewards for buying the new car now, sales people know the power of rebates to increase sales. Our ears perk up when someone says, “Listen, this is what you are going to get out of it.” Then listen, because you will discover what you will get out of it if you accept what wisdom is trying to teach. We are going to answer the question—Is it worth the investment?

In adolescence he mocks parental authority, in college he marches for anarchy, and in business he sarcastically ridicules all the fools who try to give him direction. His brand of cynical humor can make big bucks on late night TV but he knows little about what it takes to positively build a family, a community, or a nation. His name is “scoffer” and we are going to meet him on today’s Truth Encounter.

Right and wrong, sexual preferences, morality—many in our culture want to pretend that these choices are simply individual preferences, like choosing your favorite color, but no one gets sick and dies because their favorite color is red instead of blue. The truth is that there is a foolish way to live and a wise way to live and deep inside we all know there is a difference. Some mock these internal standards and others burn their conscience so severely that the moral scar tissue makes them totally insensitive to spiritual and moral issues, yet all have to face the consequences of the choices they make in life. Proverbs 1:20-33 shows us the consequences of rejecting wisdom’s invitation.

Adult crime during the past year has diminished significantly, but tragically the overall statistics are alarming due to a dramatic increase in teen crime. Gangs and drugs fuel this plague among the young and it is time for parents to assume their god-given role of leadership and give their children the proper defenses to resist the pull into drugs and gangs. You might believe that these are new problems--only faced by parents today. The truth is that evil has sought to entice the young with his criminal con for centuries and the Old Testament book of Proverbs has just the right information to help our children resist. But we need to know what it says and how to relate it to today’s needs.

How does a drug pusher come on to a teenager? As parents we might want to believe that our kids will never be exposed to the tentacles of the drug octopus, but an industry that grosses billions a year will do everything it can to ensnare our kids. Putting our heads in the sand like an ostrich will not protect our kids. We need to get in there and give them solid persuasive reasons why they should never touch illicit drugs and we must also give them the right stuff to help them resist the temptation. The information we share on the next two Truth Encounters could save your children’s lives.

Modern ideas about the universe cause man to disappear in vast spaces of nothingness and light year distances. Evolution tries to persuade us that man is simply a sophisticated animal, but as we look up into the vastness of the starry heavens or as we gaze at the grandeur of a Colorado mountain sunset, we know that such beauty does not come into being by accident. God whispers to us in His creation and deep inside we remember that we were made to reflect His character. He built us to praise His name.

Modern evolution teaches brilliant young students that the universe is the product of matter times time times chance. Everything is the product of probability factors and there is no supreme intelligent being behind it all. Therefore, life has no design. It is an accident in the midst of chaos. Little wonder students lose their drive for learning. If everything is fundamentally unreasonable, why slug it out through college to train your mind in reason? Why not express the basic instincts?

We live in a high tech sophisticated world. Our grandfathers got up and read the Farmer’s Almanac to get the latest weather report. We check our smart phone and watch Doppler radar and satellite photographs of weather movements across the planet. Banging away at computer keys, rushing out to get the latest iPhone or digital gadget, do you ever wonder if the God of the Bible can keep up with all man’s technology? Are you ever attracted to trade in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for the new age force of Star Wars?

Building a house- it’s the center of the American dream. What would you think of someone who simply had a bunch of lumber dumped on a lot with wire and siding thrown in and they haphazardly begin to build. Foolishness! Then why do so many of us try to construct life and try to build our families without consulting the life Architect?

"Standing On The Promises" This is the way one of the great hymns of the faith begins, but some of you tried to stand on the promise of Proverbs 22:6, “train up a child in the way which he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it,” but one of your children as departed. As a parent you are filled with embarrassment and guilt. You tried so hard to raise godly children but their choices have moved them far from spiritual truth. Did God’s promise fail?

Where can we find a Dr. Spock that can give us the right information for raising kids in the 21st Century? As you face a culture where gangs slash at the vitals of our inner cities, where small towns have to infiltrate their high schools with under cover agents to control drugs, and where suicide and accidents due to alcohol abuse threaten our children’s lives, who do you turn to for answers?

We live in a society of extremes. On the one hand we have a total disregard of parental authority as children are taught to resist their parents and express their creative energy. On the other hand we have other groups who express the opposite extreme as young adults are never allowed to cut the apron strings. Isn’t it encouraging to know that the heavenly father as given us an instruction manual that can help us avoid extremes as we help our kids learn to live instead of living and learning.

If you are committed to raising godly children, this study on the Old Testament book of Proverbs will be strategic and irreplaceable in teaching your children to fight--and --win life's battles on their own. Is it still possible to raise godly children? How do we do it? Should we lock them up in a monastery- safe from the allures of the evil one, or should we hang loose and let them learn the facts of life by experimentation? These questions remind us of restrictive Victorians versus free loving hippies. Can we chart a better course?