A few weeks ago we (www.wechurch.com) had a free car wash for people in our community to get their cars washed. It was great, we had a good time and made some good connections in the community. The week before our car wash was an interesting week. I saw a few other car washes and talked to several people about the car wash we were going to do. Now, let me explain the title.
One week before our car wash I was driving to a local archery shop where I was unexpectedly and suddenly distracted by what at first glance appeared to be a topless girl waving a sign. It turned out she was not topless, but here and several other HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS were wearing bikinis. There was no shortage of cars to be washed and a fair amount of honking. For the record my car remained dirty. A couple days before our car wash I was inviting a guy at the pizza place I frequent to bring his car to get washed. After inviting him he asked if there would be girls wearing bikinis. So, whats the significance?
Let me see if I can make the significance clear. If my daughter was fully and modestly dressed at a car wash where the other girls were selling their bodies for a school fundraiser she would be removed from the car wash. Our culture has become so inundated with sex that parents (probably some of them claim to know Jesus) allow their daughters to parade around in bikinis next to a busy highway. Am I so naive that somehow I have missed this progression to an all out sex crazed world? No, for the most part I have seen this happen in most areas of life. I was naive enough to think that some parents actually cared about how their daughters were looked at.
What will this post accomplish? Probably not much. Still this is a call to any parent who calls themselves a Christian to begin protecting their children. This is a call to stand up to culture. This means standing up to coaches, other parents, and maybe even school boards. This means being willing to say what no one else will. This means being popular is insignificant and unimportant. I am of course assuming that the parents who read this have emotionally moved beyond the popularity contest of high school. I am also assuming that you are more concerned about teaching your kids to do what is right than you are about whether they have a date for their Senior Prom.
If you read this and think that I am some insane parent who has clearly gone off the deep end, you might be right. Even if that is true, it is impossible to read scripture and believe that kind of behavior is acceptable.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
To Spank or not to Spank?
Spanking used to be a given, it was part of culture. I was spanked a lot. Actually I was spanked lots and lots. I was spanked by my parents, grandparents, aunts, principle, and probably a few others along the way. I was spanked with belts, spoons, hands, sticks, hangers, and probably some other objects I don't recall. I say all of that without feeling like I was abused or unjustly punished. Sometimes I wonder if the spankings were in some way therapeutic for my parents. I deserved most of them. I only recall one time when I was spanked for something I didn't do. Still with all of that I wonder if spanking is all it's "cracked" up to be.
There have been studies done that say kids who are spanked are more aggressive. At first that might sound alarming, but it raises a couple of questions. First, is aggressiveness bad? I wonder if our culture has determined aggressiveness to be bad because our society has become a little wimpy in general. Second, were these kids aggressive because they were spanked or were they spanked because they were over aggressive? Perhaps we cannot answer that question, but I think it rightly casts some doubt about those studies. I am not sure these studies are very helpful.
I have two kids who are very, very different. My daughter has been spanked, but not frequently. We may have been able to raise her without spanking her because she is sensitive. Still the spanking is more of an emotional encounter with her. I may have spanked her a couple times where it hurt, the rest of the times it was almost symbolic. Most of the time she is crying before the spanking even starts. We have a hug and talk about what happened after the spanking is over. Wow, that doesn't sound abusive. My son is two. He has my personality (go back and read about my spankings). The other day I spanked him hard enough that my hand tingled just a little bit. It was enough to sting him just a touch. He didn't cry, he hardly flinched to be honest. He looked at me and laughed!! This has happened on a couple of occasions. Once I spanked him and he thought I was playing with him. Perhaps this is the best argument against spanking.
I may continue to spank my son on occasion, but my wife and I are exploring other discipline options that may be more effective. He doesn't like to sit still, so time outs might work. I never thought I would use time outs, but if it works it works.
Kids are different, they need different approaches. Maybe it is not whether spanking is right or wrong, but determining what works.
There have been studies done that say kids who are spanked are more aggressive. At first that might sound alarming, but it raises a couple of questions. First, is aggressiveness bad? I wonder if our culture has determined aggressiveness to be bad because our society has become a little wimpy in general. Second, were these kids aggressive because they were spanked or were they spanked because they were over aggressive? Perhaps we cannot answer that question, but I think it rightly casts some doubt about those studies. I am not sure these studies are very helpful.
I have two kids who are very, very different. My daughter has been spanked, but not frequently. We may have been able to raise her without spanking her because she is sensitive. Still the spanking is more of an emotional encounter with her. I may have spanked her a couple times where it hurt, the rest of the times it was almost symbolic. Most of the time she is crying before the spanking even starts. We have a hug and talk about what happened after the spanking is over. Wow, that doesn't sound abusive. My son is two. He has my personality (go back and read about my spankings). The other day I spanked him hard enough that my hand tingled just a little bit. It was enough to sting him just a touch. He didn't cry, he hardly flinched to be honest. He looked at me and laughed!! This has happened on a couple of occasions. Once I spanked him and he thought I was playing with him. Perhaps this is the best argument against spanking.
I may continue to spank my son on occasion, but my wife and I are exploring other discipline options that may be more effective. He doesn't like to sit still, so time outs might work. I never thought I would use time outs, but if it works it works.
Kids are different, they need different approaches. Maybe it is not whether spanking is right or wrong, but determining what works.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Ten Ways to Know You are Spirit Led!!
Do you want to be Spirit Led? I used to wish I was Spirit Led!! Now with the help of Spirit Led: Ten Techniques in Becoming Spirit Led I have accomplished my goal. I am now 100% Spirit Led 100% of the time. You too can accomplish this great and spiritual feat. Start by evaluating yourself based on the 10 descriptions:
- You see people and instantly know how SPIRITUAL they are.
- You receive IM's from God while you are not online. TTYL God!!
- You are occasionally transported from one location to another at the Spirits direction (Beam me up Scottie!)
- You don't need your Bible to hear from God
- When you read your Bible you don't have to open the cover
- When you talk to people you regularly use terms like "God Told Me" or "I Feel God Leading Me To..."
- You raise your hands when you worship
- You have occasionally knelt while singing or praying
- You no longer have sinful thoughts of any kind
- You have already attained complete and total righteousness and are an expert on Sanctification since you have already accomplished it.
Send angry emails to youraheretic@spirit-led.God
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
