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The New Model of Morality for Millions of Teens

1/19/2023

Can our homes be a haven from the world? Can we successfully limit the influence of the world upon our children? Can we guide our children away from a culture that lies in spiritual darkness? Must our children “catch” the culture? Are they destined to simply conform to a lost world? Must parents resign themselves to the inevitable loss of their children to a godless culture?

     What do you think? How can we equip ourselves to stand against the flood of ungodliness that threatens our homes and the spiritual well-being of our children?

     Looking at the landscape of American culture the situation can appear hopeless. However, the Word of God has our answer. Wisdom gleaned from obeying the Word of God bears the fruit we so desperately want to see in our children.

     Understand this: while certain things are unique to our times one thing remains constant from generation to generation. Since the fall of Adam, through the days of Noah, until the time of Christ, and up to our present hour the spirit of the world remains the same. The Bible says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:16-17).

     One of the first things a parent must come to grips with to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit in child training is the necessity of separating from the world. With purpose a parent must set their children apart to the Lord and apart from the world. This will play out in the practical ways a parent allows the world to influence their children.

     Let me quickly say the issue at hand is not normal interaction with the world around us as a child grows up. However, whenever a parent allows consistent influences upon their children that have the power to shape their thinking contrary to the Word of God we have a problem.

     Let me site an example alive and well in our pop culture today. Recently a news release came to my attention I think you need to be aware of:

Alex McFarland warns against a ‘new model of morality’ for teens on social media

‘By training young brains to seek positive reinforcement from social media, we are allowing the world to mold young minds rather than the Holy Spirit’

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has confirmed the suspicions of many regarding social media’s effect on youth. The study found that “social media checking behaviors in early adolescence may be associated with changes in the brain’s sensitivity to social rewards and punishments.” Teenagers who spend excessive amounts of time on social media sites such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are adjusting their perception of “good” and “bad” by how their peers respond to content, leading them to be more easily manipulated by social platforms.

Youth, culture and religion expert Alex McFarland commented on this disturbing phenomenon, stating that if the results of the study, which suggests long-term detrimental effects to youthful minds, show even more irreparable intellectual and spiritual harm than the research reveals.

“‘Thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ has become the new model of morality for millions of teens,” McFarland stated. “Peer approval can be a painful false god, and it’s incredibly easy for teens to get sucked into the online world and miss the truth of the Gospel. Not only can excessive social media negatively affect young people’s brains, the ideology of altering your viewpoint to garner more ‘likes’ is patently anti-Christian. Christians were called to be a light in the darkness, despite however the world perceives us. By training young brains to seek positive reinforcement from social media, we are allowing the world to mold young minds rather than the Holy Spirit.”

(An ordained minister for more than 25 years, McFarland has personally counseled thousands of families and individuals, and he is passionate about helping America’s youth build successful lives in the face of ever-diminishing morals, ethics, and values.)

     This news release touches upon the world of social media. Every young person under the age of 20 has grown up with this new phenomenon. There is a lot to be said about the tsunami called “Social Media.” However, for now just focus on the powerful influence the world can wield on the minds of your children if they are left to themselves with social media.

     The wise parent will keep their children away from social media as long as possible simply to allow their children to grow up in a normal childhood! Furthermore, as the teen years come along clear guidelines must be established for interaction with social media.

     The spirit of the world seeks to invade our homes from every direction. However, it is in the power of parents to limit this influence by shutting down the sources by which the world meanders into our home life. With that said, it is even more important to keep the Word of God front and center in the thinking of your children as they grow up and eventually come of age. Your practice as a parent is to INCREASE EXPOSURE TO THE WORD and LIMIT EXPOSURE TO THE WORLD.

     Our homes can be a haven from this world. We can limit exposure to the spirit of the world. We absolutely can guide our children away from the culture of this world. Our children will not be prone to adopt the culture of the world if they are a part of a “Christian subculture” in which convictions are developed from godly parents, pastors, and teachers.

     Thankfully, no parent need resign themselves to a guessing game about how their children will turn out. While it is true each child must inevitably make their own choice for Christ, diligence has its place. Fight the battle to win! I assure you those parents who limit the world’s influence upon their child and see to it that the life of their children is built upon the Word of God will make their way successful.

Pastor Rusty Yost

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The Battle for Your Children is Real

1/10/2023

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In April of 2022 our current President made some interesting comments that should raise the eyebrows of every parent in America. He said at the 2022 National and State Teachers of the Year awards at the White House, "They're all our children. And the reason you're the teachers of the year is because you recognize that. They're not somebody else's children. They're like yours when they're in the classroom."

     Really. Do Christian parents believe their children belong to the teachers and administrators of the public school system? I don’t think so, however, those entrusted to care for and instruct the children placed in the public school system evidently do not see themselves as servants of parents. Rather, parents relinquish ownership of their children when they pass through the doors of the school. They are not “somebody else’s children” says the President, rather “they’re all our children.”

     Biden's remarks sound a lot like those of Terry McAuliffe. You may recall during last year's race for Virginia governor McAuliffe said, "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach." His opponent Glenn Youngkin went on to an upset win claiming the governorship as he rode a wave of parental outrage to victory.

     While parental push back in that case is commendable the situation in our public schools remains out of control. The condition of public school education is horribly deficient for Christian families. Of course, I’m not talking about the condition of school buildings, or the lack of athletic programs, or other material needs such as computers, etc. Rather, I’m talking about the dominance of atheistic, ungodly education that long since departed from God, Christ, and His holy word.

     I must remind Christian parents that a maturing knowledge of God developed in the hearts of children by daily instruction in the Holy Scriptures lies at the heart of real education. Any education that is devoid of Holy Scripture (which is able to make a child wise unto salvation which is in Christ Jesus our Lord) should be anathema to Christian parents. As our Lord says, we build upon sand if we hear his words and fail to obey. How much more are we building the lives of our children upon sand when the education they receive does not afford them the opportunity to even hear his word? I trust you see the point.

     For over 45 years now I have found it amazing that Christian parents find it acceptable to hand their children to a system devoid of the Word of God. Some argue that homelife and church life provide sufficient instruction for children of Christian homes. However, that is horribly short-sighted for at least two reasons.

     First, the hours spent at school over 13 years (K-12) dwarfs the hours a child spends receiving instruction at home and at church. Here is a break down of how this plays out:

*The absence of a Christian school experience means that we lost the opportunity to use the 7 hour a day, 180 days a year, 13 year educational experience to build disciples!

Consider the following: (13 years x 52 weeks x hours of instruction)

Church hours (13x52x3): 2028. (Assuming a child attends 3 times per week)

Home hours (13x52x7): 4732. (The seven here represents one hour/day of home instruction.)

School (13x180x7): 16,380.    (13 years x 180 days x 7 hours per day) We lost these hours to secular education if the Christian school is ignored or if homeschooling is not an option for a family.

     Putting the hours of instruction at home and at church together totals 6760. Total hours at school amounts to 16,380. Of course, how many families take their children to church three hours a week? Furthermore, how many families spend a full hour per day seven days a week instructing children in the Bible?

     The point illustrated is simple to see. Most professing Christian parents have their children baptized in a secular school setting that amounts to the greatest influence in their life based upon the hours of interaction alone.

     However, there is a greater point to be made. The Word of God is replete with instruction to believers to avoid an uneven yoke with the world. The Lord warns his people NOT to learn the ways of the wicked. Separation from the practices and philosophy of the world is a big priority if we are to successfully win and train our children to follow Christ.

     Here is another blatant example of what is currently happening in our schools across the United States and the western world (this is only one example as the LGBTQ+ movement is literally putting all children at risk including those from professing Christian homes). I am quoting an article from Natural News to make this point:

     “In order to make the world a better place, the World Economic Forum (WEF) wants the nations of the world to legalize or at least decriminalize pedophilia, which the globalists are now referring to as “age gap love.”

To criminalize the sexual molestation of children is to “violate human rights,” according to WEF head Klaus Schwab and his partner in crime Yuval Noah Harari, who says God is dead and “Jesus is fake news.”

At its most recent Davos gathering, the WEF tried to argue that normalizing pedophilia and child rape will “save humanity” from, you guessed it: climate change. The WEF also stated that the growing pedophilia epidemic is “nature’s gift” to mankind for a number of reasons.

One of those reasons is that molested children become so damaged that they are very unlikely to have families themselves. Child abuse and the destruction of innocence, according to the WEF, is nature’s way of cleansing the world and “saving humanity” from itself.

Destroying the family unit and allowing adult perverts to engage in sexual perversion with “underage people,” as the WEF is now calling them, will help to depopulate the planet and bring it back into “harmony” and “balance.”

One major way that the WEF is steering society towards accepting and even celebrating pedophilia as normal is through the “education,” aka indoctrination system.

Schwab himself bragged in Davos that his globalist minions have infiltrated every level of Western education, which explains the heavy push for LGBTQP – the P stands for pedophilia – at even the preschool level. Today’s children – at least the ones who are sent to “school” rather than homeschooled by their loving parents – are constantly barraged with sexual perversion in the classroom, often by LGBTQP “teachers” who expose them to as much deviancy as they can get away with.

These same children end up embracing sexual perversion themselves. Some cut off their body parts to turn “trans” while others engage in pedophilic behavior with pervert adults, who in some cases are their own “teachers.”

This deviancy then spreads as these damaged children go out into society and spread the gospel of LGBTQP themselves, creating an entire society of sexual perverts who live their lives in hot pursuit of their latest victims. This is the America that was long envisioned by the globalists as ideal for achieving their goals.”

     Perhaps it is hard to believe such things are occurring in local public schools. However, I challenge you to find one public school in Erie county or otherwise who refuses to hire teachers who are a part of the LGBTQ+ movement. Such teachers are there and furthermore the administrators of our schools are not free to train children in Biblical morality. For years the moral vacuum in our schools has been filled by the “values” of the ungodly who by precept and example have long since departed from the will of God.

     My advice to any Christian parent is to separate from the public school system. This priority is more urgent now than ever. I know that decision is not necessarily an easy one. However, in the battle for the heart and mind of your children it is foundational.

     Obviously there are examples of children from Christian homes who survive the public system. However, NO Christian young person is thriving in that system and sadly many are being lost to the world as the culture overwhelms them. Remember this: your priority is to win your children to Christ and train them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Can any Christian honestly say the public system is an ally helping to fulfill this priority in the life of their children?

     I think the answer is obvious. I pray Christian parents will simply leave the system and focus with a zealous heart to raise up children who know the Word of God and come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our labor to raise up a godly generation is NOT in vain. The battle for our children is worthy of every sacrifice we make. May the Lord open our eyes to a fresh vision for the prosperity of our children is my prayer.

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The New Model of Morality for Millions of Teens

The Battle for Your Children is Real

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