The Talk

If there is one difficult discussion that parents have with their children is "the talk."

Unfortunately, young people live in a world where they are most often being mis-guided about the Biblical concepts of marriage and true love.

How do we change our homes and world if we do not have the conversations that can change the trajectory for good and God's glory?

First, let me encourage you to have those needed talks, especially with your own kids if they are still at home. If we don't teach them, we cannot trust others to share the truth.

What makes the conversation difficult is that most of us come to the conversation broken and with relationship baggage of our own. Lust is a very real thing, and our kids inherit a sin "gene" from us, so they wrestle with this, too.

Second, try to communicate truth in meaningful ways by showing love and your concern for them personally.

As an example, try writing a letter. A letter will help you think through God's truth, and it helps you convey it using your own words in a way others can relate.

Sundays, I am sharing letters that I wrote to my own children (and grandchildren) to help them navigate the big questions of life successfully.

Many young people receive little Bible instruction and training from their parents--including those in Christian homes. Parents notoriously let difficult subjects get addressed by others, such as schoolteachers, pastors, and YouTube.

The responsibility of teaching and guiding hearts rests with parents, and I hope our recent Sunday morning services have helped to encourage and equip parents for this very important responsibility.

Third, as our world increasingly promotes "alternative" lifestyles as the norm, make it a "must" to resort to places, like church, and people that value what God values. Face the music and know that many of the places you used to be able to trust, like Disney and even the Hallmark Channel, have ditched traditional values. Social media's algorithims are going to present an alternative set of values that conflicts with God's Word. One of the best places to hear about God's traditional design for marriage and relationships is at non other than, well, church.

The more reasons we find to be out of church where God's truth is taught, the more we are going to think the failing systems of our world are normal and that God's plan is outdated and surpassed by human invention.

Hear this clearly and observe this closely. There is not one human invention or idea that is better than God's original design. (Is it okay to say, "Boom. Mic drop," here?)

Sunday morning, we are going to look at this subject and seek to rebuild the foundation that is being destroyed in our country and world. It's not something that happened overnight, but over (a relatively short time) it got eroded and removed. Now, we are wondering what happened that is causing many of the societal crises we're facing.

By and large, the answer for societal issues is obedience on this subject: the family.

We cannot blame God. People mock it, but God's design works. We need to encourage struggling families and young exploring people, so they might have faith and follow God's design.

You can't just create your own design for who you are or for a real family. God did that for us. Who you are as His creation is not a mistake. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. And God has a blessing for those who honor His design for family.

This is not to make light of any situation and the modern complexities of "family," but if we could get back to re-building families where there's a dad and mom, sociologists say about 80% of the problems our society faces would be fixed. The family is uniquely equipped by God to strengthen communities and nations. We are seeing the opposite effect in America.

I believe there are young people who are looking at the foolishness of current leadership in the world that has destroyed what they have always desired in life that can be rightly found in a real family. They get it (at least in part). We all have a natural human connection with two people: a dad and mom. (That's the real science.)

Sunday morning, May 7, at 10:30, we're going to delve into what marriage and true love looks like and how we can avoid the worldly traps of lust and the re-design of our individual identities. Invite your family and friends to come with you!

This is a very needed subject in our day. It is something many people are shying away from due to overt and powerful systems bent on destroying traditional values. It's foolish to keep our heads in the sand. Let's help our families to have God's mind on the matter. Consider, the world is trying to influence even the most vulnerable of our generation, preschoolers, in alarming ways, so a clear look at this extremely important subject will help all of us.

Thanks for reading! I look forward to worshipping and growing together on Sunday.

Blessings,
Pastor Dennis Schaffer

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