Another Bird Video at Winter Park

This video is pretty amazing. These jays would eat right out of my hand!

Fun with the Local Winter Park Wildlife

The local jay population was very glad when we dropped by for lunch. They were not afraid at all. We counted 4 birds. They seemed to prefer granola bars over bread!

Josie Sledding Video

Fun in the Snow

Why So Called Christmas Music Drives me Insane

Before you think that I am bah humbug scrooge kind of thing, hang with me for a moment.  I am all about music that celebrates and exalts Christ, and singing about His amazing birth is certainly worthwhile.  Scripture says that we should speak to one another with "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs..." So I am all for that kind of thing, which is truly and purely "Christmas Music."

But then, there is the other stuff.

A few Sundays ago, I was driving to church - the Christian music station has a thing called Sunday morning Praise - with worship songs.  I usually enjoy it.  However, I had to shut it off with a "you have got to be kidding me" when they played "Here Comes Santa Clause" by Elvis (He pronounces it "Sanny Clause".)

So, if anyone is reading this, consider the following.  Non Christ-centered "Christmas music" has just a few themes:

First of all, It's winter.  These are the blatantly non Christmas songs, because they are more about meteorology than theology.  This is the "Walking in a Winter Wonderland," "Sleigh Ride," "Let it Snow," and the remarkably rediculous "Frosty the Snowman."  If people want to sing about winter, that's fine.  It's better than most of the trash out there in popular music, but call it winter music, not Christmas music.

Second, there is the Christmas Chronology songs.  Those are the songs that croon over and over the difficult and complicated fact that "It's Christmas Time." - i.e. Silver Bells and that horrid Band Aid song "Do they know it's Christmas time?"  (Well, they obviously do, if they listen to western popular Christmas music. The '80s need to apologize for it's contributions at times.)  Perhaps the worst Christmas song ever was the Paul McCartney's musical disaster about having a wonderful Christmas time.  (So antithetical - how could you have a wonderful Christmas time if you have to listen to it?)  Do we really need songs that tell us that it's Christmas Time?  It's the closest that music gets to singing the calendar. 

Third - there is the string of breakups, and dumping of boyfriends and girlfriends that seems to happen most often at Christmas time, if you judge it by the sheer number of these songs.  Elvis sang "Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me." At least it's kinda catchy.

Fourth - the bizarre category.  Santa Baby?  Santa's Beard?  Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer?  'Nuff said.

Fifth - Superstition, mythology and absolute falsehoods.  No Virginia, there is not a Santa Clause, and you would be better to learn about the real life of Saint Nicholas (Veggie Tales did a great job with this on their new Christmas show."  Among the worst of the worst:

• From Santa Clause is Coming to Town.  "He sees you when you're sleeping.  He knows when you're awake.  He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake"  Call me Scrooge - but that is as anti-Christian as it gets. Anything that is in opposition to the grace of God is a bad deal, and the idea of being good to get stuff from Santa - the god like minor deity who is a very cheap substitute for the real God - is a mockery of the Cross of Christ.     
  
• From Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas:  "Through the years, we all will be together, if the Fates allow..."  What the heck are fates anyway?  This song is more unChristian than many songs on popular radio.  The "Fates" is equal to chance or luck, which in reality is nothing.  I am better off putting my trust and hope in this couch I'm sitting on than the "Fates."  At least the couch is a real thing. 
  

And so it goes.  I am not opposed to songs that tell a story or that even just plain silly, but even those songs have to be rooted at some level of truth. I know what some might say - they're just traditional Christmas songs, and I shouldn't try to overanalyze them.  I understand that, but that's kind of like saying, "Wrong ideas are ok if they are in traditional things that bring us warm fuzzies."

Wrong ideas are still wrong.

There is some traditional Christmas music sung by Burl Ives or Frank Sinatra or Burl Sinatra or whoever that I just don't like the style and the music, but that's really not the most important thing.  The important thing is that music leads the heart and mind to embrace beliefs. 

I don't let my kids play any of the "guitar hero" or "rock band" games because I don't want the worldview of the songs to be in my kids hearts and minds.  Music has a way of doing that, and doing it very well.  I remember all too well songs that I listened to in my youth that were filled with wrong, ungodly ideas, and I believed the wrong ideas because I loved the songs.  Why would I want to glorify worldly and wrong ideas just because it is in "traditional" music?

Finally, just to be clear, I am not saying that all traditional, non Christ-centered Christmas music is filled with wrong, ungodly ideas, but it's about intentionally glorifying God in every aspect of life.  If we can't keep Christ front and center in every way at Christmas, then when can we?

I played music on my keyboard many years ago for a business Christmas party in Joplin.  I played every Christmas Carol I knew, but the big shot of the party griped because I wasn't playing "Christmas Music."  He said that because I hadn't played "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" or "Jingle Bells."

It was one of those "You've got to be kidding me moments."  As a student of the culture, I learned a lot and grew up that day.  I don't want that culture to be the culture that my family is saturated with.

If I'm wrong - let me know - I am open to anyone's thoughts. 

Are You Too Familiar With Jesus?

^{Mark 6:4}Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." ⁵He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

Mark Moore made some comments on this passage that went something like this. If you want to impress Jesus, how are you going to do it? Are you going to create a fabulous painting that will impress the one who created the universe? Are you going to do some amazing feat or stunt that would wow Jesus? He raised from the dead - it doesn't get any better than that! It is a difficult thing to amaze Jesus, but the gospels record that it happened twice.

Jesus was amazed by the faith of the centurion - who asked Jesus to just say the word and his servant would be healed. It also happened here in Mark 6 - Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of those in his hometown of Nazareth. Interesting - all the things that we do to try to impress Jesus, and Jesus is amazed by great faith and no faith at all. Why were the people of Nazareth so faithless?


When Jesus came with his disciples to Nazareth, he went to the synagogue and began to teach. At first it seems that the hometown crowd is impressed - verse 2 says that "many who heard him were amazed." But their amazement, like that of Jesus, was a negative amazement - they were scoffing at Jesus as they asked a series of five questions:

• "Where did this man get these things?"
• "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles!"
• "Isn't this the carpenter?"
• "Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?"
• "Aren't his sisters here with us?"

So, the quick and easy answers to those five questions are: God, God's, yes, yes, yes. I guess they really weren't looking for answers. These five questions reveal their thoughts about Jesus:

1. He's just a man - a common man. There is nothing special about him. He's just the carpenter, and that's all.
   
2. Since we know him and his family, we know all there is to know.
   
3. A person is defined completely by his family connections - we know them, and there is nothing special about them, either.
   

So, the end of verse three says that they took offense at him. The Young's Literal Translation says "and they were being stumbled at him." Meaning, they were continually offended by Jesus - offense added to offense.


So the equation here is familiarity minus faith equals offense. They were offended that this carpenter had come back home as a Rabbi.


And that offense and lack of faith had consequences. Verse 5 says that he could not do many miracles except to heal a few people. Jesus is God - why would he not be able to do miracles? Well, it's not a lack of power on Jesus' part, but a lack of willingness on the people's part. In chapter 5, Jairus went to Jesus. The bleeding woman desperately clawed through the crowd to get to Jesus. In Nazareth, only a couple of people came to Jesus in faith, and only they received the blessing.


The application here is are you too familiar with Jesus? Do you see him as another aspect of your life or the source of your life? Do the stories and teaching of the New Testament seem common and dry? I think it is easy at times to think of them as "merely" stories, like the people of Nazareth saw Jesus as "merely" a carpenter.


I think this is one reason why so many young people fall away from a relationship with Christ. They have been taught the stories all their lives at church. They know the stories, but they don't have a relationship with the author. They study Acts, but not Romans. I have seen the rolling eyes and the heavy sighs from many young people that communicate loud and clear "we've heard this before."


Maybe if you are too familiar with Jesus, then you don't fear him enough. Maybe there is no faith - just familiarity with the stories.


Don't miss the opportunity to be blessed and healed by Jesus because of a lack of faith.

Are You Desperate for Jesus?

Jesus concludes his triple header of amazing miracles in Mark 5 with a "two-fer" - the healing of Jairus' daughter and the healing of the bleeding woman.


While the miracles themselves are amazing, I am very impressed by the tenacity and the desperation of Jairus and this woman. Jairus, who was an important guy as a synagogue leader, sought Jesus out among the crowd and fell at Jesus' feet, asking for help for his sick and dying little girl. This touches me as a father. There is perhaps nothing more scary than having your own little child be deathly ill. I can only remember feeling that way once with our kids - when Jordan was a baby - she was breathing so weird and pained that we took her to the hospital.


Having 8 kids, you would think we have made many trips to the ER, but we really haven't. I can only remember three times.


I can only imagine that Jairus was (as an experienced leader of people) was essentially bulldozing through the crowd. What a crowd it must have been! Jesus - the ultimate people magnet -was making his way through the area and Jairus must have been pushing people out of the way - desperate to make a path. Jairus certainly had a level of faith. His level of faith was for the here and now - the desperation of a focused goal - an important, but temporary gain. His desperation was similar to the reason why a football team does better on it's goal line defense than on the other 99 yards of the field. It was crunch time. It's do or die. It's all about blazing a highway through the crush of humanity so that my daughter will live.


Get Jesus to the girl. Get Jesus to the girl. Stay focused on the goal. Everyone else in this crowd is unimportant - surely people must see that.


I can relate to this guy - I can be so task oriented that I forget that reality is not so cut and dry. I have at times been so focused on getting the family to church on time (so we can worship God) that I have missed the true needs of my wife and children. But yet it seems so right and holy and isn't drive and determination supposed to be a good thing?


The trouble is for Jairus, and for the rest of us, is that Jesus is more concerned for His glory than our goals. It's like the scene in Evan Almighty where the congressman guy is confronted by God - God wants Evan to build an ark, just like Noah. Evan whines to God and complains, "but building an ark is not in my plans!" I love God's response - he just laughs - and that is Biblical, too (Psalm 2:1-6). God wants our obedient hearts, not our self-focused plans.


Jesus has other things in mind. While poor Jairus, as desperate as he is, is only focused on one thing - "get Jesus to the girl, get Jesus to the girl," he does not realize who Jesus is and how incredibly adept He is at multi-tasking. Could it be that Mark is writing this sequence in such a way as to say, "calming the storm was impressive, and casting out demons is incredible, but Jesus can also heal the sick and raise the dead at the same time."


We don't know much about this woman who touched Jesus in the crowd (5:27), but there are a few things we do know about her:

• Her problem was bleeding - for 12 years
• She had suffered greatly
• Doctors could not heal her
• She spent all she had for her health care
  
• Her illness had become much worse

There are also a few things that we can make good guesses on based on her condition and the culture of the time:

• Her "bleeding" most likely meant vaginal bleeding
  
• Her condition would make her smelly and unclean (literally and ceremonially)
• Most likely, she was alone and uncared for by a husband or family
  
• She could not enter the temple, or have children
• She might have had to yell "unclean" to everyone as she approached
• Anyone she touched would have been unclean as well - perhaps that is why she only wanted to touch Jesus' clothes - so his clothes could be changed and he would still be clean.
  
• As an unclean, childless, sick woman, she would have been a rejected and worthless person to society
  
• She was most likely very weak and was near death.

So this is the shape she is in as she claws through the crowd. She also had faith in Jesus, but her faith was at a little different level. Her faith brought her to Jesus, to the point that she thought that even touching Jesus' clothes would heal her.


Jairus was busy dragging Jesus to his house, but this woman was busy dragging herself to Jesus. Both had faith, but the actions born out of their faith showed the depth of that faith.


When she touched Jesus and she was healed, I can only imagine her joy - yet her fear at the same time - Jesus knew what happened of course, but he asks the question "Who touched my clothes?" Perhaps he was giving her an opportunity to come - opening the door, so to speak. When she comes, he blesses her. While this incredible drama is unfolding, and near conclusion, the word comes that Jairus' daughter has died.


Then Jesus has the opportunity to grow Jairus' faith. Jesus said, "Don't be afraid; just believe." Jesus wouldn't let a little thing like death stop him from magnifying his glory and growing faith in the heart of a father.


Jairus had failed in his mission. He had not been able to get Jesus to the girl - he was a failure as a father. He couldn't protect her and provide for her enough. As a dad, I say, "been there, done that." I love my children and I want the best for them, but I can only do so much. I can't protect them in every situation. Sooner or later, they will walk out the door. I will have to give away my daughters to be married to some guy who won't be as good as me! Instead of trying to bring Jesus to my house, I need to be bringing my house to Jesus!


I can't imagine what they must have thought when Jesus brought them into the death chamber, took the girl's hand, and told her to get up. If it would have been me, I would have even been more desperate for Jesus.

Joy Daisy's Birthday Gift

For Joy's birthday, she wanted me to build her a house for her little animals (It started out as a dog house, but ended but housing horses as well.)


I used cabinet rail as the "fence" around the "yard," which is a 2 X 2 1/4 inch birch plywood. The house is made from 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch poplar craft project wood.


Joy and the girls painted the fence and the yard, and the little flowers on the house.


I have never made anything like this before. I sure learned a lot!

Are You Amazed by Jesus?

^{Matthew 5:5}Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

There is so much that is just creepy about this story - the demon possessed guy (Matthew records that there were two of them), alone in the graveyard, screaming at Jesus. Pigs dying. People rejecting Jesus because of their fear. Here is another story that examines the fear of God - except that these people, told Jesus to leave. The disciples at the end of chapter 4 "feared a great fear" and responded with amazed worship. These pig herders (obviously not Jewish, but Greek) were afraid and responded with amazed rejection.


I think that Mark, in his fast paced, bang, bang, bang style, is demonstrating the power of Jesus at the end of chapter 4 and in chapter 5. Jesus has power over all nature - he calms the storm. Jesus has power over the spirit world -he rebukes and redirects the demons out of this guy. And later in chapter 5 - Jesus has power over sickness and death - he heals the woman and raises the little girl from death. In case anyone was confused about who Jesus is, he has the same power that God has! The response of people in each situation was basically the same: fear and amazement:

^4:41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"


^5:15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.


^5:20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.


^5:33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.


^5:42 Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.

Before I go on, I just want to say that I think that one of the reasons why Christianity is so dull and dry these days is because we have lost our fear and amazement of Jesus.


Jesus raised the dead! Oh, that's nice. I saw that in the Terminator movie.


Jesus cast all the demons into a herd of pigs! Oh, that's not nice that Jesus killed all those pigs.


Jesus calmed the storm! We can easily explain that by looking at the meteorologic data.


We are so used to science and data and the movies that there is little that impresses us anymore. Maybe that is one reason why people love to go see movies with incredible special effects and grand visual elements. Maybe people are looking for a way to be amazed - to be impressed.


But these things are just false realities - Computer animation can make it look like dogs and cats can talk, but God could truly make a donkey talk. If you want to talk about fear and amazement, here is something that is truly amazing - the complete and instant life transformation that happens to this poor guy.


My favorite verse in this story has always been verse 5. "Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones." People don't usually talk about the flowery and beautiful language of the NIV, but I love the way this verse is written - there is so much description in those few words. Think of all the ways this man was described here:

• He never had any rest (Night and day)
• He lived with death (among the tombs)
  
• He was completely alone (in the hills)
• He was in constant pain & agony (he would cry out)
• No one ever heard his cries (in the hills)
• He wanted to die (cut himself)
• He abused and hated himself (cut himself)
  
• He had nothing (with stones)

There are more descriptions in the other verses and in the other accounts in Matthew and Luke - but isn't that one verse enough to describe how alone, destitute and pain ridden he was?


But Jesus did heal him, and he was completely transformed - that amazes me. Jesus told him, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." Can you imagine a more zealous evangelist? What would they say? I wonder how they responded? Did his mother cry? Did he have a wife or children?


One thing that we do know (verse 20) is that he told everyone in the areas about Jesus and his deliverance, and the people were amazed.


I hope that you too, today are absolutely amazed by Jesus.

Are You Terrified by Jesus?

⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" Mark 4:41

It is easy to imagine many things in this scene - the boat, the storm, the wind and waves. When Jenette and I took our then 1 year old Joel to California, we somehow ended up talking with a guy who volunteered to take us on his sailboat. We had never been on a sailboat before, and didn't quite know what we were getting into.

The first problem we experienced when we got to the marina was that the guy only had adult size horse collar life jackets. Being the safe and responsible parents that we were, we had but one choice - hold Joel down and put this gigantic thing around his neck. It truly was bigger than he was, and looking back now, I wonder if it would have helped at all if he went in the drink. Well, that put him in one of those screaming, pitching a fit, "I'm gonna die" moments that all little kids occasionally torture their parents with.

Once we got under way, we quickly realized that Joel had more reasons to scream, because the ocean was choppy and rough. The sailboat guy didn't seem to be too concerned, but we thought we were riding a wild horse instead of a sailboat. Joel was so completely and utterly freaked out that Jenette took him into the little cabin so at least the sailboat guy could concentrate on the rough waters without the toddler sonic blast. The sea became progressively more rough and the wind was amazing. I thought more than once that the whole boat was just going to be blown over into the waves. It was a perfectly miserable, frightening experience.

And it was the experience of the disciples. The Sea of Galilee is known for its fierce and fast approaching storms. They didn't know that on this particular day, a storm would come upon them quickly and without warning. But, its important to remember who commissioned this trip. Jesus was the one who said "let's go over to the other side." (Mark 4:35). I can't help but wonder if there was already a breeze in the air, or if the fisherman disciples cast nervous looks at each other.

These fishermen perhaps had seen these storms before and knew there wasn't much to do except to hold on and to pray. I think the interaction between the disciples and Jesus is really interesting here. First, they wake him up and said, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" or perhaps in other words, "quit sleeping because now is perfect time to panic!"

Jesus wakes up, speaks to the wind and waves "Quiet. Be still." And then to his disciples: "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Vs. 40)

Verse 41 says their response - "they were terrified!" Or as the KJV says so beautifully, "they feared exceedingly." Or how about the Young's Literal Translation that says "they feared a great fear."

How crazy is that? This story is a lesson in fear management. "Afraid" in verse 40 is about being timid or chicken. The "feared exceedingly" word in verse 41 is about sheer terror. One might say that these poor guys were more afraid after the storm was calmed than while it was raging! I studied the first Apologetics Press lesson (posted earlier in the blog) with the kids this week - it is about the "Cause and Effect" argument for the reality of God - that there has to be a cause for the universe to happen, and that cause has to be before and greater than the effect.

These guys saw this cause and effect thing first hand - and it literally put the fear of God in them. I think that is why Jesus had them make the trip, because they needed to fear God more than they needed anything else. And then to make the association of fearing Jesus as God himself - I'm just sure their mouths were left hanging open.

What about you - do you need to fear Jesus more? I think too often we think of Jesus only as the sweet hippie looking guy who carries lambs on his shoulders and plays with little children. He's more than that though - as gentle as a lamb, but as fierce as a lion.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Proverbs 1:7

Mark 4:26-29 Outline

We can learn how God's Kingdom grows by considering these paradoxes:

Introduction:

What is God's Kingdom? It is first of all the reign of God over everything. Second, it is the reign of God in the individual. In the New Testament, the Kingdom is also about Jesus coming to reign. Christians debate whether Jesus' Kingdom was established fully when he died and rose again, or if the kingdom won't be fully established until He comes again.

In these parables, the seed is the Word of God, and thus, the place where the Kingdom growth begins. Kingdom growth in the Bible is filled with paradoxes.

1. The sower is not the grower. Mark 4:26-29
2. The smallest seed becomes the largest plant. Mark 4:31-32

• A seed dies in order to give life. (See John 12:24)

Apologetics Press - Home Study Courses

Apologetics Press - Home Study Courses

Looks like some good stuff. I have not seen all the lessons yet, although I liked the one on the sinners prayer (down at the bottom).

jc

Mark 4:26-29

²⁶He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

This parable is the only parable that is recorded by Mark alone. It's almost a part 2 of the sower parable - for the seed is surely the Word of God. The focus on this parable is not on the how receptive people are, but on the growth of God's kingdom, and here's the big news flash: you and I are not needed to make it grow.

Are you kidding me? I, who have worked in Christian ministry for all my adult life? The Churches I have worked at, and now the Camp - won't they crumble into ruins if I am not there doing my part? How can God grow His Kingdom without me? Well, pretty easily.

What is more powerful and unstoppable than growth? Sure, a plant can die if it does not get the proper nutrients, but if it is alive, it is growing. I looked back at my blog here from a while back and read some of my postings about my "extreme gardening" project behind our house. I started last fall (2008)- taking down the "Roman Barricade" as Jenette called it - dismantling the huge pile of logs and ice storm debris so that we can have something close to a yard back there. After I did so much work last fall and winter, clearing and cutting and removing a million rose vines, the spring and summer happened. I got busy with camp, and the roses popped up again, and the weeds grew more happily than ever. The Spring of 2009 was the first in three years that we did not have a major late killing freeze, so everything grew, well, like weeds.

It seems just yesterday that I had three baby boys. Now I have three young men. (and some young ladies as well!) - Growth is amazing and unstoppable, and it all comes from God. Night and day, whether I sleep or get up, the Kingdom of God is growing, just like the seed, and I don't know how it works. It seems to me that these days are destined to have the Kingdom diminish - because of the evil that has run amuck and how our country's leaders are trying to lead us further and further away from God. But it just this type of situation that Kingdom advancement has always been seen in the Bible and in history. What is more powerful than the growth of God's Kingdom?

I visited an interesting town last Sunday. I went to the Christian Church in Liberal, MO to share with the Church the exciting things that God is doing here at MBC. (And, this is a great little Church! We loved being there!)

Liberal, Missouri was founded as a town that was to being with God, churches, Christians, Jesus, and (oddly enough) without saloons. See this article for more information. It was supposed to be a "freethinking" society, without all the messy difficulties of religion. It didn't take long for the town to be in utter chaos, for Christian missionaries to seize the opportunities afforded by the chaos, and for God's Kingdom to advance in this small town. What is more unstoppable than the growth of God's Kingdom?

Even though the preaching of the gospel was crucial to the life of Liberal, MO (and to every other group of people on the planet), the point of the parable is that God is going to grow His Kingdom - if one person is disobedient in the call, God will use another. Verse 28 points out the way that the seed grows - "All by itself." The Word of God, planted in the hearts of people is like that seed that has a way of growing all by itself.

Paul talked about this same idea in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. People were arguing about who was their spiritual leader and "father." Some said it was Paul. Others said it was Apollos (a NT missionary). Paul said, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow." (1 Corinthians 3:6)

Finally, there is an end in sight - there will be a harvest, and it won't be the weeds that are harvested (as we see in other parables) - it will be the grain that is producing fruit. What is the fruit of the Kingdom of God? How about love, joy, peace, patience, etc... (I can say them much faster than I can type them). Not only will God grow His Kingdom with or without us, but He will do the harvesting.

So, to all my friends involved in ministry, here is my encouragement. Fear God, not the people in the congregation. It's His Kingdom - His power behind the growth - His holiness - and His harvest. Is no one being baptized at your church? Are the disciples falling away? Maybe it's because church leaders are aligning themselves with the world more than with God.

Why would God want to grow a baby Christian in a worldly, loveless, passionless, Pharisaical, lukewarm church?

Isaiah 55:10-12

¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.