Pregnancy is Not a Disease

A viewer of The Baby War: Defenders and Defectors has asked for clarification about exactly where the Affordable Care Act defines pregnancy as a disease.To quote from the film:

The mandated contraceptive coverage was listed among 8 essential health benefits, as recommended by the National Institute of health. By including contraceptives with preventive care against diseases like cancer, pregnancy was equated with preventable diseases. 

And: 

Well he's (Obama) using contraception as an opportunity to be able to treat pregnancy like a disease. Pregnancy now is listed with diseases like cancer and diabetes, muscular dystrophy and pregnancy are treated today like diseases in Obamacare, it's called a disease.

Here's the short answer: 

It is not literally called a "disease," but the ACA lists contraception as one of the "preventive services" for women, being functionally equivalent to cancer, diabetes, and other "preventable" illnesses.  So contraception is functionally called a "disease" in the ACA.

Ok, so here's the long answer.

At its core, the Affordable Care Act requires that certain "Essential Health Benefits" (EHB's) are provided with all approved health insurance plans under Obamacare. From the Obamacarefact.com website:

In general Essential Health Benefits are the types of care you need to prevent and treat sickness and do not include elective and "non-essential treatments..."  

This website goes on to list the 10 Essential Health Benefits. Our film says eight. The list was updated since our film was released.

Not all the EHB's are defined as having "low" or "no" copays. They all simply have to be a part of approved Obamacare health plans. However, so-called "preventive services" are required to be "No Cost Sharing."

From the same Obamacarefact.com website:

Essential Health Benefits include annual wellness visits and many types of preventive services including immunizations and screenings at no out of pocket costs. The Affordable Care Act has a major focus on wellness and prevention to help increase early detection and catch sickness before it starts increasing wellness and decreasing the need for costly treatments.

Preventive services, wellness services, and chronic disease treatment are listed as number nine in the list of Obamacare's 10 Essential Health Benefits. (This list is on the same page linked above.)

Well, this all sounds fantastic. Who isn't for keeping people well and preventing "preventable" illnesses?  

From the "Preventive Care" Page at the Obamacarefact.com website:

Why Cover Preventive Services?

Waiting to treat illness until a person is sick, instead of focusing on prevention, has had a direct effect on the rising health care costs in the U.S. and has caused many Americans to put off seeing a doctor until it's too late due to cost. Preventive care helps you stay healthy. A doctor isn’t someone to see only when you’re sick. Doctors also provide services that help keep you healthy.

Notice how many times in that short paragraph that the words "Sick" or "Stay healthy" (Also "keep healthy" and "until it's too late") are used. The idea is clear. What are "preventive services?" Services that PREVENT you from getting SICK.

This is the dictionary definition of "preventive:"

pre·ven·tive - noun \-ˈvent-iv\ Definition of PREVENTIVE: something (as a drug) used to prevent disease

So, looking at the distinct definition of "preventive" care as preventing illness, what are these 22 free, no cost share services for women?

Back to the Obamacarefacts.com Preventive care page:

1. Anemia screening on a routine basis for pregnant women
2. Breast Cancer Genetic Test Counseling (BRCA) for women at higher risk for breast cancer
3. Breast Cancer Mammography screenings every 1 to 2 years for women over 40
4. Breast Cancer Chemoprevention counseling for women at higher risk
5. Breastfeeding comprehensive support and counseling from trained providers, and access to breast feeding supplies, for pregnant and nursing women
6. Cervical Cancer screening for sexually active women
7. Chlamydia Infection screening for younger women and other women at higher risk
8. Contraception: Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling, as prescribed by a health care provider for women with reproductive capacity (not including abortifacient drugs). This does not apply to health plans sponsored by certain exempt “religious employers.”
9. Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling for all women
10. Folic Acid supplements for women who may become pregnant
11. Gestational diabetes screening for women 24 to 28 weeks pregnant and those at high risk of developing gestational diabetes
12. Gonorrhea screening for all women at higher risk
13. Hepatitis B screening for pregnant women at their first prenatal visit
14. HIV screening and counseling for sexually active women
15. Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA Test every 3 years for women with normal cytology results who are 30 or older
16. Osteoporosis screening for women over age 60 depending on risk factors
17. Rh Incompatibility screening for all pregnant women and follow-up testing for women at higher risk
18. Sexually Transmitted Infections counseling for sexually active women
19. Syphilis screening for all pregnant women or other women at increased risk
20. Tobacco Use screening and interventions for all women, and expanded counseling for pregnant tobacco users
21. Urinary tract or other infection screening for pregnant women
22. Well-woman visits to get recommended services for women under 65

So, of this list of 22 "preventive services," all have prevention of illness or potential illness in mind, except for number eight, which is "Contraception." The question is, "Which one of these things is not like the others?"

I suppose an argument could be made that number five, about Breastfeeding support, is not strictly about "preventing" illness. However, it is widely known that breastfeeding is healthful in a "preventive" way for both Mother and Baby.

That leaves number eight, "Contraception."

In other words, what is "pregnancy" according to the Affordable Care Act? It is a "preventable" illness or disease. There are many serious women's health issues in this list such as cancer, diabetes, and various infections.

Now someone might say, "well, technically the ACA doesn't call pregnancy a 'disease;' your film is misrepresenting the facts."

No, we totally stand behind what the film says because the ACA does much worse than to call pregnancy a "disease." It functionally equates a pregnancy with a disease.

In other words, this law calls a potential life a potential death. It is to call that which is good evil.

God created government to restrain evil and to reward those who good. (Romans 13:1-7) 

When the government itself mixes up good and evil, the result isn't half good, half evil, the result is MORE and MORE evil. Even recently we have seen in many ways the government "rewarding" the evil of homosexuality, by giving its "blessing" to homosexual marriage.

Why? Because even for the heterosexual couple, children are no longer needed or wanted as an Essential Marriage Benefit. Contraception has rendered children an irrelevant issue of marriage. And if the contraception should fail, well, then there's always the "Plan B" drug or a surgical abortion.

That potential life (a HUMAN CHILD; a HUMAN BABY) is a potential death to the woman and her desires.

This thinking was spoken loud and clear by President Obama himself.  

He said that a BABY (that is a HUMAN BEING) is a "punishment;" functionally equivalent with "an STD."

So many people don't understand the Abortion issue (along with its ugly children: sterilization and contraception, gay marriage, family disintegration, etc.) At issue is not human freedom. It is not about choice. It is about a CHILD.

At issue is the sanctity of life itself. Life is sacred because the Creator God is holy. The Creator God defined marriage as between a man and woman, for the purposes of procreation, chastity, and sexual intimacy. So the POTENTIAL child that comes from each union is sacred as well.

The idea of The Baby War as our title came from the constant war of ideas about babies. God's idea of babies is that every marriage has potential life coming from that union. The world's idea of babies is that every woman has a potential death of her opportunities coming from every sexual union. If that potential death (yes, meaning a HUMAN CHILD) can be prevented from ever happening, then it makes sense to them to equate that child with cancer and diabetes and other infections. 

The worldview of humanism filters everything through the lens of pragmatism. The worldview of Christianity is supposed to filter everything through the lens of Scripture. Those Christians who do will be labeled fools and idiots for their backward ways. Those who put on the world's "pragmatism" glasses will be rewarded with praise for being so forward thinking.

I know what most people who are reading this are thinking. They are thinking, "yeah, but..."

Take off the pragmatism glasses. Put on the Scripture glasses. It will make a huge difference in how you see the purpose of marriage and BABIES. 

Maranatha Anathema

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/abortion-and-the-will-to-power-so-what-if-abortion-ends-a-life-asks-salon-w

Wow.

Here is the article itself:

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/23/so_what_if_abortion_ends_life/

Maybe I haven't been paying attention enough, but is this the most shocking thing the abortion camp has ever come up with or is it just me? In her words:

 Here’s the complicated reality in which we live: All life is not equal. That’s a difficult thing for liberals like me to talk about, lest we wind up looking like death-panel-loving, kill-your-grandma-and-your-precious-baby storm troopers. Yet a fetus can be a human life without having the same rights as the woman in whose body it resides. She’s the boss. Her life and what is right for her circumstances and her health should automatically trump the rights of the non-autonomous entity inside of her. Always.

Yeah, I think she has missed the whole point of those who argue that abortion is wrong. We don't argue that "all life is equal." We argue from Scripture, from common sense, and from the most basic understanding of what humanity is about that "all life is SACRED" and no person has the right to kill an innocent, defenseless person. 

Is that the best moral defense for the killing of babies they can conjure? That some lives don't have the rights of other lives? This lady has had some well-known friends, like Hitler and Stalin, just to name a few. 

To say (she uses the word "fetus" while recognizing in the article that it is, in fact, a human child) that "a fetus can be a human life without having the same rights as the woman in whose body it resides" is a breathtakingly evil statement. 

She truly believes she is God.

Another gem:

If by some random fluke I learned today I was pregnant, you bet your ass I’d have an abortion. I’d have the World’s Greatest Abortion.

Uh, ok. So the end of the argument is I am going to have an abortion just because I want to, and my life is not going to be turned upside down by some nasty horrible thing happening to me, like having a baby. My wife and I have had nine of those little blessings, and I am so glad that they have ruined my life. They have made me less selfish and made me work harder. They have left me breathless with their boundless energy. I have seen the fingerprints of God on each one of them. 

Since I am weak and sinful I have to pray, God, give me the grace and strength to love and endure my blessings. 

I wonder what this lady's mother thought about having her? As Ronald Reagan said, those who are for abortion are already born. What an ungrateful, arrogant, and miserable person she must be. 

Surely Titus 3:3 describes this poor woman:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.   

The Lifesitenews.com writer makes an outstanding statement on this:

At the very core of its black heart, it is the scream of the nihilist, who seeks power and ownership over anyone weaker, for no other reason than the pure exercise of the will: because we want it. Abortion for woman has become the final manifestation of the old “will to power”. And at its core is nothingness, a black hole endlessly gaping and swallowing everything in its orbit. It seeks, finally, no good that anyone, even the abortionist movement itself, can identify, let alone defend rationally.

Well said. I am too outraged by this to say anything else.

 

Lord, forgive us for our sins as a nation. We have led people like this lady to believe she sits in your seat. We have convinced her that the life that you bring is to be despised, rejected, and thrown into the garbage. Maranatha Anathema Lord, would you come quickly to judge us? Bring your curses upon those who hate you, Lord. Bring your gracious mercy on those who trust in your grace through Jesus Christ.

 

 

Time to start the can opener.

The Baby War:Defenders and Defectors Trailer from Jim Clay on Vimeo.

Ok, it is with great fear and trepidation that we being the public exposure of The Baby War: Defenders and Defectors. From the very beginning, we have intended to open "a can of worms" with this film. I guess now is as good a time as any! 

We will be releasing this film free for internet viewing on November 1. After that, we will be producing DVD's that will be available in late November. 

Originally this project was intended to be made for submission to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, (and we are submitting it), but we have learned that this message is far too important to just submit it to the Film Festival. We hope many more people will see it.  The website for the film is http://thebabywarfilm.com/index.html. We will be posting more information on facebook as we approach the release.

Here's the trailer for the documentary film we have been working on. Be warned! This film is as controversial as it gets. It is not politically correct! As I know that most people will probably get very nervous at the content of this film. That's ok, because I am nervous putting it out there. 

Although I have produced, directed, and written this film, my production team has been Joel Clay - original music. Jason Clay - visual effects and animations. Jonathan Clay - sound design and post production. Jenette Clay and Jordan Clay have also been key parts of this production, working on the script and many other things. Although many others have helped with this, this has been a family project. I am very pleased with how it has turned out. 

And, by the way, the music in the trailer is also completely original by Joel Clay.

So, why a film about this topic? Well, in my opinion, it simply is ignored by the church because it is too politically incorrect to talk about procreation in marriage. Because of that, most of us have just gone along with everything that everyone in the world thinks and believes about this. I want to challenge Christian married couples and young Christian people considering marriage to think about the issue of using birth control in a Biblical and historical framework, instead of just going along with what everyone says about it. 

This film is called The Baby War:Defenders and Defectors because it is about the war of ideas: our ideas vs. God's ideas about babies. 

But at it's heart and core, this film is about the definition of marriage. And as Christians, we believe that God has the authority to define it. The real question of this film is this: why have modern Christians quietly removed procreation out of the Biblical definition of marriage, standing against 19 centuries of Biblical interpretive history? And the conclusion of the film demonstrates the results. 

More blogs will follow as I begin to share my research into this issue. 

Good, Evil, or Goevilod?

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:12-14

The most basic of Biblical truths should be understood by nearly every person who calls themselves a follower of Christ. However, many who follow Christ have not been seeking maturity in their relationship with Christ. Nor have the majority been seeking a sanctified life, that is, a life that is becoming more like Christ and less like the world. This has come to light for me recently as I have stated reasons why I think that The Hunger Games movie is very problematic for the Christian family.

It doesn't really matter what my opinion is, or what someone else's opinion is, or what Doctor So & So says - there is only one objective standard in life, and that is God's Standard - nothing else stands completely outside of human experience. Only God's standard is the yardstick against all other thoughts, beliefs, and practices, and only the Bible will endure the test of time as an eternal rock of unchangeable truth. Of course worldly people will mock it, scorn it, or whatever, but those words will all be judged eventually, and God will win the argument.

The problem is that Christians are the ones who are confused, and perhaps that is for two reasons:

1. Many (most?) Christians have not trained themselves by the constant use (study) of the Scriptures to be able to distinguish good and evil. (Hebrews 5:14).
   
2. We have been so amalgamated into worldly ways of thinking that we simply don't know anymore what is good and what is evil, and even deeper, why something is good or evil.

For example, three Bible principles dominate my thinking about not supporting financially The Hunger Games movie in any way:

1. The Sixth Commandment - Don't murder - Exodus 20:13
   
2. The non-partnership with sin principle :

   Proverbs 1:10-19 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; ¹⁶ for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.

   Ephesians 5:5-7 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷ Therefore do not be partners with them.

3. The set your minds on right things principle:

   Philippians 4:8-9 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

So, applying these three commands or principles, it seems to me that obeying God's Word in every aspect of life would mean that I should limit myself in movie watching to movies that would honor God's principles. I have to first remove the log from my own eye and admit that I have not always done this. I have watched movies and television that were most ungodly and unwise.

However, as a father & husband, I have the hearts and minds of my wife and children to protect, so I am projecting my limitations on them, using the authority that God's Word gives me as a father. Someone might challenge me about The Hunger Games movie, "you haven't even see it, so how can you be so against it?"

First of all, the internet provides unending resources to discover what the content of a movie is, including the Internet Movie Database, which contains a parents guide for most movies that simply presents the uninterpreted facts of the content. Through that source and other research I have done, I have learned that the visual elements of the movie contain kids killing kids. Kids killing kids is not a visual element I want stuck in the heart and mind of my children, (or even myself) because of the Biblical principles described above.

I am against the movie (not necessarily the book, because a story can be handled much differently in a book) because demonstrating in a movie kids killing kids is something that, in my opinion, just simply should not be seen on film.

Look, I understand the plot of the movie. I know that it does not specifically condone or celebrate the killings. I get it. I have heard the point, "but that (the killing) is not the message of the film." Granted.

But here's the point - we have confused good and evil. Aren't we, by paying to see the movie, doing what the movie says is so wrong? Aren't we the Capitol? One of the characters in the book states that that the hunger games would not exist if people stopped watching. Why do we need a movie to show visually that kids killing kids is wrong? We have God's Word to tell us what is evil. Even if this movie has a great story and some heroics, it is a fact that one of the visual elements throughout the film is that kids are killing kids. Even if it is not the only visual element, even if it is on the sideline - to me, that is simply unacceptable.

There are lots of movies I shouldn't see and no one else should either. I certainly am not going to let my kids see them. Some movies are just plainly a waste of time, but others have definite, unredeemable content.

Let's look at the extremes. I have not seen any pornographic movies, but I certainly don't need to see them to know that I don't want my children or anyone else to see them. I don't need to see them to say that they are horrible and ungodly. Unfortunately, I know enough of their content to make a wise decision. Pornography is unredeemable. Horror movies are unredeemable. Sexual comedies are unredeemable. A follower of Christ should never see them. The Bible gives us commands and principles that we should use to judge every question of life, including which movies we see or don't see.

In my humble opinion, The Hunger Games movie is unredeemable because it contains kids killing kids. I am basing that opinion on the above mentioned Biblical principles. In essence, by saying this a "good" movie, we are calling what is evil "good."

It seems to me that we should look at God's Word to tell us what is good and what is evil. That is the only standard that matters. We can start with the Ten Commandments - a partial list of what God would call evil. There are other "lists" in the Bible, such as Proverbs 6:16-19

¹⁶There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: ¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, ¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Ok, I would imagine that everyone knows that. But the Bible also contains principles about the nature of good and evil, how it is to be defined, the results of both, and what we are supposed to do with both good and evil. Let's go beyond these "lists" and get into the heart of good and evil.

Evil is to be called evil and not good, according to God's standard:

Isaiah 5:20-21 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. ²¹ Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

Malachi 2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Doing Good according to God's standard brings blessings, doing evil according to God's standard brings curses and judgment:

John 5:28-29 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

Even God's "own people" who do evil are fools who don't know how to do good:

Jeremiah 4:22 “My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”

God lovers are to hate evil and love what is good:

Amos 5:14-15 Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. ¹⁵ Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

Romans 12:9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Good and evil come from the heart, not just actions or words on the surface:

Matthew 12:34-36 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. ³⁶ But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

Humans are utterly evil - slaves to sin, and can only be made "good" by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross:

Romans 7:21-25 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

The follower of Christ is commanded to be wise about what is good, and innocent of evil:

Romans 16:19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

The follower of Christ is commanded to turn from evil and do good:

1 Peter 3:10-11 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. ¹¹ He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

Here's the bottom line: confusing good and evil has grave consequences.

God, would you blow away our confusion and help your people to stand on your Word alone?

Sola Scriptura

jc

Why You Should Never Support the Hunger Games Movie

"24 young men and young women (ranging from ages 12-18) stand on pedestals at the beginning of a competition and await a countdown, when the counter reaches 0 the young people run for a large collection of supplies and attack each other and 12 of them are killed: we see blades slashing and covered with blood, we see bodies lying motionless with blood stains and smears on their clothing and flesh, a young woman falls and a young man stands over her with a blade until another young woman throws a blade into his back, and a young boy is hacked with a large blade and we see blood spurt onto nearby objects (we do not see the boy)." (IMDB.com)

Kids killing kids.

Ok, in case that isn't enough of a reason, let me give an even more pressing reason.

The production company spent $100,000,000 (yes, that is correct, one hundred million dollars) to make a movie showing kids killing kids.

Have we gone so far away from Christian discernment that we are glad to pay money to see this? By paying to see the movie, we become the evil "Capitol" that the movie makes out to be the bad guy, celebrating the deaths of children because their deaths make our hero more victorious.

Why are we shocked when real kids kill other kids?

I am grieved that I know Christian parents who are taking their children to see this. No, I am more than grieved, I am frustrated and angry beyond belief.

The culture of death has taken on new life with this movie. In stark contrast, the movie October Baby is opening in theaters this weekend. Following the story of a girl who discovers that she was the survivor of an abortion attempt, the tagline for the movie is "Every life is beautiful."

One of the taglines for the Hunger Games is "May the odds be ever in your favor."

It is the tale of two tales. Theism vs. humanism. Life vs. death. Hope vs. despair. Victory vs. defeat. True heroism vs. false heroism. Wisdom vs. foolishness. The goodness of God vs the evil of humans.

May God come to judge us, and cleanse us of our unrighteousness.

jc

Why You Must See Courageous

1. It really is a great movie.
2. We need to financially support the Christian Independent filmmaking movement. The world needs to see that Fireproof was not just a "one hit wonder." Movies are arguably perhaps the most active culture drivers in the U.S. Let's make sure that these movies are successful financially. Don't wait for the DVD on this one!
   
3. The message is powerful and needed - Fathers need to take the responsibility to lead their families, to be spiritual leaders, and to bring up the next generation to maturity.
4. The scene where the main character and the guy he hires are confused about who each other is and why they are together is worth the price of admission alone. I also loved the "I love you" lines on the phone - priceless!

Be advised - it is a tear-jerker. You will literally laugh and cry. Dads - don't do anything else this weekend - take your kids to see Courageous. Be prepared to spend more money afterwards, though, because the movie convicted me that I needed to take my boys to Chick-Fil-A afterward. (Or maybe it was that I was hungry, and subtlety motivated by the movie - the other "bust-up" laughing scene was where the guy orders a CFA meal in spanish in the police car. What a funny scene! Would that be "product placement?")

My thoughts on the Movie "Divided"

At the risk of offending many dear friends involved in ministry, I would like to encourage anyone involved with Church ministry at all to watch this film. It is online free for a limited time, so please go ahead and watch it. I would love to hear what others think about this.

The premise of the movie is that traditional youth ministry has the potential danger of dividing families away from each other. The solution, according to the film, is to have families together in worship and in Bible teaching instead of segregated by age or life stage.

While I think that solution by itself is limited, the larger goal is to have the church take up the responsibility to challenge parents to be the spiritual leaders and disciplers of their children.

We keep asking ourselves why kids are leaving Christ and the Church, but we haven't gained any ground against the world.

I think the Church needs to ask and address this question: are we truly holding onto the next generation by what we are doing, or do we need to do something different? While I would not agree with the movie that the Bible states definitively and undeniably that age segregation in the Church is wrong, (book, chapter, verse?) I do see that in many churches, the family is just as fragmented as in the world.

I don't know any Church or any youth minister that would say that the Bible is unclear about who is supposed to be the spiritual leader in a child's life. However, by our practices, maybe we communicate things that we don't mean to.

For example, most churches have a "youth group" time, and an adult Sunday School or small group time, but how often do churches have a dedicated "family" teaching time when youth and adults are experiencing the same thing at the same time in the same place? Unfortunately for many churches, that never happens. What does that teach the family? The kids? Is the family really gaining spiritual ground against worldliness? If not, why?

Is it possible that the media (or methodology) actually becomes the message?

Maybe if youth ministries spent more effort training parents to spiritually mentor their children, they would be more effective. I don't agree with the movie that we should do away with traditional youth ministry, but I do think that we should make it so much more family centered.

Please watch this and encourage Church leaders to watch this. We need to stop fooling around and start winning back the Church's youth for Christ.

Unless you change and become like little children...

What does Jesus mean when he says in Matthew 18:2,

Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven...

I think that kids don't have all the hang ups that adults have. They aren't busy looking around at what others are doing and what others might think of them. They naturally trust those who take care of them. They won't trust perfectly, but they really don't have any choice. Kids are always being toted around wherever their parents go, so they are always willing just to go. Little Josie wants to go with me every time. She doesn't know or care where I am going or what I am doing, she just wants to go. Because children don't have a big picture of how bad and awful the world really is, they innocently thing that everyone is "nice."

So the complete trust in God is what we really need that is like a child, but the context of those verses in Matt 18 is really important. The disciples ask a question - who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven - I think they are really asking, "which of us is the greatest?" In Jesus' classic style he doesn't answer their question but gives them a better thing to think about. A small child is never in her wildest dreams going to think she is the greatest at anything. She may fuss and scream for her way, but she does that because she knows she small and insignificant next to the "big people" around her. I think the heart of Jesus' response is that we are never, ever, going to be great in God's kingdom by thinking we are big and bad.

The economy of God is that in Him and through childlike faith and trust in Him alone, the weak and powerless can do anything that God wants to do. We have to change from the big, bad, proud men & women that we are and become weak and helpless, fulling falling on his strong arms to hold us up.

It's been said that Christians are weak because they use their faith as a crutch to lean on in hard times. (like Everitt McGill in the O Brother Where Art Thou movie said, mocking his friends being baptized, "Hard times flush the chumps." He also said, "Baptism - you two are dummer than a bag o' hammers.")

The truth is that faith is not just a crutch. It is a stretcher, and only when we fall completely on it face down helpless before God can we really be a worshiper.

Trouble ahead for the Church?

It's hard not to be a little skeptical and a little jaded about things that are happening in our country and in the Church right now. As I become older and see more and listen to more voices, I am becoming more convinced that there are a series of issues that will face our future as the Church. You can chalk me up to just being a wacky conspiracy theorist, and that's fine, but I have always tried to be a student of the culture and have always tried to humbly share my ideas with anyone who is willing to listen. So, if you are willing, fasten your seatbelts and see what you think about my prophetic voice. I'm not attempting to be prophetic in the sense that I have had a special revelation from God that has shown me what will take place. I am however, trying to be prophetic in the sense of looking around and remembering history and trying to share my opinions about what is coming, especially as it relates to the church.

1. The coming economic catastrophe.

As much as I hate to even talk about this, I think that the future has a collapse of the economy coming. First of all, the government (both Republicans and Democrats) is working toward an economic collapse, whether because of sheer incompetence & stupidity or because of intentional design of something they think might be better. I tend to think the latter, but that doesn't really matter. The point is that they are spending our childrens' futures like a bunch of drunk sailors at port. This plan is an old strategy that has been in place since the 60's with progressives. So, if very conservative thinking people don't retake the control of the government, (which is possible but unlikely) our economy is toast. I could go on and on here, but there are others who are much smarter than me that are raising the alarms on this. Click here for one article about the "Clowerd-Piven Strategy."

See my next post to read an article suggesting that $7 per gallon gas is a real possibility if the progressive energy policies are enacted.

In concert with this for the Church, the baby boomers are starting to retire (another part of the strain on the government because of Social Security - more benefits are being paid out than revenue is being taken in). Already some Christian financial planners have begun to notice that more boomers will be living on fixed incomes, and they will not be supporting Churches and Christian organizations like they have in the past, because most charitable giving is given out of disposable income. Will the younger generations support the work of Churches and missionaries (and humble church camps!)? I hope so, but I am afraid that many churches will not survive the next 20 - 40 years. Especially when you consider that in order to sustain the government's progressive programs, the tax burden will increase and the cost of goods and services will necessarily rise (like gas being potentially $7 a gallon - how's that going to affect the Sunday offering?)

Click here to see Barna Research about church giving.

2. The dearth of Godly leaders

We are losing young people to the world at a rate of approximately 66%, based on research done by George Barna, among others. Combine that with that fact that less children are being born into Christian families than in previous years. (You need to see the very interesting video about this called Demographic Winter - and it's follow up, Demographic Bomb - http://www.demographicwinter.com/index.html). Even though the US population is growing significantly, the growth is only being propped up by immigration. The fact is, there will be few Christian leaders for the Church in 40 years. What are we doing right now to raise up a generation of solid, Biblically minded leaders and teachers?

3. The Worldview war is being lost.

While I see many people trying to win the hearts and minds of their own children for Christ, I see many more who are not. Again, check out the Barna Research on this subject. If you care at all about the future of the Church, consider this chilling quote from the Barna article linked to above:

The research data showed that one pattern emerged loud and clear: young adults rarely possess a biblical worldview. The current study found that less than one-half of one percent of adults in the Mosaic generation – i.e., those aged 18 to 23 – have a biblical worldview, compared to about one out of every nine older adults.

Wow - all I can say is wow. Read it again. Let it sink in. That is one in 200. 5 of 1000. We are not reaching the next generation like we should be. We are one generation from literally being post-Christian America. One in nine adults is not a lot, but one half of one percent? That is simply not sustainable.

What do we need to do about it?

• We need to pray and trust God for his supply and his support. We need to pray that Godly leaders will be leading our country. Maybe God will use these things to shake us into fully trusting Him instead of trusting the government or anything else. Ultimately, God is sovereign, and these things may be even the beginning of end times persecutions and troubles for the believers that the Bible teaches is surely to come.

• We need to work toward raising a new Generation of Godly leaders. We need to fully support Bible colleges, campus ministries, and church related youth work (and outstanding Church camps!) that lead toward the goal of well trained, next generation Biblically minded leaders who can preach, teach, admonish, and be willing to suffer for Christ in the coming years. We need to especially grasp the young adults and college age people and hold on to them! If you are not supporting these organizations financially and with your prayers, would you be willing to change that today?
  

• We need to challenge parents to lead their own families to the strong, unshakable belief in the truth of God's Word. We have forgotten how to disciple our own children. We have forgotten how to love children. We have forgotten what a blessing children are. We have forgotten that nothing in this world is more important that passing on a Biblical worldview to our children. I want to challenge anyone reading this (including myself), that if any earthly pursuit is more important to you than leading your family to Christ, then repentance is needed. God is so faithful, and he will help to lead us and guide us and we fully submit our lives and our families to Him.
  

I don't expect to ever be in the majority. I fully expect to be weird. Think what you want, I'm already over the top. I don't care what people think about me when I am dead and gone, but I do want to leave a legacy of faithfulness, fear and love for God, and Biblical minded children to live on, glorifying God and living fully in the joy and abundance that only He can provide. If I can help you or encourage you in any way in these things, please let me know and I will try my best to help you.

jc

My Latest Read - Already Gone

We really need to be paying attention to the message of this book. This book caught my eye while I was browsing in the bookstore at the AIG Creation Museum. It caught my eye, because the girl on the book cover has that same look in her eyes that I have seen in the faces of too many kids that I have tried to teach and challenge with the gospel.

Her eyes are shouting, "get away from me. I don't need you, I don't need the church, and I don't need God."

This is an interesting book to me because it is based on research done that suggests that the 66% of teens who leave the church in their college years are not leaving once they get to college, but they are "already gone" in their middle school and high school years. Once they get to college, they are just finalizing their decision by walking out the door.

I have been concerned for a long time about the problem of poorly developed Biblical worldview thinking in our youth, and how the church is not able to keep up in the battle for their hearts and minds. You need to read this.