Thursday, May 24, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
10 Ways For Mom's To Respect Their Sons
By jen Smidt
START EARLY
It is never too early to start showing that you respect your sons. I know as a young mom I was so concerned about discipline—when, where, why and how to discipline. I wanted this bundle of boy contained into a well-behaved, manageable package. Is that offense punishable by swat? Is he disrespecting me? Why is he so loud and messy? While those are fine questions to ask, looking back, I would rather have spent more time asking myself if I was treating my boys with respect.
My sons thrive in our relationship when respect is generously given. If I want them to look for a wife who respects them one day, I better demonstrate what that looks like now.
WHAT IS RESPECT?
Let me first say respect is not making my son an idol and bowing down to his every need. Respect is defined as a deep admiration for someone elicited by his or her abilities, qualities, or achievements. A mother’s respect is also not based upon her son’s achievements at the beginning (unless you count squirting her in the eye with confounding accuracy at diaper changing time).
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If our boys are continually being shielded from natural consequences, they will have a distorted sense of self and sin.”
A mother’s respect for her son is founded upon his image bearing of her heavenly Father and belief that God has given her a powerful gift to steward for a season. A mother’s respect is born out of respect for Jesus and the cross: his life makes my life and my son’s life possible. A mother’s respect is based upon her trust in God to develop a godly man, husband, father, and leader out of the tiny one that she holds but for a brief moment.
WHAT RESPECT LOOKS LIKE
I wanted to offer some practical principles to help show what it looks like for a mom to respect her son.
1. SET JESUS AS THE STANDARD
There is no man other than Jesus who demonstrates perfection. You will never go wrong in upholding him as the source, pointing to him as the example, and depending upon him for the answers.
2. PRAY FOR THEM AND OVER THEM
You aren’t in control of their lives, you never will be. What better time than now to put yourself in submission to God’s plan for your sons by releasing them in prayer? Mothers have an awesome responsibility to pray for the intimate details that she knows about her son’s heart.
3. WATCH YOUR TONE
Respect is often given and destroyed in the little things. I know the look in my son’s eye when I speak to him with a harsh or shaming tone—it is the pain of disrespect. Speak graciously, kindly, and firmly to your sons.
4. LET THEM MAKE DECISIONS
Start small with choices like red or blue shirt, and move to increasing responsibility over time management and bigger life choices. Give them opportunities to lead in your home: chores, devotions, and family nights can be planned and executed by sons growing in maturity.
5. SERVE THEM
Love them with food, fun, folding of laundry. Let them see that you are willing to sacrificially serve them. Teach them to be grateful and one day they may actually thank you.
6. TEACH THEM TO SERVE YOU
Respectable men serve others. Servanthood does not come naturally to most of us. As you cheerfully serve your son, make sure you instruct and involve them in active service also. There will come a time when it is no longer sacrificial but sinful for you to be folding your boy’s undies.
7. NO SECRETS
Hidden sin is an insidious trap for men. Cultivate a climate of open confession and generous forgiveness. It is much more powerful for your son to feel like he can freely confess sin than have to hide in fear of your reaction.
8. NAME SIN BIBLICALLY
Do not fall into “Boys will be boys” thinking. Differentiate between childish foolishness and downright rebellion. Instruct the former and correct the latter. Name their sin with accurate descriptions from Scripture so they can repent.
9. NAME CHARACTER BIBLICALLY
Read to them and have them study passages of Scripture that speak to men (1 Cor. 16:13-14). Have them memorize passages of Scripture that describes their identity and riches available to them in Christ (Ephesians 1) so they can rejoice.
10. LET CONSEQUENCES FALL ON THEIR HEADS
Respectable men recognize the painful effects of sin. If our boys are continually being shielded from natural consequences, they will have a distorted sense of self and sin. Let them feel the pain of their sin coupled with the restorative effects of grace.
Mothers, respect your sons. Give them this gift early on and by God’s grace, they will grow in respectability and become the godly men we recognized in them from the start.
Originally Posted at www.TheResurgence.com
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
ARE YOU READY FOR AN EYE-OPENING, GUT-WRENCHING FILM?
Here's a new, eye-opening film from Unearthed feauturing the Resurgence's leaders, Mark Driscoll and Justin Holcomb.
UNEARTHING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
When Unearthed was formed, we had our hearts set on producing a documentary that would expose the mechanics of the global sex trade. For a solid year, we traveled, filmed, raided brothels, rescued victims, and had our hearts crushed by the magnitude of sexual brokenness that surrounded us. You can watch some of that work here.
When it came time to edit the film, we decided that the last thing the world needed was another depressing documentary that explained how badly sex trafficking sucked. So, we pulled the plug on it, we prayed, we waited, and we listened.
THE ROOT OF TRAFFICKING
We all have responsibility to the victims of this injustice, and we're thrilled that 85% of the money that comes into our doors goes right back out to some of the best organizations in the world that rescue, rehabilitate, and reintegrate the women & children that live in this hell.
But who's going after the victimizers? Really...who's made it their ambition to kill this thing at the root? If we rescued every victim today, we'd wake up to a demand for 100+ million new slaves tomorrow. If a victim's care is the only weapon in this battle, it'll continue to do a cyclically miserable job of winning.
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If we rescued every victim today, we'd wake up to a demand for 100+ million new slaves tomorrow.”
We've got to go after the heart of the issue, and that is the hearts of men. Men perpetuate the demand in sex slavery. Men in our cities, backyards, and churches can fuel the global sex trade with their "private" sexual decisions, which often create massive global impact.
Take porn for example: a 97 billion dollar per year industry that's got almost 80% of men and 35% of women ensnared. Americans spend so much on porn each year that it breaks down to $50 per person, and we account for only 14% of the global porn share. While specific connections can be hard to trace, we know that porn profits directly fund the acquisition of new women and children being forced into sex slavery.
THE HEARTS OF MEN
Jacob's story in the video above isn't an isolated incident. Jesus is continually transforming abusers into protectors; addicts into free men and traffickers into rescuers. Over the next year, we're creating a film called The Hearts of Men. It's a raw, unfiltered examination of how sin distorts sex, who's affected, and how the Gospel changes all of it. We know that to win this war, we need to engage men and right now they aren't just asleep on the battlefield, they're fornicating on it. A generation of God's sons need to be reminded who they are in Christ: chosen, washed, sanctified, and justified.
Men, we're coming after you, in love, because we know that when the gospel changes you, everything changes.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Dear daughter: Had we known that you had Down Syndrome, we would have killed you when we had the chance.
An unbelievable story out of Portland, Oregon where a couple is suing a local health center for three million dollars for the “wrongful birth” of their daughter. You read that right, “wrongful birth.”“The Levys filed suit against Legacy Health, claiming that Deborah Levy would have aborted her pregnancy had she known her daughter had the chromosomal abnormality.”
Read the disturbing article here.
Franky, I don’t know why the parents have resorted to handling this litigiously. After all, they can prevent all the inconveniences they’ll have toendure by simply performing a post-birth abortion (the inevitable next step in our “civilized” society’s ever-spiraling descent into complete and utter barbaric savagery and depravity).
I am curious at exactly how the parents’ moral compass functions. Does the same moral compass that would have allowed them to extinguish their precious daughter before birth (had they known she was not as “healthy, strong and bright” as their sons), now all of a sudden prevent them from extinguishing the same defective child after birth? How do they make that distinction? Where do they draw that line? How long will there even be a line?
And we dare look down our long noses of sophistication from our ivory towers of progressive enlightenment and condemn the Nazis for doing the same thing. We are but a nation of hypocrites.
Originally posted at www.defendingcontending.com on March 9th, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
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