F4S: November 2025

Friday, November 28, 2025

Mister Charles Schulz entered this world without any fanfare, he failed and was rejected quite a bit, but have you seen "A Charlie Brown Christmas"?

Mr. Charles Schulz entered this world quietly, sort of like a winter snowflake without being one, without being any bit flaky either. He was present, somewhat talented, unique, but scarcely noticed by people.

His childhood was marked not by applause from the masses but by a strange kind of emptiness inside. He needed Jesus to forgive and fill up that empty void inside. Many sense that emptiness or brokenness. You too can get right with the Father through Christ His Son. This is a good season for that. You and I don't want to miss Christ.. especially at Christmas time.

Mr. Disney told him he wasn’t skilled enough to go to work. His school dismissed his art as forgettable. He failed every subject in eighth grade. Even his nickname, “Sparky,” borrowed from a comic-strip horse, seemed more a gentle insult than affection. Paul Harvey once observed, “Sparky wasn’t disliked; the tragedy was that no one cared enough to dislike him.”

Yet the unnoticed are noticed by the Lord. They are often the ones the Lord chooses to use. He sees them most clearly. Heaven’s eyes (the Lord's) rest on those this corrupt world forgets (See Psalm 34:18; 1 Samuel 16:7).

Sparky did not set out to silence his critics. Instead, he drew his life—its loneliness, laughter, disappointments—one panel at a time. He named his character after himself: Charlie Brown. A boy whose kite never rises, whose baseball games end in defeat, whose crush doesn’t see him standing there. But in the landscape of all that quiet sorrow, Schulz did something rare—he allowed God's grace to speak with such profundity.

And when "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was born, he placed Scripture, unashamedly and unedited, in its beating heart. Luke 2—word for word. Linus quoted the whole chapter.

Executives protested. “Too religious,” they warned. Schulz kindly refused. As C.S. Lewis said, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”

Are you willing to stand alone for Him (you're never really alone, believer). Are you willing to do it God's way instead of the world's lame way?

On Christmas Eve, more than 15 million households still pause each year to watch Linus walk into that simple circle of light.

A study from George Barna suggests that roughly three out of four Americans recognize that scene—even if many have forgotten the rest of the special. Imagine that: the gospel whispered through the voice of a cartoon child, echoing across seas and decades.

“Fear not,” the text begins (Luke 2:10). God said those words not to lost emperors or scholars, but to believing humble shepherds—men mostly invisible to their own culture. The first announcement of Christ’s birth was given to the overlooked, to the lowly forgotten, to the ones tending to their work among white creatures out in the dark.

A God who chooses shepherds would, of course, choose a meek and quiet cartoonist named Sparky.

Christian songwriter Michael Card once wrote, “In the mystery of the incarnation, God made Himself small enough to be near.”

Schulz seemed to understand that well. The world might overlook the small, but God often wraps His greatest gifts in their simplicity.

As the prophet Isaiah foretold, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). And that light—Christ Himself—shone through the simple art of a man the world once called a failure.

Walt Disney said he wasn’t good enough. But Scripture says, “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27).

Schulz’s life became living proof that the Lord delights to lift up the humble (James 4:10). The child who felt invisible became the storyteller for countless lives.. who helped our nation hear some angels again.

The incarnation is the announcement that God steps into our ordinary, unnoticed places to save us, to redeem us, to regenerate us (If repentant and willing), and sanctify us with His power for outreach.

Into our failures Christ steps with a kind hand held out. Into our quiet ache, loneliness, emptiness, guiltiness, fearfulness.. to be experienced firsthand. Into our Charlie Brown moments. And He speaks the everlasting words:

“Unto you is born.. a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

So take courage. Come to him as you are. God still writes if His glory (not his Revelation, cuz the Bible-canon is closed. Done) but through unlikely people with the testimony to tell. Are you in him with a story of your own? Go tell. Sure is word as well. And like Linus standing beneath that solitary spotlight, you too can reflect..can hold out the light of life in Christ to a world hungry for hope.

What am I to do?

Practicing the presence of God in prayer wherever you go. Pray without ceasing. It's two-way communication with basic steps of obedience, wisely applying Bible principles. Meditating on the truth of the scriptures, fellowshipping with reborn Christians who love to share their faith helps to edify a Believer.


We hear with the Bible and Spirit living within.. after we're born again.

Practicing the presence of God... what? It begins with quiet, steady communion—speaking to Him, listening for His gentle promptings, and stepping forward in obedience as His Word lights the way. As we meditate on Scripture, truth settles into the heart like seed in good soil, and fellowship with believers who overflow with genuine faith strengthens and steadies us. Iron sharpening iron is no cliché; it’s how God knits His people together so they grow in grace.

Charles M. Schulz lived this reality. Long before his pen brought warmth to the world, his faith was being shaped through deep engagement with God’s Word. He immersed himself in Bible study groups in both Minnesota and California—first attending, then teaching—gathering with reborn Christians whose love for Scripture stirred his own. Schulz handled his Bible the way an artist handles his tools: with devotion. He filled margins with insights, circled key words, mapped timelines, and underlined verses that gripped his soul.

This quiet devotion seeped into his craft. His convictions were not loud but steady, and they compelled him to bring the message of Scripture into his work. When creating "A Charlie Brown Christmas," Schulz insisted—against commercial pressure—that the Nativity story be told plainly and beautifully. And so Linus stepped forward, reciting Luke’s account of Christ’s birth, reminding a generation where true peace is found.

In Schulz, we see a simple pattern: walk with God, soak in His Word, gather with His people, and let faith naturally overflow into life and work. That is practicing His presence—and that is how Christ quietly shapes a soul. God saw what Charles could become and how he could be used.

Pray without ceasing.

Just pray about everything. You don't need the religious gimmicks. What in the world is the so-called (
mystical activity of) soaking prayer? Simply pray to the Father in Jesus name.

What does it mean to seek God's face?

What biblically is the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit ain't spooky, religious like a stiff, or weird. He reveals God the Father's manifest presence through comfort, answered prayer, and saved and transformed lives. See Psalm 27:14.

Monday, November 24, 2025

The Christian should be an artist in some area because God is in every area!

Of the beautiful old Penn Station versus the ugly new replacement of it, a comment was made... 

"One entered the city like a god; one scuttles in now like a rat" ~ Vincent Scully, Yale Architecturalist

THERE IS A BEAUTY THAT WE WERE MADE TO BEHOLD.

David’s life reads like a beautiful symphony—victory after victory, then one jarring, heartbreaking minor chord ..with the outwardly beautiful Bathsheba. Yet when the prophet Nathan confronted David, he didn’t run away; he returned to His first-love relationship. His repentance was real, his faith was real, and his desire was singular. He regained his focus on the Lord. Beneath the crown, beneath the applause, beneath the glitter of success, one yearning burned brightest: God Himself.

HOW BEAUTIFUL TO LIVE FOR JESUS CHRIST!

David said it plainly, like a man who has tasted everything and found only One thing worth wanting:

“One thing I have desired of the LORD… that I may dwell in the house of the LORD… to behold the beauty of the LORD” (Psalm 27:4).

That tiny word behold carries the weight of real worship—it means to gaze with steady, loving attention. David wasn’t trying to glance at God. He wanted to linger.

And beauty? Scripture says beauty is anything that awakens delight. But true beauty begins in God, the source from which every sunrise borrows its colors (Genesis 2:9; Ecclesiastes 3:11). Zion was called “the perfection of beauty” because God shone there (Psalm 50:2). Creation still glows with His fingerprints:

“The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1).

Barna research shows that 71% of believers say nature most often awakens their sense of God’s presence—human hearts instinctively recognize His handiwork. 

As F. W. Faber wrote, “Every leaf is a sermon, every flower a book, every breeze a whisper of His kindness.”

Beholding God Is More Than Seeing—It’s Savoring

We behold God not just by admiring sunsets but by opening Scripture with hungry hearts. His beauty is moral, holy, perfect:

“Who is like You, glorious in holiness?” (Exodus 15:11).

“All His ways are justice” (Deuteronomy 32:4).

When we slow down long enough to look—really look—God’s goodness begins to reshape how we think, feel, speak, and live (Psalm 90:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18). Focus of the living Word, read His written Word (the Bible) with a heart to wisely apply the principles. One older preacher said, “You become what you behold—so make sure your gaze is fixed on glory.”

Even ordinary days become radiant. A child’s laughter, an answered prayer, a quiet rescue, a tender mercy—these are small windows through which eternal light pours.

And Nowhere Is Beauty Brighter Than His Selflessness at the Cross

Here the Holy One bled for the unholy. The spotless One stood in the sinner’s place. Christ bore the ugliness of our rebellion so we could behold the beauty of His redeeming love.

Titus anchors this truth:

“When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared… He saved us… because of His mercy” (Titus 3:4–5).

One writer said, “At the cross the beauty of God is bruised—and yet nothing in heaven or earth is more lovely.”

Has your life been made ugly by you or by another person? I am sorry about that. And the old hymn whispers tells us what God can give us!

“Beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning.”

The cross.. the empty tomb of Jesus, that is where divine beauty breaks into human brokenness.

When We Behold Him, We Become Like Him

What has your character been like? What has your attitude and deeds been like? 

Those who gaze long at Christ begin to reflect Him (Romans 8:29).
Those who worship deeply walk differently.
And those who’ve tasted God’s beauty start carrying it into the world.

When we let Jesus live big on the inside by His Holy Spirit we can't help but share Him wherever He leads us. Isaiah pictures it this way:

“How beautiful… are the feet of those who bring good news” (Isaiah 52:7).

Beauty is to become an outreach mission.

Worship that's acceptable is beautiful because of the God we worship. Going vertical in blessing the Lord can become at times a beautiful horizontal witness.

Delight, ours (is Jesus), is to become courageous thrugh us.

- Aesthetics is concerned with beauty and harmony, trying to understand beauty and what it means or how it is defined. What even is axiology?

People are lonely, so hungry for real love. Many feel desperate, they will pay hundreds, thousands for real love. How can they become beautiful and be accepted? God is love and He loves you -- did you know He is a gracious, handsome bridegroom? 
In a world obsessed only with the outward and artificial, Christians must return to the Beautiful Character and Person of Jesus.
Gaze at the Living Word.
Anchor in His Scriptures.
Walk in His pure light.
Carry your cross. Die to what the corrupt world, fallen angels, and your fleshly nature demand of you! 
Deny yourself and live the life. 
His beauty into a world made ugly and starving for the real thing.

1. God Himself Is the Source of All Beauty

Psalm 27:4 – His beauty draws the soul.
1 Chronicles 16:29 – “Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”
Psalm 96:6 – “Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.”
Psalm 50:2 – “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.”

A.W. Tozer said: “God is the perfection of beauty, and all beautiful things are but dim reflections of Him.”


2. God’s Original Creation Was Perfectly Beautiful

Genesis 1:31 – “Very good.”
Genesis 2:8–9 – The Garden of Eden was “pleasant to the sight.”
Psalm 104:24 – “O LORD, how manifold are Your works!”

Charles Spurgeon said: “Nature is the work of God’s finger; Scripture the work of His hand.”


3. Human Beings Are Created Beautifully and Wonderfully

Psalm 139:14 – “Fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Genesis 1:27 – Created in God’s image, with dignity and beauty.
Job 33:4 – “The Spirit of God has made me.”

John Calvin said: “There is no part of the world, however small, that does not show at least some spark of God’s glory.”


4. God’s Beauty Is Often Displayed in Nature, but We Worship Him Alone

Ecclesiastes 3:11 – “Everything beautiful in its time.”
Psalm 19:1 – The heavens declare His glory.
Psalm 8:3–4 – The stars prompt awe at His majesty.
Isaiah 40:26 – He calls the stars by name.
Romans 1:20 – His invisible qualities are seen in creation.

Jonathan Edwards said, “All the beauties of the natural world are beams and emanations of God’s glory.”


5. Beauty in Human Creativity (It's a Reflection of God’s Image)

Even earthly beauty—art, architecture, gardens, music, craftsmanship—reflects God’s creativity.

Exodus 31:1–6 – Spirit-filled artisans crafted the tabernacle with skill, design, artistry.
Exodus 35:30–35 – God gave wisdom and artistic ability.
1 Kings 6–7 – Solomon’s temple: exquisite craftsmanship, goldwork, sculpture.
Psalm 90:17 – “Establish the work of our hands.”

Dorothy Sayers said: “The Christian should be an artist because God is.”

Your mention of Liney’s paintings and wedding cakes fits perfectly here—creations that echo the Creator’s beauty.


6. Beauty as a Reflection of God’s Holy Character

Holiness is called beautiful:

  • Psalm 29:2

  • Psalm 96:9

Salvation is described as beautiful:

  • Isaiah 52:7 – “How beautiful… are the feet” of those bringing good news.

  • Psalm 149:4 – “He beautifies the humble with salvation.”


7. The Beauty of God’s Word--He is Still Sinless and Selfless

Psalm 19:7–10 – God’s Word is “more to be desired than gold.”
Psalm 119:105 – It lights the path.
Proverbs 3:17 – Wisdom’s ways are “pleasantness,” her paths “peace.”

Billy Graham said: “The Bible is God’s love-letter to us, filled with beauty from beginning to end.”


8. The Beauty of Christ

Isaiah 33:17 – “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty.”
Hebrews 1:3 – He is the radiance of God’s glory.
John 1:14 – “We beheld His glory.”

Though He came without outward majesty (Isaiah 53:2. There was nothing about Jesus outwardly that we would admire him), His moral beauty is still flawless, sublime, winsome and perfect.

Thomas Chalmers said: “The loveliness of Christ is a magnet.”


9. The Beauty of Redemption is Real.. even With So many False Religions and Messages around Us. Stick with the Gospel!

Isaiah 61:3 – Beauty for ashes.
Ephesians 2:10 – We are His workmanship (poiēma—His poem, masterpiece).
Titus 2:10 – Our lives can “adorn” the gospel.


10. The Beauty That God Produces in His People.. He Saves and Changes us from the Inside out.

Galatians 5:22–23 – The fruit of the Spirit is beautiful character.
1 Peter 3:3–4 – True beauty is “the hidden person of the heart.”
Proverbs 31:30 – Beauty and charm fade, but godly character is enduring.


11. The Ugliness Introduced by Sin (of the Flesh and of the Spirit, of Commission and Omission)

This is the contrast Scripture gives.

Romans 8:18–23 – Creation groans for restoration.
Genesis 3 – The fall brings sorrow, toil, brokenness.
Isaiah 24:4–6 – The earth languishes because of sin.
Jeremiah 18:4 – The marred clay resisting the potter.
Romans 1:21–25 – Humanity distorts God’s beauty and truth.

Francis Schaeffer said: “The fall brought ugliness, but man still yearns for the beauty he was created to enjoy.”


12. God Will Indeed Restore Perfect Beauty Again

Revelation 21:1–5 – A new heaven and earth, all things made new.
Revelation 21:23 – The Lamb Himself is the light and beauty of the New Jerusalem.
Isaiah 35:1–2 – The desert blossoms.
Habakkuk 2:14 – The earth filled with His glory.

Randy Alcorn said: “Heaven is God’s final masterpiece.”

Pride and rebellion turn once beautiful angels into hideous ugly demons. They can still appear as beautiful angels of light. They use God's beauty even in nature to sell alcohol and to tempt people. Reject sinning. Submit to God and resist the devil.

Friday, November 21, 2025

Past presidents have hanged traitors high for seditious conspiracy. And this has happened throughout our U.S. history.

Want to know why God mandated capital punishment at certain times? It was protective and sent a clear message. Read on (see Genesis 9:6).

Like me have you seen some attempts on presidents' lives? Have you seen real Patriots (like Charlie Kirk) killed while still young and doing good for others?
Lincoln was assassinated by a traitor.
This is not a popular topic in our day, but why not talk about what would be helpful the USA?

Past U.S. presidents have executed traitors for seditious conspiracy. This is serious and has happened throughout history.

Do Liberals really know how serious sedition is

What does the Bible say about sedition?

What does the Bible say about anarchy?

Who is the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12)?

What does the Bible say about rebellion?

Evil spirits that influence people to do evil are from where? You already know.

"Good people can look forward to a bright future, but the future of the wicked is like a flame going out." Proverbs 13:9

Here is the correct biblical worldview on Capital Punishment: Accorrding to the law.. not as a vigilante.. find the traitor, find the real murderer, assassin, then have a fair trial (non-telivized). Look at real evidence. Then comes the conviction, hear it all and give the guilty-perp an opportunity to respond to the basic gospel message, then swift execution! Just get it done. That's how to deal with traitors, assassins, rapists, pedophiles, murderers. Not all drawn out too long. Find all those behind the guilty perp, and repeat.

"A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came to give life—life that is full and good." – Jesus Christ in John 10:10

This is very serious and wrong: "Former CIA official and current US Senator from Michigan Elizabeth Slotkin and a group of Democrat former military and intelligence community Congressmen and Senators released a video on Tuesday addressed to current military and intelligence community members. The seditious Democrats falsely told US military soldiers, sailors and Marines, and intelligence personnel that President Trump is “pitting” them against American citizens and that they have a duty to disobey his alleged “illegal” orders."

Why is our own CIA involved in this rebellion? As Kristinn Taylor reported, the seditious conspirators featured in the video are: former CIA officer Slotkin, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), former Navy officer and NASA astronaut; Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), former Navy officer; Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), former Navy Reserve intelligence officer and wife of Biden national security advisor Jake Sullivan; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), former Air Force officer and Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), former Army Ranger.

The National Guard shooter has now been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal — a former CIA “partner force” in Afghanistan who was brought into the U.S. under Biden’s disastrous vetting.

Former Intel Director Ratcliffe didn’t hold back: “The individual, and so many others, should have NEVER been allowed to come here.”

"We shall have no real hope to survive the enemies arranged against us until we hang the traitors lurking among us." ~Thomas Paine

Lincoln was compassionate for the most part, yet he was decisive in protecting Americans.
What did Abraham Lincoln do?

He Hanged Traitors – He Would Not Have Messed Around with Many of Today’s Seditious Democrats Who Called on US Military to Rise Up Against the President who has been securing our future as a nation.

The great and wise Abraham Lincoln, who also witness to seditious behavior from the left and was eventually assassinated by a radical Democrat, hanged traitors.

Abraham Lincoln’s administration executed people convicted of treason or related wartime offenses during the Civil War.  

  • Confederate sympathizers and guerrillas
    Several people convicted of treason, sabotage, or aiding the Confederacy were executed under Lincoln:

    • William Bruce Mumford was hanged in New Orleans in June 1862 for tearing down a U.S. flag (convicted of treason by a military commission under Gen. Benjamin Butler; Lincoln did not intervene).
    • At least four men in Missouri were executed in 1864 for treason after being caught crossing Union lines to join the Confederate army.
    • Numerous Confederate guerrillas, bridge-burners, and spies (e.g., Sam Davis in Tennessee, 1863) were hanged after military trials.
  • Border-state and Northern civilians
    Executions of civilians for treason were rare in the loyal states, but they did happen. The most prominent case that Lincoln declined execution was the 1864–1865 trials of the “Sons of Liberty” (Northern Copperhead conspirators). Several were sentenced to death, but Lincoln commuted most sentences to life imprisonment, and none were ultimately executed.
  • Lincoln was notably merciful by the standards of civil-war presidents. He routinely pardoned or commuted death sentences for sleeping sentries, deserters, and even some convicted spies and saboteurs. Of the roughly 267 Union soldiers formally sentenced to death and forwarded to him for review, he approved execution in fewer than 50 cases. (via Grok)
Lincoln also presided as president when 38 Lakota Indians were executed in Minnesota in the largest single-day mass execution in American history. If America is to survive as a country, the anti-American treasonous Democrats must not be allowed to destroy this great nation with their seditious acts.

George Washington hung traitors. He was very passionate about doing what was right for the citizens of this nation.
He was very serious, decisive and brutal for a good purpose. Yes, when there was real evidence, Washington was quick to act (placing no extended burden on the taxpayers for many years as traitors sat on death row). He even had a woman hung (You can see her dress hanging below).
It wasn't an everyday affair, but Washington indeed ordered executions for a few proven traitors under military law, but those cases were rare, heavily evidenced, and carried out because the Revolution’s survival was at stake. Gave them a bit of time to get right though consequences followed.
George Washington was wise and firm, but he wasn’t reckless—his overall record shows he tried to avoid the death penalty unless it was absolutely required.
Who Washington executed and why he did this:
• Thomas Hickey (1776) — Washington’s personal Guard member who joined a plot to assassinate him and help the British; convicted by court-martial and hanged for treason against a nation at war.
• Several captured spies (most famously Major John André, though he was executed by the Continental Army under Washington’s authority) — caught carrying Benedict Arnold’s plans for West Point; executed because spying in wartime was a capital offense everywhere in the 18th century.
What about righteous justice (it's real evidence, not any cruelty)?
• “Whoever rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” — 2 Samuel 23:3
• “Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil… he does not bear the sword in vain.” — Romans 13:3–4
• “You shall purge the evil from among you.” — Deuteronomy 19:19
• “Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother.” — Zechariah 7:9 (That's not for vigilantes)
• “Righteousness exalts a nation.” Not wickedness. — Proverbs 14:34
On justice and authority:
• Augustine: “Hope has two beautiful daughters: anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”
• John Wesley: “The law of God is not cruelty; it is holiness, justice, and love.”
• Charles Spurgeon: “Justice is God’s sword, and He puts it into the hands of rulers for the good of nations.”
Q: Where did all the information go on those who attempted to kill President Trump? Why have they not been hanged, shot or fried yet? Remember that shooter in Vegas killing people at a concert, whatever happened to all the information on him?
Justice required the death penalty for high treason, so something or someone had to die.

Have you learned how many sins in the Old Testament called for the death penalty? Today, there is generally only one crime that calls for the death penalty: murder. However, in the Old Testament, I can find 28 crimes/sins in which God called for death. These range from things which are obviously serious (i.e. murder or kidnapping) to things that seem shocking to most of us (i.e. a disobedient child or having sex before marriage). Sin is sin (all have sinned. All sin hurts God's heart). Some sins are more destructive than other sins (they hurt more than just God).

In the Bible, God had ordered death for the following sinners because of their choice to sin. Regarding what sins? (not a complete list here):
1. Murder (Ex 21:12,14)(Lev 24:17,21)(Num 35:16-21,30-31)
2. Kidnapping (Ex 21:16)(Deut 24:7)
3. Child sacrifice (Lev 20:2)
4. Both the man and woman who commit adultery (Lev 20:10)(Deut 22:22-24)
5. Rape (Deut 22:25)
6. Daughter of a priest who became a prostitute (Lev 21:9)
7. An idolater (Ex 22:20)(Deut 17:2-5)(Num 25:1-5)
8. Breaking the Sabbath (Ex 31:14)(Ex 35:2)(Num 15:32-36)
9. A woman having sex before marriage (Deut 22:21-22)
10. Homosexuality (Lev 20:13)
11. A man and his father’s wife who have sex (Lev 20:11)
12. A man and daughter-in-law who have sex (Lev 20:12)
13. A man who marries a woman and her mother (all 3 must die) (Lev 20:14)
14. Bestiality (Sex with an animal) (Ex 22:19)(Lev 20:15-16)
15. A false prophet (Deut 13:5)(Deut 18:20)
16. A false witness (Deut 19:16-21)
17. A disobedient son (Deut 21:18-21)
18. A child who strikes his father or mother (Ex 21:15)
19. A child who curses his father or mother (Ex 21:17)(Lev 20:9)
20. Men who are fighting and hit a pregnant woman, causing her lose her baby (Ex 21:22-25) ***Note: A good verse to use against those who are pro-abortion
21. A man whose ox kills someone after previously goring other people (Ex 21:28-29)
22. A sorceress (Ex 22:18)
23. A medium or spiritist (Lev 20:27)
24. A brother, son, daughter, wife, or friend who entices you to go after other gods (Deut 13:6-11)
25. Everyone in any town that entices people to go after other gods (Deut 13:12-15)
26. A blasphemer (Lev 24:10-16,23)
27. Anyone who failed to abide by a decision of the court (Deut 17:8-12)
28. Any non-Levite who tried to set up or take down the Tabernacle (Num 1:51)

Think about the people of Noah's time. The action there by rain was not vague. People had a choice to repent and believe or to live in their sin.

What if a sinner kills someone and it's not in self-defense or a just war? That's murder.

It has been carved into the very dignity of what it means to be human with great value. Scripture records it plainly: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6).

Perhaps you've asked why Capital Punishment? Here's why:

Every human has ginormous value. We were made in God's image.

Back in the day, after those waters of judgment receded and Noah stepped onto a cleansed earth, God gave humanity a new moral boundary line. So many sinners had sadly just been wiped out.

God did not merely command justice—He explained it too. The life of a human being is sacred because every human bears His likeness (See Genesis 1:27).

To take a human life is not simply to harm a person; it is to strike hard at the shadow of the Creator Himself so to speak.

As Augustine said, “He who loves God must also love His image.” Murder, therefore, becomes the most direct assault a sinner can make on God’s glory.

There was also a practical wisdom woven into this command of God. Right after the flood God told Noah and his sons, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1).

With only eight souls alive on the planet, every life mattered in a heightened way. Murder would not just be a sin; it would threaten the survival of humanity itself. Capital punishment became a deterrent designed to preserve life at a moment when life was painfully scarce.

Before the flood, the story had been quite different. Cain murdered Abel, yet God did not demand Cain’s life (Genesis 4). His descendant Lamech boasted of killing a man (Genesis 4:23–24). Violence multiplied until, by Genesis 6, humanity was drowning in wickedness. But after the flood, God established a new moral order. Murder would no longer be tolerated. Later, the Ten Commandments sealed this prohibition—“You shall not murder” (Exodus 20). And the Law explicitly required the death penalty for premeditated killing (Numbers 35:30–34).

In the New Testament, Jesus widened the lens, showing that the roots of murder begin long before the act. “You have heard that it was said… ‘You shall not murder’… But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment” (Matthew 5:21–22). The Lord exposed what we often hide—anger, contempt, resentment—reminding us that God “looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Scripture remains consistent from beginning to end: murder is sin (Revelation 22:15), and the reason never changes—man still bears the image of God.

The Old Testament’s civil law also required the death penalty for several other destructive acts: murder (Exodus 21:12), kidnapping (Exodus 21:16), bestiality (Exodus 22:19), adultery (Leviticus 20:10), homosexual acts (Leviticus 20:13), false prophecy (Deuteronomy 13:5), and certain forms of sexual violence (Deuteronomy 22:24). Yet even within these severe laws, God’s mercy repeatedly broke through. David committed both adultery and murder—crimes that deserved death—yet God spared him (2 Samuel 11; 2 Samuel 12:13). As John Newton said, “Mercy is God’s favorite attribute.” And Paul reminds us that ultimately “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), which means all of us deserve judgment. But God “demonstrates His love for us” (Romans 5:8) by giving mercy we have not earned.

When the adulterous woman was brought to Jesus, His words pierced through the Pharisees’ hypocrisy: “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone” (John 8:7). Jesus was not undermining the moral law; He was exposing hearts that loved condemnation more than righteousness. Their trap failed because His wisdom saw straight through them.

Capital punishment itself remains God’s institution, not man’s invention (Genesis 9:6). Jesus upheld rightful governmental authority (John 19:11). And Paul plainly affirmed that the magistrate “does not bear the sword in vain” (Romans 13:1–7). The sword was not a symbol of counseling—it was a symbol of lethal authority.

So how should Christians think about the death penalty?

1.) We must acknowledge that God instituted it and we are to agree with God's word. It is not our place to imagine we can craft a moral system more righteous, merciful, or balanced than God’s.

As A.W. Tozer wrote, “God’s justice is not the justice of a court—it is the justice of a throne.” His love is perfect. His justice is perfect. His wrath is perfect. His mercy is perfect. And none contradict each other.

2.) Scripture teaches that God delegated the administration of justice to human governments (Genesis 9:6; Romans 13:1–7). Christians should neither celebrate executions nor oppose the government’s God-given authority to enact justice for the most evil of crimes. We grieve at the necessity of capital punishment, but we do not resist its legitimacy.

C.S. Lewis once noted, “If the human mind can conceive of justice, it is because justice first existed in the mind of God.” The death penalty, rightly understood, is not a celebration of death—it is a sober recognition of the sacred worth of life.

And it reminds us of one more truth: every one of us deserved that penalty, yet Christ took it upon Himself.

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).
I'm glad to be a saved sinner rather than an unforgiven sinner. Some sins are fun for a season, but it all get moldy so quickly.

In sin daily, that's how I used to live. It's better to live in Christ.. in a righteous relationship with God through Jesus. I like to remember that the One who had every right to condemn people like me.. instead chose to come and save us.

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Have you considered what your spouse and children will miss out on by your rejecting healthy local church involvement?

It's worth counting the cost to follow Jesus as He calls you to. In a relationship with Him as Head, and with His body. 

Can you enjoy fellowship with believers walking in the light (as Jesus is in the light) even outside of a church? Yes, and I hope you do. 

When a real Christian father runs into other Christians here and there, but due to fears or other concerns about possible group corruption, keeps him away from regular involvement with a healthy church, what would Christ say to him from the Bible? 

When he doesn't lead his whole family into involvement with Christ and horizontal fellowship in a healthy church, what could they all miss out on? Sir, it's worth thoroughly considering early on. 

Scripture calls believers not only to be present, to attend, or be involved in a healthy church, but to be assured that you really belong tight with the Body of Christ while abiding close with the head of the Church. Jesus alone saves people. He bought us, so you and I are to be vitally connected to a living, Christ-centered community

Many people today say they are seeking truth, but true seekers will find God's truth. 

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8 niv

They seek on the internet all hungry, but true seekers will start to discern and find the truth. All truth is God's truth. They will earnestly seek Jesus with Christ's Body in God's word.. Him who is the Truth. 

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Did you find Him or did He find you? If you've been redeemed, believer, you totally belong to God the Father. And you belong in God the Father's family too -- more than anywhere else. 

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Hebrews 10:24-25 esv

"When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven." Acts 2:1-47 

"And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Acts 2:46-47 

"What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up." 1 Corinthians 14:26

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16 

And there are countless reasons this matters so deeply. A healthy church enjoys the benefit of Koinonea fellowship:

  • It helps you remember that your past foolish choices and sins don’t define your identity or future (2 Corinthians 5:17).
  • It opens Scripture up in expository ways that deepen your understanding and steady your walk of faith (Acts 2:42).
  • It pulls you out of the echo chamber of your own thoughts and into the reality of God’s people with kind, respectful, and honest feedback (Proverbs 27:17).
  • It surrounds you with brothers and sisters in a real family, so you don’t drown in isolated, inverted loneliness (Psalm 68:6).
  • It’s a place where you are warmly welcomed, valued for who you are, loved, and genuinely missed when you’re absent (Romans 12:10). Everyone adds unique edification.
  • It builds your confidence by reminding you that you matter to God and to His people (Ephesians 2:19).
  • It lets you invest in future generations of your own family (Psalm 78:4–7).
  • It gives you opportunities to help others, and the humility to ask for help when you need it (Galatians 6:2).
  • It shows you the tangible impact a local church can have on a community (Matthew 5:14–16).
  • It gives you a place to pray for others, and ask others to pray for you (James 5:16).
  • It lightens the burdens you carried through the week, and helps you carry the burdens of others (Galatians 6:2).
  • It lets you model a Godward life for your children (Deuteronomy 6:6–7).
  • It creates stability in your home and strengthens marriages (Ephesians 5:25–33).
  • It encourages healthier dating habits rooted in holiness.
  • It gives your family a life-giving rhythm on the weekend.
  • It gives your children the chance to make Christian friends who shape their character (1 Corinthians 15:33).
  • It teaches them who God is—and what it means to serve Him and others (Joshua 24:15).
  • It surrounds your teens with other godly teens, giving them anchors in turbulent seasons.
  • If you’re a single mom, it gives your kids godly men to watch and learn from (Titus 2:2–8).
  • Studies even show that those faithfully connected to a church community tend to live longer, healthier lives.
  • It gives you mentors who anchor you when storms hit (Proverbs 11:14).
  • It brings you wise counsel in trials (Psalm 119:24).
  • It broadens your heart through fellowship with believers from different cultures and backgrounds (Revelation 7:9).
  • It lets you see the light of Jesus reflected in countless lives (John 13:35).
  • It forms a steady rhythm of corporate worship that lifts your soul (Psalm 95:1–6).
  • It fills your heart with new songs of praise (Psalm 96:1).
  • It gives you a “musical companion” to carry into the week (Colossians 3:16).
  • It grounds you in the truth that community isn’t optional—it’s part of being a Christian (Acts 2:46–47).
  • It resets you after a long week and launches you into a new one with renewed strength (Isaiah 40:31).
  • It lets you pool your resources to impact eternity (2 Corinthians 9:6–7).
  • It builds a foundation for a happier, more fruitful life (Matthew 7:24–25).
  • It stirs a spiritual appetite—the more you go, the more you want to go (Psalm 84:2).
  • It honors God (Psalm 34:3).
  • It is SO very much needed and the Authoritative Bible says you should (Hebrews 10:25).

The Spirit points us to Christ as the Ultimate Solution. Our eyes are fixed on Jesus, and we joyously live for Him. 

Jesus encourages us to find a healthy church. One that doesn’t simply give you a place to sit and be entertained, but a place to grow spiritually. It gives you a spiritual family to grow with, serve with, laugh with, weep with, and walk with until the Lord returns. As Augustine said, “He cannot have God for his Father who refuses to have the Church for his mother.” And as Jesus taught, the church is His body—His visible witness in the world (1 Corinthians 12:27).

What is koinonia? Yeah, what does koinonia even mean?

What is fellowship with God?

Who is the head of the household according to the Bible? 

What are the roles to be

What should be the order of priorities in our family?

What does it mean that “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32)? 

I have been living with an unbeliever for years, so now what do I do? 

How can I really know the truth? 

What does it mean that we are free indeed (John 8:36)?

Why do so many PKs a.k.a. preachers' kids walk away from the faith? 

What is the breaking of bread that the Bible talks about?

What did Jesus mean when He said 'the truth will set you free'? 

Have many PKs been burned emotionally in whacko churches? It's tragic when preachers' kids, filled with potential walk away from all local churches.

In the Bible, what is a 'love feast'?

What is truth? 

Do you fellowship with real believers at church and arrive at a knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7)?

What does it mean to buy the truth and not sell it (Proverbs 23:23)?

Why is there liberty where the Spirit of the Lord is (2 Corinthians 3:17)?

Do you have some more questions about the Church?

There are so many cold dead churches out there -- what's the truth about the Church?

What is spiritual dryness, and how can I overcome it?

Why is the Church called the Body of Christ?

Why is real fellowship so important?

The Christian community – What is it really?

What is the right hand of fellowship (Galatians 2:9)? Why not left hand of.. fellowship (Galatians 2:9)?

What does it mean to have the fellowship of the Spirit?

What does it look like to have fellowship with one another?

Every time you gather with God’s people, you collectively are building something eternal.

God the Father's Scriptures call us to His sinless Son Jesus, and then call us to gather with God’s people to acceptably praise and worship Jesus. Lots of sound teaching and learning from the Bible is to happen regularly at home and in the church. Not all pushy or after some stiff boring style. 

We are to pray and live it like Jesus did.. first at home. Then wherever we go, following Christ. People don't want a one day a week experience with Christ, they crave an honest 24/7/365 experience, letting Jesus lead as Lord of all. 

Have parents fallen short in this area? Yes, who hasn't? Have I needed to apologize before.. like for a sickly church I took my family to? Yes. 

God works through His Church. He delights to use people to build His Kingdom. 

It’s offering us a lifeline for our souls. The Bible repeatedly shows that believers grow best when they worship together, sit under God’s Word together, and walk side by side in a life shaped by Christ. The earliest disciples understood this instinctively. Luke describes how “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). Their devotion wasn’t mechanical; it was the glad, wholehearted response of people whose hearts had been set on fire by grace.

They didn’t even have a church building, yet “every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” (Acts 2:46). Their gathering places varied, but their hunger for God and for one another did not. Wherever they met, they flourished. That same pattern still stands: Christians thrive when they worship, learn, and live in fellowship with other believers.

Hebrews puts the matter plainly: we should be “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). Even then, some believers were drifting from the gathering. Scripture lovingly warns us not to repeat their mistake. As the Day of Christ draws nearer, the church’s need for shared worship, shared courage, and shared perseverance becomes even more urgent. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength.”

Church is the place where the “one another” commands of Scripture come alive. It is where we learn to love one another (1 John 4:12), encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13), “spur” one another toward love and good works (Hebrews 10:24), serve one another (Galatians 5:13), instruct one another (Romans 15:14), honor one another (Romans 12:10), and practice kindness and compassion toward one another (Ephesians 4:32). These commands are not solitary exercises. They are family responsibilities. As Charles Spurgeon said, “A church is not a select circle of the immaculate, but a home where the outcast may come.”

When someone trusts Christ, repents, is forgiven, (is regenerated inside), they are joined to His body (1 Corinthians 12:27). And a body only works when all the parts show up and work together (1 Corinthians 12:14–20). We aren’t spectators in the church. We are living members of it, intentionally placed there by God Himself. Scripture says that Christ gives His people gifts that equip the entire body (Ephesians 4:11–13). When we gather, those gifts strengthen others. When we isolate, those gifts go unused. None of us matures alone, and none of us can say, “I don’t need the rest of the body” (1 Corinthians 12:21–26). In community—serving, worshiping, forgiving, bearing with one another—the church becomes a visible picture of her Lord. Together, Jesus says, we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14–16).

So yes, gathering with God’s people should become a regular rhythm in a believer’s life. Not because a rule demands it, but because love makes us long for it. A Christian belonging to Christ will naturally hunger to worship God, hear His Word, and share life with His people. Augustine captured it well: “He who has God for his Father must have the Church for his mother.”

Gobs! 

Jesus Himself is the Cornerstone of the Church (1 Peter 2:6). And we, by His grace, are “like living stones… being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Living stones do not lie scattered. They are fitted together. They belong together. And something beautiful happens every time God’s spiritual house gathers: Christ is seen, faith is strengthened, and His people grow into the likeness of the One who called them by name.

After you gently lead them into a relationship with Jesus Christ.. or as you are leading them into this vertical relationship while at church.. teach them about faithfulness and truth-based fellowship. 

Can you enjoy fellowship elsewhere? Sure, but what will your family miss out on away from a healthy local church?

Children who grow up watching a lot of people. 

They watch genuine Christianity lived out at home. If they see Jesus in their parents and accept Him, they naturally begin searching for a church where that same life pulses through the people. 

We were meant to live it all alone, isolated. 

When they see Christ honored at home and believe on Him (via repentance and saving faith), they have a new nature inside and instinctively want to be a part of this. 

Many grow up looking for a kononia fellowship where Christ is honored among growing believers. It is not a mystery—it is spiritual gravity.

1. They saw Jesus' character in their parents. They saw faith in action that looked real, not rehearsed.

When a child watches a parent pray like God in heaven is listening (cuz He really does), obey Scripture when it costs something, and admit it and quit it.. repenting when they fail, they learn early that God is not an idea—He is the Ultimate answer. 

“The righteous who walks in integrity—blessed are his children after him” (Prov. 20:7).

George Barna reports that 87% of adults who stay committed to church long-term were raised by parents who modeled a vibrant personal faith, not just church attendance.

Authentic faith is contagious; hypocrisy is repellent.

2. They watched Scripture shape all decisions (not all stern, cold or harshly, not merely decorate shelves).

When families say, “Let’s see what God says on that,” the Bible becomes a living voice. That kind of home makes a healthy church feel like a natural extension of daily home life.

“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly… teaching and admonishing one another” (Col. 3:16).

George Barna notes that children who see their parents study Scripture at least weekly are 35% more likely to pursue a Bible-teaching church as adults.

3. They long for real fellowship that feels like what they saw happening at home. It was and is still a family thing. 

When Christian love is practiced inside the four walls of a house—gentleness, forgiveness, warm encouragement—children learn to treasure the kind of fellowship Scripture celebrates.
Biblical fellowship is not shallow friendliness; it’s shared zoe life:

  • “They devoted themselves..to fellowship” (Acts 2:42).

  • “Encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thess. 5:11).

  • “Stir up one another to love and good works… not neglecting our meeting together” (Heb. 10:24–25).

  • Barna’s research shows that children involved in intergenerational fellowship (real relationships with different ages of adults at church) are twice as likely to remain connected to the local church on into adulthood.

4. They hunger for spiritual Biblical food that actually nourishes.

A spiritually healthy home can detect the difference between a dead religious institution and a church where Christ’s presence is evident in the preaching, winning, non-controlling discipleship, worship, and sacrificial love.

Jesus said, “Feed My lambs” (John 21:15). Are you feeding them while sitting on the couch watching TV or not so much. I guess it depends what you are watching and hearing together right? 

Tozer wrote, “Nothing less than God will satisfy the longing of the heart.”

Children who grow up around authentic faith will not be satisfied with shallow religion; cuz they thirst for the Word. We acquire a hunger for what we are fed. 

5. They recognize the world is spiritually starving out there—and they don’t want to be that way and starve with it.

Barna reports that Gen Z is the most spiritually open generation in decades—but also the most lonely and the least connected to real Christian community.

Lots of people have been through trauma and losses. A child who watches Christ heal wounds at home wants a church that offers the same.

“God sets the lonely in families” (Ps. 68:6).

A real church—a biblical one—feels like the family they need for the storms they face and will soon face.

6. They experienced strong grace at home, not lame religious performance.

When parents confess sins, ask forgiveness, and apologize.. they demonstrate humility, the Gospel becomes believable.

Spurgeon said, “A parent’s life is a child’s first Bible.” In a way that is true for the godly. 

The child who sees grace lived out wants fellowship with believers who live the same way:
“Confess your sins to one another.. pray for one another” (James 5:16).

Barna research confirms that children who regularly see Christlike behavior at home are dramatically more likely to trust the church as a place of healing, not puffed up judgment.

7. They want a church that resembles the Jesus they fell in love with at home. Your busy, hardworking parents might have let you down at home. Probably have some, but He never has. 

If the Jesus (of the Bible) taught at home is radiant with warm, winsome grace and truth, children are drawn to sublime churches where He is magnified.

“For where two or three gather in My name, there am I among them” (Matt. 18:20).

Healthy fellowship can feel like an extension of their earliest spiritual memories.

A high school senior once said, “I stayed with church because my parents’ lives at home matched what they sang on Sunday. I trusted their Jesus, so I trusted their church too.”

That kind of consistency is a loud sermon that children will never forget.

8. They understand that life is too short to drift spiritually.

Barna shows that 74% of young adults who leave unhealthy shallow churches will return to fellowship once they find a church that teaches Scripture with conviction, vertical passion and pure horizontal love.

Kids raised in godly homes sense early on that eternity matters more than trends.

“The world passes away.. but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).

They choose churches that prepare them for forever, and to be with their Father and His forever-family.

9. They’ve been planted—and they want to be rooted.

“Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish” (Ps. 92:13).

A godly home plants seeds inside and outside--that's from an obedient parent sensitive to the Holy Spirit. You want them to have healthy church roots that are first going deep into the living Word. We all are to do the work of farmers watering, tending, weeding and reaping. 

Children who experienced the life of Christ at home long to mature -- grow up  in the fellowship of believers who walk the same road.

A Christian father, mother, and child will lose far more than they realize when they stay away from a spiritually healthy, Bible-teaching church. Count the cost, it's too high in our day. Scripture, current events that are really happening out there, along with history keep reminding us of what slips through our fingers when we try to “go it alone.”

10. They miss the steady nourishment of God’s Word.
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4)

Healthy churches feed families non-watered-down truth every week. Research from Lifeway shows that families consistently engaged in Scripture-centered worship have far higher rates of long-term faithfulness.

11. They lose the protection that comes from godly shepherds and accountability.
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls.” (Heb. 13:17)

Charles Spurgeon said, “A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” Healthy churches help keep families and indivistuals from falling apart.

12. Their children grow without models of worship, prayer, and Christian friendship.
“Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish.” (Ps. 92:13)
George Barna reports that children connected to Christ and a safe church community are five times more likely to stay in the faith as adults.

13. They miss out on loving correction clearly taught that steers them away from spiritual drift.
“Encourage one another daily… so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb. 3:13)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Nothing can be more cruel than the tenderness that consigns another to his sin.”

14. They lose the encouragement, comfort, and living hope that come through Christian fellowship from God directly.
“Encourage one another and build one another up.” (1 Thess. 5:11)
Isolated families burn out spiritually faster; connected families grow stronger.

15. Their gifts remain unused, so joy and fruitfulness shrink.
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another.” (1 Pet. 4:10)

A.W. Tozer said, “The world waits to feel the impact of a soul fully surrendered to Christ.” Many never discover one fully surrendered saint to Christ as I would hope they would.. I mean this kind of impact apart from real godly community.

God the Father expects faithfulness and fruitfulness from each of us -- from simply abiding in the vine all sold-out to Jesus. All in, not half in.

16. Their marriage loses the shared wholesome rhythm of acceptable worship that keeps hearts united.
“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” (Eph. 5:19)
Couples who worship together show higher stability and deeper emotional bonding. Those who pray together stay together. God helps them -- He pours in His love when or if they run out. Ask.

17. Their children miss spiritual mentors and older believers who reinforce the gospel.
“He who walks with the wise grows wise.” (Prov. 13:20)
Faith rarely lasts when it is isolated; it thrives when surrounded by godly examples.

18. They lose belonging, identity, and mission.
“You are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.” (1 Cor. 12:27)

Charles Stanley said, “We are saved to serve together—not to sit and sour.”

19. They can miss out on the power of God from the united prayer times.
“When they had prayed, the place was shaken.” (Acts 4:31)
Corporate prayer strengthens families in ways private prayer alone cannot.

20. Their minds slowly conform to the world instead of being renewed by truth.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom. 12:2)

Mr. Gallup found that weekly-church-attending families report significantly higher levels of hope in their hearts, with peace, and emotional well-being.

21. They lose out on communion, baptism, and the joy of obeying Christ publicly.
“Do this in remembrance of Me.” (1 Cor. 11:24–25)
You wife expects you to lead her like a caring man would do. Don't let the children miss out on knowing Jesus.. not just knowing of Him. Don't let them miss out on the Bible ordinances of God’s appointed way of keeping hearts soft, humble, and thankful. Can hearts grow stony hard in churches? Yes, but not if we each respond in faith to His loving admonitins like we need to.

22. Their home becomes spiritually vulnerable.
“The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.” (John 10:10)
A disconnected family is always an easier target.

23. They miss watching their children grow up spiritually with other believing kids. Their first birth was important, but their second birth is far more so.
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (3 John 4)

24. They lose opportunities to serve the hurting together as a family.
“Let your light shine before men.” (Matt. 5:16)

25. Their spiritual confidence and joy slowly fade.
“Two are better than one… a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
(Eccl. 4:9–12)

John Wesley said, “There is nothing more unchristian than a solitary Christian.”

It's too easy to start beliving all the lies and fake news on the internet apart from a well taught church. A father doesn’t just drive the family to church—he sets a good example before their eyes. He then prayerfully sets the spiritual climate of the home.


When he leads the family to Christ and a healthy church, yes, he is teaching them by example that Jesus is worthy of their loyalty, obedience, joy, and biblical worship. A Christian father would indeed do well to take his wife and children to a healthy, Bible-teaching church with a genuinely saved, spiritually balanced pastor.. primarily for their soul's salvation (not that any of them can earn this free gift) and for spiritual formation through communal worship, biblical instruction, and the modeling of authentic faith.


Top family Priorities?


Win each one and the relatives, too. Salvation can happen for each child, and healthy Spiritual Nurturing too from skilled teachers: The most critical reason is to expose children to the gospel message repeatedly from various godly messengers.. is each one's salvation. While parents are the primary spiritual influences, the church can provide minus pushy presure.. additional mature voices and living examples of faith which can lead each child into a personal conviction of sin, into true repentance without humans guilting any, and then to trust in Christ for salvation. It is where they can learn about God's love, healthy 10 commandment safe-guard-rails, and more about the way (Jesus) the to eternal life.


God commands believers not to be negligent in this area (See Hebrews 10:25). By prioritizing church involvement/with regular attendance, a father models obedience to God's Word, which instills a foundational habit in his children that they are likely to carry into adulthood. Only if we can humbly follow well minus sinning, can we also lead well. Our children instinctively know this.


Do kids need to have a Moral Foundation laid inside of them? Sure. A healthy church (with well-trained elders/pastors) teaches through all the counsels of God in the Bible diligently, which provides children with a strong moral and ethical framework to make decisions with and then navigate in a world that often promotes very conflicting values. You know everyone forms their worldview, but this teaching helps them develop a biblical worldview with godly wisdom needed for daily applications and better than common sense living.


The church provides a supportive community (a "church family" for holy Community Mentorship) where children can form relationships for life with other believers of all ages, including positive adult role models and peers who share their faith. My wife Liney is excellent at teaching kids in Sunday school. They all (the parents and kids from multiple classes) really looked up to her where she serves the Lord in a wholesome manner. Her motivation is to please the Lord and assist each one of them in the right direction.


This community offers encouragement, accountability, and a real sense of belonging, which is crucial for spiritual and emotional health. We parents are to do vetting in certain ways.. even after the church does smart background checks with smart vetting.


And each parent is of course to remain vigilantly, prayerful, watchful and discerning, especially around teens and the children's ministry. You know even the best churches have sinners in them, saved and unsaved religious posers in them. We seek to win them all to Christ.


Experiencing Bible-loyal Corporate Worship is what heaven and the millennium's focus will be all about. God can provide all we each need (while we're attending church to pray collectively) -- He delights to give a clear vision so to speak to kids. Like of the Universal Church, and to reveal each child's future ministry at the right time.. to win people from "every tribe, language, people, and nation" (See Revelation 7:9), as we remain united in worship.


Experiencing the power and joy of corporate worship, prayer, and Bible ordinances (like the Lord's Supper and water baptism) gives children a sense of the vastness of God's glorious work.

The emphasis on a pastor who is genuinely "saved" (not merely externally religious acting) is vital because his relationship.. his authentic faith in leadership ensures the true gospel is preached and modeled, preventing hypocrisy and providing a healthy environment for genuine spiritual growth. A genuinely saved pastor who is spiritual instead of carnal or worldly will "preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Timothy 4:2).



What's the heart of the matter here?:

The heart of the matter for you and for me.. is the matter of the heart. Will you humbly submit and gladly obey direct Authority (that is God)? Will you be quick to obey God's written authoritative word? 

Children choose strong, biblical churches because they’ve tasted of life in Jesus and real biblical Christianity—gracious, kind, respectful, alive, relational, scriptural, prayerful, humble, grace-filled, and Christ-centered.

A living home leads children to a living Lord and Savior.. and to a living church. Dead religious churches and living away from God and His people -- that's so overrated. 

They run toward Jesus and His churches because the Holy Spirit uses people do draw them. They run to a church where the fellowship is honest and mirrors the faith their parents who live it.