Russell Mckinney's Blog

Straight Talk About God and Life

Those Who Mourn

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4

The Greek word for “mourn” in this verse is pentheo, which specifically refers to the strongest, most intensive kind of mourning. In the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, this word is used to describe Jacob’s grief when he thought his beloved son Joseph was dead (Genesis 37:34). 

Still, the question is, how can such mourning equate to blessedness? The typical commentator’s explanation is to make the mourning a mourning over one’s sins. The person who is under extreme conviction over his sinful condition, to the point of gut-wreching mourning over it, will find forgiveness and comfort in Christ.

Certainly this is a doctrinally sound thought, but I can’t help but wonder if we should be so quick to explain away the literalness of Christ’s words. Would His disciples really have understood the mourning to be mourning over one’s sins? I have to question that.

I lean toward thinking that Jesus was emphasizing that He was the answer for death. Mourning has always walked hand in hand with death. Perhaps then Jesus was saying, “There’s now One on the scene who can provide the greatest comfort to those who have lost loved ones.”

In Revelation 1:18, Jesus says, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and Death.” Since Hades was the general realm of the dead, Jesus was pointing out that He has complete charge over the afterlife. If a person knew Him as Savior in life, that relationship would continue in death. As Paul wrote to the Christians of Corinth, “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent (body), is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens…So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord…We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:1,6,8).

Speaking for myself, it brings me indescribable comfort to know that the souls of my loved ones who died in Christ went to heaven to be with Him. For them, death was a promotion and a call home. Rather than mourn a Christian’s passing, we should celebrate it. After all, as Paul said in another passage, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better” (Philippians 1:21,23).

I’ve preached more funerals than I can remember, and in each one I tried to bring some comfort to the family. I have to say, though, that the greatest comfort I ever gave anybody came from assuring them that the soul of their Christian loved one was with the Lord in heaven. Such funerals preach themselves. And it is because of these experiences that I can say with certainty that Jesus really does provide comfort for the blessed (the saved) who mourn the deaths of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

February 8, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Heaven, death, salvation | | No Comments Yet

The Poor In Spirit

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:1-3)

Christ’s most famous sermon is the so-called Sermon on the Mount. The word “Mount” comes from the fact that Jesus gave this teaching to His disciples while up on a mountain (Matthew 5:1). It seems clear, though, that He preached either the entire sermon or selected parts of it at least twice. I say this because Luke 6:17-49 gives us the record of a shortened version of the sermon, a version that Jesus preached “on a level place” (N.K.J.V.) (“a plain” K.J.V.) with not only His disciples in attendance but also a great multitude of people.

Furthermore, there are slight differences in the two accounts of the sermon. In the Matthew version, Jesus promises the kingdom of heaven, while in the Luke account He promises the kingdom of God. While it’s true that both descriptions refer to the same kingdom (see Matthew 6:33), it’s also true that the word heaven brings a different image to mind than the word God.

Another example of certain differences in the accounts is found in the sermon’s opening. Whereas the Matthew version quotes Christ as saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” the Luke version omits the words ”in spirit” and cites the quote as, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

It seems that Jesus changed the wording a bit to accomodate His two different audiences. Up on the mountain, it was just Him and His disciples. But down on the level place they were joined by “a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon” (Luke 6:17).  

And why had that multitude sought out Jesus? They had come “to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits” (Luke 6:17-18). It doesn’t take much of a stretch of imagination to figure that diseased and demon-possessed people were poor. Diseased people couldn’t work and spent what money they had on doctors (Luke 8:43-44). Demon-possessed people certainly couldn’t hold down jobs either (Luke 8:26-39). 

Of course, the fact that Jesus would say to a crowd of such people, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” offers us a glimpse into why He was so popular with the common people of the land. In large part, the Jewish people still lived under the Old Testament mindset that wealth was evidence of the blessing and favor of God. To be poor, then, was to be under God’s judgment, disfavor, or curse. But here was a teacher who flipped that mindset completely on its head. According to him, the kingdom of God belonged to the poor, not the rich. That was mind-blowing news if you were a poor person!

Still, we must understand that the Sermon on the Mount is not the gospel. No one goes to heaven just because they are monetarily poor. One must be spiritually born again by believing in Christ as Savior and thereby becoming indwelt by God the Holy Spirit (John 3:1-18; Romans 3:10-26). Merely standing there listening to Jesus and being poor didn’t provide salvation. Those people had to believe in Him as Savior.

Also, it will help you to better apply the term “poor in spirit” if you will think of it as a deliberate choice rather than a natural personality trait. To be poor in spirit is to make yourself walk in a constant realization of your utter spiritual helplessness without God. It is to abandon any and all attempts at self-righteousness and throw yourself completely upon divine-righteousness (Titus 2:5-6; Ephesians 2:8-9). It is to truly grasp the teaching of Isaiah 64:6, that all your supposed works of righteousness are, in reality, like “filthy rags” in the sight of an infinitely holy God.  

Also, to be poor in spirit is to be humble in nature. It is to approach God as a lowly servant (Matthew 8:5-8), a respectful child (Matthew 18:4), or even a pititful beggar (Matthew 15:21-28). The person who struts toward God and thinks, “He’s lucky to get me” isn’t poor in spirit. Neither is the person who says, “I’m going to allow God into my life, but I’ll be bringing as much to the relationship as He does.” The Greek word translated here as “poor” is ptochos, and it refers to abject poverty. The one who is this poor in spirit knows that he brings nothing to God because, frankly, he doesn’t have anything to bring.

So, tell me, is this you? Do you think of yourself as such a spiritual beggar? Or do you pull back from having such a degrading opinion of yourself? Since Jesus (God the Son) thought you were valuable enough to die for, I’m certainly not saying that God sees you as nothing in His eyes. But the truth is, He wants you to see yourself as nothing in comparison to Him.

He doesn’t necessarily want you to be poor in life (even though He doesn’t want everybody to rich either), but He does want you to be poor in spirit. This will allow you to have the attitude and perspective that will make it easy for you to not only experience salvation by believing in Jesus but also to look to Him each day to meet all your needs. After all, that’s what beggars do. They look to someone else to take care of them. Jesus will be that person to you if you will let Him.

February 5, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Attitude, Belief, God's Holiness, Humility, The Holy Spirit, The Sermon On The Mount, Trusting In God, faith, needs, salvation | , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Will God Meet My Need?

In the mid-nineteenth century, poverty characterized the people of the northeast Highlands of Scotland. During those days, a man named John Murray was praying for guidance by a riverside. Many of his neighbors were imigrating to America, and he was wondering if he should join them. As he was praying, he heard a loud thud on the grass behind him. A salmon had leaped right out of the water and was lying there for him! Murray took it as an answer that the Lord could provide for him in Scotland. 

Philippians 4:19 says: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This verse is very well known, for good reason. However, I would like to point out one important fact about the verse’s application.

That fact is: The verse was written by a Christian (the apostle Paul) to other Christians (the Christians of Philippi). You see, it’s not just anyone who can rightly say, “I know that God will supply all my need according to His riches in glory.” The verse doesn’t obligate God to provide for those who do not know Jesus as Savior. Pay careful attention to the wording: God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

I’m not saying that God won’t supply the need of a lost person. The truth is, He usually does. As Jesus said, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). I’m simply pointing out the vast difference between knowing God as one’s heavenly Father and merely knowing Him as “the man upstairs.”

Imagine me walking around the mall with my two boys. It’s 6:00 p.m. and they haven’t had supper. They look at me and say, “Daddy, we’re hungry. Will you buy us something to eat?” I will buy them something because I’m their father, a fact which obligates me to provide for their needs. That is how God responds to the Christian’s needs. He meets them out of a fatherly obligation.

But now imagine another boy, a total stranger, coming up to me in the mall and saying, “Mister, I’m hungry. Will you buy me something to eat?” Based upon my assessment of the situation, if I sense a genuine need in the child, I will buy him something to eat. But I’m not obligated to do it, am I? Do you see the difference? I meet my boys’ need out of parental obligation, but I meet the other boy’s need out of something else, call it mercy, pity, charity, kindness, or compassion.

So, I’ll leave you with two thoughts. First, if you do not know Jesus as your Savior, you are not a child of God. You are loved by Him and you are desired by Him, but you are not His child. You must believe in Christ as Savior to actually join the family (John 1:12). And then, second, if you do know Jesus as Savior, you really shouldn’t worry about the meeting of your needs. Remember that your heavenly Father has inexhaustible “riches” and is obligated to take care of you, even if he has to drop a salmon on your bank to do it.

February 2, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | God's Love, God's Provision, Trusting In God, Worry, faith, needs | , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

The Burned Spot

In the days when America’s west was being settled, praire fires were the scourge of the land. The very thought of them struck terror into the hearts of the people. With dry grass standing high, sometimes as high as a horse’s head, the fires could sweep over vast acreages and not lack for fuel. To get caught out in the midst of such a fire meant certain death.

Over the course of time, though, people figured out how to remain safe during such a time. The trick was to take a match and start another fire in a circular pattern in the grass. Once the grass inside that circle was consumed, a stand could be taken inside the burned spot. The praire fire would burn all around the spot but not come inside it. It couldn’t come inside because the grass there to fuel it was already burned.

When God looks down upon the earth, He still sees a certain spot just outside the old city of Jerusalem. It is a burned spot that the fires of His holy wrath consumed some two thousand years ago. The spot goes by different names: Calvary (Luke 23:33), Golgatha (John 19:17), and the Place of a Skull (Matthew 27:33). Scholars debate the precise location of it, but God knows exactly where it is. It was at that spot that Jesus died on a Roman cross for the sins of the world. The burning of the spot reached its climax when Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)

The fact is, the fire of God’s wrath must sweep through the life of each sinner. His indescribable holiness demands it. Those who have believed in Jesus as Savior are granted the privilege of standing inside the burned spot of the cross. Jesus has already taken God’s wrath for us. We can watch in safety as the fire rages all around us but never touches us. On the other hand, those who have not believed in Jesus as Savior must face the fire of God’s wrath out in the open, on their own. As John 3:16-18 and 36 put it:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God…He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

 

 

February 1, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Belief, Christ's Death, Coming Judgment, Crucifixion, Forgiveness, God's Wrath | , , , , , | No Comments Yet

No Church Today

We had to cancel church today due to our second big snow in six weeks. Whereas the December storm dumped a foot on us, this one only gave us six or seven inches. I suppose we should be grateful that the weather guys missed the forecast a little. We were supposed to have gotten a foot again.

I really do hate cancelling church. The fact is, I could get there. I have not one but two all-wheel-drive vehicles and am pretty good at driving on snow and ice. I could get the parking lot scraped too. My brother-in-law, Ben, has a big blade on his jeep and volunteers to handle that job for me.

So why cancel? I do it because I don’t want anybody getting hurt by trying to get to church on a wintry morning. If one car ended up in a ditch, I’d feel terrible. If one elderly person slipped and broke a hip while getting in or out of a car, I’d feel terrible. If one mother’s feet gave way and she went down while holding her child, I’d feel terrible. I know that we are not supposed to live in fear of what could happen, and I’m really not a “doom and gloom” person. But I don’t think God wants us to completely abandon common sense in some misguided, fanatical zeal about never missing a church service.

As I listened to the church closings on our local radio station this morning, it became obvious that 95% of the pastors took the same cautious approach I did today. No church was having regular services. One was only having an 11:00 worship service. A couple were having one 2:00 service this afternoon. But 95% just cancelled everything.

For me, a Sunday morning without church is like a basketball court without goals. It’s just not right. I’m not one of these people who secretly cheers when church gets cancelled. (Seriously, if you are such a person, you need to do some soul searching and figure out why getting to “legally” skip church excites you.) And it’s not just the fact that I want to preach. It seems like I’m always preparing sermons or preaching them. The thing is, I really do miss the fellowship and community of church. I enjoy being around my brothers and sisters in Christ. I enjoy them being a blessing to me and me being a blessing to them.

Oh well, my prayer on days like today is that cancelling services will help the members realize how much they enjoy coming to Disciples Road Church. It’s the old “absence makes the heart grow fonder” thing. I don’t ever want church attendance to become rut or ritual to them. I don’t even want it to become mere ”religion.” Christianity got off track when it became a religion. It was always supposed to be a relationship, a relationship between the believer and Jesus. And as a integral part of that relationship, the believer is supposed to attend church on Sunday, the first day of the week, as a way of celebrating Christ’s resurrection on that Sunday morning so long ago. Yes, Christians are supposed to do that celebrating every Sunday, not just Easter Sunday.

On a completely different note, I did get one bit of good news this morning. My scales weighed me at 187 pounds. So, I’ve lost 14 pounds in 20 days since I started my diet and exercise program. If you want to know the specifics of how I’m doing it, go back and read the post entitled “It’s Diet Time Again.” 

My goal is still to get somewhere between 175 and 180 pounds. From there I’ll just be trying to maintain. I’ve been in that range before, and I’ve even held it for a couple of years, but it doesn’t happen naturally. What naturally happens is me drifting back up over 200 pounds. Since I know that full well, maybe I can prevent it from happening this time and stay at my ideal weight. Now if I can just figure out a way to safely have church after a big snow on Saturday. That one is a little more problematic.            

January 31, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Christ's Resurrection, Church attendance, Easter, Personal, church, dieting | , , , , | No Comments Yet

The Importance Of A Child’s Salvation

(Post 4 of a series of 4)

This post will be the fourth and last in this series on parenting. In my previous three, I’ve dealt with the importance of obedience in a child, the importance of individuality in a child, and the importance of spanking a child. With this one, I want to talk about the importance of a child’s salvation.

Let us never forget that little boys and little girls need salvation. Salvation isn’t just for the drunk lying in the street, the convicted killer on death row, or the Muslim terrorist. It is also for young sons and young daughters.

To get us into this, let’s look at 2 Timothy 1:1-5, where the apostle Paul writes:

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.”

In this fifth verse, Paul talks about a genuine saving faith (an authentic belief in Christ). He says to Timothy, “This saving faith (this authentic belief in Christ) was first in your grandmother Lois. She then passed it down to her daughter (your mother) Eunice. Then Eunice passed it down to you.”

The idea is that Lois and Eunice created an atmosphere in their family wherein Timothy wanted to personally put saving faith in Jesus. Lois put saving faith in Christ, and her salvation played a big part in her daughter, Eunice, putting saving faith in Christ. Eunice’s salvation, in turn, played a big part in her son, Timothy, putting saving faith in Christ.

Now, with that said, I want to devote the rest of this post to offering some practical advice about how parents should share the gospel with their small children. I’ve put this advice under the headings of three general statements. You shouldn’t have any trouble following along.

Statement #1 is: Parent, before you ask your child to believe in Jesus as Savior, it’s a good idea for you to have a basic foundation of Jesus already in place in that child’s life.

When it comes time for a child to seriously deal with Jesus and His offer of salvation, it will be so much better if there is a basic foundation of Christ already in place in that child’s life. But how does a parent lay such a foundation? The obvious ways include taking the child to church every Sunday and buying the child a children’s Bible. The sad truth is that many parents fail even in these basic areas.

Moving on from these basics, there is what I’ll call the spoken word. By the spoken word, I mean that from a child’s early days that child should hear his or her parents talking to Jesus and about Jesus.

Here are a few examples of how a child can hear a parent talk to Jesus. Parent, at mealtime let your child hear you say, “Jesus, we thank you for this food.” When it rains, say to your child, “Well, Jesus is sending us some more rain.” When your child goes to bed, make your child’s bedtime prayers to Jesus. Get on your knees beside the child’s bed, have the child close his eyes, and then you say things like, “Jesus, thank you for watching over us today. Thank you for this home. Thank you for this warm bed to sleep in.” You pray like that a few nights and then let your child do the praying. Hopefully, that child will learn to pray like you pray.

And, by the way, be sure to remind the child that Jesus is God. If the child tries to act silly during the prayer time, just say, “Now remember, you are talking to God.” You see, if you will talk to Jesus correctly in front of your child, you can build all kinds of great theology into your child’s thinking.

Just through the things your child hears you pray, your child can learn that Jesus is: God, our creator, our sustainer, our protector, and our provider. Then, when the child is mature enough to honestly deal with the issue of believing in Christ as Savior or rejecting Him, that child will have all of that wonderful foundation already in his mind. If a child already thinks of Jesus as his God, creator, sustainer, protector, and provider, it won’t be too hard for him to add Savior to the list..

Now let me mention a few examples of how a child can hear a parent talk about Jesus. Parent, when you go to the beach, stand with your child on the shore, look out at the ocean, and say, “Didn’t Jesus create a big, beautiful ocean?” When a problem comes up, say to your child, “Don’t worry. Jesus will help us with this.” At Christmas tell your child the story of how Jesus left heaven, became a baby, and was born to a virgin named Mary. At Easter tell the child the story of how Jesus died for the sins of the world and then arose from the dead. Read Bible stories about Jesus to your child. Make it a point to talk about Jesus as if He is a real person, because, after all, He is. Don’t let Jesus get lumped in with SpongeBob SquarePants, Elmo, or Big Bird.

What I’m saying is, let your child hear you using the spoken word to talk to Jesus and about Jesus. In a hundred different prayers and a hundred different conversations, use the words you speak to saturate your child’s world with Jesus. This is a great way for you to lay a basic foundation of Christ in that child’s life.

My second statement is: Parents, when it comes to the matter of salvation, don’t rush your child.

Any right-thinking parent wants their child to be saved from that fiery place the Bible calls hell. But what each parent should remember is that children under the age of accountability are not in immediate danger of hell.

If you look for the term “the age of accountability” in the Bible, you won’t find it. That doesn’t mean, though, that the idea of an age of accountability is wrong. While it’s true that each child is born a sinner, it’s also true that small children simply do not have the ability to understand the idea of salvation, let alone God’s plan of salvation. We hear a lot about the love of God, but the Bible also says quite a bit about the justness of God, and, quite frankly, it’s hard to imagine a God of justness sending the soul of a small child to hell.

The issue is not the child’s innocence because each child really is a born sinner. The issue is the fact that the plan of salvation is totally beyond the understanding of a child. How can you share the gospel with a child when that child can’t even understand your language? I know that Romans 1:20 teaches that every adult on planet earth is without excuse before God (even those who have never heard about Christ), but adults aren’t the same as little children.

Matthew chapter 18 comes into play here. In that chapter we find the story of Jesus calling a little child to Him. In using that child as an object lesson to teach His disciples, Jesus said to them, “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” That’s interesting, isn’t it? Little children have angels who always behold the face of God the Father in heaven. I don’t know everything there is to know about that, but I sure like the sounds of it.

In addition to that passage, we have the story from 2nd Samuel chapter 12. David’s infant son died, and David said of him, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” When David thought about the afterlife he certainly wasn’t planning on spending eternity apart from God. He wrote in Psalm 23:6, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” His words about his son, then, seem to indicate that David thought of the soul of his dead, infant son as being with God.

Furthermore, 2nd Samuel chapter 12 isn’t just a story from the life of David. It is also a part of the inspired word of God. That means that those words aren’t just wishful thinking on David’s part.

Because of these passages and some others I could mention, I have enough confidence in the idea of an age of accountability to say that a parent shouldn’t rush their small child to “make a decision” for Jesus. Parent, the last thing you want to do is rush your child into making some kind of shallow, uninformed, false decision for Christ.

If you do that, here’s what might very well happen. After your child makes that false decision, you will then get the child baptized as soon as possible. Following that baptism, you will want the child to officially join the church membership roll. But that baptism and that joining of the church membership list will hurt the church and the child.

It will hurt the church because ideally each person on the church’s membership roll is a true Christian. It will hurt the child because the child will grow up thinking that he or she is on the way to heaven when in reality they are not. That might very well make that child resistant to truly believing in Christ.

You see, parent, you and your child stand to lose far too much if you rush that child on the matter of salvation. That’s why you should wait until you are rock-solid sure that your child is ready to decide either for or against Christ.

Of course, the age of accountability is different for each child. Anyone who knows children knows that children don’t mature at the same rate. Therefore, I don’t know how old your child will be when he or she has the mental capability to genuinely believe in Christ as Savior. But what I’m saying is, please don’t rush your child on this.

And then my third and last statement is: Parent, when you explain the plan of salvation to your child, keep it simple.

When you are giving your child the gospel, stay on topic and stick with the essentials. You don’t need to include a teaching on the Rapture. You don’t need to get into what the Bible says about bodily resurrection. You don’t need to try to explain election and predestination. You don’t need to bring up the topic of spiritual gifts. Just stick with the basic, vital, mandatory information. The child is a sinner; Jesus is the Son of God; Jesus died to pay for the child’s sins; the child needs to believe in Jesus as Savior. Once a child truly believes in Christ as Savior, then you can start the gradual process of giving that child more and more knowledge concerning Christ.

On the other hand, don’t oversimplify things and pronounce the child a Christian when he or she isn’t. Lay out the bare bones of the gospel and see how the child responds. Ask the child, “Do you understand this?” Even if the child says, “Yes,” don’t just take the child’s word for it. Quiz the child to see if he or she really does understand. If the understanding is there, push on to the decision part. If the understanding isn’t there, the child is probably just too young to really grasp what you are saying. He or she hasn’t reached the age of accountability yet.

In closing, let me remind each parent that a child’s salvation is the most important goal in bringing up a child. Parents put such careful thought and work into planning for a child’s college education, but they give little attention to bringing that child to saving belief in Christ. Parents knock themselves out to see to it that their children have food, clothing, and a home, but they put little or no effort into leading their children to Christ. What we need today are some parents like Lois and Eunice. If we have those, some Timothys will surely follow.

January 30, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Baptism, Belief, Children, Church attendance, Evangelism, Parenting, Witnessing, salvation | , , , , , | No Comments Yet

The Importance Of Spanking A Child

(Post 3 of a series of 4)

This will be post #3 in my series on parenting, and this one will answer the question of what the Bible teaches about spanking. Before we look at any scripture, though, I want to say a quick word about child-abuse. Sadly, child-abuse does occur. And, unfortunately, many people label any form of spanking as child-abuse. But I want you to give me credit for not advocating fanatic extremism. When I talk about spanking a child, I’m not talking about breaking a child’s arm, blacking a child’s eye, or bloodying a child’s nose.

When I talk about spanking, I’m talking about spanking in a sane, sensible way. Anyone with an ounce of common sense and Biblical sense knows that there are limits to how far a parent can go when spanking a child. What I’m saying is, going to the other extreme and not spanking is also wrong. Putting a ban on spanking might satisfy the politically correct, but it will never satisfy God.

Alright, now let’s look at some scripture. We’ll begin with Proverbs 13:24: “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.”

Obviously, this verse flies directly in the face of the attitude that says, “If you really love your child, you will not spank that child.” God says, “That’s the exact opposite of the truth.” He says, “If you really love your child, you will spank that child.” The term I like is “tough love.” Real love can’t always be mush and gush. Real love must sometimes involve using the rod for the purpose of discipline.

The fact is that God, as each Christian’s heavenly father, simply demands that earthly parents follow the example that He sets in dealing with His children. I say this because Hebrews 12:5-10 tells us in no uncertain terms that God disciplines (chastens, whips) Christians when their unholy behavior demands it. That passage actually goes so far as to say that if God doesn’t chasten a person, that person isn’t a true child of God (a true Christian).

Listen, parents, you aren’t more loving than God! God loves each Christian far more than any earthly parent loves any earthly child, and yet He still disciplines each Christian. You see, He doesn’t ask any parent to do something that He Himself isn’t willing to do. God knows that children must be disciplined (chastened, spanked). He loves His children too much not to spank them when they need it, and He simply asks each parent to follow His example.

Now let’s look at Proverbs 19:18: “Chasten your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his destruction.”

The scary part of this verse is that phrase “while there is hope.” The teaching is that a parent only has a limited window of time in which to break a child of its stubborn, destructive self-will. Parent, if you wait until the teenage years to start your chastening, you will be too late. You’ve got to do your chastening while your child is still developing those traits and habits that will carry that child through life. Never forget that those traits and habits will go a long way in determining what kind of a life the child will have.

Think about cement. When cement is first mixed and poured, you can put your handprint or your footprint into it. You can even write your name in it. But you can’t do any of that once that cement becomes hardened and settled.

In the same way, the parent who wants to leave an indelible impression upon a child must make that impression while the child is young. Once that child reaches a certain age, the impression won’t take. You can’t do much with a sixteen-year old smart-aleck. You can’t build the proper values and the right kind of character into an eighteen-year-old know-it-all. That’s why we’ve got to mold and shape our children while they are still young. We’ve got to chasten them while there is hope.

Next, let’s look at Proverbs 22:15: “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him.”

Parents, we’ve got to get away from this idea that children are naturally innocent. Each child comes out bearing the mark of Adam’s fall from righteousness. Maternity wards are filled with little sinners, and don’t you ever forget that. A newborn has daddy’s eyes, mommy’s nose, and Adam’s sin nature.

Because of that sin nature, each child is eaten up with foolishness. Children do things they shouldn’t do, foolish things. They run out in front of traffic. They try to climb trees. They throw temper tantrums in the middle of stores. They do the very things they are told not to do.

How do we get this foolishness out of them? Will begging do it? No. Will bargaining do it? No. Will reasoning do it? No. The Bible says that what will do it is the rod of correction.

I’m not against lecturing, revoking privileges, grounding, or putting a child in “time out.” Each of these brands of discipline has its place in the raising of a child. Furthermore, I don’t believe that spanking is always the best way of handling a situation. But let me be clear: I don’t read anything in the Bible about lecturing, revoking privileges, grounding, or using “time out.” I do, however, read a lot about spanking.

Parenting should work in the following way. First, parents should lay the foundation of spanking in a child’s life. Then, once the child has been spanked and knows that spanking is a very real disciplinary option, the parents can build a diverse system of discipline upon that firm foundation of spanking. That diverse system can include things such as lecturing, revoking privileges, grounding, or using “time out.”

But the great mistake so many parents make is they start trying to build the diverse system of discipline without ever laying the foundation for the building. They go straight to the other forms of discipline without first putting down the foundation of “the rod of correction.” So, yes, there will be exceptions to the rule of spanking, but let’s make sure that we don’t throw out the rule and just go with the exceptions. In God’s plan, the rod of correction, used rightly, is to be the initial, foundational means of disciplining in a child’s life.

Now let’s look at Proverbs 23:13-14: “Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod, and deliver his soul from hell.”

These verses take a little explaining. Let me start by saying that the Hebrew word that is translated here as “hell” is Sheol. There is a lot that I could say about this place called Sheol, but for now let me just say that in Old Testament days people thought of Sheol as the realm of the dead.

In other words, when anybody died, that person’s soul went to Sheol. One section of Sheol held the souls of the saved. That section was one of bliss and comfort. The other section held the souls of the unsaved. That section was one of suffering and torment. The New Testament’s Greek word for this place is Hades. The Old Testament’s Sheol and the New Testament’s Hades are the same place.

So, when an Old Testament person says something about going to Sheol, he’s most likely talking in a very general way about dying. He’s simply saying, “I’m going to die.”

And so the teaching of Proverbs 23:13-14 is not that spanking automatically leads to a child’s salvation. The teaching is that, as a basic rule, children who are spanked correctly tend to grow up and live longer lives than children who are never spanked. When a parent refuses to spank a child and break that child of its inborn rebelliousness, that little rebel grows up to become a big rebel, and big rebels tend to live sin-shortened lives.

Big rebels rob banks and get killed in shootouts. Big rebels commit murder and are put to death in gas chambers. Big rebels become alcoholics whose livers and hearts become ravaged with the adverse effects of alcoholism. Big rebels become smokers whose lungs become blackened and damaged. Big rebels become drug addicts whose days are shortened by harming their bodies through drugs. Big rebels become sexually promiscuous and fall victim to sexually transmitted diseases. In all of these examples and others we could mention, we see that unbroken rebels stand a very good chance of somehow shortening their days through some kind of sin.

Now let’s move to Proverbs 29:15,17. First look at verse 15: “The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.” And then comes verse 17: “Correct your son, and he will give you rest; yes, he will give delight to your soul.”

Here again we have a contrast presented. A child who is left to himself (who is not spanked when he or she needs it) brings his mother to shame, but a child who is corrected (who is spanked when he or she needs it) gives delight unto a parent’s soul. I’m not trying to be harsh, but when a parent spanks or refuses to spank seed goes into the ground, seed that parent will one day reap. Rebels tend to make their parents’ last years troubled ones, years filled with regret, while obedient children tend to make their parents’ last years good ones, years filled with peace.

So, to sum all this up, many parents today just don’t realize that a deadly disease is coursing through the veins of their children. That disease is sin. Its symptoms are: disobedience, stubbornness, selfishness, temper-tantrums, back-talking, and rebelliousness. The only true cure for this disease is for the child to put saving belief in Jesus Christ. But until a child is old enough to make a legitimate, soul-saving decision to believe in Christ as Savior, the primary cure for the symptoms of the disease of sin is discipline. And, according to the Bible, the basic foundation for disciple should be spanking.

There was a time in this country when spanking was looked upon as a perfectly acceptable means of discipline, but now much of public opinion has changed. God hasn’t changed, though, and neither has His written word. He spanks His children (Christians) when they get out of line, and He expects earthly parents to do the same with their children.

January 28, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Children, Corporal Punishment, Discipline, Disobedience, God's Chastening, Parenting, obedience, spanking | , , , , | 4 Comments

The Importance Of Individuality In A Child

(Post 2 of a series of 4)

This will be the second post in my series on parenting. With this one, I want to talk about the importance of a child’s individuality. For my text, I’ll use Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Hebrew scholars tell us that a precise translation of the Hebrew of this verse would read something like: “Train up a child according to his way: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” This explains why the Amplified Bible, which is a translation that adds in extra words to help clarify the exact meaning of Bible’s original Hebrew and Greek, renders the verse as follows: “Train up a child in the way he should go (and in keeping with his individual gift or bent), and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Why am I going to the trouble to dig deep into the original Hebrew of Proverbs 22:6? I’m doing it because an improper understanding of what this verse actually says has led many to an improper application of it. Have you ever heard this verse quoted as a promise that a child who was raised in a Christian home will always eventually return to that upbringing, even though that child’s life has downgraded into sin and worldliness? I have heard the verse preached that way many times.

The problem with that attempted interpretation is that it doesn’t hold up to the test of real-life experience. Saying it plainly, some children who were trained up to know the Lord and live for Him do depart from that training when they get older and never return to it. How many times have you heard someone say of a wayward child who is living in rank sin, “Well, he wasn’t raised that way”?

Parent, your job is to let your child run with the talents, abilities, and interests that God has built into that child. You don’t have the right to push some destiny or course of life onto your child. Your responsibility is to find out what your child’s weak points and strong points are and help that child get on a road in life that will lead to fulfillment, happiness, and contentment.

Having said that, let me name the main problem that parents have in this area: living vicariously through their children. The interesting thing is that this vicarious living can play out in one of two ways. I’ll give you examples of both.

First, some parents try to recreate their lives through their children. Let’s say that a father was always a great athlete. Playing ball came easily and naturally to him. So what does this father do? He tries to recreate his days as an athlete by pushing athletics onto his son. But let’s say that his son isn’t gifted in athletics and doesn’t enjoy sports. The boy would rather read a book than go outside and play ball. His father won’t let the child be himself, though. The father is too caught up in recreating his glory days through his son.

Second, some parents try to go back and change their lives by living vicariously through their children. This way ends up at the same problem, but it gets there by means of a totally opposite motivation. Let’s say that a father wasn’t the great athlete he always longed to be. So what does he do? He tries to go back and change his life by pushing athletics onto his son. He looks at his son and says, “I’m going to make you the ballplayer that I never was.” It doesn’t matter that his son doesn’t have the nature or the ability of a ballplayer. That father makes his son play ball as a means of doing the ball-playing he himself missed out on.

Of course, athletics is just one area where these two kinds of vicarious living show up. Here are some other illustrations involving other areas. I hope none of these describes you.

Let’s imagine a mother who is obsessed with turning her daughter into a beauty queen. Maybe this mother was herself a beauty queen or maybe she was the total opposite of a beauty queen, but whatever her motivation is she wants her daughter to be a beauty queen. So what does she do? She pushes that girl into beauty pageants, won’t let the girl eat like she wants to eat, makes her take singing lessons, dancing lessons, etc. You see, it’s all about that mother trying to either recreate her life or go back and change her life through her child.

Let’s imagine a man who is a skilled surgeon. This man says, “My son is going to grow up and follow in my footsteps. I’ll send him to the best college and the best medical school.” The only problem is that the little boy is a born mechanic. The father buys him one of those Operation games, but rather than taking the tweezers and practicing at surgery, the little boy takes the game apart just to see how it works. What should that father do with such a child? He should steer that child towards technical school, not medical school.

Let’s imagine the most practical, all-business, common-sense mother who ever lived. This mother tries to stamp her personality onto her daughter. The problem is that the daughter is not like her mother. The daughter is into the arts, things like poetry, music, and painting. So what should this down-home mother do? She should build responsibility and godliness into her daughter and then encourage her to let her creativity flow.

On and on I could go with the examples, but hopefully by now you are catching what I’m throwing. God doesn’t use a cookie-cutter to create children. He doesn’t use a “one size fits all” pattern. Each child comes uniquely designed and gifted, and it is the parent’s job to help that child build a life around what that child is gifted to do.

You say, “But Russell, how do I know what my child’s natural tendencies and abilities are?” The answer is, you spend time with that child, watch that child, listen to that child, and study that child. Also, you let the child try different things.

One of the best ways to find out whether or not your child has a musical ability and tendency is to sign that child up for music lessons. I took guitar lessons for a while, and my mom and dad really encouraged me about my guitar-playing. They bought me two nice guitars and every Saturday morning I went to a music teacher’s house and took lessons from her. I learned my chords and my notes, and I actually got to where I could play a few songs. Some of my friends and I even formed a group. We won our local 4-H talent show, played a few local events, and played in the regional 4-H talent show.

If some boys had that kind of musical encouragement and experience they would make a life-path out of music. But I didn’t do that. Do you know why? It was because I didn’t have either a real desire or a real gift for music. Oh, I could memorize the hand placements for chords and notes on a guitar. I wasn’t born for music, though. That’s why I didn’t stay with it. I guess the fact that I absolutely despised practicing was an early tip-off!

But what I’m saying is that I didn’t realize that I wasn’t born for music until I actually gave it a try. So, parent, don’t get so upset with your child when the child tries something but doesn’t stay with it. Just see that as a lesson learned in what your child isn’t meant to do.

I’m not a hunter. I don’t think hunting is morally wrong; it’s just not something I like to do. I can still remember, though, the one day when I tried to be a hunter. My dad used to do some hunting, and one day he took me bird hunting with him. We went up in the woods just above our house.

I was glad that my dad included me, and hunting is a wonderful way for fathers and sons to bond, but I didn’t enjoy walking through the woods, holding a gun, and looking for a bird to shoot. I was much happier being in the house watching t.v. Still, I classify that day I went hunting as a good memory.

So, parent, let me encourage you to study your child, learn what the child’s strengths and weaknesses are, and help the child to run with its strengths. The world needs brain-surgeons, but it also needs school-bus drivers to get the future brain surgeons to and from grade school. The world needs corporate CEOs, but it also needs bricklayers to build the office buildings in which corporate CEOS work. The world needs writers, but it also needs garbage collectors to haul off all of the discarded paper writers toss into trash cans.

Each child is unique and special, and it is a parent’s job to do all that he or she can to guide their child into the place in life that God has in mind for that child. Yes, that will take some effort, no doubt about it. It will all be worth it, though, when the child ends up happy, contented, and playing the role God built him to play.

January 26, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Children, Fatherhood, Individuality, Parenting, Sports, Uncategorized | , , , , , | No Comments Yet

The Importance Of A Child’s Obedience

(Post 1 of a series of 4)

With this post, I begin a four-part series on the subject of parenting. This first entry deals with the importance of obedience in a child. To get us started, I want to cite three passages, all of which address the issue of children obeying their parents.

Passage #1 is Deuteronomy 21:18-21:

“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear.”

Please understand that this text is not a word that directly applies to us. It was a part of God’s Old Testament law for the nation of Israel. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that these verses are any less the words of God. Neither does it mean that we can’t study them and be helped by them. As 2 Timothy 3:16 says: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

I’m not advocating the stoning of any rebellious children, but I am trying to show you the incredible importance of obedience in a child. Obedience is important enough for God to have once instituted a law that called for the public death by stoning of every disobedient Israelite child.

God not only commanded the Israelites to stone disobedient children, He commanded the parents of those children to turn them over for the stoning. God, in essence, said to each of those parents, “It will be better for your nation if your disobedient child is dead. So shall you put away the evil from among you.”

He also said, “And all Israel shall hear, and fear.” That meant that such public stonings would seriously curtail the disobedience of any little potential rebels. For one thing, the stonings would cause parents to fear, because parents wouldn’t want their children to meet such a fate. For another thing, they would cause children to fear, because children wouldn’t want to lose their lives over a lack of obedience.

Now let’s move on to passage #2, which is Ephesians 6:1. This is a New Testament passage, which means that these words do directly apply to us. This verse says: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.”

And then passage #3 is Colossians 3:20, which says: “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.”

You see, by stringing these three passages together, we see that God’s holy scriptures have a clear and distinct Old Testament and New Testament word about children obeying their parents.

As for my own upbringing, my parents loved me and provided for me, but they didn’t break me. I was like a wild stallion that had never been ridden. I had a lot of potential, but like the potential of an unbroken horse, my potential remained unharnessed. I used to think that my staying unbroken was a good thing, but I’ve lived long enough to find out some of what refusing to be broken cost me.

Why I am telling you this? I’m trying to get the attention of those of you who are parents and those of you who would one day like to be parents. I’m trying to help you understand that children come wired with a self-will. It is stronger in some children than in others, but every child has a self-will. And if that self-will remains unbroken it can really mess up a child’s life. That’s why the self-will must be broken when the child is young. If a parent waits until the child’s teenage years to try and break it, that parent will be about 13 years and 150 pounds too late.

I’ll be grateful to God forever for the fact that He came to me when I was at the lowest point of my life and said, “Russell, for things to get better you must submit to me.” I had never really submitted to anyone, but at that time I did submit to God. It’s been many years since my submission, and in those years I have learned that submission to God is the only way a person can reach his or her full potential. Through my submission to Him, God has gotten stuff out of me that no one would ever have seen if I had remained unbroken.

Of course, when I talk about breaking a child I’m not talking about breaking the child’s spirit. Parents, the goal isn’t to create some braindead robot who lives in terror of you and has no opinion, thoughts, or personality. That kind of a child will grow up to be a complete pushover who never questions anything and submits to everybody. In other words, he or she will be a perfect candidate for a cult. A child needs to have a mind of its own, an opinion, and a personality. A child needs to remain the unique individual he or she is. Don’t break your child’s spirit, just the child’s disobedient self-will.

Let me go back to the illustration of the unbroken stallion. When a cowboy attempts to ride an unbroken stallion, the last thing in the world he wants to do is cripple the horse. He wants the horse to keep its strength, vitality, personality, and nature. That stuff makes for a great horse. But the cowboy understands that the horse’s stubborn, rebellious, disobedient self-will must be broken. All of that strength, vitality, personality, and nature can’t do anybody any good if the horse remains wild and untamed.

And here’s the most important aspect of you breaking your child: If you can bring your child under submission to you, it will be much easier for that child to eventually submit to Christ. The flipside is, if you can’t get your child to really submit to you, that child will grow up with no understanding of submission, a problem that will hinder his or her possible submission to Christ.

Now, having said all that I’ve said, I want to finish this up by speaking directly to those of you who are right now the parents of a small child. I’m going to ask you three simple questions. If these questions hit pretty close to home, just keep in mind that Tonya and I are currently raising two boys. Ryan is twelve and Royce is nine. That’s how I know the right questions to ask. With that in mind, here we go.

Question #1: When you tell your child to stop doing something, does the child really stop doing it? If the child keeps right on going, even after you’ve said, “Stop that” and even repeated yourself, you’ve got a problem right now. If your demands always end up in begging, pleading, and bargaining, you are already way behind in the battle of wills. Listen, if you can’t make a child really obey you, you are doomed when that child becomes a teenager.

Question #2: When you tell your child to come here, does the child come? If you say, “Yes, after I go and drag him by the arm,” you’ve got a problem right now. You’d better look ahead to the time when the child will be too big to manhandle. Then what will you do? A child who refuses to get out of a Little Tikes car and come in the house could easily become a teenager sitting in a real car, ignoring your curfew.

Question #3: When your child wants to do something but you say, “No,” does that child immediately start in with the incessant complaining, whining, and crying? You say, “Yes, but don’t worry, I never cave in.” Well, I’m glad that you don’t, but the problem is that you aren’t really breaking the child’s self-will. If you allow all that complaining, whining, and crying your child will get the idea that the issue of size is the only thing stopping him from doing what he wants to do.

Now, if you were honest in how you answered those three questions you’ve got a pretty good idea right now how broken and submitted your child is. I wonder if we would dare put ourselves in the role of Israelites in ancient Israel. How comfortable would we feel in our home-life if it was actually against the law for us to harbor a rebellious, disobedient child? Could your house pass that test? Could mine?

You say, “Oh, we aren’t Israelites and we don’t live under that law.” That’s true, but does that mean that God doesn’t want us to raise children who know submission and obedience? Of course it doesn’t!

So tell me, are you man enough or woman enough to do this job? Are you tougher than a four-foot rebel with a cowlick? Can you teach submission and obedience to a two-year old hothead? Who’s calling the shots at your house? Is the dog wagging the tail or is the tail wagging the dog? Parents, these are vital questions, and I hope that we are up to the task of living out the right answers.

January 25, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Children, Disobedience, Parenting, obedience, submission | , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Always Do Your Best

Many years ago, when department stores were high-end stores, a group of poorly paid clerks were standing around talking about baseball. It was raining outside and business was slow. Then a woman came into the store. She was wet and disheveled. As she entered, only one employee was willing to leave the baseball discussion to attend to her.

The young man walked over and courteously asked, “What can I show you, madam?” She told him what she was looking for, and he quickly located the item. Then he took the time to intelligently explain its merits. The woman made the purchase and left the store, asking for the young man’s card as she left.

Sometime later the woman sent a letter to the head of the store. Actually, the letter was an order for the complete furnishings for an estate in Scotland. In the letter she specifically asked that the young employee who had attended to her supervise the furnishing personally.

The store head wrote her back and said, “But, madam, this man is one of our youngest and most inexperienced clerks. Hadn’t we better give this assignment to someone else?” The reply came back, “I want this young man and no other.”

So that courteous and efficient young clerk was sent across the Atlantic to direct the furnishing of a palace in Scotland. The palace was called Skibo Castle, and the woman was Mrs. Andrew Carnegie, the wife of one of the world’s richest men.

Before you doubt the validity of this story you should know that it was told by Charles Schwab, the steel magnet. Schwab began it by saying, “I know a young fellow in New York who has built himself a big buisness. He used to be a poorly paid clerk in a department store.”

The moral of the story is: Always do your best because you just never know who might be watching. As the Bible in Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” As for you, Christian, remember Colossians 3:17,23: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him…And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”

January 21, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Business, Character, Doing Good, God's Omnipresence, Personal Holiness, Reward, Work, stewardship | , , , , , | No Comments Yet

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