TreyM

I'm working on some thoughts this week, on my blog, on families.

* The difference it makes being raised in a Christian family.

* The difference it makes having a Christian father and/or mother.

* And why as parents are we, "do what I say and not what I do," people. Do we think kids won't notice?

I'd love your opinion on any of these subjects...

Blessings,


Trey

See signature for blog address...

__________________
My Blog: www.treymorgan.net

Joyful

I have a big thought about this topic.

Being church attending family does not make your children faithful Christians.

Having just one faithful parent is not going to raise devoted children.

Both mother and father have to be devoted believers to raise their children as devoted ones.

Raised by one devoted parent alone is much, much better than one who is luke warm and other one is devoted. When both parents are not focusing to God their children will suffer spiritually.

This observation comes from watching many churchgoing families, and also from my own family.

שׁמע ישׂראל

Growing up in the Church setting, I see a small difference between the children of Pagans, and the children of church members. Usually there isn't much a difference, but there's the exceptions, true.

But average Christian children compared to average Orthodox Jewish children? Larrrrge difference. Not only in behavior, but in knowledge of scripture.

Its been my experience though, that Torah Observant Christian families raise children who are well developed in reference to scriptural knowledge, and good behavior. I guess it's the accountability issue.

Shalom

Banarenth

I take a slightly skewed stance on this one, at least from a modern perspective. Our society as a whole has strayed, not only from the traditions set forth in the Bible, but also, even from tranditions set by our own forefathers. Parents don't play as important a role in their childrens lives as they once did, and even those that do, often have distorted religious beliefs.

This brought about a discussion in our Bible study, one that is still somewhat unresolved. Basically, discussing how, due to the nature of being raised in a church environment, and having certain expectations thrust upon you, and seeing many "Christians" who are just "playing the game", often makes it HARDER for children to grow up to be true "on fire for God" Christians, than someone who has lived a fully un-Christian life and come to salvation later. 20 years of being raised in a Christian church, school, parents, etc, and I *thought* I knew what it was to be a Christian. It took 10 years of abandoning my faith and running from God to really understand salvation.

yeah, I can see where that is a product of modern church environments, but not the environment alone. Even within just the family. While my heart fights the idea, I can actually understand the damage that a luke-warm parent can have on their children, even more when surrounded by possibly hundreds of other luke-warm Christians. Too many times, people learn to just "play the game", most don't even realize they are doing it, or even that what they have isn't "real". I've been there. I've been one of them. I was decieved.

Joyful

I believe luke warm parents can damage their children much more than non-believer parents. Luke warm christianity does nothing good but harm for the Lord.

mustardseed

Lukewarm parents ARE a damage.
Their children learnt to be lukewarm too.
They only maintain a form, they miss out the spirit.
And the danger here is that they don't even know that!
They think they have no problems in their spiritual lives.

__________________
God grades on the cross, not the curve.

Joyful

Unfortunately, most of the churchgoers are lukewam ones. And the churches don't want their congregation to notice it.

Banarenth

I still feel a danger from Christians avoiding any assembly of other Christians. Are there no Bible study groups or anything in your area? I know several churches in Orlando at least offer alternative ministries to address this issue. One down the street from my home uses the G12 sytem, and several are based heavily on a similar system of small group assemblies with a central service to preach to the "stragglers" that haven't found a group yet. So even if the traditional "church" does not do what you believe it should, there are many, many alternatives. I can't guarantee that all of them are "better", but since they are small, one person could definitely effect a change, and if one becomes to stubborn, another would be available.

TreyM

Not sure what that means, but as a parent, married or single, you do the best you can. You raise them in a Godly way. With a Godly example. What you're children see in you is what they are going to do (see yesterday's blog).

And there's no "sure thing" when it comes to raising children. Just like us, everyone has their choice to do what they choose.

Make sense?

__________________
My Blog: www.treymorgan.net

Joyful

No, you are not making sense. You are right saying there is no sure thing but there is very, very high success rate if the chirldrens are raised by both parents committed servants of Jesus. Even one parent is not committed, success rate will drop drastically. It is almost like non-believers' family as long as children will become faithful christians. This kind of talk is not been focused in the churches.