America has changed

  "I am, indeed, very grateful to the brave men who have been struggling with the enemy in the field, to their noble commanders who have directed them, and especially to our Maker....While we are grateful to all the brave men and officers for the events of the past few days, we should, above all, be very grateful to Almighty God, who gives us victory." 

Abraham Lincoln to US troops headed to the front, from the White house portico--May 9, 1864

How America has changed!! Today, the Lord is out of the school, out of the government, out of public life, and it all started when he was put out of the home. It is true, prayer left the home long before it left the school. Pray for revival to sweep this land once again. Reformation probably is the more appropriate need in this country.

Syncretism - the combining of different (often contradictory) beliefs

"SYNCRETISM
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools… Romans 1:21-22

Satan has led many quasi-religious groups to unite around a mixture of religious teachings and then brand honest Christian believers as bigots for clinging to salvation in Christ alone. An outgrowth of the postmodern era in which we live is that many people no longer believe in absolute truth. A natural extension of this lack of absolutes is the widely held view that there is good in every religion and all roads lead to heaven. Individuals can then pick and choose the elements they wish from whatever faith and mix them all together. This is true syncretism. Chuck Colson refers to its impact on our faith as “salad-bar Christianity!”

Satan is delighted when people believe and expound on his lies. He does not want anyone to know the truth and come to a personal relationship with Jesus who is the truth, the way and the life (John14:6). Jesus is the only way.

One man reportedly traveled the world to find one name for God that would be universal and bring all people together. Instantly the word love came to his mind. He later wrote, “Give God the universal name of Love and we will create a golden cord to tie together the truths of all the religions of the world.” But love is not God’s name. It is His nature. And God expressed it most fully when He sent His Son to die for our sins (John 3:16). Only when we accept Christ’s sacrifice for us will we know the love of the one true God that can bind people together.

few years ago, an inter-faith group of 10,000 people met at the Vatican in Rome. The group included the Pope, the Dalai Lama and Muslim Imam W. D. Mohammed. An outspoken Hindu woman was quoted as saying, “It was refreshing to note that the idea that all religions have universal truths, and are merely different paths to the same goal was accepted as a given from the outset by all delegates without a single dissenting voice.”

The same delegates also endorsed a general condemnation of “aggressive” proselytizing. This is the prevailing thinking of our day and age. Satan will do all he can to cause this thinking to even invade the church and individual Christian thinking and action.

The end result of syncretism in free societies will be anti-conversion laws and a prohibition of Christian witnessing. The euphemism for this law will probably be called “religious freedom.”

Today guard carefully against the deceptions of Satan leading to syncretism.

Lord, help us to fix my eyes on You and Your Word today so that I will not stumble."

- Daniel K Bean

America needs Godly parents like never before.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Child training works! A properly trained child will fear God and live a wise and righteous life as an adult. An untrained child will not fear God or live a wise and righteous life as an adult. Only a miracle of grace can undo poor child training. God is faithful. His Word is true. Do not question this promise. Exceptions do not alter the rule. Believe it! Do it!
There is no secret or mystery here. Slothful parents hunt for special methods to train their children. They are always looking, reading, buying books, and attending seminars, but they are hardly ever training. Action is more important than technique. Consistency is more important than intensity. Stop looking for an easier or smarter way. Get busy!
This proverb is a commandment, not a suggestion. It is a promise, not a possibility. Bible believers trust this rule as much as any other verse. They are not intimidated by the task before them. They put their trust in the precious Scripture, and they get to work, today!
Solomon said, "Train." He did not say raise. We raise vegetables, but we train children. Feeding a child nutritious meals, providing warm clothing, giving him his own bedroom, and kissing him good night is not training. Most every species of animals does these things for their young. Training a child is calculated instruction and discipline to form long-term character and wisdom in the fear of the Lord and knowledge of Scripture.
We train them "up." This describes the period from birth to maturity. Training can begin immediately, as infants can be taught a feeding schedule and that not all crying gets immediate attention. It progresses from a control stage to an instruction stage, then to a counseling stage. It continues through puberty and a whole new set of issues. It continues to maturity, when a young adult creates a new home and starts the process again.
We train them up "in the way." Parents cannot train every step, but they can train the way (Gen 18:19). God gives them to us with a blank slate for a mind. We fill that mind with godly knowledge and wisdom. As Scripture does not dictate every step of our lives, allowing us much individual liberty, so we train them in the way of godliness.
They are to be trained up in the way "they should go." It cannot be the way they want to go. Each child defaults to foolishness and sin from our first parents. Without training against that default instinct, they will grow into committed and hardened sinners. No training is default training - you will have a fool for a child (29:15). The way they should go is the way of righteousness laid out plainly in Scripture (Deut 6:4-9; 29:29; Eph 6:4).
When they are "old," they will follow the training. Here is a promise to be believed, but it also allows for possible difficulties during adolescence, or the teenage years, before they are "old." Properly trained as a child, the teenage years do not have to be difficult. If trained consistently, they will revert to that training as an adult. Believe it! Count on it!
What is child training? It is a consistent example of righteous living that the child can first feel and then observe as they grow up. It is teaching the existence of God and the absolute authority of the Bible. It is enforcing God's rules and parental authority strictly and severely. It is teaching by reproof and the rod. It is teaching by repetition throughout the day. It is using both positive and negative reinforcement for behavior. It is a very open relationship with children, allowing them to know you and learning them well.
What is not child training? Yelling is not child training. Sending them to a Christian school is only a part of child training. Browbeating or nagging them is not child training. Spurts of rules and punishment is not child training. "Time out" is not child training. Playing catch in the yard is not child training. Sesame Street is not child training. Putting the mother in charge is not child training. Rocking them tenderly is not child training. Giving them an allowance without hard labor is not child training.
Previous generations grew up on farms observing the training of animals. If they did not train certain animals, they would either starve or be severely handicapped. Child training was easy after watching colts broken and mules trained for the plow. There is no rocket science here, and the search for new or creative techniques misses the boat. Any parent can train their children, if they will flush their selfishness and slothfulness and get busy! It is shame that seeing-eye dogs can be trained, but children cannot!
The children of this generation are a mess. They are arrogant, foolish, ignorant, immature, lazy, profane, rebellious, selfish, and wasteful. There is an obvious cause for their personal and social dysfunction. Their parents were too busy, selfish, and lazy to train them. The consequences are a generation of fools, which will beget more fools. Our nation's future is bleak, not because of Washington, but because of foolish parents.
Let the righteous arise! Every godly parent should seize this proverb as his own and get to work. Godly and wise descendants are one sentence away (with a little regular effort)! Give a reasonable and consistent effort, and trust the Lord for the rest (Ps 127:1-2). He can multiply a few loaves and fishes to feed a great multitude with much left over. He can bless your efforts to bear the fruit of righteous children, who will rejoice your heart. There is no reason to be defeated! There is every reason to be elated! Lord, help us! 
- http://www.fgbt.org/proverbs/22_06.htm
Though I do not agree with all that is contained in this website that I have cited, I do agree with this article wholeheartedly.

Excerpt

 The following is an excerpt from the new booklet I am working on about conscience. No title as yet - just ideas.

We don’t just wake up one day and the marriage is over. We don’t just wake up one day and the kids are a mess. We don’t just wake up one day and we are in deep poverty. It started somewhere! The first time we sensed something wasn’t right; what was our response? Did we ignore it or did we confront it? Ignoring it softens the voice of conscience for the next time. Reacting to it will strengthen its voice for the next time. Spiritual sensitivity is vital for our survival! Satan’s strategy is to desensitize the spiritual senses with a bombardment of imagery that after awhile, it doesn’t affect you. After awhile of ignoring the Spirit’s quickening, self is desensitizing that area so no feeling any longer exists there. If a person ignores or overrides this inner witness continually, there will come a time in their life when the capability to hear God’s voice becomes nearly impossible. Loss of Godly influence and direction of life becomes lost and the person is then left to rely only on themselves as a source of guidance. Of course, this opens them up to the influences of ungodly spirits and a life of defeat and frustration will soon be the norm. Conversely, immediate obedience maintains the health of spiritual sensitivity and even permits deeper intimacy with the Holy Spirit to take place. Make no mistake about it, the health of our spiritual lives as well as our eternal destiny is dependent on the condition of our conscience.

How many times have we said “I knew I shouldn’t have done that?” The question then becomes “why did I do it?” Something was going off within us but we were ignoring it. Everything takes practice so that we can become proficient. The Holy Spirit communicates through our conscience and the more I respond to him the less “I knew I shouldn’t have done that” will be uttered.