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Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’

Seventeenth Century English Puritan minister John Flavel wrote the following powerful words about the ultimate responsibility of parents:

“How many families are there, though not profane, who yet train up their children vainly and sensually, and take no care for their souls? It is no matter to them that the devil seeks their souls. If they can but leave them lands or money, they think they have fully discharged their duty. O with what language will such parents and children greet each other in hell!

Parents, I beseech you to consider your duty. Consider your close relationship and concern for their happiness. They give you joy and you highly value them. You sympathize in all their troubles, and sorrow at parting with them. Shall all of this be to no purpose? You value them, yet in the meantime shall you take no care of them for eternity?

God has entrusted their souls to you as well as their bodies. What can comfort you if they die without Christ through your neglect? O this is a grievous consideration; my child is in hell, and I did nothing to prevent it, and I helped them there!

If you neglect to instruct them in the way of holiness, the devil will not neglect to instruct them in wickedness. If you do not teach them to pray, the devil will teach them to curse and lie. Weeds will spring up in uncultivated ground. A twig may bend to any form, but a grown limb will not bend. You are an instrumental cause of all their spiritual misery. By nature they lie spiritually dead before you, and by imitation they will follow your example.

No one is as likely to do good to them as you. You have their natural affection, and daily opportunity. You know their temperaments. If you neglect, who shall help them? O remember that text: ‘And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God’ (Rev 20:12). What a sad thing it will be to see you dear children at Christ’s left hand! Oh friends, do your utmost to prevent this misery!”

Nothing else needs to be said about properly prioritizing our parental responsibility to tend to the souls of our children.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIAN PARENTS TO PREVENT WEEDS FROM SPRINGING UP IN UNCULTIVATED GROUND. We must do our utmost to prevent such misery!

ADMIN: The thoughts from John Flavel came from “Voices from the Past: Puritan Devotional Readings” edited by Richard Rushing.

This PLUS post is a summary of the big thoughts that I’ve focused on during this last year. It is a way for me to reinforce this thinking for my own benefit, and challenge you with these same thoughts for your benefit.

OVERRIDING POINT 1

Isaiah 58:11-12 “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”

• God is looking for a faithful few who He can use to make up the hedge, stand in the gap, and repair the breach. When a society is diverging from Him, He simply seeks those who will act righteously to forego judgment and forestall wrath. In doing so, these faithful individuals can build up the old waste places, raise up stable foundations, and restore the paths of protection and provision. This is exactly what our society needs today.

OVERRIDING POINT 2

Isaiah 59:1-2 “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you. and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

• The Lord is looking for a real, genuine, authentic, ever-guiding, never-neglecting faith. He isn’t looking for a part-time faith. He isn’t looking for lack-luster faith. He isn’t looking for a fair-weather faith. He isn’t looking for a half-hearted faith. Instead, He is looking for a faith that pervades our lives and propels our labors.

OVERRIDING POINT 3

Isaiah 58:7-8 “Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.”

• We are directed to help meet the practical and spiritual needs of the desperate world in which we live. If we do, then we will illuminate our world like a magnificent sunrise. We will have energy and vitality to complete our tasks and a resilient reputation to lead the way. And, we will regain our ability to reflect the glory of the Lord into the environment around us that is thirsting for a glow that has been absent from their shadow-filled lives.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD CLING TO BIBLICAL LESSONS FROM 2023 TO PROPERLY PROPEL US INTO 2024. Happy New Year!

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

This year, famous Air Force fighter pilot, test pilot, and Commander of Apollo 8, Frank Borman, passed into eternity. During such a year, 55 years after his famous Christmas Eve transmission, it is worth revisiting this PLUS post from 2014:

As humankind watched the liftoff of Apollo 11 on July 16^th, 1969 they were mindful of the previous Apollo missions that had paved the way for this event through their own amazing accomplishments.  Apollo 8, the mission that closed out 1968, provided its own noteworthy firsts.  On that mission, astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders became the first humans to travel beyond low earth orbit and the first to orbit the moon.  They were humbled to be the first members of mankind to see the earth in its entirety. 

As they orbited the moon on Christmas Eve 1968, they participated in the most watched television broadcast at that point in history.  During that transmission they said the following: “We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send to you.”  They then went on to read Genesis 1:1-10 out of the King James Bible. 

Those three astronauts, with a vantage point unmatched at that point in human history, turned to the One whose vantage point is truly unmatched.  From a perspective unrivaled by previous humankind, they turned to the One whose perspective is ultimately unrivaled.  From a viewpoint that was breathtaking, they turned to the One who gave us breath.  From a point of view that marveled at the entirety of earthly creation, they turned to the Creator of the heaven and the earth. 

From our perch on this planet we may not have the perspective of the Apollo 8 astronauts, but we still have access to the One whose perspective is ultimately unrivaled.  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD TURN TO THE CREATOR OF THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH FOR TRUE PERSPECTIVE.  We need it to guide our lives so that we can properly send His message to all of humankind.

ADMIN: Please see the following for the original post about Frank Borman:

Perspective

I Samuel 14:6 “And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.”

I Samuel 17:40 “And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.”

Judges 7:7 “And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his own place.”

John 6:9 “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?”

Samuel Langley was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a position largely considered as our nation’s chief scientist at the time. As it is today, the Smithsonian is a massive organization bankrolled by the U.S. Government. Langley, using the institutional resources at his disposal, was committed to winning the race to successfully create and operate the first heavier-than-air machine in powered flight, fully expecting to fly the first airplane in human history. He was right to think he would do so because his only apparent competition was a couple of newspaper printers turned bicycle tinkers from Dayton, Ohio known as the Wright Brothers.

While Langley was arrogantly spending money by leaping into the air and testing his concepts, the duo from Dayton were carefully and miserly considering various concepts for success as they marched through innovative concepts that would inform every component of powered flight.

The Wright Brothers were a savvy duo without deep pockets. Committed to their cause, they went about systematically considering the challenges set before them. They watched and studied birds, flew kites and gliders, and carefully explored creative concepts, such as wing warping, propeller design, airfoil optimization, and control system configuration. They even created a wind tunnel to methodically test and evaluate their novel ideas, filling volumes of notebooks with their findings.

In the end, Samuel Langley nearly died by throwing himself and his resources into his failed attempts at flight. On the other hand, the Wright Brothers succeeded in conducting four flights on a gusty day in Kittyhawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903. In his failed pursuits, Langley was bankrolled with over $70,000 in investments (about two million dollars in today’s dollars), while the Wright Brothers only spent $1,000 (about $28,000 in today’s dollars).

The investment of Orville and Wilbur was less than two percent of that of Langley, yet it yielded a massive return. It also demonstrated an important example that the biggest budget does not always yield the best results. Even with their limited resources, they soared above the competition.

God’s economy is far different than our economy. He can work through even the least likely among us, and yield the biggest results from the most measly investments. Just because we are outnumbered, outspent, outgunned, and outmaneuvered in the ways of the world does not mean that God has yielded to the forces of evil. In fact, just the opposite. It is when things seem least likely from a human perspective that God’s power shines through the darkness in the most magnificent of ways.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO NEVER SEE OUR HUMAN WEAKNESS AS THE END OF THE STORY. Even through our frailty, God’s perfect plans will soar above the competition.

NOTE: The Wright Brothers were ready to complete their first flight on December 16^th, but it was a Sunday. In honor to the Lord, they didn’t work on Sundays and so they waited for the next day to complete their record breaking flight.

ADMIN: The Langley vs. Wright Brothers story comes from my newly-published book “BOOM! Leadership that Breaks Barriers, Challenges Convention, and Ignites Innovation.” Please check it out!

Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

This is a bit long and heady, but I found it a fitting way to consider our responsibility to the contingent promises of Genesis 12.

As we pass the two-month anniversary of the brutal and barbaric attack on Israel by Hamas that aligns with the beginning of the Jewish festival of lights, Hanukkah, it is appropriate to reflect on the past as a productive guide for the future. Through serendipity or divine providence, I recently read Charles Krauthammer’s book “Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics.” Therein contains some stunning thoughts that should cause deep reflection on the subject at hand from a unique and powerful Jewish perspective. It should compel us to redouble our unwavering support for Israel and our unrelenting commitment to eliminate the anti-Jewish hate we see in our tumultuous world situation.

This thought-provoking book is a compilation of Krauthammer’s newspaper columns from 1983-2014. As a result, it provides an interesting perspective on modern history: cultural, political, and geopolitical. His thoughts on Israel, antisemitism, Hamas, and Iran stand out as telling, concerning, shocking, and prescient. They are worth quoting extensively with a parenthetical on the year he wrote them. Some things never change!

Krauthammer artfully expresses Israel’s gracious attempts to promote peace in the region that have been relentlessly used against them by their adversaries: “Land for peace. Remember? Well, during the past decade, Israel gave the land – evacuating South Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005. What did it get? An intensification of belligerency, heavy militarization of the enemy side, multiple kidnappings, cross-border attacks and, from Gaza, years of unrelenting rocket attack.” (2010) He amplified these thoughts in a subsequent writing: “In 2005, Israel gave up land without peace in Gaza, and again was rewarded with war – and constant rocket attack from an openly genocidal Palestinian mini-state.” (2011)

Krauthammer rightfully expresses that the stakes are unbearably high and the enemies of Israel and the Jewish people are ruthlessly determined to succeed in their genocidal intents: “Land without peace is nothing but an invitation to national suicide.” (2011) He expresses these thoughts with more provocative amplification: “The world is tired of these troublesome Jews, 6 million hard by the Mediterranean, refusing every invitation to national suicide. For which they are relentlessly demonized, ghettoized and constrained from defending themselves, even as the more committed anti-Zionists – Iranian in particular – openly prepare a more final solution.” (2010)

Krauthammer’s provocative writings include the following thought-provoking gem: “In its vulnerability to extinction, Israel is not just any small country. It is the only small country – the only country, period – whose neighbors publicly declare its very existence an affront to law, morality and religion and make its extinction an explicit, paramount national goal … To destroy the Jewish people, Hitler needed to conquer the world. All that is needed today is to conquer a territory smaller than Vermont.” (1998)

Krauthammer brilliantly describes the twisted logic of the double standard by which Israel is held in spite of their nearly-unimaginably perilous position: “Why is it that of Israel a standard of behavior is demanded that is not just higher than its neighbors’, not just equal to that of the West, but in fact far higher than that of any Western country in similar circumstances?” (1990) He goes on to express the confounding logic of victimhood that is flipped upside down for the Jewish nation: “With Jews, that kind of reasoning is reversed: Jewish suffering does not entitle them to more leeway in trying to prevent a repetition of their tragedy, but to less. Their suffering requires them, uniquely among the world’s sufferers, to bend over backwards in dealing with their enemies. Sometimes it seems as if Jews are entitled to protection and equal moral consideration only insofar as they remain victims.” (1990) He continues with the following: “It is perverse to argue that because this particular nation-state is made up of people who have suffered the greatest crime in modern history, they, more than any other people on earth, have a special obligation to be delicate with those who would bring down on them yet another national catastrophe. That is a double standard. What does double standard mean? To call it a higher standard is simply a euphemism. That makes it sound like a compliment. In fact, it is a weapon.” (1990) Krauthammer punctuates this series of thoughts in this way: “The conscious deployment of a double standard directed at the Jewish state and at no other state in the world, the willingness to systematically condemn the Jewish state for things others are not condemned for – this is not a higher standard. It is a discriminatory standard. And discrimination against Jews has a name too. The word for it is antisemitism.” (1990)

Krauthammer also explains the rightful perspective that takes into consideration Israel’s unequaled environment: “Any moral judgment must take into account the alternative. Israel cannot stand alone, and if it is abandoned by its friends for not meeting Western standards of morality, it will die. What will replace it? The neighbors: Syria, Jordan, the PLO, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Ahmed Jabril, Abu Nidal (if he is still around) or some combination of these – an outcome that will induce acute nostalgia for Israel’s human-rights record. Any moral judgment that refuses to consider the alternative is merely irresponsible. That is why Israel’s moral neighborhood is important. It is not just the neighborhood, it is the alternative and, if Israel perishes, the future. It is morally absurd, therefore, to reject Israel for failing to meet Western standards of human rights when the consequences of that rejection is to consign the region to neighbors with considerably less regard for human rights.” (1990)

I fully acknowledge that this is a lot to unpack, but Krauthammer’s words from as far back as 1990 are a poignant expression of the consistency of verbal, moral, and physical attacks against Israel and the Jewish people over the course of modern history. Krauthammer does, though, provide an important piece of context for which Americans should be profoundly proud of our past and doggedly determined for our future: “No nation since Cyrus the Great’s Persia has done more for the Jews.” (2006) As our Jewish American neighbors struggle to celebrate Hannukah in the midst of rightful concern, persistent attack, and burning heartache, and our Israeli partners struggle in their righteous efforts against Hamas and its Persian benefactors, may we provide unwavering support that is befitting of a long-term friendship, an unbreakable bond, and a rightful moral commitment.

PLEASE PRAY FOR ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH POPULATION AROUND THE WORLD. Hanukkah Sameach!