Lessons from an old leather belt

6. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7.  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8.  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9.  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10.  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11.  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. ~ Hebrews 12:6-11

 "This is going to hurt you more than it's going to hurt me."

Boy, that was a big lie I thought to myself. Dad is getting pleasure out of whipping me with that old leather belt. I can tell by the way he jingles the buckle when he takes it off and by the way he snaps the leather making a loud cracking sound as he approaches me. Oh sure, I deserved to be punished, I had done something wrong again but is a whipping really necessary?

Of course that was my way of thinking when I was an 8-years old getting into mischief and being caught. My dad had some kind of 6th sense when it came to figuring out who had done the dirty deeds around the house.

I was born in 1966 and was a child of the 70's. It was a carefree time and I lived in the country away from all of the attractions of the city. I was more drawn to creeks, barns, woods, and dogs than anything else in the world. I didn't realize back then how lucky I was to grow up in a Christian home. Both of my parents were Christians and they made sure that we went to Church when the doors were open. There was no discussion or choices to be made, we went and that was final. I would have had to been running a high fever or severely bleeding to be able to stay out of Church. In my small way of thinking, I felt I was being punished by being raised this way.

"When I grow up I'm going to do whatever I want to do and nobody can tell me otherwise." Little did I know that when I would grow up the things I wanted to do were the things my parents raised me to do.

Now that I'm a grown man with a wife and three children, I can look back on those days of my childhood and just smile. I never heard my father raise his voice to my mother, he never cursed, he never struck her out of anger, he never abandoned us. He was a solid rock and still is. The lessons he taught me from the strap of that old leather belt are precious to me now. If I could go back in time I wouldn't change a single thing (well except I think I would try not to be so mischievous.)

I had the joy of preaching a message this past Sunday on Father's Day. There was my dad sitting in the congregation on the 5th pew from the front, right beside my mother. I used my life lessons from dad throughout my sermon in illustrations. It wasn't really until I was preaching that I realized how much in common my earthly father has with my Heavenly Father. Oh, I know he wouldn't think so but I can't imagine having a better dad. I just hope I can be half of the man that he has been during his lifetime.

Give this message a listen and see if you can relate your father with the Heavenly Father: 

A Heart Problem

As my wife and I sat in the D.M.V. awaiting our son to take his driver’s permit, another young man and his mother entered the building. The mother appeared to be in her late thirty’s to early 40's, the son was fifteen. I’m not here to pass judgment on anyone, just stating facts; the young man was white, wore a baseball cap with a straight bill, tilted slightly sideways on his head. Both of his arms were marked with some type of tattoos, whether they were real or fake, I could not tell. He wore a pair of shorts and a long jersey, as well as a gold necklace and bracelet. His appearance was similar to what you would imagine a thug rapper from a video channel to be.

The mother and son sat down in the seats immediately in front of me and my wife. I could tell within 5 minutes that the mother was scared to death of her son. He was not scary looking at all. In fact, he was quite the opposite; pudgy build, pale skin, red hair, the type of kid you suspect would get bullied at school because of his appearance. Then he opened his mouth…

First, let me say that I was raised to have respect for my mother and all women. I was also taught to never use foul language, especially around a woman. You could tell from the young man’s vocabulary that most of what he said was what he learned by watching television and music videos. His verbal onslaught was embarrassing and very disrespectful. I leaned over to my wife and said “somebody needs a knot jerked in their tail.” That is a common expression that is said around my neck of the woods and is meant for anyone that misbehaves in a disrespectful manner.

After we left the D.M.V. and all day afterwards, I kept thinking about the disrespectful young man. I had let my anger toward his disgusting demeanor get the best of me. I should have shared Christ with the young man instead of allowing the situation to get the better of me. I prayed for him and his mother. One thought that keeps going through my mind is a verse from Matthew 15:18: “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” And, that is the young man’s issue... he has a heart problem.

Where did his heart problem begin? No doubt it began when he was just a child. Proverbs 22:6 says: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” I don’t blame the young man as much as I blame his parents. The young man’s mother just sat there, not rebuking her son for his foul mouth language or his disrespectful behavior. No doubt he had never been disciplined. The Bible teaches that we are to discipline our children: Proverbs 22:15 say: “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” I can say without a shadow of a doubt that my parents were “Proverb Parents” because they exercised Proverbs 23:13-14 on my backside numerous times: “13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” I’m proud to say that just as the Bible declares, that the discipline which was administered unto me as a child did not kill me, it only made me a better person. It is God’s plan that we discipline, instruct, and raise our children in a righteous atmosphere. Proverbs 10:11 says: “The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.”

In light of the recent tragedies of the school shooting in Sandy Hook, I think it is safe to say that some serious soul searching needs to be done by parents. Many people want to blame it on guns, but the gun is not where the problem lies. The problem lies within the heart of the person holding the gun. Yes, my friend, heart problems are the cause of all of the tragedy going on in the world today. Young people today are not receiving what they need to receive any more. 

Below is a list of things you can do to try and make sure your children do not grow up with a heart problem:

1. Discipline them (Proverbs 22:6, 22:15, 23:13-14)
2. Instruct them (Deuteronomy 6:1-9, 11:18-23)
3. Bring them to Sunday school and Church (Mark 10:14, Isaiah 54:13, Psalm 122:1, Hebrews 10:25)

If you are looking for a good church to raise your family in, why not come and visit us at Highland Baptist? For information just go to our church website: www.hbcknox.org

Are you being responsible to your family?

I have been having a real burden for families lately. I suppose because of the death of one of my family members and being around some of my family that I don't normally see very often, it has really hit home that I have numerous family members that do not attend Church.

I can tell you from experience that being out of Church and away from God's people will make you lax. You get lax in your prayer life, your Bible reading, and your time alone with God. When you get this way you don't have the fellowship with the Lord that He wants you to have. You will start to notice that things don't go as smoothly for you during these times as well.

I'm not naive enough to think that just because someone goes to Church that all of their problems are over, Heavens, no! But, I do know that when problems do arise and you are going to Church and walking close to God that you are able to get through those problems a whole lot easier.

If you have a family then you have a responsibility to see that they are spiritually fed; Deuteronomy 6:6-9:

"⁶ And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:⁷ And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. ⁸ And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.⁹ And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." .  

I consider this just as important as making sure they are physically fed.

If you are a Christian you have a responsibility to assemble yourself together with God's people; Hebrews 10:25 says:

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." this is a commandment, not a suggestion. 

And, lastly, if you have your name on the roll-book of a Church, it is also your responsibility to attend that Church and support it.

This past Sunday night I preached about The Bible Living Family. I hope you consider giving it a listen. It might just be exactly what you need for your family right now.