Continued from Page 4.
work the angles. Mommy is powerless, and
daddy is a patsy. They can read when you
are about to explode. So they defy your
words just short of that. This bears sour
fruit for everyone. But the work it takes
to be immediately consistent with every
disobedience bears sweet fruit for parents,
children, and others.
6. You can break the multi-generational
dysfunction.
One reason parents don’t require
discipline is they have never seen it done.
They come from homes that had two
modes: passivity and anger. They know
they don’t want to parent in anger. The only
alternative they know is passivity. There is
good news: this can change. Parents can
learn from the Bible and from wise people
what is possible, what is commanded, what
is wise, and how to do it in a spirit that is
patient, firm, loving, and grounded in the
gospel.
7. Gracious parenting leads children from
external compliance to joyful willingness. spells misery. Or, even a deadly encounter
with the police.
Children need to obey before they can
process obedience through faith. When
faith comes, the obedience which they have
learned from fear and reward and respect
will become the natural expression of faith.
Not to require obedience before faith is
folly. It’s not loving in the long run. It cuts
deep furrows of disobedient habits that
faith must then not infuse, but overcome. 9. Requiring obedience is not the same as
requiring perfection.
8. Children whose parents require obedience
are happier.
Laissez-faire parenting does not produce
gracious, humble children. It produces
brats. They are neither fun to be around,
nor happy themselves. They are demanding
and insolent. Their “freedom” is not a
blessing to them or others. They are free
the way a boat without a rudder is free.
They are the victims of their whims. Sooner
or later, these whims will be crossed. That
Science and Christianity: Conflict or Coherence?,
Second Edition. Athens, GA: Univ. of Georgia
Printing Dept., 2016, by Henry F. (Fritz) Schaefer,
a world renowned physical scientist and 5-time
nominee for the Nobel Prize.
The book is a collection of his essays on science/
Christianity and includes why and how he became
a Christian while a young chemistry professor at the
Univ. of CA Berkeley. He is currently the Graham
Perdue Professor of Computational Chemistry at
UGA.
Trustees Addendum to Annual Report
1/1/16 Beginning Balance $ 2,680,779
Through 2016 Disbursements
$ 458,627 Carriage House
$ 255,000 Capital Campaign
$ 150,000 HVAC
$ 54,967 Property Insurance
$ 1,100 Depue Monuments (Telfair)
$ 2,000 Christian Education
_____________________________
$ 921,694
Income $ 58,332
12/31/2016 End Balance
MESSENGER
$ 1,897,425
APRIL 2017
Since parents represent God to children
—especially before they can know God
through faith in the gospel—we show
them both justice and mercy. Not every
disobedience is punished. Some are noted,
reproved, and passed over. There is no
precise manual for this mixture. Children
should learn from our parenting that the
God of the gospel is a consuming fire
(Hebrews 12:7, 29) and that He is patient
and slow to anger (1 Timothy 1:16). In both
cases—discipline and patience—the aim is
quick, happy, thorough obedience. That’s
what knowing God in Christ produces.
Parents, you can do this. It is a hard
season. I’ve spent more than sixty percent
of my life in it. But there is divine grace for
this, and you will be richly rewarded.
Did You
Know?
. . . Paul and Joanne Johansen’s son, LT Paul
Johansen , of Air Station Kodiak, was the recipient
of the 2016 Order of Daedalians Exceptional Pilot
Award in February 2017. This prestigious award was
given to Paul for exhibiting exceptional heroism and
achievement during the challenging MEDEVAC
of a 21-year-old male on the evening of Nov. 25,
2016. He led a crew of 4 conducting the rescue
in atrocious weather (50 knot winds with ¼ mile
visibility, zero illumination and no visible horizon)
900 miles away from home station. His exemplary
crew coordination in 25 ft. seas resulted in the
successful recovery of the survivor.
. . . Mrs. Richard Hill (Marci) was presented the
Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding
commitment towards tourism at the 19 th annual
Tourism Awards event of the Savannah Tourism
Leadership Council on Thursday, March 9, 2017.
Marci has been the Director of City Market since
1988.
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