Lexiemom's Blog

This is a reprint from Adam Faughn at the 9th Avenue church of Christ in Haleyville, AL.

I see is virtually everywhere I preach, both at 9th Avenue as well as in various guest speaking opportunities. It is a trend that is disheartening to me, not just as a preacher of the Gospel, but also just one who loves the hearts of children and who wants to see them grow to love God and His Word.  It is kids playing video games during worship.  They bring their iPad, tablet, or phone and while many of us are singing “I Surrender All,” they are striving for a high score. While we are praying to God, they are playing baseball. While we are mining the depths of God’s Word, they are on Minecraft.  Parents, may I just ask: what are we teaching our children about worship? 

It’s boring.

It’s only for adults.

It can’t compete with electronics.

It’s something you do if you can’t find something more interesting.

Those lessons, spoken or unspoken, are what your children are picking up when you allow them to play games during worship.  And I know that there are plenty of Bible apps and websites that are also being used by some. That said, I have randomly asked children at places I have spoken about what they were doing on their iPad (or other device) during worship. Never–not a single time–has it had something to do with the sermon. It has always–every single time–been about playing a game or watching videos. (Yes, I’ve seen kids with headphones hooked up to their tablet during worship. Not a good way to show that they are paying attention to the worship service!)  Is this what we want for our children? As we are gathering around God’s throne to praise His holy name, do we want our kids to be off in virtual gameland? If I may say so, I want my children right in God’s throne room with me as I praise Him!

Excuses, More Excuses

“They can’t sit still through a whole sermon.” “They pick up quite a bit as it is.” “They don’t understand what’s going on.” “It helps me worship because they are still and quiet, at least.”  I’ve heard all the excuses. They just don’t fly. Worship is something that children must be trained in, and it starts when they are very little. What’s more, if they are trained how to act during worship when they are younger, children will most likely come to enjoy worship as they grow up.  Of course, children will be restless during worship (especially the sermon). That’s part of it, and it is understandable. But putting Temple Run in front of their face is not the answer. All that teaches our kids is that they can act up in worship, and they are rewarded for it!

What Can I Do?

I am not saying that children–especially smaller children–need to sit perfectly still during a worship service with just a King James Bible open to the text for the sermon. But there are far better things to do, or even to give your children, than a video game (or social media access, for the older ones).  When they are really small, give them Bible pictures, Bible story “board-books,” or even small stuffed animals (and whisper in their ear, “God made the dog on day 6,” or “God made the birdie on day 5”). That way, though they have something in their hands, or that they are looking at, it is teaching them to focus on their wonderful Lord during these few minutes.  As they grow a little older, Bible story books are a good idea. Also, make sure they are at least trying to sing and that they are still during the prayers. They can do this much!  Another idea is to have little worship worksheets that they can draw and write on. (Note: We offer these for free in our “Training for Worship” pdf that’s in our store. Again, it’s free!) These sheets let them write the names of the songs or something we prayed about. Have your children draw a picture of something the preacher talked about on the sheets, or write down the verses he used in his sermon.

It’s Not Easy, but It’s Worth It

I know that all this means that you may struggle to worship at times. During those younger years, those children are forming such valuable thoughts in their little minds. Wouldn’t you rather struggle a little bit and have them grow up loving to worship and understanding what is going on?  Then please, not for the sake of the preacher, but for the sake of the souls of your children, nix the video games.

Replace Mindcraft with Matthew.

Replace Temple Run with Titus.

Replace sports games with singing with grace.

God is worthy of your effort. It will be a fight for awhile, but the eternal destiny of your child is in the balance. It’s worth every effort.

Adam Faughn

ALegacyofFaith.us

My father-in-law, George, passed away last week in a car accident.  Although, it was sudden, my husband has been handling it really well.  He’s had to stay busy making arrangements and trying to settle his affairs, and in a way, I think that has helped him, or at least distracted him from the sorrow he feels.  He was sad and cried, of course, at his father’s memorial service, but over all, he’s been very strong.  George loved the Lord, and was a faithful Christian.  That knowledge, that he is in heaven with God, is what made this last week less painful, I think, especially for my husband.

He went back to work today, but there are still things to take care of and accounts to settle.  Not to go into all the details, but long story short, I found myself needing to handle a few things out at his house today.  Eldest Son is homeschooling, so I packed a book for him & brought he and Babyboy with me.  As we pulled into the drive, Babyboy asked me where Pawpaw was.  “Pawpaw went to be with God in heaven, remember?” I told him, knowing full well he didn’t understand at all.

We went inside and cared for his two little dogs that we are leaving at the house until we can find homes for them.  (A retired neighbor checks in on them several times a day for us right now.)  They were so happy to see us, and play with the boys.  After walking the dogs, the boys went out to the farm next door to look at the horses & goats (one of their favorite things at Pawpaw’s house), and I stayed in clearing out the fridge, freezer & perishables from the cabinets.  I was alone in the house with just the dogs at my feet following me around the kitchen whining for attention.  They looked so forlorn, whimpering and waiting for the master they will never see again.  As I was cleaning out George’s foodstuffs, all I could see in my minds eye was the confused look on my three-year-old’s face, and wondering if he would remember any of this in just a few short years.  What would he remember of his Pawpaw that he loves so much?  What about my older two boys?  And suddenly I broke into sobs.  It filled me with so much sorrow to see these lonely dogs, and see my puzzled son, and know that we would never again in this life get to visit with Pawpaw.

I’m reminded of a sermon my preacher gave some time back about the brevity of this life, and the enormity of eternity.  George is gone.  His wives are gone.  His children will remember him, certainly, his grandchildren to a lesser degree, and then his life here will just be a name on a grave marker.  One more generation, and he will be all but unknown.  This life is a vapor, even if you are blessed, as my father-in-law was to live 82 years; in comparison to forever, it is a mist, a blink, a fading shadow.  But God knows George, and will know him, always.  And so, we will see him again, someday, forever.

“…you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” James 4:14

Sylvia Thompson column

Barack Obama is not seeking “legacy”

 

Sylvia Thompson

Sylvia Thompson
October 26, 2015

To the many gullible souls out there who truly think that Barack Obama is “legacy building” in his all-out assault on America, I implore you to bow out of the conversation because you are not seeing clearly.

The term legacy carries positive connotations of something bequeath that is to the receiver’s benefit. Everything that Barack Obama does is calculated to destroy America, which he despises. This man no more cares about legacy than he fears being properly prosecuted by the white political leaders whose responsibility it is to remove him from office.

I focus on white leaders, because whites are still in the majority and they fill the majority of political offices. If the majority of political operatives were of some other ethnicity, I would lodge my complaint against that group. Ethnicity is an issue only because Obama is half-black and he uses that fact to intimidate guilt-conflicted white people. Otherwise, he would have been impeached and likely in prison for treason by now.

Barack Obama’s sole aim has been, since he first entered politics and continues as he winds down this presidency, the complete destruction of America as it was founded.

It is an insult to the intelligence of all Americans who must listen to elitist pundits on Fox news and elsewhere, and political drones in either party endeavor to make Obama’s behavior fit a pattern of normalcy. Attributing his destructive policies to “legacy building” is either self-delusion on the part of the people who make that claim or cowardliness.

This is my take.

Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran has nothing to do with legacy but rather to enable a Muslim nation to wage nuclear war with America and Israel – the two nations that he most despises. Does anyone wonder why Russians praise Vladimir Putin despite what the rest of the world might think of him? Putin cares about his country, that’s why.

Obama despises the American military because traditionally it has been a mainstay of America’s strength, and our strength infuriates him.

Imposition of a polluting homosexual, anti-Christian agenda upon the military ranks destroys unit cohesion and literally terrorizes male members with the prospect of sodomy rape. Such rapes have increased since the forcing of open homosexuality in the ranks, against the will of a majority of members I might add. Couple that with an infiltration of women, for whom all standards of strength must be reduced, and Obama attains his goal of emasculating and demoralizing the forces.

He could not care less about a legacy of making the forces more diverse. Besides, President Truman diversified the military as much as it should be when he integrated it. Obama’s objective is its destruction.

Obama reopened relations with Cuba because Cuba is Communist. Legacy is not his concern here either, but rather to scuttle America’s attempts to keep Communist influence out of the Americas. That Cuba has major issues with human rights does not matter. Like his Marxist African father before him, he despises the West and all that it represents.

Obama lawlessly declares open borders and amnesty for illegal aliens, because he wants to overrun America with third-world people who bring little more than dependency with them. This tactic not only does not ensure a legacy, but rather it guarantees the eventual conversion of America itself into third-world status, if it is allowed to continue.

Bill Clinton started the travesty of increasing the numbers of third-world immigrants at the expense of culturally more suited immigrants from European and European-influenced nations, but Obama has taken the trend to lawless, destructive extremes. He is fully aware that many of these invaders have no intention of assimilating.

It is only the outcry of a majority of Americans that holds back this hateful invasion scheme, and Donald Trump’s entry onto the political scene to oppose that scheme is a saving grace for our nation.

These are but a few instances of behavior that display the loathsome character of Barack Hussein Obama. And he is allowed to roam freely through the American landscape poisoning and polluting as he goes, sure in the realization that no one will stop him because he is “black.”

The day that we no longer have to hear the prattle about his “legacy building” will not be soon enough for me.

Many, many Americans are thoroughly fed up with Barack Obama and the spineless crop of political leaders who ignore his criminality. It is yet unknown whether Republicans will ever garner the backbone to become a true opposition party and hold him accountable. Promising signs are the House conservatives’ getting rid of establishment types John Boehner and Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker and Speaker hopeful, respectively, and Donald Trump’s entry into the 2016 presidential race with enough money and testicular fortitude to tell the Establishment and the Left where to shove it.

Should these positive trends not continue and the 2016 election cycle yield no movement to counter all the harm that Barack Obama has done to this nation, I think there will be massive disruption. Those folks in the National Rifle Association ads currently running on television seem very serious to me, and that is a good thing.

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Sylvia Thompson is a black conservative writer whose aim is to counter the liberal spin on issues pertaining to race and culture.

Ms. Thompson is a copy editor by trade currently residing in Tennessee. She formerly wrote for the Conservative Forum of Silicon Valley California Newsletter and the online conservative blog ChronWatch, also out of California.

She grew up in Southeast Texas during the waning years of Jim Crow-era legalized segregation, and she concludes that race relations in America will never improve, nor will we ever elevate our culture, as long as there are victims to be pandered to and villains to be vilified. America is better served without victims or villains.

I haven’t really blogged since Baby Boy was born, and he just turned 3.  Surprisingly, I’ve had very little time to blog. (Yes, that is sarcasm.)  But I wanted to put down another major milestone we went through before it becomes too faded in my mind’s eye.  When Baby Boy was just 10 months old, he had to have open heart surgery to repair the hole in his heart from his Tetrology of Fallot.

I (sort of) chronicled it on Facebook, and I wanted to compile all those posts to keep for posterity…or at least for when Baby Boy is not a baby anymore.

Sept. 4, 2013:  Sweet [Baby Boy] going into surgery this morning…

Sept. 4, 2013 (afternoon): Thank you, Father! [Babyboy] is out of surgery and doing well. We can see him in CICU in about an hour.

Sept. 4, 2013 (evening): Hey, friends! [Babyboy] is in CICU at Egleston (Children’s Healthcare of Atl). He’s doing really well after his surgery, and will probably only be in there day or two. Then he’ll be in the cardiac “step down” unit for a few days. He hasn’t woken up yet, but I’m spending the night here just in case he does. I’m on a hospital computer (which is really slow), so I won’t be on FB long, but txt me if you need to contact me. [Hubby]’s at home with the older boys. Thank you all for your support and prayers!!

Sept. 5, 2013:

(Morning post) Baby boy did well through the night. He’s got good color and last night he was trying to wake up. The nurse said he’s doing really well as far as breathing goes, and he’s not having excessive drainage, so maybe he can come off the respirator today. Here’s hoping. The doctors are still doing rounds in the CICU, so I haven’t been able to see him yet this morning, but I should get a call soon.

(Mid-day post) [Baby boy] continues to defy the odds! After LESS THAN 24 hours, he is out of the ICU!! He has been moved to the “step down” unit of Cardiology at CHOA. His breathing tube is out, and two of the 4 IVs have been removed. He still has the chest tube & the temporary pace-maker for now, but hopefully those will come out tomorrow or the next day. He is still in pain, and they are keeping him medicated, but he has periods of wakefulness and we’ve enjoyed a little snuggle time.

(Evening post) Hitting the bottle again…

Sept. 6, 2013:

(In answer to a friend’s question about the type of surgery he had.)   He had open heart surgery to repair his congenital heart defect (he was born with it). He has a condition called “Tetralogy of Fallot” with “Absent Pulmonary Valve”. They did not have to put in an artificial valve, and they did not have to put in a pace-maker, both of which were high possibilities. His surgeon said he had a very large hole which they patched & some swelling of the pulmonary arteries which they “trimmed” down. His surgeon was so impressed by how well he tolerated the surgery, he thinks he probably will not need another surgery until he is an adult! We’re super thankful to God for His loving hand that is taking care of [Baby Boy]!

(Afternoon post) [Baby Boy] had a rough night last night & I was up with him practically all night. [Hubby] took over tonight so I could come home and get some rest. He had his chest tube & pace wires removed today, as well as all but one of his IVs. He still has some fluid on his lungs which is normal after this type of surgery. They are monitoring that & giving him lots of diuretics to help him get rid of the excessive fluids. He was doing so well this morning there was talk of possibly discharging him tomorrow. However, he has been refusing to eat in the afternoon, and has not taken anything to eat (not even water) all day since around 2pm, and he only had about 4 oz of formula all morning before that (most of which he threw back up). So, now they are really concerned that they cannot get any food or water into him. [Hubby] just called a little while ago and said that they thought maybe the oral pain meds were making him sick to his stomach, and they are going to put him back on morphine (thru IV) and try to get him to take some formula. If he still refuses to eat, they may have to do a feeding tube. Keep praying friends!

Sept. 7, 2013:

(Posted by Hubby)  [Baby Boy] will be staying until Sunday. Last night they put in a nasal tube for feeding and medicine. [Lexiemom] will be with him all day today and tonight.

(Posted by Me)  I’m back at the hospital, and have ducked out to the family center while [Babyboy] snoozes to post to FB. I see that [Hubby] already posted a short update under my name here. Last night was really rough, and [Hubby] was up most of the night with him. I’m staying tonight, and I’m very thankful to [Hubby] for trading out with me last night so I could get some much needed sleep.

Last night around midnight, the staff put in a feeding tube because [Baby Boy] had refused to eat anything all day. That made him VERY cranky. But today, [Babyboy] is doing better. FINALLY at about 2:30 pm he nursed for about 25 minutes & had a big BM. So, he feels better. He even played with the blocks the nurse brought him for a little while.

If you shop on Thanksgiving, you are part of the problem.

Marriage Isn’t For You.

“My child is gifted. He’s also 29, unemployed, and living in my basement”.