Biblical Lessons, Phylacteries, & Proverbs 3:1-4

by Chuck Ness

Today's chosen commentary is on Proverbs 3:1-4 which alludes to Deuteronomy 6:6-8. In this passage, God tells the people how they can be assured they will always keep the law. Like all things, it comes with repetition so that it will be trained into our memory. Something we are to diligently teach our children, so that when they get older the law will be always in the forefront of their consciousness. For us Christians, we too should raise our children to know the Scriptures as they know how to walk. Everyday is a time to learn something new about the things of Christ. Everyday is a chance to ensure their eternal Salvation and a place in heaven.

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:6-8

Many believe these Scripture references are where use of phylacteries among the Jews took rise. They were small leather boxes containing Hebrew texts on vellum, worn by Jewish men at morning prayer as a reminder to keep the law. It was a case of contention with Jesus in that he chastised the Pharisees about. Now do not misunderstand me, Christ wasn't chastising them for the use of these phylacteries but rather for the way they went overboard in their attempt to act more righteous for wearing them, and for putting undo burdens upon the people they themselves truly would not follow.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and. Matthew23:25-28

The whole idea is that we should have the word of God in the forefront of out minds. We do this not by strapping boxes of Scripture onto our forehead or strapping the bible to our arms, but rather by studying and constant reading of the word so we are always reminded of what is right and what is wrong so that we are nor led astray by the world we live in. Like Jesus and His Disciples, who were all astute students as they grew up. Thus the truth was always in their hearts and minds so, like Jesus, they were always about their Fathers business, not getting distracted by the business of the world. Paul admonishes Timothy, and thus us all, to be good students of Scripture so we will always be ready. study the Word so we are ready.

Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2Timothy 2:14-15

This is why I emphasize the reading of a Proverb a day along with your normal reading and studying routine. We can never be too prepared for what lays ahead for us in this world. You never know when the Holy Spirit will lead another Christian our way who needs an answer to a problem they have about the Word or one who is stumbling in their walk, or even a contrarian about the truth. It is incumbent upon us to always be prepared in and out of season to share and defend the truth, and the only way is to be filled with the Spirit of God and gain all the Wisdom of God we can.

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2Timothy 4:1-5

If Destruction Is Our Future, Then We Are To Blame

by Chuck Ness

Today Americans have stopped acting in terms of their own moral, ethical religious beliefs and principles. They stopped acting on what they know was right, and the "me attitude" has become the measure of everything. However, moral societies are the only ones that work. Now that America has ceased to be one, I'm hard pressed to find any country in the World that is.

If anyone thinks there is not a direct relationship between personal integrity and a society's prosperity, that person has simply not studied history. Societies that are built upon faith in God, honor, and the respect of law. blossom like a flower in the sun.

The Picture Bible

by Chuck Ness

I was in an old used bookstore the other day. I like looking for old books written by Christians who came and went long before we lived. If I find one I like I purchase it. Well as I was looking I came across a Picture Bible, put together for children. Now it's not as old as many I find, it was actually published in 1979. I just could not resist. Every page is illustrated with just enough words added to tell the story. 

As I flipped through it I was impressed at the accuracy of their short explanations they added to the illustrations. As you know, with children you must truncate stories to get the idea across to their young minds, without sacrificing the message of the event.

I took some pictures of the story they illustrated about king David and Bathsheba. Many are familiar with the story.  The pictures have few words added, but enough to do a good job of summarizing the story.  Even if you are an adult you will enjoy it.

Facebook Allows Video Of Murder To Stay Posted (Have It Now)

by Chuck Ness

Facebook claims to be the arbiters of what is, and what is not, good for public consumption. After all, they banished Donald Trump and millions of others because of their Conservative Political views. With my FB friends, it's a running joke as to who gets suspended the most. The reasons we get suspended has everything to do with our religious and political beliefs, not for questionable lapses of morality in our posts. After all, if we posted something that did deserve punishment from those watching our every move, they would applaud our disgusting posts.

Lord Forgive US

Chuck Ness

Dear Lord our Father, we come before you with a saddened heart. There has been another evil deed committed upon our children that could have been prevented, but for the forces of evil in our midst.

Lord, we cry with our fellow citizens who lost their precious children. Lost is the pride we once took in knowing our children would be safe in a place we send them for education. Lost is the understanding we had that they would be educated in a safe environment.

Instead O'Lord, our children are but pawns to be used by the evil that is constantly trying to destroy this nation we used to pledged to be under Your protection and guidance.

The Price Of Liberty

by Chuck Ness

We are entering another election year, and this one is as important as the one which put Donald Trump in the oval Office. Now is not the time to sit on your laurels. We need everyone to understand the importance of repeating what we did on November 8, 2016. The establishment is doing all it can to stop the process of cleaning out the swamp. Mind you, the "Swamp" consists of members from both the Republican and Democrat parties. Our Founding Fathers warned us to be alert, if we desire to keep that which they gave us.

"The price of liberty is eternal vigilance" Thomas Jefferson

History records, that when Benjamin Franklin walked out the doors of Independence Hall at the end of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, A woman asked him,

"Well, Doctor, what have we got, a Republic or a Monarchy?"

Benjamin replied,

"A Republic my dear. If you can keep it."

Studies Show Children Raised By Same Sex Partners Fare Worse Than Children Raised By Heterosexual Parents

by Chuck Ness

Throughout last years election cycle, American voters were bombarded with leftist talking points that were designed to get the voters in various states to either legalize same sex marriage, or stop the defense of marriage laws from being approved. The MSM did it’s best to sway the vote in favor of the homosexual movement while attacking anyone who defended the status quot as being homophobic and against the Civil Rights of same sex partners.

If reporters in the MSM only wanted to report the news, regardless of how it made a certain group look, then they would have given as much air time to a study who’s results are not good for same sex partners as they do to studies that have positive results for same sex partners. The study I refer to is one that was released in July 2012 by Social Science Research, “How different are the adult children of parents who have same-sex relationships?”  While some in the MSM reported about the study, I challenge you to ask anyone if they even heard of the study. Chances are you will not, because the MSM could not chance losing the momentum they built in favor of gay marriage.

The study concluded that 50% of children from an intact biological family were employed full-time, compared to just 26% of children same sex couples. Along with other findings, Associate Professor Mark Regnerus’s study clearly reveals that children who spend their entire childhood with their married mother and father, are most likely to succeed well as adults. This is true on multiple counts and across a variety of domains.

I seriously doubt that the defenders of same sex marriage will ever admit they are wrong about the effects that homosexuality has on children. They will inevitably claim that we do not have enough information to on the subject because there has not been enough time to get a proper conclusion. However, an article by Ana Samuel points out that same-sex marriage is NOT providing the stability that children need to have in order to properly compete as adults with those who were raised by heterosexual parents.

Even in countries that have allowed same-sex marriages for more than ten years, it has been shown in studies that households of same-sex partners are more unstable than households with heterosexual partners. A 2012 study of same-sex couples in Great Britain finds that gay and lesbian cohabiting couples are more likely to separate than heterosexual couples. Then there is the 2006 study which concluded, same sex marriages in Norway and Sweden had “divorce risk levels that are considerably higher in than heterosexual marriages did” The study also concluded that Swedish lesbian couples were more than three times as likely to divorce as heterosexual couples, while male gay couples in Sweden were 1.35 times more likely to divorce.

An obvious goal of raising children is to prepare them for adulthood, and instability within a marriage contributes greatly to a child’s inability to lead a normal productive life as an adult. Two of the most outspoken advocates for same-sex marriage in the United states, Timothy Biblarz and Judith Stacey, acknowledged in their study on the effects of a parents gender on children that lesbian couple relationships are “less durable” than heterosexual relationships. They even suggest that a double dose of maternal investment can foster jealousy and competition between the comothers. As it turns out the asymmetry of the women’s genetic, reproductive, and breast-feeding ties to heir infants can actually exacerbate the problems between two women raising children. This problem ultimately leads to a higher rate of separation than is seen in heterosexual relationships.