"Da-da"

But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
1 Cor. 11:3

Our youngest daughter is now nearly 6 months old and she seems to be growing so quickly. I am sure most parents would agree that we spend the first year teaching our children to talk and walk, then spend the next 17 teaching them to sit and be quiet. We are on our third, and it is all the same.
We are to the point now that when asked where is "Da-da," she will look at me. "Ma-ma" and she will look at my wife. "Dog-dog" and she looks at Snickers. For now, her best attempt at communicating sounds much like a Velociraptor after its prey, but we will get there.
So far, our other two chilren's first words both were "da-da." So I always have taken advantage, as I will with Hope as well. As in, "Who do you love?" "Who is your hero?" "Who is in charge?" To each, a boisterous "Da-da." I figure you start immediately training!
Our sixth question on our questionnaire was as follows:

Being anonymous, and completely honest, I would say that the person who runs my family is:
A: Father.............58%
B: Mother.............32%
C: Me or another child...4%
D: Grandparent........3%
E: No One.........3%

So, "Da-da" wins! As it should be. Now before anyone accusses of being sexist or bigoted. Scripture teaches that man is the head of the woman, Christ is the Head of man, and God is the Head of Christ. See 1 Cor. 11:3, 1 Peter 3:1, Colossians 3:18, Eph. 5:22. Of course, children are to be in subjection to their parents: Eph. 6:1-3 and Exodus 20:12, to name a few. Thus, we see that the children are to obey their parents and the wife is to be in subjection to the husband, and the husband in subjection to Christ...thus who is to be leading? Da-da!
We need authority because of many reasons:
1. Authority produces results. In Scripture, authority always preceeds power (Matt. 28:18, Acts 1:8, Luke 4:31-36).
2. Authority Ends confusion. (Matt. 6:24). We cannot serve two masters. Too many chiefs leads to rebellion. Devil hates authroity and seeks to destroy it always. The book of Jude tells of the age of apostacy when people "despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities." Even Christ is placed under the Authority of God.
3. Authority Protects. Study Scripture and the phrase "the fear of the Lord." That phrase is a recognizing of God's Authority. When one submits to that, there is safety.
4. Authority Brings blessings in our lives that we could not have otherwise. 2 Tim. 2:5 tells us to see that we strive "lawfully." Striving lawfully brings the masteries (or blessings). I believe God uses para-church ministries to reach souls; but I believe there are great blessings being missed because it is not being done lawfully (through the local church). I believe a home can produce Godly children without proper male leadership, but there will be blessings missed because of the lack thereof. Authority brings these blessings.
5. We will always fall under wrong authority if we are not kept under the right authority. (Luke 4:6) There is no such thing as being under No authority.

I say all that to say that it is important that fathers recognize their Biblically ordained role as being heads of their homes. When this responsibility is acknowledged and accepted, there are tremendous benefits that follow.

Most of our IFB fathers would probably say that they are running their home, but 42% of our children would say otherwise. Being the leader in your home is not being a dictator or emporer, it is being Christ like. Husbands Biblical example is Christ (Eph. 5:23). Stop and think what all Christ has done and is doing for us and for our churches...that is what we are to be as father's to our wives and our children.
May God help us to be leaders, and may our wives and children recognize that their love, protection, joy, comfort, help, forgiveness, restoration, refuge, and so much more, be found in "Da-da."

Heading for Rumspringa

Family devotions. Are they necessary? According to the results of the survey, no. Okay then, what, if anything, does God's Word say about it? Quite a lot, actually. Referring back to a previously mentioned passage, Deuteronomy 6, we actually fall short if all we do is family devotions. In that passage, God gives the guidelines for how we are to involve His Word in our families - everywhere and always. In other words, we are to have it so interwoven into our lives that we couldn't imagine life without it. Not just that we have Bibles in our homes, but that we use it and apply it and know how to handle it. That, based upon God's Word, is how we live a successful Christian life and pass those values on to our children. The title to this section is "Heading for Rumspringa" - allow me to explain. In the Amish community, there is a practice regarding their youth called rumspringa. The idea behind this practice is at a certain the youth are basically "released into the wild", allowed to go out and live like the heathen, and when they have fulfilled all the desires of their lustful, wicked hearts, and sown all their wild oats, they make a choice as to whether they will continue on the outside, or return to the fold. To their credit, 80-90% do return. The reasons, however, are not due to the great influence of the religion on their heart and minds, but are more related to family ties and financial security( since it's the only life they know and the only work they've trained for, it's easier to return than to start from scratch). My question, then, is are we heading for rumspringa( translated - running around)? It seems this is the practice that many Baptists are employing today. The phrase that particularly caught my eye in researching this was that of "sowing the wild oats." I'm sorry, but I was of the understanding that God promised us we would reap that which we sow. So then, if we sow wild oats, will we not reap a wild harvest? And if we have not instilled enough knowledge of the doctrine and principles of the Word of God in our children so that even if given the opportunity they would shun the ways of the world, have we not failed to properly instruct and train them? In closing, I give the example of the sons of Rechab in Jeremiah 35. In the midst of a time of rebellion, chaos, and wickedness in Israel, these sons stayed true to the teaching and instruction that had been handed down for several generations. What a powerful testimony they had, so much so, that God held them up to the entire nation of Israel as an example of what they should be. May God challenge us to avoid rumspringa and determine to raise up our families to follow the example of the Rechabites.
C. Lee Carr