Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
A New Warning for Parents When It Comes to How TV and Movies Influence Children
CBN News 03-09-2017
The debate, protests and controversy surrounding Disney's "big gay moment" in its new Beauty and the Beast film warrant one big reminder for parents. Children are influenced by what they see.
The Parents Television Council sites recent studies that show the harm TV can have on children, including: sex, violence and profanity.
The organization's program director Melissa Henson told CBN News the research dates back 60 years.
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Henson said, "Kids are impacted in the real world by the entertainment that they are consuming."
She added, "The largest body of research shows that violent entertainment, for example, can lead to violent behavior in children or aggressive tendencies, but there is a more recent body of research that is linking sexual content on television to sexual behavior in children. And what they are finding is there is a direct relationship between a child's exposure to sexual content on TV and the likelihood that they are going to be engaging in sexual activity at a younger age."
University College researchers in London surveyed 1,600 children. They compared the mental health of children in 2009 with those in 2014. That study found schoolgirls with emotional problems rose from 13% in 2009 to 20% in 2014.
The author of the study found the increasing stress on girls could be the result of a few things, including: academic pressure, and "increasing sexualization and objectification, amplified by social media."
This research raises questions for parents to consider as The Disney Channel recently aired its first gay kiss.
The "Star vs. the Forces of Evil" episode featured a concert scene where several people, including same sex couples, kiss on cue with the music.
Henson noted, "At the PTC, we are concerned about all manners of sexual content being exposed to children at a young age."
"And what I hear from talking to a lot of parents and a lot of my friends who have previously allowed their kids to watch the Disney Channel is the extent to which Disney promotes relationships of any kind to such a young viewership."
Henson added it is often simply "too much too soon for kids."
Henson encourages parents to be good role models for their children when it comes to what media they consume. It is also important to keep devices in a central location, to better monitor what children are watching.
This morning as I was walking to my car in my driveway, I sensed that familiar voice speaking to me—the voice of my heavenly Father. The words triggered a big smile on my face. God said to me: "Lee, I get a big kick out of you!" For the next 10 minutes in my car, I praised Him for showing me, yet again, His overwhelming love.
I can already hear some people gnashing their religious teeth over this comment. "You just made that up!" "God does not talk like that!" "You're delusional." But I really don't care what people say about it. I know my Father's love, and His acceptance has transformed me. And I'm eager to grow more intimate with Him.
Many Christians struggle to truly know God as an affectionate, approachable and even playful Daddy. They read the Bible, listen to sermons and attend church, and they can quote Scriptures about God's love. But for them, God's love is a cold, clinical doctrine—not a warm experience. If you'd like to go deeper in intimacy with your Father in this new year, consider taking these steps:
1. Discover your identity as a child of God. Everybody's talking about Star Wars: The Force Awakens these days. It's interesting that the central plot of all Star Warsfilms is the mystery of paternity. In one of the original films we learned during a certain dramatic light saber duel that Darth Vader was the father of Luke Skywalker. In the new movie, we discover (spoiler alert!) that Han Solo is Kylo Ren's dad—and we are left with a bigger question: Is Luke Rey's father?
I've met a few people who don't know who their father is. But I meet Christians all the time who doubt God loves them as a father. The Bible tells us that when we are born again, the Holy Spirit enters our hearts to solve our own paternity mystery. Romans 8:15 says, "... You have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!'" The Holy Spirit helps us understand who we belong to. And His name is "Abba"—the Hebrew word for "Daddy" or "Papa."
2. Throw out old religious mindsets. Are you uncomfortable calling God your "Daddy"? If you are, you really don't believe Romans 8:15. He is Abba! The problem is that many Christians have been conditioned by harsh sermons, rote prayers and somber organ music to believe God is (1) very distant, (2) always angry and (3) too busy managing heaven to take notice of us. That's how the legalistic Pharisees viewed God, but Jesus challenged their warped ideas. Throughout His life on earth, He showed us that God is approachable, accepting of all people, friendly toward sinners, forgiving, protective and affectionate. He even let the disciple John lay his head on His chest (John 13:29)—something a proper Pharisee would never do! Yet Jesus isn't the slightest bit religious. If you let Him, He will pull you close to His chest and let you hear the beating of His heart. He really wants you to be close!
3. Get healed from your own issues with your parents. When some people hear the word "father," the word conjures up painful memories of domestic abuse, abandonment, alcoholism or frightening punishments. Others associate "father" with a numb detachment—because they never connected emotionally with their dads. These are called "father wounds"—and there is a maternal version too. Don't let the mistakes of your imperfect parents keep you from enjoying God's perfect love. Talk to a pastor, mentor or counselor about your pain. Then let the Holy Spirit show you that your heavenly Daddy is strong, compassionate, accepting, gentle, kind and faithful.
4. Accept the forgiveness you've already been given. Some Christians can quote every Bible verse about God's forgiveness, yet what they believe in their heads has never shifted to their hearts. Deep down they think God simply tolerates them. They know the blood of Jesus paid for their sins, but this seems more like a legal transaction ratified by a benevolent judge. They still believe God is silently mad at them, even though He canceled their guilty sentence. That is not the gospel!
God did not halfheartedly or reluctantly forgive you—He forgave you from His gushing heart of love. Yes it was a legal transaction, but it was enacted out of a wondrous compassion that will take all of eternity to comprehend. The Bible says God directed all His righteous anger toward Jesus and laid our punishment on Him—so that He could remove the barrier that separated us. All because of love! He is not angry at you now—He loves you so much He actually threw a party to welcome you into His presence! He doesn't just tolerate you; He delights in you!
5. Bring your hidden shame out of the closet. You can receive Christ's forgiveness the moment you confess your sins (1 John 1:9). But James 5:16 says you can go further: You can also confess your secret sins to another person "so that you may be healed." Many Christians have never taken this bold step because it's too embarrassing. But the more transparent you are with others, the freer you will be from your past. If the devil is constantly reminding you of your past sins, grab another Christian and pray together about these accusations. I guarantee your accuser will flee.
When you truly know you are accepted and embraced by the Father without reservation, you will sense His presence, feel His embrace and hear your Daddy's voice.
J. Lee Gradyis the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. He is the author of several books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 10 Lies Men Believe, Fearless Daughters of the Bible and The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale. You can learn more about his ministry, The Mordecai Project, atthemordecaiproject.org.
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When they're at school, the kids are decidedly not all right.
New survey findings suggest that when asked how they feel during the school day, USA high school students consistently invoke three key feelings: "tired," "stressed" and "bored."
The researcher who led the study warns that such negative feelings can influence young people's attention, memory, decision making, school performance and social lives.
"It's hard to concentrate and it's hard to do well in school if your brain is constantly having to respond to stress," said Marc Brackett, a researcher in the Yale University Department of Psychology and director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
The new findings, out Friday, are from a survey conducted in collaboration with theBorn This Way Foundation, the charitable organization founded by the singer Lady Gaga. The survey was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The student sample is huge: 22,000 high school students from across the USA.
The message is clear: our high schoolers are none too happy, at least when they're in school.
Researchers distributed a brief online questionnaire that featured the question: "How do you currently feel in school?" Three blank spaces followed, with room for any answers they felt were appropriate.
Eight of the top 10 responses were negative.
"Tired" was most often invoked — 39% of students wrote that.
"Stressed" came in second, at 29%. "Bored" was third, at 26%.
By contrast, the two most frequently invoked positive emotions were "happy" (22%) and "excited (4.7%).
Parents and educators should be alarmed by the findings, Brackett said.
"I think they point to the fact that we need to be attending to the feelings of our nation's youth," he said. "Unless what they're learning is engaging and interesting, they're going to be bored — the boredom is related to the quality of instruction."
In the sample, female respondents outnumbered males about two-to-one — 65% identified themselves as female and 32% as male; 3% indicated "other."
But Brackett said the happiness findings were "pretty much identical" across genders.
"It's a shame that much of our nation's education system is not focused on helping kids figure out their own goals, but rather (on) a standardized curriculum," he said.
Love For His People Editor's Note: Removing any and all spiritual life from school leaves them as such. My opinion.
“My
son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.”
(Proverbs
4:20 Complete Jewish Bible)
How often
do you need direction? Ever take a wrong turn because the GPS or Google maps app
led you to a dead end road? It has done it to me.
Do you
ever need wisdom to know what is the right thing to do, when to do it and how
to do it? Probably everyday if we admit it.
As it happens
often, I personally have to choose to give the Lord the opportunity to speak to
me, so who and what I hear is coming from Him. Yes, He is speaking – through
His Word, by way of other people sharing a thought with me, or having His Holy
Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh in Hebrew) drop a word in my brain at any given moment.
If I am spiritually open, I will know it is Him.
Choosing
to hear the Lord is up to each individual. Being raised a Roman Catholic, I
thought it was the priest’s job to hear God. If God wanted to say something to
me, of course He’d tell the priest and I’d hear it during his little sermonette
given once a week at Sunday Mass. I could just sit back and let the man of the
cloth do it. He was closer to God, right? (While at the University of Northern
Iowa in the fall of 1973, my one and only year of college at the age of 18, the
Lord revealed Himself to me big time. I then divinely understood what He meant
when He told Peter Who the Rock was. It was Jesus Himself.)
For the “Protestants”,
those having a pastor or teacher of the Bible can easily expect him to just tell
you what to do during your weekly meeting. So why read your Bible or pray daily
during a daily quiet time with the Lord? Let someone else do it for you. Or so
many mistakenly think.
We can
allow the constant onslaught of noise to so occupy our thoughts that even when
He does speak we may not know it. That is our loss. It will cost us now and
later.
The
Almighty God, Creator of the universe, wants to communicate with His children.
He desires to give us direction and wisdom, but we must give Him a quiet break
in our lives to be able to hear Him.
It takes
time to learn to hear the Lord’s voice. It is a discipline we must have. Being
able to discern when He speaks is an ongoing process, even as we learned to
listen in our youth. As a young child growing up, given time over the months
and years, each child becomes accustomed to the sound of their parents’ voices.
I heard once that even the unborn baby begins to recognize the voice of their
mother. They respond accordingly when she talks. (Yet another reason to protect
the unborn in their mother’s womb at any stage of their living growth.) So it
is with the Lord. It takes time, but we can learn to hear His voice.
I often find
myself during the day asking the Lord for help in my office accounting work for
three businesses. It becomes especially necessary as the years have gone by and
my memory banks do not seem to be as easily able to access the info needed. I
like the joke I heard once of the aged one who said, “It takes a little longer
to get the answer to a question nowadays. With all the information I have packed
in my mind, those memory banks have more to process through.”
We need
to hear God for our own personal lives. We need to hear God for our families.
We need to be a part of the “working” Body of Christ, that rises up in our
culture and declares His truth, opposing the deception rampantly spreading
throughout the world. Only by hearing His voice will we be able to do it.
For the congregation
we are connected to, we need to hear God. For the nation we abide in, we
desperately need to know what the Lord is saying, so we can hear, obey and move
forward with His directives.
Hearing
God is especially more true today as His written Word has been replaced in all
areas of society, including our government and the arts. Knowing what is now
going on in the educational system, which presses upon our children’s minds a
godless, humanistic, crumbling foundation; and Islamic and other false religions
subtlety and blatantly showing up in text books and teachers’ lessons - we have
got to hear the Lord, so we can act
properly, and be sure our kids know the truth, and are raised right!
I
encourage you to do whatever it takes for you to hear God. My practice is to
give Him the first hour of the day. In order to do that I personally have to
cut back the time I stay up at night watching TV. It is worth it, as He shares
His heart with me in the morning hours.
How about
you? Do you want to hear the Lord speak to you? Then give Him that time to do
so. Believe me, He is waiting and willing to speak to you.
Now think
on this,
Steve
Martin
Founder
Love For
His People. Inc.
Love
For His People, Inc. is a charitable,
not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love
of the Father in the nations.
If
these messages minister to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of
$5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families we know in
Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian ministry. Your
tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID
#27-1633858.
Now
Think On This #185 “We Need To Hear God” by Steve Martin
Date:
In the year of our Lord 2015 (10.09.15) Friday at 6:30 pm in Charlotte, NC
All
previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this
Blog, and on the website: Now Think On This
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share this message with your friends on your FaceBook page, Google+, and/or
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Billy Graham's 1955 Message Was More Prophetic Than We Knew
In this message from August 1955, Billy Graham describes problems that seem hauntingly similar to those of today. And the answer to every one of those problems is still the same—Jesus Christ. (BillyGraham.org)
In this message from August 1955, Billy Graham describes problems that seem hauntingly similar to those of today. And the answer to every one of those problems is still the same—Jesus Christ.
Many Christian parents are becoming fearful that they cannot properly train their children in this lawless and wicked age. We have received scores of letters in our office asking, "What is the answer? What can I do with my son? My daughter?"
We are beginning to reap what has been sown for the past generation. We have taught the philosophy of the devil, who says, "Do as you please." Behaviorism has been the moral philosophy of much of our education in the past few years. Psychiatrists have told parents to let their children do as they please, lest in restraining them they may warp the children's personalities.
We have taken God out of our educational systems and thought we could get away with it. We have sown the wind, and we are now reaping the whirlwind. We have laughed at God, religion and the Bible.
Many of our educational leaders sneer at the old-fashioned idea of God and a moral code. Movies feature sex, sin, crime and alcohol. Teenagers see these things portrayed alluringly on the screen and decide to go and try them. Newspapers have played up crime and sex until they seem glamorous to our young people.
Instead of publicizing the good and constructive things that teenagers do, we have played up the sensational lawbreaker. We have taught our young people that morals are relative and not absolute.
At the heart of the problem is the failure of parents in the home. Evangelist Billy Sunday once said, "If you want to lick the devil, hit him over the head with a cradle." Parents today are not interested, apparently, in defeating the devil in the home. There seems to be little parental responsibility for discipline. Children are allowed to go wild.
One parent said, "I pay for my boy's clothes, I feed him. I give him an allowance; what more do you expect of me?" Many parents do not realize that they are responsible for their children's mental and spiritual growth and character building, as well as for feeding and clothing them. If parents fail, God is going to hold them responsible.
I want to give a few suggestions to Christian parents. First, take time with your children. Your children not only require a great deal of your time, but they long and hunger for it. Perhaps they do not express it, but the hunger and longing are there just the same. Love them; spend hours with them. Cut out some of your so-called "important social engagements" and make your home the center of your social life. God will honor you, and your children will grow up to call you blessed (see Proverbs 31:28).
Second, give your children ideals for living. Teach them moral and spiritual principles of life. Show them that only the morally and spiritually right attain genuine satisfaction in life.
Third, set your children a good example. A well-known story illustrates this point. It was the usual custom for a lawyer who walked to his office every morning to stop at the corner tavern for a drink. One morning when the snow had fallen, he heard a sound behind him. Turning, he saw his 7-year-old son stepping as far as he could in his father's tracks in the new-fallen snow.
The father turned around and said, "Son, what are you doing?" The son replied, "I'm stepping in your tracks." The father sent his son back home, but that morning he couldn't go to the tavern; all he could think of was a boy stepping in his father's tracks.
When he was studying for his law case that day the boy's words kept returning, "I'm stepping in your tracks." About noon the father got down on his knees and accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior and said, "From now on I want my son to step in the tracks of a Christian father."
Fourth, plan activities for your children. Plan things together as a family. Make the home so interesting and delightful that your children will want to stay home; then they will never miss the things that so many young people are engaged in for thrills.
Fifth, discipline your children. The devil's philosophy is: "Do as you please." Children are going to be in society what they are in the home. The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, teaches that parents ought to lovingly discipline their children.
Ephesians 6:4 says, "You, fathers ... bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." In Proverbs 13:24 the Bible says, "He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly." And in Proverbs 19:18, "Chasten your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his destruction."
If you fail to discipline your children, you are breaking the laws, commandments and statutes of God. You are guilty not only of injuring the moral, spiritual and physical lives of your children, but of sinning against God. The Bible says that if you fail to discipline your children, you actually hate them.
The best way to influence your children is to set an example before them. Remember, the majority of children acquire the characteristics and habits of their parents.
The Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). Now, some parents carry discipline too far, continually harassing their children. The Bible also says, "Do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged" (Colossians 3:21). Parents should never give unreasonable commands. Nor should they ever give a command that they do not mean to be carried out.
Sixth, teach your children to know God, and bring them up in the church. Very seldom do parents have trouble with children when the Bible is read regularly in the home, grace is said at the table and family prayers take place daily. Most trouble with teenagers comes from children reared in homes where prayer is neglected, the Bible is never opened and church attendance is spasmodic. Christ gives the moral stability, understanding, wisdom and patience needed to rear children.
Many parents are not Christians. They have never received Christ as their Lord and Savior. Church attendance, if any, has been no more than a duty and a ritual. Their children have seen the insincerity in the lives of their parents. They have watched their parents go to church on a Sunday and live like the devil during the week. So the children have rebelled against religion as a whole; they have turned away from moral restraint. Many parents are only reaping what they have sown.
Christ is the answer to teenage delinquency. Christ in the home, in the lives of the parents, is the only permanent solution to the menacing teenage social problems in America.
If you are a parent, Christ can help you to rear your children in the fear and nurture and admonition of the Lord. If I were not a Christian, I would despair of my children in the moral climate in which we have to rear them.
Get the Scripture and its principles ingrained into their souls—"precept upon precept; line upon line;" teach them "here a little, and there a little" from the Word of God (Isaiah 28:13). Get them into the habit of going to church every Sunday, of praying daily and of saying grace at the table.
That will solve 90 percent of the problems you have with your children.
If you are a young person seeking thrills, happiness and joy in some of these questionable avenues of pleasure, I beg you to come to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ can give you the greatest happiness, the greatest adventure and the greatest thrills that you have ever known.
If you will take Jesus Christ into your heart, He will put a spring in your step, joy in your soul and a thrill in your heart. Come to Christ! Jesus Christ is the one who can be joy and happiness and peace to all of you young people. I beg of you to surrender your life to Christ.
But there are many of you who will say, "I would like to give my life to Christ, but I cannot live the Christian life. I have tried before but have failed." Ah, yes, but when you receive Christ, He comes into your heart. He gives you supernatural power to live the Christian life.
"Behold, I set before you today a blessing
and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God
which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments
of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to
go after other gods which you have not known.” Deut. 11:26-29 NKJV
The
words you speak impact people more than we often realize. An encouraging word
sown at the right time to a person wanting and needing some more hope, for
their troubling heart or worrisome mind, can change a direction a person is
going in, and effect their life beyond the immediate vision. Spoken with a
prophetic impact that the Holy Spirit generates, a spoken word at the right time
can even mean life or death for that person. It can be as a lifeline thrown out
to one needing a pull out of the engulfing water.
A believing life “spoken” to a generation, one that is lived out of obedience to the voice
of the Lord and following after Him, will have even more impact on many people;
even a generation or more that follows behind. The lives of countless men and
women, who heard the call of the Lord, and responded with, “Here I am Lord,
Your servant is listening. Do unto me according to Your word,” have been so instrumental in changing nations by
their simple obedience, day after decades of days.
In
offering themselves in entrustment to His plans and purposes, their families,
their communities, their nations were given the opportunity to be in the
overflow of the Lord God’s blessing and provision that fell on them, and then
flowed from and through them. Hearing and obeying the Father does that.
In our day, leaders
in religion, business, media, entertainment, government, arts and education
have a tremendous impact on their cultures – the communities, families and all the
ones their waves of influence touch, for good or bad. Understanding that our
actions will bring either blessing or curse upon those who look to us for
guidance, knowingly or unknowingly, will have long lasting, even eternal, effects as a result of our actions. For those who hear and obey the Creator of all - blessings will flow downward. Ones who disregard and even despise the natural and spiritual laws
put in place to guide and protect, those set forth by God Himself, the
resulting just judgment will come forth, now or for sure later. What we sow we will reap. It is a natural and spiritual law that cannot be broken, except to result in bearing bad fruit.
You
break the natural and spiritual laws in the universe and they will ultimately
break you. (Any argument on that? Just have a reality check look in the nation
you abide in.)
This
truth has been proven out again and again in history, both in the written Scriptural
documentation of the people of Israel, and in every nation which either
followed the Lord’s way or opposed His purposes. Blessing or curse is our
choice.
Having
been a parent myself for over 35 years now, at the time of this writing, and
also having served in several top leadership roles in ministry and secular
business for over 40 years, I have seen that the actions leadership take will have
even more of a lasting effect in a child’s life, or a company’s future, than
just words spoken. The ripple of those actions taken at each point show up years later down the road. It is true that actions do speak louder than words, for what is
really in your heart will truly come out, especially in those times when a decisive
response is needed in a critical situation. Then it really shows what you have,
or don’t have, in your character. Blessing will follow, or a response as a
curse will result.
To
say it again - how you respond and deal with situations that come your way will
be shown, as that which you really are will come out from that which is within.
You can’t give out what you don’t have within you. From a pure spring flows
pure water. From a cesspool flows accumulated filth.
“The
good person produces good things from the store of good in his heart, while the
evil person produces evil things from the store of evil in his heart. For his
mouth speaks what overflows from his heart.” Luke 6:45 Complete Jewish Bible
“For
from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an
evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within
and defile a man.” Mark 7:21-23 NKJV
Speaking
to my generation, we have the responsibility, the daily choice to walk in the
righteous path we know is the Way, the Truth and the Life. It is black and
white. It is already firmly stated in the Lord’s Word. By choosing to follow Him
daily, we are impacting the life the next generation will see and then also have
the choice to walk in or not. We must do our part if we expect them to do theirs.
We
have the option to daily live a righteous and holy life, set apart for the Lord’s
purposes. We can choose to “do our own thing, in seeking our own pleasure”,
which ultimately will bring a curse on us and the generation that follows, or
we can heed the Lord’s word and follow Him.
“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes
and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods
and worship them, then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you,
and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight
and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
"As for this house, which was
exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ' Why has the
Lord done thus to this land and to this house?' "And they will say,
'Because they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them from
the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served
them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.'" 2
Chronicles 7:19-22 NASB
As
it was for Israel, so choices taken will bring the same results in any nation.
We must choose the blessing, and not allow the curse to come upon our land.
Today, we must choose the Lord.
Now
think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People. Inc.
Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization
started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.
If these messages minister to you, please consider sending
a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless
families we know in Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian
ministry. Your tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each
donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.
God doesn’t want us to live in isolation. I realized many years ago that I desperately need people in my life in order to fulfill my purpose. My parents invested in me, and so did teachers, coaches, employers, pastors, role models and good friends. I am not self-made, and neither are you. Any success we have achieved is the result of someone taking time to instruct, encourage or correct us. That’s humbling!
Mentorship is a basic biblical principle. The book of Proverbs opens with an exhortation to listen not only to parents but also to the “words of the wise” (Prov. 1:6, NASB). Moses mentored Joshua, Naomi mentored Ruth, and Elijah mentored Elisha. Jesus spent most of His time teaching a small group of disciples. One of those, Peter, discipled his spiritual son, Mark (1 Pet. 5:13), who in turn wrote the Gospel of Mark based on Peter’s testimony.
The message of Christ is best transmitted through the process of mentoring. But this art has been lost in today’s church—partly because of family breakdown and partly because our celebrity-obsessed culture values self-effort and instant results. Mentoring is too slow for most of us because we prefer the overnight sensation. God’s kingdom is built through a tedious process we don’t have the patience for.
Yet I believe we can reclaim biblical discipleship. In fact, I’m convinced the church is shifting radically back to God’s original plan as we reject the program-driven, impersonal, televangelistic one-man show of the past season. Everywhere I go I find people who are hungry for authentic relationships that can help them become team players and mature mentors.
I’ve found six types of mentors who have helped me in my spiritual journey:
1. Distant mentors. British author Charles Spurgeon died in 1892, but I consider him a mentor because I read his books often. The same is true of other dead authors such as Andrew Murray and A.W. Tozer. You don’t have to know a person to receive instruction from them. I’ve never met author Henry Blackaby, but his books, especially Experiencing God, have profoundly influenced me.
2. Occasional mentors. Brother Andrew, the founder of the Open Doors ministry, became a hero to me after I read his book God’s Smuggler in the 1970s. Then in 2004, I had the privilege of interviewing him in his home in Holland. Some of the things he said to me that day still ring in my ears. I may never visit him again, but he made an eternal investment in my life.
3. Supportive friends. A mentor does not have to be 20 years older than you. I have a close group of peers who sometimes gather from four states just to pray for each other. We call this group “the band of brothers.” I am constantly on the phone with a few of them. We share prayer requests and offer advice—and we aren’t afraid to step on each others’ toes if necessary. You need friends like that to survive life’s challenges.
4. Negative mentors. Not everyone you meet is a good example. I have sometimes encountered people in positions of leadership who had serious flaws. Some had prideful attitudes; others had poor people skills; a few had selfish agendas. Rather than allowing myself to become bitter or judgmental, I studied their behavior and determined to avoid doing the same things. I said to myself, “Let this be a lesson. That is not how to lead.”
5. Reverse mentors. You can also learn from younger people. I invest in a lot of Timothys, and they love to ask me for counsel. But I sometimes flip roles and pick their brains. One of the guys I’m mentoring, Alex, is a tech geek—so I know he will have the answer when I have a question about my computer, my smartphone or the latest app. I also get regular feedback from the guys I’m mentoring because I want to know if I’m communicating in a way that is relevant to their generation. Sometimes the best way to mentor is to ask questions!
6. Spiritual fathers and mothers. God has used many different mentors in my life, but there are some who invested in me in a very personal way for a long span of time. One of them, Barry St. Clair, invited me to a discipleship group when I was only 15. He taught me the basics of the Christian life during those Bible studies in his basement, and we have stayed connected for 40 years. This month the two of us are doing a conference together in Atlanta! Barry has been a role model, counselor and spiritual father most of my life, and his investment in me has now been passed on to dozens of others.
If you don’t have mentors, I urge you to find them. If you are fortunate to have been mentored, then pay forward what you have received—and invest in someone else.
J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at@leegrady. He is the author of 10 Lies Men Believe and other books.
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When George McCluskey married and started a family, he decided to invest one hour a day in prayer, because he wanted his kids to follow Christ. After a time, he expanded his prayers to include his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Every day between 11:00 A.M. and noon, he prayed for the next three generations.
As the years went by, his two daughters committed their lives to Christ and married men who went into full-time ministry. The two couples produced four girls and one boy. Each of the girls married a minister, and the boy became a pastor.
The first two children born to this generation were both boys. Upon graduation from high school, the two cousins chose the same college and became roommates. During their sophomore year, one boy decided to go into the ministry. The other didn't. He undoubtedly felt some pressure to continue the family legacy, but he chose instead to pursue his interest in psychology. He earned his doctorate and eventually wrote books for parents that became bestsellers. He started a radio program heard on more than a thousand stations each day.
The man's name—James Dobson.
Talk about the power of prayer! The next time you're blessed by Focus on the Family or one of Dr. Dobson's books, thank God for a generational watchman, George McCluskey. Many kids aren't as blessed with praying fathers.
At a 1994 Promise Keepers' conference in Denton, Texas, Pastor James Ryle told his story:
When he was two-years-old, his father was sent to prison. When he was seven, authorities placed him in an orphanage. At 19, he had a car wreck that killed a friend. He sold drugs to raise money for his legal fee, and the law caught up to him. He was arrested, charged with a felony and sent to prison.
While in prison James accepted Christ, and after he served his time, he eventually went into the ministry. Years later he sought out his father to reconcile with him. When they got together, the conversation turned to prison life.
James's father asked, "Which prison were you in?"
James told him, and his father was taken aback. "I helped build that prison," he said. He had been a welder who went from place to place building penitentiaries.
Pastor Ryle concluded, "I was in the prison my father built."
Indeed! In more ways than one.
These are amazing stories, powerfully contrasting two possibilities. We can either build prisons for our children or through prayer build fruitful lives that bless others.
ALL HE CAN DO IS PRAY
The same stories could be told by millions around the world. Change the names, a detail here and there, but the bottom lines are the same: success or failure, life or death, fruitfulness or barrenness, bondage or freedom—results that are largely determined by the influence of righteous or unrighteous parents.
Never underestimate the power of a praying parent!
As we think about the importance of watching intercession for individuals, most of us probably think immediately of our families, as well we should. Our personal gardens, as our opening stories reveal, are where we must begin.
Quin Sherrer has taught much on the subject of praying for family members. In her book Good Night, Lord, she relates an occasion of interceding for her son:
"I clearly remember a day when the Lord spoke to me about my teenage son, Keith, as I walked the beach. Deeply concerned about his spiritual condition, I felt he was drifting further and further from the Lord. My only recourse was prayer. I realized that as a parent, I had made so many mistakes. So I asked the Lord to forgive me.
"That afternoon, as I walked alone, I proclaimed aloud Scriptures tucked away in my heart. 'The seed of the righteous shall be delivered,' I shouted into the wind 'Because of Jesus' Blood I am righteous and my children are my seed and they shall be delivered,' I paraphrased. 'All my children shall be taught of the Lord, and great will be their peace,' I paraphrased again (see Proverbs 11:21; Isaiah 54:13, KJV).
"Over and over, I repeated Scriptural promises God had given me for my children. I desperately needed an answer for my son. After more than an hour of this, I reached down and picked up a small brown shell being tossed about by the waves. 'Trust me to polish and perfect your son,' the Lord seemed to whisper to my spirit as I turned the shell over in my hand.
"I took my shell home, cleaned it and set it where I could see it whenever I cooked. 'Lord, You promised,' I would say some days as I cradled it in my palm. Even after Keith left for college and I saw little change, I thanked God for His word that He and He alone would perfect my son whom I loved so very much.
"Our prayer battle ended one night when Keith called to ask his father and me to forgive him; we asked him to forgive us, too. He had started his pilgrimage back to the Lord. After college and a short career in graphic arts, he enrolled in Bible school.
"Not long ago, Keith finished seven years of service with the Youth With A Mission organization (YWAM)...Today he's a godly husband to a wonderful wife and the father of two young daughters. My 'promise shell' still sits in my kitchen, testimony to a prayer answer God gave me so many years ago. That promise shell is also a watchman shell, for that is the watchman anointing!"
Quin also shares prayer steps she uses in being a watchman for her children:
• Be specific;
• Pray Scripture passages aloud;
• Write down your prayers;
• Pray in accordance with God's will;
• Pray for your children's future.
In another of her books, The Spiritual Warrior's Prayer Guide, she and Ruthanne Garlock give Biblical examples of how to do this by offering the following Scriptural prayers:
• That Jesus Christ be formed in our children (see Galatians 4:19);
• That our children—the seed of the righteous—will be delivered from the evil one (see Proverbs 11:21, KJV; Matthew 6:13);
• That our children will be taught of the Lord and their peace will be great (see Isaiah 54:13);
• That they will train themselves to discern good from evil and have a good conscience toward God (see Hebrews 5:14; 1 Peter 3:21);
• That God's laws will be in their minds and on their hearts (see Hebrews 8:10);
• That they will choose companions who are wise—not fools, nor sexually immoral, nor drunkards, nor idolaters, nor slanderers, nor swindlers (see Proverbs 13:20; 1 Corinthians 5:11);
• That they will remain sexually pure and keep themselves only for their spouse, asking God for His grace to keep such a commitment (see Ephesians 5:3,31-33);
• That they will honor their parents (see Ephesians 6:1-3).
My fellow watchman, most of us will never be called to lay our lives down in a literal sense. But every Believer is called to a life of prayer. In fact, we are called to be our brothers keeper—yes, the word is watchman. How much more should we keep "watch" for our own children whom the Lord has entrusted to us? I encourage you to pick up the serpent-killing mantle God is offering. Use it daily!
This article is derived from the book, Watchman Prayer, by Dutch Sheets.
This article was originally published in The Voice, a magazine publication of Christ For the Nations, where Dutch Sheets currently serves as Executive Director of the Institute. For more information, visit cfni.org.
Dutch Sheets is an internationally known speaker and was recently named the Executive Director of Christ for the Nations Institute. Dutch is a successful author who has written many books including the best-seller Intercessory Prayer and his recent book, Dream. Dutch travels extensively, empowering Believers for passionate prayer and world-changing revival. Dutch and his wife, Ceci, reside in Dallas, Texas.
Greg Toppo
When George McCluskey married and started a family, he decided to invest one hour a day in prayer, because he wanted his kids to follow Christ. After a time, he expanded his prayers to include his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Every day between 
psychology. He earned his doctorate and eventually wrote books for parents that became bestsellers. He started a radio program heard on more than a thousand stations each day.
parents. 