1.
Know what it means to be
a man or woman, male or female created in God’s image (Gen. 1-2; I Cor. 11,
etc.)
a.
You can have great theology,
know all about justification, sanctification, predestination, etc., but if you
don’t understand patriarchy and male rule, you will be a weak man and a hard, harsh
woman in life and in your marriage.
b.
Nothing works if you do not
understand yourself rightly as a man or woman redeemed in Christ. Read Zach Garris’s
Masculine Christianity or Honor Thy Fathers. Feminine women and
masculine men are glorious and pleasing to God.
2.
Get married, have lots of
kids, and raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
a.
Obviously, some will be
older and already married, or not able to have children providentially. But
these are the exceptional situations.
b.
Belly-aching from younger
single Christian men and women regarding marriage and family is our biggest
obstacle. We must encourage them, but also exhort and when necessary rebuke
them for complaining or playing the “woe is me” card.
c.
Some who are married and
have difficulties in the home also complain about this.
d.
Pastors must minister to
them with both tenderness and firmness, as needed.
e.
Older couples who have
raised children well are rare but invaluable.
f.
Those who are older and had
difficulty with their children but are still able/willing to help with younger
families and encourage them are greatly valuable as well.
g.
Learn to parent by the
precious covenant promises of God, His Gospel for you and your house. God’s
Kingdom belongs to believers and our children, and so our children ought to be
given the sign of the covenant/belonging, baptism.
3.
Make sure your children
are raised for the Lord in Home, Church, and State.
a.
At home, you
must teach them as Deut. 6 and Eph. 6 says; that is daily, diligently,
fervently, with prayer. This is not in doctrine only, but godly example, and as
said above, focusing on masculinity for your boys, femininity for your girls.
i.
The parents, husband and
wife, must be doers of the word, and not hearers (or even teachers) only. Be
humble, repent, grow in sanctification, be honest with yourself, your spouse,
and your children, praying continually. God will bless.
ii.
Public schools today are
demonic the vast majority of the time.
iii.
They are not a righteous
option, and if you have kids and are just realizing this, you must orient your
life to get them out of there as soon as possible.
iv.
The church should help with
this, and other Christian families/friends.
v.
Ideally, this means the mom
is at home able to homeschool the kids, even if she has to work from home or
work part-time for a season to make ends meet.
b.
Regarding Church,
you must find a faithful one, which is admittedly almost as hard as finding a
godly spouse these days. Trust the Lord, pray, and pursue zealously.
i.
If you cannot find a
faithful church, that teaches God’s Word but also applies it rightly regarding
masculinity and femininity, as well as government/politics serving the Lord and
applying His law, then you have a few options.
ii.
You can try to reform the
best church available near to you. But if they are getting these fundamental
issues wrong, that likely won’t work and they’ll rebuke you.
iii.
You can relocate to where
there is a faithful church. The difficulty here, of course, is the financial
costs of moving, finding work, being separated from family and likely your
hometown, unless you’ve already moved away. Maybe move back?
iv.
A more viable option, depending
on circumstances, is to be vocal about issues in the Church, especially with
fellow Christian friends locally, and work and pray over time to see if they’d
come join with you in forming a new church.
v.
This may seem like a bold
move, but it would be a righteous labor if done in a righteous way and all the
criteria needed are met (you tried to work for reform in your local churches,
etc.). But you will likely have to risk the wrath of compromised churches as
you urge members to depart and join a new church.
vi.
This does not mean you must
be the pastor of the new church. Perhaps the Lord calls you to that, or someone
else in your group. But if you form as a group and meet on Sundays, you can organize
and begin answering these questions.
vii.
If you determine no man is
fit or able presently to serve as minister, reach out to faithful
churches/denominations that can find a godly man to be your minister.
viii.
A lot of times, faithful
men/ministers are also praying for a faithful church to minister to. You can be
an answer to prayer as well as receive answer to prayer.
ix.
Make sure that you vet potential
candidates. Ideally they are already ordained, or can be examined thoroughly by sound pastors/Elders and be ordained by them.
x.
Whether you are in a
faithful church already, reform one, relocate to one, or help found one, once
established you must faithfully serve as the body of Christ.
xi.
The Church ideally will
help supply funds and/or facilities to educate your children, both things like Sunday
School but also homeschool classes, etc.
xii.
The option of sound
Christian schools is often as difficult as finding a godly spouse or faithful
Church. I have taught at several, and my kids have been enrolled in several
classical Christian schools as well as a Lutheran school in Florida.
xiii.
They each had their pros
and cons, but as my kids have gotten a bit older (oldest will be 11 soon), I
realized we need to be their primary educators, so we are homeschooling but hold classes with other families in our church 1x/week, where myself and parents teach.
xiv.
Often, it is the other
students/parents in these schools and their influence that is the biggest
problem. Having a faithful church, even if quite small like ours, and having classes just for members of your faithful church, helps resolve these issues.
c.
The State/Government
is also directly interested in our children, so be ready.
i.
We should vote for godly
officers to rule according to God’s Word. Yes, we should want Christian
Nationalism, and local Christian leaders. We can debate the details of what
Christian Nationalism means or looks like another time.
ii.
In our little town of
Sanford, they have had Drag Queen shows and story hours for children. We have
preached and protested against those, have urged our county commissioners to
stop this, and are bringing a petition to urge this as well.
iii.
God has ordained government
to punish evildoers and promote and praise what is good and those who do good (Rom.
13, 1 Pet. 2:13-17). Somehow, Christians have largely stopped believing that,
thinking Jesus is weak and wouldn’t rule through presidents and governors to
enforce His law in a nation.
iv.
But God’s law is good for
all mankind, believer and unbeliever alike, of any nation, and the only alternative
is godless law, or the law of another god/religion, which is corrupt to one
degree or another. We are living through that in our nation today.
v.
Here, too, it falls upon
godly, Christian men to not only vote righteously, but to run for office at
times, and local office can do a lot of good for your community.
vi.
If you love your children,
your wife, and your Lord, you must move to a region where godly laws are upheld
more so than not, so that at minimum you are free to worship the Lord as He commands,
and raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
vii.
This is not optional. This
is precisely why God set His people, Israel of old, free from bondage to Egypt
in Pharaoh, who demanded worship and subjected them to harsh slavery, where
body and soul they were burdened and unable to worship and serve the Lord and
their fellow man as they ought, Exodus 9:13.
viii.
Practically today, if you
are forbidden or likely going to be fined or threatened to raise your children
in the Lord, attend worship, and educate them biblically and with common sense,
you must move to a place that permits this, or bring reform.
4.
CONCLUSION: There is
much work to do in the Home, Church, and State.
a.
Labor and strive for
change, trusting in God’s precious promises, as one forgiven in Christ,
empowered by His Spirit, guided by His holy Word, and guaranteed full and final
victory for all eternity.
b.
Pray without ceasing, for
the Lord must grant the increase and blessing to our labors. At the same time,
do not only pray, but work and labor as He commands.
c.
A band of brothers,
faithful believers in flesh and blood, is far better than anons on the internet
being your closest companionship. It is especially weak when you are arguing
how important kin and family and people and place are. Change this.
d.
At the same time, finding
strength from godly men/leaders online is good, and engaging in the discussion
for change on X, etc., has proven to be very fruitful.
e.
Translate that into real-life
bonds with godly families in a godly town and church.
f.
Do not despair, the Lord is
with us, if we are faithful to Him.
g.
Do not turn to sin or godless
hatred and bitterness.
h.
Have righteous hatred of
the wicked in our land and rulers who are despots, but mixed with mercy,
imprecations along with prayers for Saul to Paul like conversions. The Lord
will bless all the above.
i.
Be sober-minded about the
challenges, but faithful to God and His sure promises, as Christ says in John
16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world.”
j.
Since Christ has overcome,
and you are in Christ, you shall overcome in Him as well, and glory and honor
awaits, Rev. 3:21, “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My
throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
k.
In the meantime, the Lord
will not quench us in seeking His glory and Kingdom, but sustain us, even as we
may have to reform, relocate, or restart things in the home, church, and state.
Matt. 6:31-34, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What
shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all
these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need
all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and
all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own
trouble.”
l.
If this is what you are
desiring for yourself and your family, all to God’s glory, and you have no idea
where to go or where to start, we are looking for such godly, faithful,
courageous individuals and families like you. Consider moving to North Carolina
and joining us at Heritage Reformed Presbyterian Church: https://www.heritagereformedchurch.com/
May the Lord bless you and keep
you as you seek to serve Him in the Home, Church, and State.
In Christ,
Pastor Thomas F. Booher
Comments
Post a Comment