Elian Is Back With His Father…
How Wonderful Life Is !!???

    Saturday April 22^nd, 2000 marked a turning point in this nations history.  I spoke with my mother, herself a Cuban refugee) about the Gestapo raid in little Havana to abduct young Elian and re-unite him with…not his father…but Fidel Castro.  She told me she and my father left Cuba to avoid among other things, having their homes raided and one of the family members taken in the middle of the night just because the government felt like doing it.  My father can also tell you about being falsely accused of being a saboteur and taken to labor camps at a very young age. My mother was so horrified by the events that took place she literally was paralyzed for the remainder of the day.  Her silence and inability to put into words her sentiments spoke clearly and loudly to true nature of what occurred.  Yet many news agencies droned on and on about the reuniting of the Elian and his father.  What they should have said and what truth would reveal is that young Elian was reunited with Fidel Castro.  Cubans do not own their person the state owns them.  Young Elian is a ward of the state not the son of Juan Miguel.

 The Spiritual Lesson

    As always we can learn some significant spiritual lessons from the liberal politicians and equally liberal media.  The first time I mentioned this case I spoke of the spiritual lesson we can learn from comparing Communist Cuba with the United States, oppression verses freedom, old man of sin verses the new man in Christ. More lessons can be learned from this blight in our nations conduct. We have seen many “good” people comment on how wonderful it is that father and son are reunited.  How wonderful it was that our government to rescue the boy from the influence of his Miami relatives.’

   The apostle Paul at one time in his life thought he was doing the right thing.  Notice Acts 22:4-5, “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,…and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.”

   He thought what he was doing the right thing!  Paul tells us in Acts 23:1, "Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." Even though Paul “lived in all good conscience before God,” for the cause of Judaism he was convinced otherwise by our Lord in a vision in which the error of his way was clearly shown to him.

   Paul later said in Rom 10:1-3, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”  

   When I see polls stating that 70% of the American people think the boy should be reunited with his father it makes me sick.  It also clearly illustrates people, who are zealous for a cause, i.e., the reunion of father and son but without knowledge of what is truly in store for that young man.  He will become a ward of the state, he will be taken to a government deprogramming center to remove all the evil lies put into his mind by the “Great White Satan” known as America, at age ten he will be taken to work in the fields until he turns 16.  The communist government will allow his “loving” father to visit him once a month during that period of time (can’t we just imagine the “quality time” they will spend together?). 

   We find in today’s religious world many who are zealous for a cause but not according to knowledge; they create all kinds of ways to worship God; all kinds of programs, all kinds of ways to go to heaven, all in God’s name, of course. 

   God as usual has some different thoughts on the matter.  In Isa 55:9, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”  Here is what God has to say about those who would create their own system of worship, “'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' " (Matt 15:8-9). 

   Many people have been convinced that Elian should be with his father, they are mistaken. They have been seduced by clever words and images that portray “a distraught Juan Miguel.” In like manner many do the same in religion.  

   Paul told the Ephesians the reason God put into place apostles, evangelists, prophets, pastors and teachers, “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,” (Eph 4:14).

   Peter echoed that warning when he said, “…there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them…And many will follow their destructive ways…they will exploit you with deceptive words…(2Pet 2:1-3). 

   Don’t allow the deceptive words of false teachers lead you astray.  Study God’s word to learn his will and then follow it.

Carlos Aguilar

Home and Family:

Show Your Children Love

   She has never heard any of her six children make a sound, but despite total deafness, she has found numerous ways to express genuine love to her family. At the wedding of one of her sons, she approached the boy with a kind of secret smile, presenting a small gift. Inside the package he found two strings neatly cut from his mother's apron. A unique way to express love that is willing to let go. Parental love is often pushy and over-protective when the real need is to stand aside.

   As baby takes his first shaky steps we want to extend a helping hand and there is an impulse to cover our eyes instead of watching that first wobbly bike ride, that first pulled tooth, the first day of school, the first night away from home, the first time alone in the family car. Every milestone of development brings a new test for love. Apron strings are cut but we have to begin cutting them soon after the birth of the child.

   Our mixed feelings are understandable. Love for our children causes us to be fearful for them as each new problem or challenge appears, but we know that overprotection will stifle their development. The mother bird, forcing her young from the nest appears cruel, but she does it for their own good. We demonstrate our love by preparing our children to be independent, not dependent.

   There is a thin line separating "mother love" from "smother love". It is natural for us to want our children to stay close to home after they marry and most grandparents want their grandchildren nearby. But that may not be best. A move across the continent may seem cruel to parents, but may mark the beginning of new life for the young adult who needs to learn to stand upon his own feet. The move of a child to a point halfway around the globe will tug and tear the heartstrings of parents, but their willingness to graciously make such a sacrifice will spare them much pain.

   Genuine family love communicates the importance of people rather than things. A young man came home one night much later than the hour his parents had set. Screeching into the driveway he found his brakes gone. Tearing through the garage door and halfway through the back wall he knew that all hope of slipping in undetected was gone. He reluctantly made his way into the house. His father's first question was, "Son, are you hurt?" When the boy replied, "No," his father said, "That's what matters most. Go on to bed and we will talk about this in the morning." Now, many years later, his father long since deceased, the boy's eyes fill with tears with grateful remembrance as he says, "You don't know how much it meant to me to know that my father loved me more than cars and garages."

   Parents who love their children want the best for them, but we easily develop a distorted understanding of what is best. We want to give them mountains of superficial things, but providing the best means above all, that we provide encouragement and guidance for character development. Real love is sometimes soft and tender, at other times it is firm and unyielding. The parent who ignores discipline because he loves the child doesn't comprehend the real meaning of love. Solomon's analysis is, "He that spareth the rod, hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes" Prov 13:24. Love for our children will resemble God's love for his. "Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth" Heb 12:6.

    Confucius questioned, "Can there be a love which does not make demands on its object?" and the answer is emphatically no. Walt Whitman said, "I can never explain why I love anybody or anything". Love is difficult to explain, but it isn't difficult to detect. The loving Christian parent will accept the responsibility of the older to teach the young Tit 2:3-5 knowing that teaching is done by both instruction and example. Hal Hubert said, "Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it".

   Let's pray for the strength to imitate the example of him who showed his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Rom 5:8. If we want our children to be honest and strong instead of cheap and weak, our love must not be counterfeit. It must be the real thing.

~The Bible Research Library

You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes.       Walter M Schirra Sr  3 Feb 63

THE FAITH OF YOUTH

   Faith can and should be an attribute of youth Eccl. 12:1. It is rather obvious that we do not expect and demand nearly as much of young people in general (in terms of morality, purity, honor and faithfulness to Christ) as was expected of them only two or three generations ago. Now, I know that we cannot force faith upon young people. Faith must be taught to young people by our words, seen in our actions, and recommended by our lives. read Deut 6:6-9; 11:18-21; Eph 6:4; 2 Tim 1:5; 3:14-15
   The world around us does not help. Its entertainment (music, movies, magazines and more) cultivate disdain for the authority of parents, police, government -- and God. We must help our young people to see that what the world offers will not give them ultimate happiness and fulfillment -- its pleasures are fleeting and its rewards are awful Heb 11:25; 1 Jn 2:16-17.
   Most seventeen year old boys would not be expected to withstand and conquer the sensual temptations of an older woman. (Many folks two or three times that age have not learned to flee fleshly lusts!) A teenager can, through faith in God, overcome fleshly lusts and live in purity 2 Tim 2:22.
   Joseph, the son of Jacob, was only seventeen years old when his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt. He found himself in a foreign land, surrounded by those of a foreign tongue, customs and values. He was isolated from his home and his family. But he was not isolated from his faith. When the wife of Potiphar tried repeatedly to seduce him, he resisted precisely because of his faith in God Gen 39:7-10. He suffered greatly for his faith, but was finally rewarded for his great faith Gen 39-48.
   Joseph's faith did not "just happen." It had been instilled within him by the teaching of his parents. It had become his own. Neither will our children obey God "just because." We must help equip them with faith so they, like Joseph, will live their faith when tempted by the world.  1 Jn 2:15; 5:4
   We are blessed with good young people. That is no accident. We commend them for their faith in Christ and we encourage them to continue to put Christ first in their lives. And, we commend their parents for teaching the faith of Christ to the next generation. cf. Ps 78:5-8

Joe R. Price

You should know that-

by baptism--

Your sins are washed away Acts 22:16

You are saved from sins 1 Pet 3:20-21

You have remission of sins Acts 2:38

You get into Jesus Christ Gal 3:27

You get into the church Acts 2:37-47

You put on Christ Gal 3:27

You walk in newness of life Rom 6:3-5; Col 3:1

You obey Christ Jn 14:15; Matt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15-16; Acts 10:48; Heb 5:8

~excerpted from pearlstreet.org