TRAIN UP A CHILD

The Bible says “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” We were at the Amarillo Craft Beer Festival to preach against it and to give people helpful literature to warn them of the sin and effects of alcohol. As my 7 year old son began to preach one of the participants turned around and said “You have little kids doing that?”. Many people have objected to us having our children out there saying that the little ones could not understand the issues going on. I would like to answer these assertions.

First of all if I do not teach my children to do what is right the world will certainly teach them to do what is wrong. I see people bring their children into bars. If I follow the same reasoning that is put before why aren’t these parents brought to task for taking their children into a place that they do not yet have the wisdom to understand the issue? Many parents also give alcohol to their children before they can decide whether it is right or wrong, some put it in their baby bottles. This is known as a double standard or just old fashioned hypocrisy. Also, why can’t a young child understand the issue? It is quite simple after all. There is a Creator, Jehovah God, who gave us His Word the Bible. The Bible warns of God’s punishments for sin and recreational use of booze is sin. God tells us that are saved to “preach the word” and “lift up your voice as a trumpet”. It is quite a bit more simple than the concept of patriotism and at the 4th of July parade I saw many youngsters waving American flags.  It is just as much right to teach children to preach the Bible as it is to teach them to love their country, and the Bible and God will be around long after our country has gone the way of the Roman Empire.

Also I spoke to a young lady who professed atheism. She said that she believed everyone had a moral code in their hearts. I put forth the thought to her that the moral code had to come from somewhere and that God is the final authority in morals, as some people have demented and corrupt morals. I would like to add this thought. Even if it could be right that everyone naturally has morals and they can trust them, surely after a couple of drinks of booze the inhibitions and judgment sectors of the brain shut off then no set of morals matter. Remember that the Bible says “A fool trusteth in his own heart.’ Put down the bottle and pick up the Bible

Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

Often in our country things that start out as a pastime eventually become a religion. Take sports for instance. Many a man who will not go to church Sunday will be excited about a football game he is watching. He will yell and shout (behavior he deems fanatical in a church service) and will become physically aggressive against anyone who criticizes his favorite team. He can name all the players but can’t name the 12 apostles. Look at rock and roll music. No one can deny that the music rose to religious status under Elvis Presley and don’t forget that the wicked group called the Beatles popularized Krishna worship as well as pot smoking in the United States.

Thus it is with craft beer. Beer drinkers suffer from an inferiority complex because beer has none of the sophistication of wine, brandy and so forth while it is equally as sinful. So the micro-brewery phenomenon started and the history, culture, science, and variations of these brews has fascinated our country. No longer is beer something strictly associated with rednecks and college frat binges, but is somehow more respectable now.

But not only has it arisen in status but in spirituality. Just look at the names, Big Bad Baptist, and Naked Nun just to name a couple. I recently read a post that invoked the name of craft beer and ended his prayer to his trinity, hops, yeast and malt. And the anger that comes from having their god called sin is an emotion that comes of having your religion slurred.

But who is the real god behind the bottle? The ancient Romans worshipped Bacchus, the god of intoxicating beverages. Many so-called Christians that say Jesus made fermented wine at the wedding of Cana confuse Christ with Bacchus. Please see my blog on Jesus never drank booze. The Sumerians had a female god who showed them how to brew. But these are just faces to the real power behind the throne. Look back at the text verse.  They sacrificed to devils not God. The Japanese have a pizza pub that makes Devil’s Craft beer and offered to send it here except that Texas law makes it too complicated. There is a craft whiskey that is called Devil’s River, and a whiskey called Devil’s Cut. There is a regular beer called Occultos (the occult) and other names invoking Satan, sin, witchcraft, and blasphemy.

But thanks be to God that even though booze enslaves Jesus saves! You can be freed from the sin through the power of Jesus to save you from hell and Jesus’ power to break the bonds of this and every other sin. Won’t you repent? Won’t you turn from sin to Christ. It is your choice, Heaven or Hell, Christ or Satan. And Christ awaits with his arms wide open to receive the sinner who repents.

Philippians 3:8 and 10: Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. Verse 10: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death.  Jeremiah 9:23-24: Thus saith the LORD. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth for in these things I delight saith the LORD.  

The question I would like to pose to you is this: How well do you really know God? Do you just know about Him or do you know Him? Do you know the things that please Him and the things that displease Him? Do you know what makes Him happy and what makes Him mad? What He tolerates but would rather you didn’t  do? What it takes to get answers to prayer? What you should and should not pray for? How he would like you to treat the brethren, especially your family and especially your spouse?  

I have just finished a series on Knowing God. These messages can be found on archives.org under Anchor of Hope Baptist Church (AOHBC).  These messages are an extensive scriptural study of the Bible on this most valuable subject. These are not my opinions or a lot of personal stories but what God says about Himself in the Book, the only Book, He has written about Himself. Please, please, remember that the most important thing in the world is your personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I do believe that these messages can be a help and blessing to you, they certainly were a blessing to me and my congregation and some friends who have heard some of them.   

They crowned Him with glory in heaven on high

His brightness exceeding the sun in the sky

But when it came time for our sins to be borne

Mankind crowned His head with sharp thorns.

They gave Him a crown of silver and gold

Encrusted with jewels, their number untold

But after his back with a whip had been torn

Man chose to crown him with thorns.

Crowned with majesty, encircled with praise

Hailed as Almighty, the Ancient of Days!

He came to earth and to sinners forlorn

They crowned Him with spit and with thorns.

He died on that cross, thus His blood was shed,

But He rose a victor, He arose from the dead!

Forevermore at God’s right hand sat down

No longer with thorns for a crown.

Soon Christ will come back the last battle to fight

To destroy the wicked to establish the right

A sword, a white horse, and a vesture of red,

An crown upon crown on His head!

Todd Barker

II Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

The Bible makes it clear that as long as we are in this present evil world we will have a war. Satan and his devils have principalities and powers and have no love for mankind and especially the children of God. The city of Canyon voted wet and has seen an increase of crime litter and taxes. Now the same crew of evil doers wants to bring booze into the dry section of the county. We must fight back. The success or failure of the election does not matter. What matters is obedience to God. For the most important thing is not the outcome of the election but the outcome of the judgment. Please pray. Please preach. Let your friends know that God hates booze. For the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ dear brethren Join the fight.

Today I stood near a table by the Post Office where the enemy was drumming up the gullible. I was holding a sign warning people not to be fooled. It had the scripture “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise”. The man said his god was pleased with what he did. I told him it was not the God of the Bible to which he laughed. Now the Bible says that “Fools make a mock at sin”. So according to the scripture he is not wise and the BIBLE calls him a fool. I warned them to repent. I  hope they take heed before it is everlasting too late-for they will be judged!  

When we have problems in life the best way to solve them is to determine the root cause. Where I work they have “root cause analysis”. Once the cause is determined the solution can be made. The Bible tells us the root cause of evil-For the love of money is the root of all evil” I Timothy 6:10. When the United States decided to repeal the 18th amendment (the one making America dry) the appeal was that it would create jobs and end the depression. Of course the other nations of this world who had liquor had the depression too. Today the same argument is made, it will increase revenue and lower taxes. My city tried it and taxes and the price of groceries went up. Crime went up. The spirit of the city has soured. If you look up statistics you find that the cost to the state of Texas from alcohol is greater than the revenues. And no amount of revenue makes up for the lives lost, people imprisoned, families broken, and souls damned to hell because of this most abused drug in our country. Why does the same entity that taxes and licenses this horrid substance punish the same citizens that use it? Why will people vote this in when only a few distributers profit from it? Because of the love of money. Peter said thy money perish with thee. That money that you gain from liquor will be a witness against you in the great judgment day when you face, not a preacher, but Almighty God. Repent before it is too late

God came down from Galilee, to save from Hell a soul like me

When they nailed Him to a tree, up on Calvary.

He said the truth will make you free, He knocked and would not let me be

Til at last I came to see, what He’d done on Calvary

Then I opened up my heart to Thee, you came and made your home in me

For Thy blood had set me free, up on Calvary

Todd Barker

Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12

That name is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.