“It’s not their fault, they are born that way!” “Women should have a choice, it is their body!”  “Everybody is reading it; Twilight is like the new teenage girls bible!” “All I need is protection, we are in love (she is 15 he is 17)!”

Sad, these are all conversations that I have had with kids in the last 3 months alone. Why? Our kids are brain washed. These conversations were from kids who I thought were part of church going families (some not our church, like that is any better). Our teens have been brain washed by the media machine and our instruction, and leading is being drowned out.

We need to crate a place so the Holy Spirit can clear their minds from the confusion of this world, it is up to us to help them gain an understanding that we are “just aliens” “by the renewing of our minds by the way we think”.

Church is not the only place they should hear this stuff. You parents are pastors, “train up a child in the way he should grow and he will not depart from it”. Let’s live like it. We need to be the example, read the bible in front of them, pray with them, for them, take them out just to talk (and we do most of the listening and questioning, not telling), spend time with them (mostly to allow the conversation to start), do thinks they like, turn off the TV or computer, pull out the ear pods in the car, don’t go to the movies go bowling, etc. Have fun and spend time with them. They learn more by observation, than correction of teaching. Monkey see monkey do. Love you all. _pastor tim

Let’s look at some practical insights that culture might be creeping into our families.

First, how many TV’s do you have in your home? Do your kids have there own in there room? Is there just video or cable on that TV? Do you have rules about what and how much they can watch? What days or times of days can they watch? Do they justify shows that everyone is watching it?

All these questions are questions you need to be asking yourself. This is your home, and these are your innocent kids. We need to protect them from the monster. Not be overboard but be practical. I challenge you to ask these questions, and if you do not have an answer to some of all of them, you need to. Set the rules, and be consistent.

Next, personal media devices, do they really need to listen to music, video, etc. 24/7? Do you know what songs are on there devices? Is there an approval process to what content they put on their devices? Are your children being taught the proper etiquette for listening to “personal devices”?

As a parent you can create conditions with some build in freedoms, but you still are shaping the live of your children and culture of YOUR home. Just know it does not make you any “cooler” or a great parent by the gifts of freedoms you give your kids. Being a great parent is training your child in the way he (or she) should grow, so that when they are old they will not depart from it.

Another culture shaping tool they enemy uses is the computer/ internet.

How many computers are in your home? Do you have guidelines for how much or when they can use their computers? Do you know what your kids are doing online, sites, conversations, videos, TV shows, clips, YouTube, buying, etc.? Do you have internet protection on ALL of your computers (statistics show that very few homes actually have an internet filter or trackers or both on there computers, and those things are not because you do not trust you’re kids, it’s because we cannot trust the world. “Studies show that 9 out of 10 kids who regularly do homework on the Internet get an unwanted sexual message online” [Luce. Pg50]). Do your kids have there own computer in there room? (if they do take it out, today, unplug it, now, and you can tell them I said so and blame me, unrestricted access to the internet is totally destructive for almost anyone).

Lastly are their cell phones?

Do you know the kind of conversations your kids are having on these devices? (Non restricted, unfiltered, total access to what they want when they want. There is no internet protection, of filtration, total freedom in photo sharing between friends, video sharing a virtual world to live multiple lives. Most carriers can restrict many of the features on the phones, such as texting and picture and video sharing, internet access, etc. and many times you can get a phone that is only meant for specific functions that limit those activities.

I want you to have the power to influence your teens not the world. Teens do not see the big picture, they only see today. We need to help them see tomorrow and the tomorrow God wants for their lives. We can pray, but we also need to live and set high standards.

I will end with this.

“Jesus is our standard of culture (normal), and the rest of us are abnormal sinners with indwelling sin”. We need to live and look like Jesus. Love you all.

_pastor tim