Christocentric

*SPOILERS ALERT!*

I stopped watching the Lifetime channel movies long ago.  But every now and then a new movie would catch my eye and draw my curiosity and the movie Pregnancy Pact did just that.  It was a fictional movie based loosely on the teen pregnancy drama of Gloucester, Massachusetts that happened in 2008, where several teen girls became pregnant at the same time.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but as I sat through the movie, I became angrier and angrier.  Of course the movie had to have a conservative Christian mom and of course that mom had to be the mother of one of the expectant teen girls.  And of course she had to be the one who pushed for no contraceptives on school premises and had to be the one to jump on the contraceptive bandwagon at the end of the movie.

The movie was pitiful as you see the girls gleefully decide to have babies at the same time so that their children can be lifelong friends as many of them were, knowing one another since they were so little.  They fantasized how their babies’ fathers would be with them, and how they would take care of them and etc.  But in the latter part of the movie, many of the girls found out that their fantasizing was just that as life proved to be much more difficult than imagined.

The problem wasn’t so much the availability of contraception as most of the girls WANTED babies.  What contributes to a young girl’s mind to want to have a child out of wedlock and before she can marry and provide for it? In the movie there were glimpses of possible reasons.  There was a magazine cover of Jaime Lynn Spears and her baby, Brittany spears teen sister who had a baby.  There were parents who weren’t home to monitor their children’s whereabouts or parents who believed there children wouldn’t do anything when left alone in the house with their boyfriend as the conservative mother believed of her “saintly” daughter.

The movie was good in showing the consequences of such irresponsible behavior. One girl’s baby was born prematurely, while others boyfriends had completely forsaken them. Other’s saw that there wasn’t the availability of on campus childcare.  It showed that it wasn’t as glamorous being a teen mom as they had fantasized.

Many questions arose from watching this movie like the following:

• Does abstinence teaching in public schools have any positive affects?
• Should girls who are expecting babies stay in the same schools throughout their pregnancy? Images of big bellies walking through school hallways or girls with babies pushing strollers made you wonder if other girls yearned for the same.
• Should there be daycare centers on the school ground? How many girls secretly longed for cute little babies like they saw in the daycare?
• Would birth control clinics have provided a means of birth prevention among the teens?
• Should abstinence AND contraception be taught together?
• What can the parent do to keep their child from glamorizing having a baby?

According to the workbook provided by Lifetime, 73% of parents believe both abstinence and contraception should be taught together.  I agree to a point and that explaining contraception should be a part of the overall sex talk a parent would have with their child.  But to have contraception available is where it I would draw the line.  Having contraception available does send the message that it’s okay to have sex.   I grew up being taught to wait until marriage but was told that birth control would be provided if I needed them.  Well, I took that as a go and did ask my parents for birth control pills.  I didn’t think otherwise as I didn’t have an upbringing which taught that having sex was biblically wrong to do.

In the movie, although contraceptives weren’t made available abstinence teachings were allowed.  As a Christian, I see a problem with teaching abstinence without teaching WHY one should abstain.  Without the why, biblical admonition – and without the how – through a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – abstinence teachings become near impossible! It’s hard enough to the committed Christian letting alone teaching it without a strong spiritual foundation.

For the Christian family teaching sex is a definite no as it goes against biblical principals.  Any sex outside of marriage is condemned (see Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 5:3, and Colossians 3:5). So what should the Christian family do?

1. State your values and stick to them!  – The bible is clear that there should be no sex before marriage.  Don’t compromise God’s values to match the world’s values.
2. Communicate EARLY with your children.  Do age specific conversations with your children about sex and your expectations of them regarding it.
3. DO NOT send mixed signals such as saying no to sex but yes to contraceptives.  No means no!
4. Get your children involved with youth groups at church (get referrals for good groups).
5. Be active in your children’s schools and know what is being taught as far as sex and birth control are concerned.
6. And be proactive in supervision. Never assume your child is strong enough to handle tempting situations!

These are just a few of the known tips I followed myself in raising my five children.  Not all of my children abstained before marriage but that didn’t change my values.  Two of my children as young adults in their early twenties, are still virgins.  They have already proven wrong the theory that “all teens will have sex” as they both have chosen not to.

Times are modern and sexual views have changed over the years, but God and his Word never changes! Recognize God’s values, be an example to your children and live by them and then teach with the expectation that your children can make it!

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17

Updated 1/27/10

I have decided for several reasons to take back the responsibility from the government of educating my children.  One reason, public schools have been on track for several years now to offer what I would consider parenting to our children, instilling values that are contradictory to our family’s beliefs.

Issues like sexual orientation, birth control, and sexual responsibility has recently become the responsibility of public schools to teach to our children.  Do we really want a place of academia to provide lessons in morality to our children?  The principles taught in many schools regarding this issue is completely opposite of the biblical teachings we provide to our daughters.  Sexual Orientation, well as a Christian mother, I have taught my children that it is not biblical to engage in intercourse with the same sex.  *Public schools in California has started curriculum in gay tolerance at the kindergarten level.  This is not wide spread all over the country, but you can expect to see it happening soon.  This was passed in California because lawmakers felt that gay children or children with gay parents have been victims of bullying.  I do not advocate bullying and mistreatment of any kind. I know of several children that have gay parents and are not being bullied or mistreated by their peers.  They are rather accepted.   I question the truth in the states reason for adding gay tolerance curriculum.  It sounds more like indoctrination to me.

“Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.  – Leviticus 18:22

The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, [ Or kidnappers.] liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching  -  1 Timothy 1:10

Birth control issues can be tricky.  While I believe young people should be educated on the methods of birth control, this should be up to each family how they want to present the methods and guidelines.  There are a lot of harmful birth controls that I wouldn’t want my daughters experimenting with.  The dangers of a young woman using birth control too early or too long before she is ready to start a family could present infertility issues later in life. Also, the use of birth control can promote unhealthy sexual behavior such as promiscuity and premarital sex. This is very contrary to our Christian beliefs.

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. -  1 Corinthians 6:18

Sexual responsibility is more than just about preventing births and sexually transmitted diseases.  It is about a lifetime commitment with your sexual partner, in the form of a heterosexual marriage.  It is about being prepared to start a family.  Schools typically do not teach what true sexual responsibility is.  Our children are being taught it is ok to engage in sex as long as you “protect yourself”.  This is not biblical.

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. – Hebrews 13:4

These are just a few of the many reasons why our family has decided to homeschool our children.  We have taken back control over our children by educating them from a Christian World View.  In the future I will be writing about more issues related to public school indoctrinations and anti-Christian teaching/values.   I look forward to hearing your responses.

* To read more information about the new curriculum click here.

Faith without God?

Faith – Imani (ee-MAH-nee) To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

I’ve been taking each of the seven principles of Kwanzaa also called in Swahili, the Nguzo Saba, and exploring their true meaning as they were originally created.  This isn’t some ancient event created so many years ago where the writings about it are so ancient that it could be considered full of errors (as many try to say about the Bible).   I am examining the seven principles while the creator, Maulana Karenga, as of this writing, is still alive and his books about them are still available to study from.

The seventh and last day of Kwanzaa is celebrated with the principle of Faith.   Faith in everything including God it would seem, based upon Karenga’s comment in his 1997 book on Kwanzaa:

“In the context of African spirituality, it begins with a belief in the Creator and in the positiveness of the creation and logically leads to a belief in the essential goodness and possibility of the human personality.” p 65

It’s the next paragraph that leaves one wondering what kind of God Karenga is speaking about because it appears that man in put nearly on the same level as the god Karenga wants man to place his faith in. In fact, God is given such a lowly position of faith He’s not even mentioned in the principle of Faith’s description in the first paragraph by Karenga.  Faith in everyone but God!  In this next paragraph from his same book mentioned above, Karenga speaks of the Creator but it’s his elevation of man above God that is more disturbing:

“. . . it is taught that we are in the image of the Creator and thus capable of ultimate righteousness and creativity through self-mastery and development in the context of positive support. Therefore, fiath in ourelves is key here, faith in our capacity as humans to live righteously, self-correct, support, care for and be responsible for each other and eventually create the just and good society.” p 65

Several questions come to mind here from the aforementioned paragraph: 1) is righteousness obtained through self-mastery? 2) What is God’s role in our righteousness? 3) Is there any difference between faith in ourselves and faith in God? 4) Is creating a just society accomplished through faith in God or faith in ourselves only? 5) What does it mean here to have faith in God if man can do it all through his own self-mastery?

The god that Karenga “believes” in is not the same God we worship as Christians. Number one, we can not obtain righteousness through our self-mastery because according to God, only through Him can we be made righteous:

²⁰ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

And:

²¹ But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, ²⁶ to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  – Romans 3:21-26

Righteousness CAN NOT be obtained through any self-mastery.  It can only come by God through His Son Jesus Christ.  According to the Bible, God doesn’t even recognize us as righteous people which is why He sent His son to save us! By God’s standards there are none righteous:

¹⁰As it is written:
“ There is none righteous, no, not one;
¹¹ There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
¹² They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.  Romans 3:10-12

Consistant to the Old Testament scripture:

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away. Isaiah 64:6

How great can our own works be?

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9

Salvation, righteousness, and NO boasting, which is done quite a bit by Karenga in his description of how we can create a just society by our own righteousness through self-mastery.

Now taking Karenga out of the Kwanzaa celebration as most people do with some not even knowing about Karenga, there are STILL spiritual dangers of participating in a celebration where faith and righteousness are in the same sentence.  Kwanzaa is offensive to the Christian as it can dangerously give one the perception that righteousness can be obtain by having a faith in any kind of god.  Karenga tried to make sure that Kwanzaa would be recognized as a cultural event for ALL faiths to practice, but by doing so he crossed the line from cultural to religion in introducing faith.

Upon reviewing all of the principles of Kwanzaa, one can easily see how Karenga leaned heavily upon religion in the creation of his new moral value system for the Black community.  People can claim that Kwanzaa is not religious, but if it’s practiced with the libations, ancestor name roll calling, drinking from the unity cups and the presence of “elders” at the ceremonies while reciting each of these seven principles, then one may be able to see just how spiritual this celebration truly is.

A false spirituality without God.

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More about Kwanzaa in the eBook:  The Truth About Kwanzaa