Social Distortion: "Mommy's Little Monster"

This punk rock band made a lot of sense with this song. Some children do grow up wild and flout authority. If you're not afraid, listen to this live performance here.

These rebellious children are aptly described in Romans 1:28-32 (Bible in Basic English). "And because they had not the mind to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an evil mind, to do those things which are not right; Being full of all wrongdoing, evil, desire for the goods of others, hate, envy, putting to death, fighting, deceit, cruel ways, evil talk, and false statements about others; Hated by God, full of pride, without respect, full of loud talk, given to evil inventions, not honouring father or mother, Without knowledge, not true to their undertakings, unkind, having no mercy: Who, though they have knowledge of the law of God, that the fate of those who do these things is death, not only go on doing these things themselves, but give approval to those who do them."

This might sound harsh to our modern ears but the type of kids mentioned in the song would have been put to death in Moses' time. Deuteronomy 21:18 (BBE) explains how seriously the Lord took rebellion. "If a man has a son who is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, who gives no attention to the voice of his father and mother, and will not be ruled by them, though they give him punishment: Then let his father and mother take him to the responsible men of the town, to the public place; And say to them, 'This son of ours is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, he will not give attention to us; he gives himself up to pleasure and strong drink.' Then he is to be stoned to death by all the men of the town: so you are to put away the evil from among you; and all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear."

I know that not all children grow up to be responsible adults. Even so, what Solomon said in Proverbs 22:6 (BBE) is generally true. "If a child is trained up in the right way, even when he is old he will not be turned away from it."

Often times, these wild children need to suffer their consequences. In what people call the story of the prodigal son, Luke 15:17-19 (BBE) reads, "But when he came to his senses, he said, 'What numbers of my father's servants have bread enough, and more, while I am near to death here through need of food! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes: I am no longer good enough to be named your son: make me like one of your servants."'"

If Christ hasn't returned for his sometimes-prodigal children by Thursday, I hope to publish about a rock 'n' roll revivalist and our temporary bodies.

Why Did God Destroy Only Certain Sinners?

Last month, I wrote about the judgement which happens to every one at death. God's grace period for us ends when our earthly lives end. We then await Judgement Day either in heaven or hell.

But why do some sins get judged while people are still living? The heavenly Father uses the consequences of human sin as a warning to the rest of us.

The Apostle Peter made this abundantly clear in 2 Peter 2:6 (KJV) "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorra into  ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an  ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;"

The Lord also uses the consequences of our sin to bring us back to him. Christ's parable of the prodigal son and his elder brother is a perfect example. The younger brother took his part of his father's estate and lived it up until the money was gone. When he worked in a far country on a hog farm and wished he could eat some of the pods which the animals ate, he realized how good even day laborours had it back at home. His father joyfully welcomed him when he returned.

Some might think that God is only wrathful but Christ's parable of the ninety-nine sheep says otherwise. After showing how the good shepherd searched high and low for the lost sheep and then carried the animal home on his shoulder, Jesus summed up the story in Luke 15:7 (KJV). "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

As thousands of testimonies dramatized on UNSHACKLED! demonstrate, the heavenly Father often uses tragedies to bring folks to their senses. If you're going through hard times, step back and examine why. Christ could be calling you through those hard events to repent and follow him totally.

But how did we become sinners from the womb? That's for next time.

A PRODIGAL SON RETURNS.

Most people know the parable of the prodigal son, the younger of two brothers who blew his inheritance through riotous living but was welcomed back by his father. I had a similar experience in my life when I turned my back on God for nine years. I wrote about how the Lord accepted me back in How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Below is a sample from that book which tells of my tearful repentance.

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While I unpacked the food and kitchen items at four-thirty, the floor began to vibrate. I followed the gut-curdling rumble to the French doors in the living room and discovered - to my horror - the noise came from the residents' cars as each one drove into the parking lot. Though my unit stood two-hundred feet or more from the avenue, the rush hour traffic din likewise penetrated my home. "I can't understand it," I muttered as I stared in disbelief. "Both times I was here, it was dead quiet."

More unpleasant surprises came my way that evening. As I made my bed after supper, loud rock music bore its way through the bedroom wall. "That real estate jerk lied to me," I sputtered as I comprehended the flimsy nature of the condos. "He said the walls were soundproof." I pounded on the wall with my fists, but the neighbour had cranked the volume far too high to notice.

The enormity of my blunder overwhelmed me. Instead of one noisy family, many boisterous residents now surrounded me. Rather than being somewhat insulated by the spaces between houses, I could hear common sounds, such as flushing toilets and closing doors, without effort.

I sat down on my bed and wept. "Lord Jesus," I prayed, then paused. I sensed the same spiritual stiffness I felt in that Portland hotel room three years earlier. "I'm so sorry for turning my back on you. Please forgive me. I've made a huge mess of things with this condo and I'm so sorry. I've squandered Dad's inheritance money and now I don't even have that house anymore. I made a mess of everything. Lord, I give you control of my life again. Please help me out of this condo mess."

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I wrote extensively about that house church in my newly-published memoir, How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Please check it out at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm.