May 1997
Parenting Isn't For Sissies
Rusty MillerAs a parent, it was not something I expected to have to deal with this early. Our oldest, Jeff, came to us to ask about attending a get-together sponsored by the city of Bedford. Designed for kids not yet old enough to drive, it is held each weekend in the gymnasium of one of the local parks, and offers games and refreshments and the like. He explained that some of his friends were planning to go and play basketball, and that he would like to go along. more...
Teaching Children About Fornication
Mark Roberts"Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body" (1 Cor. 6:18). more...
Shall We Dance?
Rusty Miller"Can I go to the dance?"
It is a question most Christian parents look on with dread. For one, it means our children are growing up. But mostly, it is a dreaded question because, for so many of us, it is a question we once asked, and we know the arguments we are about to face. What does a parent say to answer this question, besides the negative? more...
Teaching Children About Alcohol
Mark Roberts
- Alcohol use is the number one drug problem among young people.
- Eight young people die in alcohol-related crashes everyday. Alcohol related traffic deaths are the number one killer of 15-24 year-olds.
- 90% of inmates on death row come from homes where drug abuse and alcohol abuse played a prominent part. 4 in 10 inmates on death row were experimenting with alcohol before age 13.
- Poor grades are correlated with increased use of alcohol. Alcohol is implicated in more than 40% of all academic problems and 28% of all dropouts.
- 60% of college women diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease were drunk at the time of infection.
- A survey of high school students found that 18% of females and 39% of males say it is acceptable for a boy to force sex if the girl is stoned or drunk.
- Half of teens who are drunk at the time.
- Youth who drink alcohol are 7.5 times more likely to use any illicit drug, and 50 times more likely to use cocaine than young people who never drink.
Teaching Children About Drugs
Dr. Stewart CoffmanI have been asked to write an article about drugs and teenagers from an emergency physician's perspective. It is a difficult undertaking. How do you paint with the written word the tragedy, humiliation, and degradation that too often finds its way to the emergency department? Perhaps, I should just give you the statistics and let you figure out how devastating drugs are to our youths and our society. I think instead, I'll tell you a couple of stories. more...
They Are Watching You
Rusty MillerIn our Savior's many debates with the scribes and Pharisees, it is interesting that He saved His most scathing rebukes for their hypocrisy. His rebukes of Matthew 23 are so devastating in fact, that our most prominent image of the Pharisees is as hypocrites. In addition, His views toward hypocrisy flavor our own, so much so that even those who profess no loyalty toward Christ cannot stomach a hypocrite. more...
The Preacher's Pen
Mark RobertsWe have such a fine group of young people here at Westside. I watch our Bible classes full of eager learners, our devotionals that are purely extra but are wonderfully well attended, and the action and attention our young people pay during the worship services and I know that our young people have character and are cultivating a deep fidelity to the Lord. How did that happen? Where did we get all of these great young folks? more...