Recently, For the Valley Bible Conference took place, hosted by Grace Church of the Valley near Fresno, California. The theme of the conference was “Be Rational.”
I had never heard of the conference. You probably haven’t either. But there was something from this conference that caught my attention. Something very disturbing.
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How many of us have ever heard someone claim the promise of Proverbs 22:6:
Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Many have stood on this verse, even as their child may have left the faith at some point. They see it as a promise that their child will ultimately come back around to the faith.
But here is something to remember about proverbs, which may come as a surprise: Proverbs are not promises. That is not their function in life.
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When people ask, “What are culture wars?”, what is basically meant by this phrase is when a particular social group tries to impose their beliefs, practices, and ideas on the culture at large. The word “war” is of course used figuratively here because, typically, a war doesn’t take place. But it’s not out of the question that people may end up dead.
Worship leader Sean Feucht has been fighting the culture wars for quite some time now. He’s not the only one. But he is one of the loudest. As an example, you can see below a recent post of his from April 21 in which he espouses his thoughts about Taylor Swift’s new album, which released April 19. To read his full thoughts, click on the Facebook post.
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One of the most oft-quoted verses in all of Scripture is found in John 8:7:
“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone...”
Most know the context of this verse. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. They want her stoned, meaning, they wanted her dead for breaking the commands of their Law.
To this, Jesus replies to the leaders: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone...”
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Each week, the principal of the school where my children attend sends a weekly e-newsletter. It has all sorts of updates about upcoming events, who to reach out to for what, and many more items. It is a very long newsletter. One specific item has caught my attention over the past few weeks. The school has announced they are moving to clear backpacks for the 2024-25 school year.
Now, I have no problem with clear backpacks. I’m sure my youngest will be slightly sad to give up his Pokemon backpack. But, at the end of the day, a backpack is about being sufficient to carry books, lunches, pencil pouches, and a few other varying items.
However, this clear backpack is about something in particular.
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The Prodigal Thought 