Listen!

Now therefore, listen to me, my children;
Pay attention to the words of my mouth: Proverbs 7:24 NKJV

How many ways must it be said? Watch over our children before they are dead! Is no one listening, do we not hear, how the predators are seeking all we hold dear?

Children are a precious commodity in our society and everyone should treat them as such, for if they cease to exist, so does our society as we know it.

Parents! Teach your children the dangers that exist in the minds of the depraved. Don’t sugarcoat the truth and leave them open to the enticing ways of those who seek to destroy them. Pay attention to what they do and to those with whom they spend time. Get to know the parents of the children they play with and what kind of homes they visit. Pay attention to what your child is doing!

A 13 year-old male is missing, abducted from a neighborhood store parking lot at 11:00 p.m. Why was he out of the house at that time of night?

An 11 year-old female is missing, seemingly having been enticed by some man through a chatroom with her access on her tablet.

People will devise any method they can to entice children out of their homes or forcefully take them away. No child should be out at night without an adult accompanying them. Parents should be aware of who their children are communicating with over the Internet.

The warnings are out there and yet, we still hear about missing children! The depraved do not care about the feelings of a parent–they only care about what they want. Whether it is for personal gratification, revenge or greed, they take, use and abuse those who are precious to those who love them.

When are we going to get it? When all of our children are gone or have been so traumatized by horrendous experiences they will never be productive citizens? We must do better in protecting our children from those who are sick–the predators–must be stopped and the best way to stop them is to teach our children the truth about the predators, guard them and love them.

T N T was written as a warning to all parents about the dangers of Internet predators and how they manipulate the innocent into doing what they want. They entice them to leave home–without cell phones–so they cannot be tracked. It would appear that this is the method used by whoever is responsible for the missing 11 year-old girl.

Please, please, please parents and guardians–watch over the children and teach them truth–God’s truth and the truth about those who will trick them into doing things they really don’t want to do.

Lord, speak to the hearts of those who know where these children are and lead them to safety.

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A Little Folly!

“As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.” (Ecclesiastes 10:1 NIV)

The dead attract flies who are drawn by the decay and odor and when I see flies swarming–over any dead thing–I smell the odor that accompanies death. When people choose to function without wisdom from above and have no honor–for themselves or others, the folly that is the end result–outweighs the good of those who operate with wisdom and honor.

We see demonstration of folly getting more attention that wisdom on a daily basis. One of the reasons most people there is more bad or evil in the world is because that is what is reported the most.

Racism seeps and creeps into minds of people who think that all people are like those who are reported caught in doing stupid or evil. People from all races of people–all ethnic backgrounds–do stupid, but that does not mean that all the people categorized as that particular race do stupid all the time.

Because all we hear or see in the news is negative–we soon develop negative attitudes about all sorts of things. Most of us no longer trust politicians because of a few doing stupid things while in office, but that doesn’t mean that all politicians are corrupt, dishonest, adulterers, or philanderers. Not all politicians are only interested in preserving the economic classicism that exists in this country, but the few that actually care about people are seldom discussed in the news.

Not all teachers are sexual predators, but because those who are have made the headlines on more than one occasion, some people think that teachers are the reason for all the ills of education.

Not all teenagers are foolish and depraved, but when we only see those who are–splashed across the television screen or posted on social media doing stupid, we tend to think that all teenagers act like those we see–shown in a negative light.

Not all preachers or priests or church leaders are morally bankrupt, but we wouldn’t know that if we base our opinions on what we see in the news.

Not all poor people commit crimes, live off welfare and are ignorant. There are a number of people who commit crimes who were not raised in poverty, and are highly educated, but those are not the ones who get the negative reports and we make assumptions about the poor that are not true of all poor.

I’m thankful that God has given me an observant heart and a desire to understand people and why they do things. I try not to draw conclusions about anyone without having sufficient information to do so. I’m not inclined to try to persuade others to share my opinions about people because others may have different experiences with the same people and have different outcomes. When we draw conclusions about people without understanding– and we don’t have to know everything about them–we are guilty of being presumptuous and foolish.

When people are going through difficult times and don’t acknowledge us, we cannot conclude that they have a problem with us. The reality is–the problem is usually with us because we expect people to act as we want them to act.

I’m guilty of expecting people in certain positions–especially positions of leadership–to act with integrity and honor. And when that doesn’t happen, I tend to not respect them in their positions because the position is being disrespected. A little folly–being self-absorbed, thinking the world should evolve around us–leads to others having a bad impression of the whole and those who actually function with integrity, are overlooked.

O Lord, help us to be more like You, more determined to understand and slower in drawing erroneous conclusions about people or situations in which we do not have sufficient information. Help us to not spread negative reports, but to do all we can to function with integrity and honor, seeking wisdom from You, at all times.

Chicken, Hawk or Eagle!

If someone was to ascribe to you the attributes of a bird—which of these would it be?

Are you grounded, digging in the dirt for what you can find to eat, being manipulated by others to be “a tasty meal” for all to enjoy?

Are you a predator, always on the lookout for that “live one” who’ll be your next victim?

Are you flying above the fray of everyday life, looking down, seeing what’s going on, but not allowing the events to distract or deter you, knowing that sooner or later, the predators will leave behind a morsel that will meet your needs?

Think about these birds. The chicken is food for the hawk and the hawk could be food for the eagle, but the eagle—soaring in the sky—refusing to be caught up in the mundane—seeks elevation for safety, but can hone in on the details below and strike with efficiency—what is intended for them to have.

Which are you? The mediocre chicken—just waiting to be eaten; the hawk who preys upon its live victims or the eagle—who can wait for what is rightfully due them when they can see it from above?