What do they ALL have in common? An open invitation into our home each week!
You say “Huh, Mary…you are off your rocker! You don’t know them, and they don’t know you! What’s more you don’t even have real TV.”
And to that I say you are only half right!
I know them…though I have never met them. In my lifetime I have “met” very few AMERICANS who have served my God so boldly and experienced such heavy scrutinization!
And let me say that EVERYONE has an opinion! The shocking thing is, it’s most Christians I hear talking about each of these three, aren’t nearly as God honoring in their speech about them as the actual people.
If I had to pick one word that defines all three families, it would be BOLDNESS. Do you know what it takes to live out that kind of boldness in our American culture, not to mention doing it on TV in front of MILLIONS of people. I know how hard it is making Biblical decisions for our family under the watchful eye of others whether it be church, friends, or our extended family. We make a lot of “out of the norm” decisions, and people feel it is their responsibility to let us know they disagree! I live for an audience of 1. It is my goal to please HIM, AND HIM ALONE!
I can’t imagine living that on TV. I really don’t believe I am strong enough for that!
But there are those in this world both in the past and now in the present who have a weighty call. A mission field if you will! To be a bright, shining light, whether to one of the darkest times in history or in one of the darkest industries in America!
It takes Boldness to stand for what you believe in……
* Whether it be an anti-abortion ad during the Soper Bowl.
*whether you have 19 kids, who are imperfect, dress deifferently, share their faith, and look at kids as though they are a blessing, RATHER THAN AN INCONVENIENCE.
* whether you have long beards! wear caammo 24/7, get involved in insane “redneck” antics, and answer with a biblical response to a question about homosexuality.
We all need more boldness like these families. We need not fear for our income, our career, our testimony, our popularity. For it is when we back track…or apologize for what we believe, that we loose our testimony. It is when we don’t practice what we claim to believe that our testimony falls apart…when our walk doesn’t match our talk! Those people are a dime a dozen! You can find them everywhere……community, church, family, friends!
Are these families perfect….oh no, and they would all say the same thing…..I have read quotes, watched interviews, and so much mor that state just that. That is what makes them real, and so likable. We shouldn’t set these families on pedestals, because they can easily fall off. They are human, they make mistakes.
And yet, as believers, we cricize . Instead of supporting the brother in Christ who has been stripped of his American freedom. We keep silent because we fear what people will think of us. I view these three families as an opportunity for my children, my husband and myself to put extra godly influences into our lives. To teach our kids that yes like their Bible friends , people today are loosing freedoms because of their faith and boldness. It is an opportunity to show them, they do not walk this path of faith alone. It’s an open opportunity to show them the right way, peaceably, to stand up for God and their families.
We extend very few Open invitations to invade our home. We screen very carefully what comes across the screens in our house! And as long as God allows these three families to be lights to this world, we will gladly invite them in each week!
So let me ask you these questions….if you are a believer…..who are you inviting into your home each week?
Are you inviting in Godly values?
Or are you inviting in promiscuity , frivolous speech, lies against the book you carry to church each Sunday?
Who is influencing your kids?
Sports stars who party, and sleep around…..or the one who values life and points his status back to God?
Actors and actresses who dress in little to no clothes, disrespect their parents and have gobs of boyfriends/ girlfriends and give away themselves before they ever say I do?….or a family who embraces modesty, purity, and love of family and others
Peole who swear, have multiple marriages, frequent bars and are violent …..or people who though they look outside the normal the exterior, act more like who they say they are then the whitewashed seplechures that claim faith and put on a great appearances in nice clothes but live differently that what they say!
You hold the key to who influences your kids…….
As for me and my house, we will serve The Lord !
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.(ESV)