Nov. 17, 2008
The Time Changer
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Last night the family watched the movie "The Time Changer" ( The Time Changer )on our new IP TV package on "Sky Angel". (Sky Angel ) Sky Angel, for the uninitiated, is a TV satellite package that uses the wireless thingy on your computer. That is the extent of my understanding of HOW we get the pictures. Anyway, Sky Angel is family oriented programming that cuts out all the garbage and adds, some would say, different garbage. I miss our Direct TV with Noggin, the Food Network and HGTV. It does, thankfully have FOX NEWS--which I could never live without. But, it is less expensive (which fits in with our "be out of debt--read NO DEBT, DEBT-FREE, SLAVE TO NO MAN--plan" within 3-5 years--Dave Ramsey (is the best www.daveramsey.com/) and it cuts out all the junk we don't want our sons to be eyeballing. They get enough sexual content in school, on other people's t-shirts, from their friends, in the newspapers, at the grocery store (am I the only one who turns all those mags at the check outs face backwards---yes, that is me doing that), etc. without having it brought into our house via idiot box. ANYWAY...we were watching this movie which is set in the 1890's and in the 1990's. The main focus of the story is values. Can we teach values without God? The main characters argue about values teaching. Basically, some say you can just teach values by telling people right from wrong and they will naturally fall in line. The others say this leads to moral relativism and without GODs final authority, people are just going to make it up as they go along. It is also a time travel story which would appeal to kids probably 7 and up. One of the main characters (i am trying to do this without giving too much of the story away so bear with me, please) goes 100 years into the future and sees the results of his view that God is implicit in values (vs. stating outright: God says....) For me this hit home when he meets a young girl who steals from him. When he catches her he asks if she knows that stealing is wrong. She asks: "who says?". "Who says?" indeed. When I tell my kids; "Because I said so." Who am I? My teens are at the point where they don't listen because I say so (or their dad says so). They are finding out who they are and how their own moral compasses work. We have had them since they were 7 and 8 years old. Prior to that time, they were in foster care. One was in 8 different foster homes, the other in only two. The foster parents he was with the longest were wonderful people. They loved him as their own. However, they did not think he would be living with them as long as he did. They tried to leave him as blank a canvass as they could so that the morals and values of the parents who adopted him could be imprinted on him. I understand what they were doing but after seeing the results of it in his character, I know it wasn't the best thing for him--at all. With our toddler I am making the concerted effort to give him the biblical foundation that the older boys are lacking. Not just saying "because I said so" or "because that is wrong/right/unacceptable", I am saying "God says in His word....(including verse)". This is a challenge for me as while I know what the Bible says, I have always had a hard time memorizing Scripture (or anything else for that matter. My brain is clogged up with useful things like jingles and TV episodes from the 60's and 70's) so I struggle quote it directly. I am on a quest to be more deliberate in my personal memorization. I firmly believe this is vitally important to my son's character and standing as a Christian man. (a great book that I enjoy reading and using is Lisa Whelchel's Creative Correction www.lisawhelchel.com/ccreatbk.htm The "tool box" sections give great verses and techniques that can be adapted or modeled to fit any family) There IS a Final Authority. He cares about us. He loves us. From His perspective of eternity (and the sheer fact that He IS God) He knows what is best for us. He set up His commandments and guidelines for us as humans, us as Christians, us as parents, teachers, employees, employers, husbands and wives, etc. to give us joy and fulfillment. Outside of those guidelines and commandments there may be some satisfaction but it is only temporary. Moral Relativism is wrong and it is sending our country into a slide. It is sending our children, our schools, our families, ourselves into a death spiral. What's your opinion? -Kim He is Risen, Just as He said! |
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