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The longer I pastor (18 years now at the same place), the more I begin to wonder if we have become Gadarene maniacs when it comes to leading our homes. We are living in a day when fathers and men are out running with the dead of this present world and dwelling among the tombs of no hope. The sad thing is that the help that the world has to offer will not solve the problem. Read the story of the maniac in Mark 5:3-4. Here is a wild man living in a grave yard, bound with chains and still no one can help him.

The help that the world has to offer is of no help. Chains were “plucked asunder” And fetters were “broken in pieces.” “Neither could any man tame him.” He was out of his mind; his life and his family were a waste. “And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones.” What has happened in the home? We live in a day and age where children run the home. Parents are afraid of their Children and are caught up in taking the least path of resistance. They want peace in the home at any cost.

It has come to the point where parents are choosing a child over the Truth. There is an infiltrating demonic doctrine today of “touch not the child.” I have heard preachers across America tell me about people who were once fellow soldiers and co-laborers in their ministries who have gone “mad.” Why? Each account told of a child in the family that had been in trouble in the church or Christian school that needed to be disciplined by the parent. The parents foolishly chose to side with the child, often without hearing the side of the school or preacher, assuming that they were out to get their child. Now PRIDE finds these parents crying in the Tombs.

What is happening in America? The home is no longer led by a man in his right mind. What needs to happen is what took place in Mark 5:6. The bible says, “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him.” Men need to see Jesus. Have men lost sight of Him? We live in a generation that has no walk with God. He is afar off. We live in a generation that has lost sight of His love. They have lost sight of His holiness. They have lost sight of His longsuffering. They have lost sight of his Holy Spirit power. The man in the home must get back to Jesus and in his right mind.

Our five minute daily devotionals will not do in 2003. Men are going to have to walk with God and be men of God. Men need to be willing to hold the line on Biblical living. Men look and act like men, not pierced bond slaves for Satan with holes all over your bodies. Women need to look like godly women, rather that embracing the attire of a harlot. Teenagers honor your fathers and mothers, instead of breaking their hearts by selfishness and rebellion.

The question was asked to me the other day, “Why do good Godly people change when their children become teenagers?” The answer, I believe, is twofold: One, they fear losing their children instead of fearing losing the blessing of God. When parents change to pacify their children, they usually lose both their children and their grandchildren. Two, the Pride of Life causes parents to avoid admitting the problem and dealing with their child’s sin. God hates pride because it leads men to become maniacs, void of right judgment. There is a great demonic attack on our homes. We need warriors who will fight for what is right. We need men who will lead their homes with right minds filled with the truths of the Word of God. We need men who are willing to stand by pastoral authority and the preaching of the Word of God. We need men willing to walk the aisle and hit an old-fashioned altar, humbly seeking God’s face. We need men willing to lead their homes for God like Joshua who said, in Joshua 24:15 “… As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” We need a generation of men, who are willing to take their homes back for the sake of the next generation. Will you choose your child over truth or will you choose Truth for the sake of you child?

Pastor Dan Woodward,
First Baptist Church, Dwight IL.