Roger Marsh: Greetings and welcome to Family Talk, the broadcast division of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. Thanks for making time to join us today. I'm Roger Marsh and today we're going to be bringing you a timely important message directly from Dr. Dobson concerning the war that is being waged for the hearts and minds of our children. You will not be disappointed in what you are about to hear. Today's message is taken from Dr. Dobson's June newsletter, an essay he pinned earlier this summer based upon the grave situation the doctor sees us facing as Christians and as parents in the midst of a culture crisis.
Now, if you've been following Dr. Dobson's work for any amount of time, you know that one of his primary concerns is for the safety and guardianship of the next generation. Doctor understands that we have a responsibility to raise up our children in the way that they should go. And that means teaching them biblical truth so that they can successfully navigate the threat of a rapidly encroaching post-Christian culture. On today's program. Dr. Dobson is going to illustrate some of the forces that have declared this war on children, including secular school curricula, and the malaise known as the "popular culture."
He'll also offer some hope and advice on how you and I can join and ultimately win the fight for the hearts and minds of our kids. Now, this broadcast also contains an excerpt from a recent sermon given by Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in California that also illustrates Dr. Dobson's concerns. We are honored to share these powerful thoughts and words from two of America's leading men of the Christian faith today. I think you will agree these two godly men see eye to eye on this topic here now is Dr. James Dobson on today's edition of Family Talk.
Dr. James Dobson: I want to read something that comes directly from a letter that I sent to our constituency last month. It is reasonable to assume that a million people have read or seen this letter. The topic of the letter is the war on children. And you'll hear in a few moments why this message is so deeply moving for me personally and it follows.
"Dear friends, I know many of you are deeply concerned about our country today as I am. It's rocking and reeling like a ship on a stormy sea. Everything we have cherished about America is under assault encompassing the entire Judeo-Christian ethic. Where do we start to preserve what we can't afford to lose? Specifically what should be our highest priority in the battle to save our crumbling culture? It's my conviction that above all else, we must rise to the defense of this generation of children. Their minds and souls are in severe jeopardy.
When I survey what is being done to the most vulnerable well members of 0osociety, I become alarmed and angry. Children are the future of the human race. You and I are going to pass away from this scene and today's younger generation will indeed inherit the Earth. The Marxists leftists, activists and liberal politicians who are engineering today's revolution understand this dynamic fully. They recognize that everything that they and their socialist predecessors have sought to achieve save for many decades is suddenly within reach.
This is why they're throwing hell itself at the young and they're striking while the iron is hot. Life offers only a few brief years to introduce our kids to Jesus Christ and to teach them the biblical principles on which tomorrow's civilization will depend. Their eternal destinies will rely on our fulfillment of this charge. A raid against us are formidable foes who hate what we hold dear. They are armed with powerful weapons that include the leftist education establishment, the entertainment industry, the liberal courts, the pornography business, the nation's universities, the internet, and almost every center of power.
Each of these entities and many more are increasingly hostile to the traditional family and to the values that once provided the foundation for Western civilization. You moms, dads and grandparents are rapidly losing your own progeny. Where do we turn to find support and hope? Our best resource is with a committed, informed, dedicated Bible-believing church of Jesus Christ. There are tens of thousands of God-fearing pastors and churches and laymen who will come alongside you as you raise your kids, find one of them and pull your resources there. I want you to hear from one of these insightful leaders now.
Believe it or not, I had just finished writing the book paragraphs above when a colleague sent me a text of a sermon a few weeks ago by Dr. John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community church in Sun Valley, California. He is passionate about what he refers to as the war on children. Here are some excerpts of his inspired message, which target the issues that I've raised today. It describes precisely what burns within me. Now, here are the words of Pastor John MacArthur as recorded during his Sunday morning message at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California."
John MacArthur: What we're facing today is fierce. I will confess, of all the things that disturbed me in this culture of all the horrific sinful, wretched, wicked, corrupt influences that go on in this culture. I think the thing that distresses me most is the war on children. This culture is weaponized to destroy children. It's systematically designed to do that. 62.5 million of them have been slaughtered in the womb since Roe v Wade in the '70s. We all understand the breakdown of the family. If a child can escape abortion and be born, that child has about a 50/50 chance of being born to a married couple.
It is likely that that married couple will get a divorce. It's likely that they will be unfaithful to their marital vows. It is likely that the child will be sent to a public school and come under the influence of those whose agenda is anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-scripture. And as you know, our country, the politicians who lead it are making laws that are devastating to children under the pressure of sexual freedom, homosexuality, transgenderism. The desire is to make that normal and to punish people who speak against it with laws in the category of hate speech.
The lies of systemic racism and the race hustlers dominate the ideologies of universities and even churches. Music producers, movie makers, social media providers, big tech, you name it. They literally pump out things that destroy children. Children are under a relentless assault by all the forces of evil and they are defenseless. And we have a society and a culture that wants to make sure that these who are pumping out this destruction are free to keep doing it without restraint.
Children are defenseless when their parents sell them to a human trafficker who drops them eight to 10 feet over a wall into Sodom and Gomorrah all by themselves or when the Disney corporation creates characters that are transgender to seduce children into accepting wickedness as normal. Or when parents insanely offer their children gender identity options. Children are under assault. Now the government wants to even have more influence on them, so the president announced that they would like to provide government education free of charge from the age of three to 20. You get the picture.
From the president and the leading politicians and bureaucrats, teachers, race hustlers, pornographers, media people, tech people, even medical people, children, the most defenseless are under attack. There is a war on children. If you look at Deuteronomy 6 and see how the chapter begins, this is the commandment, the statutes, the judgment, the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you that you might do them in the land where you're going over to possess it. So that, notice this, your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God.
You have a responsibility to your children and your grandchildren. And what do you want to teach them? "To fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command you all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged." Lifelong submission to, obedience to, worship of, love for, fear of God. Verse 3, "O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it. That it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord, the God of your fathers has promised you in a land flowing with milk and honey. Do what I just told you. Do everything the Lord commands you to do. Fear Him, obey Him all your life so that you can pass it on to your children and grandchildren so that you can enjoy the full blessing of the land of milk and honey."
Verse four, the famous Shema. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God. Note that because you're going into paganism with many gods. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. If you want to prosper in the land, if you want to pass on righteousness to the next generation and the next, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might."
And that shows up in obedience, verse six: "What I'm commanding you shall be in your heart" It starts in the heart with loving God. Then verse seven, "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house. And when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up." In other words, the constant theme of life and conversation inside the home, outside the home all the time from dawn to dark is the Word of God, the Word of God. Failure to raise children, to borrow New Testament language, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and the fear of God is a multi-generational disaster that invites difficulty of the fact that all that are born into it are sinful. That all that are born into it are basically born into a sinful corrupt culture that's been produced in multiple generations.
That is bad enough. It's tough enough. And it invites divine judgment. But I want to add something. Not only were all those children born as sinners and born into idolatry, born into generations that didn't know God and did what was right in their own eyes. But the culture actually turned on the children. Recently, we all realized that aborted babies who were being dismembered and baby body parts were being sold by Planned Parenthood. When it was discovered and chronicled in video, instead of indicting Planned Parenthood for selling aborted baby parts, the man who took the video was indicted on nine counts. This is a very dangerous place for children.
Satan's war starts in the womb and never lets up. It's carried through every medium possible to destroy children. Broken homes, sinful parents, in every electronic form of media, educational system. It's everywhere. Satan's war on children, by the way, is a war on God because the children belong to Him. I want to show you that so let's close by looking at Mark chapter 10, but in verse 13 of Mark 10, this is also the same account as in Matthew and Luke.
"They were bringing children to Him, the people so that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, 'Permit the children to come to me. Do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Whoa, what a statement. Clearly I say to you, whoever doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them. They're His, they belong to the kingdom, and so the king pick them up and blessed them.
And I will tell you this generation of people, the leaders, the immoral people they're engaged in this massive assault on children are going to have to answer to God. And that day will come. But what about us? We're going to have to answer to him too for the little ones He gives us. When they arrive, they're His and our life commitment is to make sure that as they grow and we influenced them, they come to faith in Christ, right? That's raising your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Dr. James Dobson: Well, once again, that was Dr. John MacArthur preaching on a Sunday morning at his church, Grace Community. It's in Sun Valley, California. It was a powerful message I'm sure you agree about the war on children. You can also see evidences of that war all around you. I'll conclude with a few closing thoughts specifically about what our kids are encountering in schools and what we can do to protect them as follows.
While parents assume public education is about reading, writing, and math and social studies, many boys and girls are being taught concepts that would have horrified previous generations. Schools across the country are embracing LGBTQ ideology and other graphic sexual content that masquerades as education. Do you understand what it means for teachers to stand in front of their classes and promote homosexuality and lesbianism, bisexuality and transgender concepts to your boys and girls? How do you explain Christian sexual morality to them when they come home?
Educators are indoctrinating and manipulating young minds with curricula that is not compatible with Christian beliefs and principles. This reprogramming is even broader in some classrooms. Children under 10 years of age are required to strike what they call non-inclusive words, such as mother and father, or sister and brother from their vocabularies. They're also being taught that their gender is a choice, not a biological reality. Even kids in elementary grades are being told emphatically that none of them is a boy or girl until they decide what they want to be. If they don't like who they're born to be, doctors can change them.
In these and other ways, the public school system is becoming more radical and godless year after year. The curriculum incorporates shocking new concoctions, such as critical race theory and the 1619 Project. These and other politically motivated programs are designed to cancel American history and democracy itself. For our example, kids are taught to hate America and the belief that Abraham Lincoln was a racist. I'll pose the consuming question again. What can we as parents, grandparents and patriots do to protect today's children and teens? Well, here are a few suggestions that you might consider.
The first one is fundamental. Introduce your toddlers to Jesus. As your kids grow older, tell them about the gospel and the plan of salvation. Nothing else will shield them from the wickedness that invades the culture. I consider this to be job one for those raising the young. Remember to pray for them daily.
Number two, become involved in your children's school with their teachers and curricula. Begin by consulting an attorney whom you trust about your rights to know what's being taught to the students. Get acquainted with teachers, the principal and the school superintendent. Review the curriculum for each subject taught. Get copies of the textbooks and other required reading. Visit classrooms to witness firsthand what occurs there. Share what you learn with friends, including other like-minded parents. You need support and encouragement. There is strength in numbers.
Number three, remember this, these are your children. They do not belong to educators. Be courteous and respectful when you deal with school personnel. Most of them are decent people who work hard to fulfill their challenging assignments. I was one of them in my 20s. I loved my students and was usually teary-eyed on the last day when my kids were moving on. Many teachers are just that committed to their kids, but there are some teachers and administrators however who have a different agenda. They will probably try to intimidate and disparage parents whom they view as nosy and crazy. Stand your ground on matters of substance. Your kids are at stake.
Number four, consider running for a position on your local school board. These can be powerful positions, yet few parents accept that responsibility. I say that it's worth the time invested. It is a place that you can make a difference for your children and future generations.
And number five, if the local school district is determined to indoctrinate and manipulate the minds of your children and if your concerns are falling on deaf ears, take your children out of public schools. I know that will be difficult for some of you financially, but you can't let your precious kids be warped and twisted by those committed to a godless agenda.
Shirley and I put our two children in wonderful Christian schools and they made a valuable contribution to them. Homeschooling was not known in those days, but we would definitely consider that option today. The point is that there are alternatives. Parent co-ops are another possibility, but whatever you do pray for wisdom and knowing what to do.
Well, my time and space are gone and I must close. I hope you have found this discussion profitable. The next generation is at stake. Sincerely, James Dobson. This letter as I said at the top of the program was sent to 100,000 people by mail and perhaps 900,000 or more digitally. Thank you for letting us share it with you.
Roger Marsh: In Ephesians 6:13, Paul writes, "Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand." As Christians in this culture, we have a responsibility to fight for truth and against lies for the sake of our kids and for their future.
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