AUGUST RADIO MESSAGE/THE TEN COMM ANDM ENTS
Honor fo r Parents Hope fo r Our Homes
T h e r e is a n old adage which states that sometimes a boy can be straightened up by being bent over. Unfortunately, in this age in which we are living, it seems that everything is being run by switches — except the children. We have spared the rod and we have spoiled the child. No wonder crime outstrips our population growth five to one. Today’s word comes from Exodus 20: 12. It may well be that the first four Commandments were graven upon one tablet of stone, and the last six on the other tablet. The first four standards of God’s Decalogue deal with man’s relationship to God, while the second part — the last six, bring into focus man’s relationship to man. This Commandment bridges the gap between our responsibility to God and our responsibility to man. The Psalm ist declared in the 68th Psalm, verse 6 that “God setteth the solitary in fam ilies.” There are many of you listening today whose lives have been miserable and wretched because as you were growing up in your family, there was bickering and fighting, husband with wife. There are others of you whose lives are at this moment grief-stricken, and a horrible nightmare, because you have a mate who may not know the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour. Your home life is constantly shattered with turmoil and difficulty. But the true Christian home is some thing much more than just a name. In our years of Christian service it has been our privilege to visit in many so- called “Christian” homes. Being away from home sometimes we have had the opportunity of staying with people
along the way. May I say sincerely, I thank God every day for my wonderful wife and the blessing of a Christian home which He makes possible. Mar garet and I have worked side by side in radio ministry for a decade and a half. So with a wonderful Christian home it is frankly shocking every time I see some of the examples of what other people go through from area to area. I heard one time of a husband and wife who were seated in the living room. The wife was knitting; the fa ther was reading the evening paper; Johnny was doing his homework. The boy paused for a moment and then asked, “Dad can you tell me how wars begin?” The father thoughtfully put down his newspaper, and then re sponded, “Well, son, as an example, take the war which began in 1914. That was World War I—it started when Germany invaded Belgium.” The wife by now had stopped her knitting, and interjected, “No, dear, I think you’ll find that actually it happened because somebody was murdered, a prince, I believe it was!” The husband looked daggers at his wife and mut tered, “ I said it was when Germany invaded Belgium.” The wife rejoined, “Well, I guess I ought to know, I’ve studied history more than you have.” Whereupon the father continued the encounter raising his voice, “Are you answering the question or am I? Didn’t he ask me?” The wife huffily got up, put her sewing down, stormed out of the room slamming the door behind her. When the house stopped reverber ating, the lad suggested, “Never mind, (Continued on Next Page) 27
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