In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of returning to the old-fashioned Christian values and practices in order to build strong and successful families. He highlights the fast-paced and instant nature of modern society, contrasting it with the slower and more intentional approach of the past. The preacher calls for fathers, mothers, and children to come together in prayer and unity, supporting and submitting to one another. He also emphasizes the need to teach children the value of hard work and the importance of the work ethic in order to avoid a materialistic and self-centered mindset. The preacher encourages a return to the old-fashioned order and values, emphasizing the need to prioritize spiritual growth and family unity.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, AFPA, 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Good morning. I'm bringing the message this morning for several reasons. I'd like to give some of those reasons by way of introduction, but I'd like to give the title first. I'd like to speak this morning on the subject, the old-fashioned Christian home. And I guess I have a lot of reasons for preaching it, but I would say that one reason is I preached the message up in Moscow, Pennsylvania, and when I got done preaching it, I just thought, oh Lord, sometime I'd sure like to preach this at home. And I feel the Lord has given me the liberty this morning to bring this message, and I want it to be an encouragement. I realize that we have old-fashioned Christian homes here, and the people that heard the message as I preached on having an old-fashioned Christian home, well, I believe that they thought that I had an old-fashioned Christian home. And I believe that that's what we have here, is old-fashioned Christian homes, the kind that America used to have, the kind that all of America used to have, old-fashioned Christian homes. So, I'm not preaching to correct anybody this morning, but rather just that we might always be reminded and strengthened in the things that we already have, lest we let them slip, lest we let a fast-moving society that's moving on around us take away from us the old-fashioned Christian home, which is the only way to build a solid church, is with old-fashioned Christian homes. Another reason why I felt led to bring the message this morning is because of a beautiful picture that the Lord allowed me to see while I was down in Finger, Tennessee. And that was the picture of nine families all knelt in little circles at the front of the auditorium on Saturday night, praying together. We had the opportunity to go to Finger and bring some messages on authority, and we ended with a message to bring the families back together there. And it's interesting, one young lady, she shared after the messages were over with, after the last message was over with, she said, you know, when I heard you were coming down here to preach on authority, I thought, oh no, not that. We don't need any lessons on authority. We need revival meetings down here. And little did she realize that the greatest revival she could have had is to get right with her father and her mother and her brothers and her sisters, that she lived with all the time. She said those very words. She didn't realize it was a revival tucked away in messages on authority. That seemed like such a drab subject when she thought about it. But it was a beautiful picture there on Saturday evening. She preached a message touching fathers and touching mothers and touching children. At the end of the message, I just asked the fathers if they wouldn't come forward, if they're willing to be what they're supposed to be in their home. If they're not willing to be what they're supposed to be in their home and take their place and be a leader and be a man of God, be what they're supposed to be and guide the family, if they're willing to do that, would they just come up and kneel up here in the front and all nine of the men there came forward and knelt there in the front. And then I made an appeal to the sisters the same thing. Are they willing to lay aside all the arguing and all the fussing that they do with their husbands and all the undermining of His authority and all those things, if they're willing to lay those things aside and come up and support their husbands, would you come up and kneel at the front? And all nine of the women came to the front. And then I made the appeal to the children. Are you willing to support your father and mother? No more arguing with father and mother. No more trying to get your way. No more sweet-talking daddy to get him to change his mind and do what you want him to do. No more of that! Are you willing to come and get under the authority of your father and mother and support them and work together in unity and build a Christian home? And then I made the appeal to the children. If you are, you come to the front. And the children started coming out of all the places. And there were nine circles there in the front. When we were all done, all of them there kneeling together, crying. And I said, alright, now I want you to pray. Fathers, you start out, you lead out in prayer. And when you fathers are through praying, then I want you mothers to pray. And then when mother is through praying, I want you children to pray, each one of you, and just pray yourself around. And I guess it took about thirty minutes for all that to get done, but it was sweet and it was beautiful to look upon the old-fashioned Christian home. You know, we live in a supersonic age. It's moving so fast, you can fly to Europe in three hours now. You can call Tokyo, Japan for just a few dollars and talk for ten minutes. We have instant everything! Instant coffee. Instant tea. Instant soup. Instant meals. TV dinners. Just pull them out of the refrigerator and stick them in the oven and pull them out and eat them. Instant everything. We have fast food restaurants and we have fast... You can pull your car in and pull it out five minutes later and have an oil change, a filter change, a lube job, and you're on your way again. Everything is done real fast. It's a supersonic society that we live in and everything is geared that way. Get it done fast. Learn how we can do it faster than we ever did it before and then promote it and make money at it. Just pop it into the microwave and you have it just like that. Computer age. We live in a computer age. You just push a few buttons and you've got all the information you need right before you. You don't need to think anymore. Just put it all in the computer and when you need it, hit a few buttons and it all comes back out to you. And I'm not necessarily saying all those things are sin. But all I'm saying is we live in a society, we're surrounded with a society, a fast moving society and the trends are moving fast and things are changing fast. And I'm here to tell you this morning that if we yield ourselves to that fast moving society and think that we're going to get an instant Christian home, a push button Christian home, do it real quick while you're on the run. If we think we're going to get an old fashioned Christian home out of that, we will not get one this morning. And I'm afraid more than what we realize, those that are living in this room today, those that are sitting in this room today, more than we realize, that fast moving society has crept into our homes and it's tearing away at the very roots and core of our homes and we're not going to find out for ten years that it didn't work if we're not careful. The old fashioned Christian home. You know, we've read the Scriptures before, but they do bear such light on this subject in Jeremiah 6.16 where Jeremiah says, Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way? And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Those verses are very easily applied to the message this morning on the old fashioned Christian home. And as I look at the Scripture there, it seems as if God is saying, You stand in the ways and see. The first thing God asks us to do is stand in the ways and see. And if we'll stand with a seeing heart, we'll see that things aren't working right. And then we're supposed to ask for the old paths after we've stood in the way and seen that the way that people are doing it today does not work. And it is not getting results. You know, one of the things that I swallowed in the youth of my Christian life when I was in Bible school was that they taught us, you know, you're going to be a busy preacher someday and you're not going to be able to spend a lot of time with your children, so you better make sure that the time you spend with them is quality time. You know what that was? That was instant home. That's what that was. That was fast food home life. You give your children a half an hour of quality time every day and you'll be able to make it. And that was a lie out of the pit. That doesn't come out of the Bible. That was a bunch of busy men trying to justify their busy life and justify the neglect of their families while they're doing it. And by the way, they found out too that it didn't work real well. Because all over the country, the preacher's children are in worse shape than all the rest of the children. All over the country, the preacher's children are falling into sin and going out into the world and leaving the faith all over the country. It's happening. They found out that their microwave home life didn't work real well. Just throw it in for 30 minutes and push the button. And when the 30 minutes are over, I've done my job and I can go about all my work and all my business. You'll get a Christian home that way. That's not the way the old-fashioned Christian homes were built. You see what I'm saying? I'm afraid that God's people are swallowing the mentalities and the fast-moving society around us and everything is done on the run. And that's not the way to build your home. It will not work. And Jeremiah says, Just stand in the ways and see. And it wouldn't take us very long this morning, and I don't plan to stand in the ways and see necessarily, but it wouldn't take us very long this morning to stand in the ways and see that things aren't working real well. They're not working real well. Look around us. Then, ask for the old paths. Where is the good way, Lord? That's the next step that we make. First, we stand in the way and we see. Then the next thing we do is we ask for the old paths. Lord, where is the good way? And then the next step is, And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. You'll find rest for your souls. But the sad cry that Jeremiah gave here is, But they said, we will not walk therein. You say, well, surely we wouldn't do that. No, I know that. I know there's not a person in this room that would say, we will not walk therein. No, you wouldn't say that with your mouth. But aren't we saying those very things if we hear, if we stand in the way, and we see, and then we ask for the old paths, and we hear what we shall do, and then we don't follow it. Are we not saying the same thing with our own hearts? We will not walk therein. We won't go that way. A lot of people today have swallowed the lie that a Christian church, and a Christian school, and Christian friends will make everything turn out alright. It won't work. The old-fashioned Christian home. That's where it all begins. You know, you look at those lists right there. The Christian church. Oh, the church is supposed to be an echoing voice in the hearts of our children, echoing the very things that we've been teaching them every day in our homes. The Christian school is supposed to be an echoing voice that is echoing the same things that are being taught in the Christian home. And I trust that the Christian friends that our children have are only supposed to be echoing voices who echo the same words and the same convictions in the heart of our children that they've been being taught in their home. But I'm afraid that America swallowed the lie there, and they just put the children there, and they got them in a good church, and there's good preaching going on there, and there they're in a good Christian school, and yeah, their friends are Christians, and everything's going to turn out alright. But everything didn't turn out alright for the last generation. We need to get back to the old paths. The old paths. And I realize I could put about 20 points in this message, but I'll just give it to you exactly the way I gave it up in Moscow, Pennsylvania. What do we need to get back to? If we're going to have an old-fashioned Christian home, what do we need to get back to? We need to get back to the old-fashioned dedication that they had. Old-fashioned dedication to raising our children. You see, in the old-fashioned Christian home, it was one of the consuming desires of father and mother's heart to raise their children for God. It wasn't something that they did on the sideline. It wasn't something that they did a little bit in the beginning of the day and left it aside for the rest of the time. It was one of the consuming desires of their heart. How can I raise these children for God? How can I teach them in the right way? How can I make them turn out right? That was the old-fashioned dedication that was in the hearts of God's people that reared up children that loved God and went on to serve Him with all of their hearts. That's the kind of dedication that it took, and that's the kind of dedication that it's going to take in our lives also if you're a man or a woman who is given to hobbies. I would say you need to lay your hobbies aside and maybe you can pick them up in your old age when you're about 50 years old and your children are grown because there's too many things to do and there's too much teaching that needs to go on and there's too many things that need to be poured in to the lives of our children for us to take the freedoms and the liberties to have a bunch of hobbies on the sideline that we do in our free time in the evening. What's free time? Where do you find free time, my friend? I have no problem with a man who likes woodworking if he takes his boys out in the evening and they all work together in the shop. Hallelujah! I have no problem with a sister who loves to sew and she takes her little children alongside of her and they all learn to sew together. Hallelujah for that! But, oh, I have a problem when we push the children aside and we want to be free from their responsibilities and just want to do a little of our own thing. I have a problem with that. I think we need to throw away the idea of having free time until we get to be an old man and then if you want to take a little bit of free time, well, that's between you and the Lord. I would hope your life would be so full of doing the service of God that you couldn't find any free time then either. But it's an old-fashioned dedication. It's going to take an old-fashioned dedication to raise up children, Christian children. And I don't mean that you raise them up Christian, but you raise them up to become Christians born again by the Spirit of God. Old-fashioned dedication that called a father and a mother to have a prayer upon their heart day in and day out over their children, over their responsibilities, over their failures, over the direction that the home needs to go. An old-fashioned dedication. You see, it was in the limelight in the days of old. Raising children was in the limelight in the days of old. It's not in the limelight anymore. Other things are in the limelight. And it may even be good things, but don't forget this is one of the best things. Serving God is good and serving God is best, but raising children is also. Don't get so busy for God that you can't work for God in your own home. It won't do much good if you win the world and lose your children. And it happens. It happens all the time. You know, yesterday as we were working over at the church house speaking about the principle of the cobbler's children have no shoes, you know, the carpenter's wife has more things that need to be fixed around the house than anybody else because the carpenter is too busy fixing everybody else's things. And the thought was brought out that the preacher's children are neglected for the needs of others. And it's true! And it happens all the time! And I guess I'm preaching to a whole lot of preachers this morning. Don't neglect your children for all the needs that are around you. It's so easy to do it because the needs cry. They cry. And we tend to run where the cry is. And you know, your children aren't going to cry. They're not going to cry like the other ones will until ten years from now, and it will be too late then. They know better than to cry to you. They respect you and they honor you and they won't cry. But the needs are not being met in their hearts if you're always busy somewhere else. And they're not crying loud enough. And I just like to do a little crying for them this morning lest we get a little out of balance and we lose sight of the fact that one of the greatest ministries we have is the ministry of a godly home. One of the greatest testimonies we could ever have to have an influence in this world around us is a home that is in order and children that love God and a wife who is in subjection and a home that has the blessing of peace and order and purity upon it. That will preach a long time after your throat gets sore. I'd just like to lift that up, an old-fashioned dedication to raise our children for God. And if I may say, we need to get back to the old-fashioned foundations. Speaking out of the text in Isaiah 58, and I know I've said this to some before, but it's worthy to repeat it again. The text there in Isaiah 58 and how that God lays conditions out and then says, I'll do this, and if you'll do this, I'll do this, all there through Isaiah 58, all Isaiah 58 is, is an Old Testament example of a Spirit-filled life. And a Spirit-filled life will raise up the foundations of many generations! Not one generation! If you have your sights set on one generation, that's all you're going to get. But God would have us set our sights on raising a foundation that will grow up many generations! We've lost sight of that in America. Lost complete sight of it. Where are the William Booths of today who raised up a generation of children who raised up a generation of children who served the Lord? And they raised up a generation who served the Lord. And they raised up a generation that served the Lord. Where are the generations of Grandfather Taylor, Hudson Taylor's grandfather, who raised up a generation to serve the Lord? And that was Hudson Taylor's father. And he raised up a generation to serve the Lord. And that was Hudson Taylor. And Hudson Taylor raised up a generation that would serve the Lord. And that was Hudson Taylor I. And Hudson Taylor I raised up another generation who would serve the Lord. And that was Hudson Taylor II. And Hudson Taylor II Raised up another generation to serve the Lord and that was Hudson Taylor the third and he is in charge of the overseas missionary Movement over in Africa this very day six generations Somebody had a vision of raising children back there way back there grandpa Taylor's vision I don't know if he had a vision of six generations, but I know one thing he laid a foundation for six generations And we need to get a vision of that today We need to get a vision of going deep into the ground laying a foundation that'll go down in there and raise up Generations of children not a superficial thing, but something that'll go deep into the ground to raise the children Put a foundation into the ground that many generations will come up on We need to raise a foundation like Jonathan Edwards laid I'm told that Jonathan Edwards and his wife they prayed on their knees every day That God would keep their children in the faith Until Jesus came I don't know about that prayer not but I sure like the heart of it. I Sure, like the heart of it Realize that we can influence and have an effect on children even after we're dead by our prayers See that's what it's a matter of it's a matter of getting a vision and a vision that goes beyond us Here, you know, we're only here a little while But our life lives on in the life of our children and their children's children and the children's children for many generations if Jesus Terry's and I say this morning, there's something wrong with your Spirituality if it doesn't turn your heart to your family, there's something wrong With your spirituality because that's one of the fruits of a spirit-filled life, Isaiah 58 Thou shalt raise up the foundation of many generations That'll be the fruit of a spirit-filled life and along with that Along with that is we need to get back to the old-fashioned power that they had to raise those kind of foundations up The old-fashioned power, you know we speak a lot about having the power of a holy life or the influence of a holy life and I Was challenged the other day as I pondered that subject what a blessing it would be What a blessing it is and can be in our homes if we have the power of a holy life every day in our homes And I think of the example of our Lord Jesus and how that everything he said influenced somebody everything He didn't say influence somebody and everything He did had an influence on somebody and every action had an influence on somebody and then I I began to ponder that in light Of our homes and in the light of our children, you know And we we want to be able to raise our children up right and I think Oh God What we need more than all the things that I'm going to say this morning is a power of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that so that God is working through us to Influence our children even when we're not talking to them and then God is working in us when we do speak to our children and And the Holy Ghost is hovering over us when we spank our children and the Holy Ghost is going with us as we walk somewhere With our children I don't see any better way to raise up a children that'll rate that'll rise up and serve God in their day and rise up and Say I'm the Lord's call me after the name of the Lord I don't know of a better way for that to happen Then for us to get burdened about our own spiritual lives and realize that we cannot do it Just a bunch of methods will not work Methods are not enough to raise children for God Especially in this day that we live in the old-fashioned Christian home was not just raised on methods Although methods are very important and I want to say more about them later. And you know, I'm glad I'm glad that we can't do it. I'm glad we can't rise up and do it in ourselves. I'm glad for that because that means that God has us in a corner if we love our children if we want our children to turn out right God has Us in a corner and God is saying alright here it is I've given you all the things that you need in this book in order to raise your children in a right way But there's one thing that you're going to have to get and you're going to have to keep it every day of your life Or it will not work and that is my power. You need to live under mine anointing I'm glad that God has it that way because that puts us in a good place Another thing we need to get back to is the old-fashioned standards The old-fashioned standards that they used to have when they raised their children Bible standards Foolishness was sin in the old-fashioned Christian home Now it's just the way children are and sobriety was an attribute much to be sought after Now there's something wrong with that child If they're too sober We think they need to get out and play a little more. I have down here. The television is wrong I don't need to preach about television this morning. Everybody in this room knows that television is wrong But I said I'd preach it just the way that I preached it up there And that's the way I preach it up there The television is wrong If you want to destroy your children just let them go off somewhere and sneak off somewhere and watch Television sit in front of those sets It'll ruin them and the radio is a dangerous thing this morning if you want to raise your children for God I can't remember where I read it, but I read an article Somewhere about New Age music, you know, it's New Age everything You know There's New Age posters and and there's New Age books and New Age philosophies and New Age Meditation while they have New Age music now, too And they sell it in their Christian bookstores and it's on the Christian radio stations It's called New Age music people to listen to that stuff One person gave this testimony One of their friends one of their Christian friends gave him a New Age music tape and said here. This is good meditation music Take it home and listen to it and they listen to it in it. Yeah, it was It did it helped to meditate it helped him loosen up. It helped him open up and all the other things that Supposed to do when you meditate and they took that thing home and started listening to it and they started meditating And while they listen to this music And it wasn't a week and there was strife between father and mother It wasn't another week when there was a threats made by one to the other that I'm gonna leave you I'll show you and before they knew it They were just about split up before they recognized that it was that tape that got into their house New Age music see the New Age is being presented right now as Christian Beware of that radio Those of you that use one Use it with carefulness Screen everything that you have on it and I would recommend you just throw it away But if you think that you have to have it be careful what you do with it Don't let the radio be something that you just flip on everywhere you go Flip it on in the morning when you get up Flip it on in the radio when you get in the car down the roads you go and all the stuff is coming in there Don't do that Jesus didn't have a radio Bless the Lord. He didn't need a radio He had he was tuned in all the time right up there. He didn't need to tune in down here He was tuned in up there. I think if we tune in more up there, we wouldn't need to tune in so much down here old-fashioned standards Where father watched over what was read in the home with a scrutinizing eye He looked over the material that came through the house to make sure that this was okay to read And I realize that's a great challenge and a task for us as parents our children It seems like the one father said it's called the reading plague. That's what we call it at our house It seems like the children consume books faster than you can ever screen them all to give to him to read And I realize that's a challenge But all I just make a plea to you this morning that you watch over what the children read because what they read Will make them something there's there's some real truth to the statement that leaders are readers and the reason why leaders are Readers is because readers find out what to do in books and then do it and then they become leaders So let's make sure that our children are reading the right things that are going to foster the right attitudes in their hearts That's the way the old-fashioned Christian home was a matter of fact I think we'd be better off back there where they were the Bible Pilgrims progress and martyrs mirror. That's about all the hand now today There's so much with Christian on the front of it now, I'll tell you what I don't know Maybe maybe I'm just a fanatic about it But you know that New Age movement is creeping its way in it's creeping its way in It's going to creep its way in the Bible says it's going to creep its way in How about getting a little holy discernment? How about getting a little indignation about the books that come in to our house? Oh, I think it'd just be a blessing of every father's I would get a furrow over when the books come through the house. Let me see that book. I Think that'd be a great blessing That the children know and then mama would know these things need to be screamed out By the furrowed brow of father who's wanting to make sure that everything in there is right for my children before they read it Because all kinds of stuff called Christian is being filtered through You know a few years ago. I made a statement about CS Lewis's books and the Chronicles of Narnia and all that Christian fairy tale garbage, you know, I made I made mention of that a few years ago Not knowing what I know now about the New Age movement but after knowing what I know now about the New Age movement and the Mystical things that go on and the puffs here and and these flying animals and all that stuff I wouldn't touch one of those books. I wouldn't let my children read one page in one of those Christian fairy tales Fairy tale books. They are deadly dangerous. I don't care if Chris is CS Lewis says he is a Christian Here's your Christian fairy tales David slew a giant hallelujah The walls of Jericho fell down. Oh, that's listen If you want to stimulate imagination in the hearts of your children set them down every day and just take them through this book right here Take take them into the book of Acts there when Paul and Silas were there in the jail praying and singing and and the Earthquake and the jail fell apart and and the jailer came in there fell on his knees and said what must I do to be Saved carry him through that for a while and and leave the flying horses go Ain't no flying horses in this book Unless you want to go to the ones in the book of Revelation. I Don't know if they'll have wings or not You know what blessed me the other day and I'm not saying we should do this But it blessed me the other day to hear a a man give testimony He had five children and he chose every one of the mates for his children. I Mean he chose him. I Mean they had no choice He's a Christian man And I'm not saying it ought to be that way But I'll tell you what there ought to be some of that in our hearts There ought to be some of that in every one of the father and mother's heart There ought to be some Preferring to the heart of father and mother and in a real sense if we don't move without The blessing of father and mother on who we married father and mother are choosing who we marry for this man. He just chose him I need to write to his son and say son. I met your wife. I'd like you to meet her Fly home she'll be here such and such a day and sure enough all five times all five times They married and all five times the children rose up afterwards and blessed their father and said old father Thank you for helping me choose my partner my lifetime partner. Thank you so much father. They blessed their father for it I'm not saying that we ought to start doing that But we ought to have the heart of that We ought to as children you ought to look to your fathers and say old father helped me to choose who I'm going to marry Helped me to choose. I want your wisdom. I need your insights I need the the discernment that you have to see character fault flaws I need all that. I need you to have that I need your 40 year old or your 45 year old discernment To look into the heart of a 21 year old young man or a 21 year old young lady and say there's something not right in There I don't know what it is, but something's not right We ought to say old father I need that kind of discernment and I don't have it I'm young And I want to make just like everybody else does but old father. I'll let you help me We need that kind of an old-fashioned standard Old-fashioned Bible standards, of course, we could go a long time on those. I'll move on We need to get back to the old-fashioned family altar and when we read the Bible at our house That's not the old-fashioned family altar. We have prayer at our house. That's not the old-fashioned family altar Something very special about the old-fashioned family altar. It had fire burning on it I told the people in Moscow and I'll say in here also I'm afraid that too many times we've made a Catholic order out of our family altar and a Catholic Older is just a place where you kneel and pray. It's just a shrine. That's all it is It's a place that makes people think about praying but the old-fashioned Christian family order It had a fire that was burning upon it and up and the and hot coals off the fire of the family altar We're set burning in the hearts of the family every day It ought to be enough time given in the family altar that the hearts of the family go away instructed and edified and built up and and Ready to go out and live for God that day. Whatever it may be and whatever there may age may be Daddy ought to preach every day Every home ought to have a preacher in it And by that I mean a daddy a papa who will take the Bible and not only read it to the family But then turn around and say now here's what it means to you son here's what it means to you today as Fathers I feel that's one of our greatest Responsibilities is to take this Bible and not only read it to our family But then to say now here's what it means to us today Here's how this verse applies today to our lives where we are living Thus the Bible will become alive It'll become a real book and the children won't grow up just living after the traditions of their father and mother But they'll grow up living after the principles of the Word of God and the convictions will be in their own hearts You see children 10 year old 9 year old and 10 year old and 11 year old can they can have the convictions already in their? heart if we will just teach them to them, right I Realize they need to get converted And I realize they're gonna struggle to live the Christian life until they do get converted But I think we need to be working double time to take this book and break it down into their little hearts and make it Apply to their lives. That's the old-fashioned family altar the old-fashioned family altar where they gathered around and sang the songs of Zion And they lifted up their voices in praise to God every day The old-fashioned family altar was the altar where homework was done It was the altar where prayer was want to be made or made as usual over and over and over again Prayers made at the old-fashioned family altar and I wonder sometimes as my family is getting older How you how you limit this family altar thing because the children are getting older and they want to pray, too And oh how sweet for a family to kneel together and have a season of prayer One praying and then another and another another and all the way around the room you go What a blessing That'll make the fire burn on that altar. It'll keep it from becoming a Catholic altar Which is just a place where people kneel just a place where we sit Just a book that we open but instead a place where the fire of God is lit fresh and new in each heart every morning a Place where God's Word is new and alive and fresh and applied to our lives and a place where the presence of God comes down upon The family because the family is lifting up praise to God in song each and every day. That's the old-fashioned Family altar we need to get back to old-fashioned discipline. You may think what? What are you talking about that here for we all believe in old-fashioned discipline do we Know we do up here But how much we practice it determines how much we really believe in it Old-fashioned discipline, you know, I was pondering this a couple of weeks ago You know The generation is about passed off the scene that'll sit back and tell the stories how that dad used to go into the Bathroom and get the old Strap, you know the old razor strap and come out and and use it on us Those old-timers are about gone to tell those kind of stories But you know something while the old-timers are gone. The stories are gone, too And I don't think they ought to be gone. I think we ought to be making new ones Making new ones making new impressions in the hearts of our children God forbid that our children would grow up and after they grow up not have stories just like that to tell When they did something wrong and daddy went and got that big old paddle off the wall and took us into that room in there And give us a good spanking. I mean a spanking we'll never forget if we're not spanking like that. That's not old-fashioned discipline That's the kind of that's the kind of spankings that granddad gave That's the kind of spankings that we need to give if we're going to have an old-fashioned Christian home. Oh Brother you shared it with me the other day what a favor we do for our children if we spank them in the Bible way And break their little wills Break that will Break it Someday God will want that will and he won't be able to have it Now I just I think of the young men. I don't know if any of the young men are here this morning. I don't see them But I think of them and then I look back at my own past I look at my 15 years as a Christian I look at all the struggles that I've had and many of my struggles is because nobody got the strap out When I was a boy, yes, I got a few little spankings here and there but nobody got the strap out in my life Oh, I would that somebody would have got the strap out in my life and I think of these some of these young men and the struggles they have and it's so hard for them to yield their will to God and and I just think oh father help us now. We have our chance To train our children the right way And one of the greatest blessings you could ever do for your children is to spank them in the old-time way Good old-fashioned spanking old-fashioned discipline Where mother and father are strict? old-fashioned discipline Yeah, where it's mostly no and sometimes yes Say oh No, that's not that's the way it used to be When the children came up with all their creative ideas of things they wanted to do No No No No, that was the old-fashioned father right old-fashioned discipline Where the word of the father is enough his word is enough Where his eye is enough? Just the eye of the father Stops the child that was the old-fashioned discipline old-fashioned family unity I'm not saying you can't say yes, I sense a little change in the atmosphere here. I'm not saying you can't say yes to your children But I think it'd be so much better if we'd be the ones to come up with creative activities for our children Instead of turning them loose with them If we'd be the ones that lead them into things that they should do instead of just letting them do it That they have to keep coming and asking Can I change this on my dress? No, I like to do it this way and it's it's a real healthy practice you fathers I'd recommend it to you when the children come and ask you something ask them first of all do I have the freedom to say? Yes, or no Boy, that stops them many times. Well Papa a lot of times I'll hear that Papa Well, do I have the freedom to say yes or no? Are you really asking? Yes or no? Oh that clears a lot up Do I have the freedom to say yes or no, or do I only have the freedom from you to say yes? If I only have the freedom from you to say yes, the answer is no If I have the freedom to say yes or no, I'll consider it Amen, that's old-fashioned discipline That's the way father used to do it. Amen Moe's That's the way father used to do it and fathers need to get back to being old-fashioned fathers And it's not always popular to be father in your own house because father's the one that says no Now I didn't spend that long on that one up in where I was at up in Moscow Another thing we need to get back to old-fashioned family unity Old-fashioned family unity where the family is a unit and everybody knows it Because they're together they go places together They sit together they sing together they play together they work together they eat together They get up at the same time. They go to bed somewhat at the same time Old-fashioned family unity where the whole family's gathered around the table for mealtime Old-fashioned family unity where the whole family's gathered there for worship in the morning Old-fashioned family unity where the family all gets up together and they get in the car and they go somewhere together. I Mean the teenagers are there too. They're not often their own activity. No, they're with their family What one father say? Speaking about youth activities and all those things. He said I'd really appreciate it if I could get my family back. I Lost them the youth activities. No, no, no Old-fashioned family unity Long after you've grown out of your youthful stage You're going to still want to be in the unity of that family where you grew up Let's let's be jealous over the old-fashioned family unity Where they go together where we drive together where we enjoy being together I don't think I need to say a lot about this, but this was a big point up in Moscow the old-fashioned work ethic I Spent a long time on this one up there. I think we understand the principle very well here the importance of us Working and training our own children to work the importance of the children learning how to work And I said to them up there down in Lancaster County. It's cheaper it's cheaper to go to the vegetable auction and Buy the vegetables all the vegetables you need on the auction market and get them at a cheap price It's cheaper to do that than have a garden in Lancaster County But we have a garden at our house It's easier To burn oil, but we'd burn wood at our house if we could You see we don't want to do what's easier We need to have the work ethic within our mind so that we are looking for ways that our children can learn to work Amen children That our fathers and mothers would have the creative wisdom to look for ways to put you to work Amen All listen, there's nothing that will help you more than to learn the work ethic to learn to enjoy Working and I know that many of you do and and I bless you for it It's one of the joys of my heart to to make my way around in different homes and see a son out there working with father Pushing a mower or working on a piece of equipment. It's one of the blessings of my heart to see that to see a daughter Seven or eight years old standing behind the kitchen on a little stool behind the kitchen sink washing the dishes Bless each one of you for that God's blessing be upon you. You need that you need that work ethic And may I say this most of life will be filled up with doing the same things over and over again So you may as well Learn it and parents Let's not think that that's cruel that our children must learn to do the same thing over and over and over again No, that's not cruel. That's reality. That's real life. We have to do things over and over and over again and We must learn to find joy in doing those menial things over and over and over again And we must teach our children with enthusiasm the same thing Or it won't come out, right? It won't I'll tell you what will happen if we don't teach our children the old-fashioned work ethic They'll all rise up and become professionals Making money with this instead of with this big difference They'll all grow up and become professionals and make their money with this Instead of with this we need to get back to the old-fashioned order and this one I'll say some things that I did not say up in Moscow when I speak about old-fashioned order order in a home Getting up at a certain time Going to bed at a certain time Living by some kind of a schedule having everyone together for a meal or for devotions or whatever it may be Slowing down the pace of our life enough so that we can have some order to our lives so that we can Have a family and have family time and have a unit there old-fashioned order You know, I've heard this phrase so many times in it. It just stuck in my heart as I was preaching on this point you've heard people say In the midst of a frenzied busy schedule and when everything's so much to get done and not enough time to get it all done I've heard people crowd and say stop the world. I want to get off How many ever heard that one before? You know, I thought about that for a minute, you know, there's more truth in that than we realize It is stop the world. I want to get off That is exactly the way the world lives Frenzied go go go busy busy run here run there up early and off and up late and not home This one goes to bed at this time and this one at this time and Johnny gets up at 7 and he eats his breakfast and Susie gets up at 713 fixes her own and and mama gets up at 815 and she fixes hers for the little children that are left Oh what a confused mess that is. Yes stop the world. I want to get off too And I think we ought to get off of that and I think there's some things that we can learn. I Think we've shut our eyes. I think we've we've with yuck on this whole Lancaster County Sometimes too much in our minds and we're losing some things that are very important and precious To building old-fashioned homes. It's called staying home It's called everybody sitting around in the evening together reading a book or just visiting It's called being content without having something exciting to do again tonight You know you we can look around us and call it all tradition, but my friend it's not all tradition There's something mighty sweet about a family that stays home most of the evenings. There's something mighty sweet about that There's something good and right about it. That's the old-fashioned home. By the way, that's how the old-fashioned home was built Where the family stayed home? Where the children stayed home? Where father stayed home and had input in the family in the life of the family, you know, the Amish would say We don't want to get cars. Why don't you want to get cars? everybody runs We don't want our young people to get cars because they'll run all the time. Well now we got our cars What are we doing with them? Running, we don't want to get electricity. Why don't we get electricity? It scatters a family everywhere In going all their own different rooms We just like that little old light burning in the middle of the house and everybody gathering around the sea Well, I don't know about you, but I like that picture, too Well, we got our electric. Did we lose our family unity? We got our electric Now do they scattered every corner of the house and we sit there just Ma and Paul by themselves Turn the electricity off and give me the candle. Oh Fashion order stop the world. I like to get off I'm not I'm not saying this morning. We need to go get a horse and buggy. I'm just saying we need to see the wisdom Behind staying home. We need to see the wisdom of the family gathering around in the family room in the evening together We need to see the wisdom of going to bed at a decent time See they went to bed that little old light burning they went to bed now we got all the lights we want in the house and we can stay up to all hours of the night and And it messes up our mornings and things don't go right in the morning and it messes up those schedules All I'm saying is Let's open our eyes a little There's some wisdom. There's some wisdom in what we see around us. Let's not throw it all away You know see this is what we do we say, ah, that's all tradition We throw it away, but we reach for something and what we reach for is the fast-moving pace Though the world and we think we're gonna make it on that and it ain't gonna work. I can guarantee it. It won't work Old-fashioned we need to get back to the old-fashioned enthusiasm that the fathers used to have And here I'd like to give the example of William Booth and I don't know if I gave it or not I'm not sure I've given it so many places. I can't remember where I gave it where I didn't But oh, I like the example of old William Booth The way that he lived in his home He was excited about God. I saw a definition of enthusiasm the other day that blessed my heart I want to read it to you Enthusiasm is allowing my spirit to express the joy of the Lord in everything I do There's enthusiasm Allowing my spirit to express the joy of the Lord in everything I do Praise God. I'm excited to wash the dishes today That's allowing my spirit to express the joy of the Lord in everything I do That's the kind of enthusiasm that reared up children a hundred years ago in this country Enthusiasm is an ongoing bubbling over of God's spirit within our heart that bubbles out and makes every part of a Normally, what would be a normal in a drab life exciting and rich and full and a blessing and good That's the old-fashioned enthusiasm William Booth had that kind of enthusiasm And he reared up eight children all eight of them watched that man and they saw how excited he was about winning souls and raising children right and a all eight of them went out to win souls all over the world and Raised up 45 grandchildren and all those 45 grandchildren saw their parents live out an enthusiastic Example of a Christian life and they all rose up and went out and did the same thing and I don't have the next generation But I guarantee you there'll be many of them in the next generation yet that are still with enthusiasm serving God all over this world Because one man and one woman lived out an enthusiastic example, they they were allowing their spirit to express the joy of the Lord in everything they did and We need that and last of all and This one I've added we old-fashioned daddy's Old-fashioned daddy's And I'd like to just give a little bit of an insight here that I'm that I got through a meditation You know the scriptures teach that we're to be prophets and priests and kings and that we are prophets priests and kings in Jesus Well, I got to meditating upon that in light of the home I got to meditating upon that in light of a father and I got to think now What kind what was a what would a prophet do in a home if a father were a prophet? What would a father prophet do in his home I Thought well a prophet. What does a prophet do a prophet watches? That's what prophets do they stand on the wall and they watch First of all, they watch out there to see if the enemy's coming in He's a watchman a prophet is a watchman and he keeps his eye on the enemy in light of right here And I thought oh, that's what fathers need to be They need to be prophets who get up on the wall and keep their eye on the enemy out there Because the enemy would just love to take our children. I Thought what else does he do? Well, the prophet warns of danger Ahead of time he sees danger and he warns of it ahead of time And I thought well now that that's what fathers need to do. That's exactly what we need. That's what we're supposed to do as fathers Our children can't see everything But we need to have the heart of a prophet who watches over things and says Something there's danger in there and that's not good What else does a prophet do Prophet has a hot word from God. That's what he does. He gets a hot word from God and gives it to the people That's what our children need us to do as fathers They need us to get a hot word from God every day and give it to them. Well, I'm sure there's a sermon in this But we'll go on I'm sure we can come up with others What about a priest? What does the priest do? well a priest a priest he Burns incense, doesn't he? that's a Symbol of prayer the priest burns incense. We need to be a priest in our home and be continually burning incense Listen to prayers of a father and a mother It's what has an influence upon the children a little prayer little influence much prayer much influence Upon our children a little prayer in the beginning of the day is not going to reach brothers Ain't gonna get it a little prayer that little prayer you pray Maybe they're in family devotions Lord bless the children and help them to learn the day. They ain't gonna get it That's not the kind of priest you need to be a priest. He makes sure that the altar of incense is burning What else does a priest do he key he makes sure the light is still burning, isn't he? The priest there in the holy place. He makes sure the lights still burning Or he makes sure that there's light in the house. That's what us fathers need to do We need to make sure the lights shining brightly In our homes. What else does he do? Well, he's responsible for the atmosphere The whole spiritual atmosphere of the temple the priests were responsible for the spiritual atmosphere of the temple, I Believe we as fathers. We are also responsible for the spiritual atmosphere of our home moving on What about a king prophets priests and kings What does a king do? number one a king leads he leads and We as fathers we need to lead It's not enough just to set a home in motion and then let it run We need to lead our homes every day number two a King he assumes authority by that. I mean he takes authority Nobody has to tell the king king You're the king that means you're the boss That means you make the decisions no, a king knows he's a king and he assumes authority and Everybody around the king knows that he's the king and everybody around the king knows that he's the authority over the land and I would say as fathers we need to assume authority in our homes and It needs to be known and everybody in the home should know that father is the authority in this home Because He's to be the king. What else does the king do? Well, he gives direction. He gives direction We're going this way I'm gonna do this. I think this is what needs to be done next. Let's follow this path. Let's don't go that way old-fashioned daddy's old-fashioned dedication I'm not going to do it this morning But you know, it'd be real good for us this morning if we do just what all those those families did down there in finger, Tennessee If the daddies had just come up here and kneel at the altar this morning And say okay I'm gonna take my place. I'm gonna be the man of God. I'm gonna be the spiritual leader I'm gonna guide and direct my home and then after that if all the mamas would find their way up next to their pappas and Say I'm gonna follow my husband. I'm gonna support him. I'm gonna be a blessing. I'm not gonna argue with him anymore I'm not gonna fuss with him. I'm not gonna tell him I'm not gonna put him in his place I'm not gonna show him how wrong he is. I'm gonna point my finger at him and correct him. I'm gonna do that anymore I'm supporting now. I'm gonna be a blessing and I'm gonna be a mother to the children I'm gonna stay home and take care of him and after that it'd be a real blessing of all the children We just come up next to father and mother and say father and mother no more fussing from me Father I'm not gonna put you under the pressure when I think you're gonna say no anymore Father you take control of my life direct my life father I Said to the young people down in finger and I say it to each one of you young people here You ought to go to your fathers and say father I want to give you the freedom to direct my life if you see anything in my life that is not right Please tell me I want to know it If you if you see me going somewhere that you want me to go, please tell me I want to know it Each one of you young people ought to give your fathers that freedom this morning Or further before the day is out saying daddy Here it is. I'm giving you the reins of my life You just take control and guide and direct me and if you see me doing something that you don't like that You have a caution about please tell me I want to do what you want me to do. Oh What a sweet blessing that would be and all the younger children if you just get behind father and mother and obey That's all God asked you to do is just obey Just obey him honor your father and mother support the direction that father and mother are going in the home and I think if we had all those decisions here this morning that we have old-fashioned Christian homes Just like they used to have When they turned out children who grew up to be warriors In the kingdom of God Let's kneel for prayer. I have any father God we come to you this morning in the name of Jesus. Oh Father we sense our lack even preaching the message Lord We just thank you that you put your finger upon our hearts again this morning Lord I thank you that you put your finger upon my heart. Oh God I want to be I want to be what I'm supposed to be. I want to be the right kind of a papa I want to be the right kind of a husband in my home. I want to be the right kind of leader dear father. Oh God we want Christian homes Lord, and I know that's what these men and women want in this room this morning They want Christian homes old-fashioned ones Lord the kind that lasts The kind that caused children to rise up and follow the Lord Father we just thank you for the meditation here this morning God I just ask you that you'd put your blessing upon it put your blessing Lord upon this meditation. Oh Father just push the reset button Lord You know how easily we let these things slip in our lives. Oh God this morning. Just push the reset button Bring us back to zero father Bring us back to dead center in this matter of our children in our homes Father we know We've seen the power the testimony of a godly home Lord, I pray that you'll give us those here each and every one Dear God, I I just pray that you'll bless the rest of the service. However, you want to I Pray in the name of Jesus Amen, I want to give Want to give opportunity for response both the first lesson this morning and this lesson if anyone would Have anything they'd like to share Prayer request upon your heart. You feel free at this time You know, my dad didn't plan his career and when I was 18 years old, I think Please please prepare to sacrifice Oh, amen. Amen brother I gotta write that down I know someday that'll be a sermon. Anyone else? Praise God. Praise God, but yet something within my heart says We need the same old thing we need to hear the same old message It's the old-fashioned message And there's something I guess it's within every preacher that wants to have something new that will just excite everybody. Oh, isn't that interesting? But yet there's something within my heart that says Oh god, if we don't have our children when we're done all the exciting new truths won't do us a bit of good It's these old ones that we do so easily let them slip Is where we're going to lose out So I must admit I disciplined myself this morning To preach what I preached because Well, everybody knows brother Denny preaches on the home. Everybody heard all brother Denny's tapes and all that but yet It's still one of the greatest needs even among us here That we make our families a priority Yes Yes God's mathematics are a blessing You might win 500 But if you raise six children, that'll win 500 That's a heap better That's a heap better And what god would have us to do is win our 500 and raise our children that they may go and win their 500 also They shall speak with the enemies in the gates That word speak there means destroy. They shall destroy the enemy in the gates All right, we'll go ahead with a song in the morning offering