 Hey man, keep your place there in Proverbs chapter 29. We're going to be getting there in just a minute. I think if we, I love Proverbs, I mean just all the Proverbs, but if you'd have to do a verse by verse study through Proverbs 29, you'd have to, the sermon series would have to be 20 weeks long. There's a lot of, there's a lot of meat in that chapter that we just went through, but this morning we're going to talk about something very specific in Proverbs chapter 29. We're going to be talking about parenting a little bit this morning. I'm going to talk about a very specific topic this morning. The title of the sermon this morning is called helicopter parents. This is a term that has been used. I'm sure you've heard this term used before in your life, especially if you are a parent. Maybe you've used this term. Maybe you've been accused of this. I've been accused of being a helicopter parent several times. I don't want to give away the answer of the sermon, but I want to look at what the term means, what people mean when they say you're a helicopter parent or being a helicopter parent and look at what the Bible says we should be. So helicopter parents, to give you the idea of where the term helicopter parents came from, I need to give you kind of a generational overview of the last 70 years or so. So I am 46 years old, so I am what's called, from 19, if you were born between 1965 and like 1980 I think is that whoever you had talked to, they vary a couple of years, but basically between 1965 and 1980 is called Generation X. So Generation X, the unique thing about Gen X, my generation is we are the children of this very, probably the most popular termed generation out there called the baby boomers. So of course the baby boomers were the children of the people that came back from World War II. So the men came back from World War II and started families and started having, and there was this big population spike after the end of World War II and that generation before 1965, the parents of Gen X are the baby boomer generation. So what does this have to do with helicopter parents? Well, one of the terms used for Generation X, an alternative name for Gen X is this term called the latchkey generation. The latchkey generation, how many of you have heard of the latchkey generation or latchkey children? Where this came from was what actually happened in World War II, you talk about, oh, we won World War II and it was great and all this, but a very detrimental aspect of World War II was that all the men went off to war and the women for the first time in generational history in the United States, they left the home and they went to work. I mean, you've seen the very popular poster, Rosie the Riveter, right, with the lady, with the arm up and the women actually went to work in the factories as the men went off to war. But what actually happened, and you don't hear, talked about that much, what actually happened after World War II is the men came back from war, but in large part, women stayed at work. So women stayed at work, so the Gen X was the first generational, generational aspect of both working parents. That's where they get this idea of the latchkey children, meaning both parents are working and the children came home to an empty home. They were left to kind of fend for themselves or raise themselves and all these. Of course, we're painting with a broad brush here. You're like, well, I'm a baby boomer and that wasn't me or I'm a Gen X and that wasn't me. This is a overview, you know, kind of stereotypical view of the baby boomers and the Gen X generations. But the latchkey kids was my generation. I can tell you that that was a very popular thing amongst kids that I grew up with. It was kind of a new thing that was starting to happen was kids were having two working parents. All right, now it's common now, but it wasn't common between this generational gap. So the latchkey kids, what's happened where this term helicopter parents come from is many of Gen X, not all of Gen X, and I don't even have a percentage for you, but a large number of Gen X have decided to not have two parents working in the home. And they decided to, you know what, I was a latchkey kid and I'm going to pay attention to my kids. I want to have someone there, my wife there, to raise our kids. So the latchkey generation many times is called by their parents and other people helicopter parents. That was kind of the birth of this term helicopter parents. Now it's used all over now, many people call it, you don't have to be Gen X or baby boomer generation, but it means, what does it mean? The helicopter parent term, if you just look it up, it basically means parents that hover or oversee every aspect of their child's life. And then there's many other details that go into it, but basically parents that are just micromanaging their children is what it comes down to. And like I said, it's literally another name for Gen X and the way that they are raising their children. So there's actually an AARP, which is I think it's the American Association for Retired People article that says, it kind of shows this, this is a recent article, it kind of shows this baby boomer, why are you doing this to their kids on how they're raising their kids. It says, the article is titled, I was a latchkey kid, so why am I a helicopter parent? Showing you that the Gen X attitude of, okay, I was a latchkey kid, I don't want my kids to be latchkey kids, so they become these helicopter parents. The point is, there's two competing ideas here. There's two competing philosophies and it's not just baby boomer generation versus Gen X, now it is becoming two competing philosophies amongst all generations that are now at childbearing age. But even with the new generations, these philosophies, these competing philosophies, helicopter parents versus latchkey kids, they're still there and there's still this debate out there. Now what is the mainstream ideology? The mainstream ideology, if you look up helicopter parents and read the Wikipedia page on it, on the definition for it, the overwhelming mainstream ideology is that being a helicopter parent is bad, that you should not be a helicopter parent. You just have to read about it for like five minutes. If you were just somebody that's like, you have no idea what kind of parent to be and you start just like, I'm gonna go to the internet to figure out what kind of parent I should be and you're gonna be like, I don't wanna be a helicopter parent at all. Okay, because there's a lot of bad things said about being a helicopter parent on the internet. But we're gonna look at what the Bible says. So we're gonna look at, I'm gonna first show you two main arguments against being a helicopter parent and then we're gonna look at what the Bible actually says about what kind of parent we should be. Okay, so look, again, it's competing philosophy. Should you be a helicopter parent or not? And there's two arguments for why you should be a helicopter parent. Go back to Proverbs chapter 29 or look down at Proverbs chapter 29 and let's get into it this evening. The two main arguments against being a helicopter parent, the first one is this, that children should be largely left to explore the world, find themselves, figure things out on their own. You've heard these quotes from people saying, you be you, or go find yourself or be true to yourself. All these modern day quotes people tell you, or I've even had people in their teenage years tell me these quotes that I just need to find myself and I'm just trying to be true to myself and all these different things. But look down at Proverbs chapter 29 and look at verse number 15. So should children be left on their own to figure it out as they go? Look at Proverbs chapter 29 in verse number 15. The Bible says the rod and reproof give wisdom but look at especially the last part of this verse. It says, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Now that's pretty direct right there. It's just saying children should not be left to themselves. If a child is left to themselves, it's not going to go well. It's gonna bring his mother to shame. Now there's a spectrum here of course, right? There's a spectrum here of course, like leave children completely to themselves, like let them literally raise themselves or be involved in their life to varying degrees with helicopter parent being on this end and a child completely left to themselves on this end. But the Bible here is kinda shooing us towards this side that children should not be left to themselves. See the problem is this and this is what the Bible is really trying to point out here that a child left to himself is not going to be by himself or her self. This is the problem. Children that are left to find themselves or find who they are, they aren't going to find themselves. Someone else is going to find them. It is what is happening. Someone else is going to teach them. Someone else is going to show them a worldview. You think about this. Every single TV show has a worldview. Every single cartoon has a worldview ingrained in it. Every single news broadcast has a worldview attached to it. Every single all media has a worldview. Even subjects in school, even subjects in school have worldviews attached to them. I used to say that, all subjects in school have a worldview attached to them except maybe math. But I think even math is getting a worldview attached to it in our public education system. But now people are starting to finally notice this in the public school system today with all the LGBTQ whatever else stuff being taught to the children that yeah, there's definitely a worldview being pushed on my kids today. I'm happy to see the public waking up to what we've known the whole time. Because of the Bible. But what are they trying to do? They're trying to teach that worldview. They're trying to push that worldview. But who are they trying to push it to? To the kids. And that's what you have to understand. And that's what the Bible is saying in Proverbs chapter 29 verse number 15 that you can't leave them to themselves because they won't be left to themselves. Somebody is going to teach them. Someone is going to show them these things. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter six. No kid is going to find himself. Someone is going to find them. This is the problem. Kids are a blank slate and somebody is going to figure or is going to fill out that slate. Look at Deuteronomy chapter six. So the Bible doesn't just say that they shouldn't just be left alone. The Bible teaches us exactly what we should do. Look at Deuteronomy chapter six and look at verse number six. Deuteronomy chapter six. Look at verse number six. The Bible says in Deuteronomy six, six, it says, And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. These words meaning the word of God, the Bible. These words which I command thee these days shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently to who? To unto thy children and shalt talk of them with thou sittest in thine house when thou walkest by the way and when thou lieest down and when thou riseest up. So verse number seven has a lot of repetitive statements there. It's saying you should be teaching the word of God to your children diligently. What does diligent mean? Dilligently means consistently over time. It means you should be doing it all the time. Consistently you should never stop. But then on top of that, it gives you more detail. It says, when you go on a walk, you should be teaching the word of God to your children. When you wake up, what part of the day? From the morning until the evening you should be teaching the word of God to your children. Until you go to sleep, children should be taught the word of God. It sounds like children being taught this worldview is pretty important. When we look at Deuteronomy chapter six in verse number seven, the Bible says this is what must be taught to them. These words meaning what? The truth. I am the way, the truth and the life. This is what needs to be taught to the children from morning until night. It doesn't mention math here. Look, kids should learn math. Kids should be educated, but it is first and foremost pointing out the importance of children being taught the word of God. We're gonna see the seriousness of it brought up in some verses that we're gonna read this morning. We're gonna read these verses and be like, whoa, that's pretty serious. We're talking about disobedient children, children that don't obey, and you can be like, wow, that's serious. But the Bible is pointing out how serious in Deuteronomy chapter six in verse number seven, that it is that you teach your children the truth, which is only found in the Bible. Turn to first Corinthians chapter 14. You say, well, what will this produce? What will this produce? The Bible has a lot of promises and these are some of the best promises in the Bible. You say, what will this produce if I teach my children the Bible diligently? If I teach my children the word of God diligently from the time they wake up to the time they go to sleep, what will that produce? Look at first Corinthians chapter 14. Look at verse number 33. This is the irony of this is the next few things I'm gonna show you, everybody wants these things. I can guarantee you any, whether they are Christian, whether they are some other religion, they would want these things for their children. But the Bible is giving us a promise here. Look at verse number 33 of first Corinthians chapter 14. The Bible says, for God is not the author of confusion. So if you find somebody that's trying to confuse your kids and all the confusion that's being taught to kids today, you know one thing, that's not of God because God is not the author of confusion, but of what? But of peace. As in all the churches of the saints. Turn to Isaiah chapter 54. Isaiah chapter 54. And you know what? God is not the author of confusion. What do we see today? What do we see today? Gen Z, which is the generation, I think it's like 21 and younger, 20% think that they are non-binary, that they are something other than heterosexual is basically what that means. Look, I don't believe that. I don't believe that that's actually the case. You know what I do know though is those kids have been confused. Now people are teaching a lot of confusion today to kids and that is not what comes from God. The opposite comes from God. So you have confusion and you have peace. Which would a parent want? Look at Isaiah chapter 54, verse number 13. The Bible says that all thy children shall be taught of the Lord. Sound familiar? And great, if you teach them like Deuteronomy 6, verse seven says, and great shall be the peace of thy children. You know what every parent wants? Every parent wants their children to grow up in peace. Every parent wants their children to be happy. Every parent of a young girl wants her to grow up and marry a decent young man and have a nice family and have children and every parent that has a young boy wants him to grow up and marry a nice young lady and have a wonderful and happy marriage. This is what normal parents want. You don't have to be a Bible believing Christian to want peace for your children. This is what normal people want today. But the Bible is saying, hey, there's one way to get it. It's teach them the word of the Lord. They must be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of thy children. It doesn't say if you teach them the word of the Lord it might work. It doesn't say if you teach them the word of the Lord they got a 62% chance. It says if you do this diligently, look folks, it's a promise. This is a statement in Isaiah chapter 54 and verse number 13. Great shall be the peace. You know what parents don't want? They don't want their children to be depressed. They don't want their children to be drug addicts. They don't want their children to be in jail. They don't want their children to have ruined lives. Every parent wants their children to have peace. So why aren't more people flocking to the word of God? Because that's the promise that God is giving us here. I mean, who could say that they don't want peace for their children? This is the way to do it. Here's another idea. Well, there's two ideas. Two ideas on why being a helicopter parent is bad. The first one is that you should just leave them to figure things out. They kind of need to figure things out on their own. But that's not what's gonna happen. Someone is going to teach them. And the only way for them to have peace and end in peace in their life is by teaching them the word of God. The Bible is very clear on that. Here's another one, chapter 18. Here's the other mainstream idea. Look, over the years I've had people push both of these ideas on me. In my life as I was raising my children. Here's another one that they try to tie up. People try to throw at you to try to get you to stop being a helicopter parent. They say they just need to experience things. They need to experience life. You can't shelter your children. They need to get out there and they need to kind of experience life. Go to Matthew chapter 18. What they're really saying, and this one is the most wicked, and this one, I don't know, it's hard to say which one's more wicked. But what they're really saying is these kids need to get out there and experience sin. This is the philosophy that's being pushed today. Look at Matthew chapter 18. Let's look at what Jesus says. Look folks, seeing sin and committing sin are two different things. As our children go out soul winning with us, as they see the drug addicts and the bums and the people that won't work walking around in this city, living under bridges, doing drugs out in the open. As they see these things, as they live in a city like this, they're seeing sin. But seeing sin and committing sin are two different things. Look at Matthew chapter 18 and verse number six. And look, we should do our best to even stop them from seeing many of these things. Look at Matthew 18 verse number six. Jesus says, but who shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me? It would be better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Jesus is saying, whosoever causes an offense is what he's talking about. He's not talking about saying something that offends a child. He's saying, whoever commits an offense, commits a crime against a children or encourages a child to do something to cause an offense. He says, woe unto the world because of offenses. For it must needs be that offenses come, woe to the man by whom the offense cometh. He's talking about hurting children. He's talking about confusing children. He's talking about encouraging them to sin. And Jesus is saying that people that do that, it would be better that they were drowned. Because when I get them, it's gonna be worse. So all these people that are pushing this philosophy that, oh, the kids, they need to go out and they need to go out and they need to experience some sin in their lives for themselves. It's wicked as hell to be encouraging that. It's crazy to think, look, it is crazy to think today that you have people that are evil people that are confusing kids. You have evil people that will go in and confuse kids on the most basic part of their being on whether or not they are a boy or a girl. They will go and they will confuse kids and then there is a set of doctors out there that will literally go and damage them physically for the rest of their lives. It's scary that that is going on in our country today. I mean, these people, it would be better the Bible says that they're drowned in the depth of the sea, that they do that to children. But even on the natural scale of things to encourage the children, they should go and they should experience fornication. They should go out and they should experience alcohol and they should go out and they should experience drugs. I mean, Jesus saying, well unto them too. See, sin, the problem is, is that sin causes wounds that don't heal. Sin causes emotional wounds. Sin causes spiritual wounds. Sin causes physical wounds that won't heal. I mean, you talk about fornication and drugs and alcohol and all these different things. I've heard many stories about they go and do drugs one time and are dead or damaged for the rest of their life. One time. This idea that they should go out and just have fun and go out and party and drink and experience a little disease. Experience a little possible death. Maybe a child born out of wedlock or God forbid a murder of an unborn child. These are wounds that don't heal. And people that are encouraging or saying to you, they need to go out and experience life. They're saying that they should go out and experience sin. They're chastising you for keeping your children from going and experiencing those things. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter six. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter six. The problem is sin causes wounds that don't heal. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter six and verse number 18. 1 Corinthians chapter six and verse number 18. The Bible says, flee fornication. The Bible says, stay as far away from it as you possibly can. Go to your wedding day pure should be your goal. You know what you'll have? You'll have peace. Instead of death and disease and maybe an abortion or a child born out of wedlock. You know what you'll have? You'll have peace in your marriage. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committed fornication sineth against his own body. Literally telling us that fornication damages you physically. Physically, spiritually, emotionally. Or you could have a happy marriage and raise children in the Lord. Who's the crazy one? So we see two things here. We see people telling us that we need to leave them to figure it out on their own. Don't be a helicopter parent. They just got to figure some things out on their own. Then we see people that they need to get out there and they just kind of have to experience life. What they're saying is experience sin. But what should we do? The Bible has a lot to say on child rearing. Turn to Proverbs chapter 22. We can't even look at all the verses. We'll just look at a few. And I just want to give you these words that keep coming up when we read these few verses. Look at Proverbs chapter 22. What does the Bible say? What does the Bible say? So we know we shouldn't encourage them into sin. The Bible says in Romans 7 that once they read the Bible, once they learn the Bible, the better they know the word of God, the more sin will be exceedingly sinful to them. The more, look, it works for you and for children. The more children know the word of God, the more you know the word of God, the more sin is gonna pop out to you. But you know what? The more you close this book and you do nothing but consume the trash of this world, the more sin will not even seem like sin to you. The more it will be like, oh, it's not that bad. Oh yeah, but you know, everybody kind of does that. It'll dull your conscience. The Bible is saying that someone that is diligently reading and learning the word of God's sin will just be like, ooh, that's sin. You will recognize it right away. Look at Proverbs 22.6. The Bible says, train up a child. This is another great promise right here. It doesn't say train up a child the way he should go and when he's old, he has a 67% chance of staying on the path. It says train up a child the way he should go when he's old, he will not depart from it. It's saying that we need to get our children on the right path. What path? This path. It's saying if you get them on that path, you train them on that path, they will stay on it. That's a great promise. These are statements. There's no question mark in here. Look at Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six. I'll read for you Proverbs 13, 24. You're gonna go to Ephesians chapter six. Proverbs 13, 24 says, he that spareeth his rod, hadeth his son. But he that loveth him, chaseneth him, be times. Look at that one a little bit. More, but it's talking about chasening your children. How do you keep them on the path? He chasen them. It says, you know, you spank them to obey is what it's literally saying in Proverbs 13, 24. And you spank them when? You know what be times means? That doesn't mean like again and again, it says early. It says early in their life. You're not gonna come to your 18 year old and be like, it's time for spanking. I'm gonna start spanking you now. That's not gonna work. The Bible says, spank them, get them on this path, start training them when? Early, early. And I don't know why when I was writing this sermon, the age of 10 kept popping into my head. The age of 10 just, and it's funny because I'm gonna read you a few things here in a couple minutes, but the age of 10 is just like, I was thinking about, what is early? What is not early? When did my children, my children are all over the age of 10 now, but when did my children start to walk on their own? When did my children start to understand things and move from obeying to walking? When did that happen? And just the age of 10 just kept coming up when I was thinking about all my kids. And it's interesting because I got some statistics for you here in a couple minutes, but you're in Ephesians chapter four, we're just looking at some words. So what have we seen so far? We've seen train, we've seen chasing. Look at Ephesians six in verse number one. It says children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right, look at verse four. It says, and your fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So what do we see there? We see obey, children should obey. We see children should be nurtured. You know what that means? Protected. In what? It says bring them up. They should be brought up. They should be trained. They should be brought. That assumes that someone is bringing them. If they're brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That means education or training of God's word is what that is talking about. All these words, these are the words that the Bible uses when it talks about raising children. It doesn't talk about leaving them to themselves. It doesn't talk about putting them out and letting them figure things out on their own. It uses words like taught, words like train, words like admonish, words like nurture. You say why? Now go to Ephesians chapter four. Why all these words? So all these things should be done, taught, trained, nurtured, admonish from morning to night. Because what are you training them in? You're training them in the word of God. It's just giving you more detail of Deuteronomy six is you're supposed to be training, admonishing, teaching them the Bible. Them the philosophies in the word of God. The truth of God's word. Look at Ephesians chapter four. You say why? Why? Ephesians chapter four in verse number 14 that uses an interesting analogy talking about Christians who are easily swayed in their doctrine. It's talking about, you know, Paul is kind of chastising this church that just anybody could come in there and just teach any silly thing. And they're just like, oh, that sounds good. But look what he says. Look at the analogy he uses in verse number 14. He says that we henceforth be no more children. He's talking to adults in the church, but he's comparing them to children. Why? Tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. What he's saying is that they are acting like children. And he's comparing them, he's using this idea of children that children are just tossed around with every wind of doctrine. By who? By the sleight of men, cunning craftiness, whereby they lie and wait to deceive. Saying there's gonna be people, even when you're an adult, they're gonna be out there trying to trick you, deceive you, steal from you, scam you, teach false doctrine to you. I mean, look around. It says what's speaking the truth and love may grow up in him. Meaning you won't be children anymore in all things. What are all things? This is all things, right here. He's talking, he's comparing them to children because folks, children will believe anything. I wrote down some things that, as kids, were common things to believe. First of all, I had to look this one up, but it's interesting that I just kinda had the number 10 kinda in my head with my kids, when my kids started to kinda feel like they were becoming adults and starting to walk their spiritual life on their own. But here's what's interesting, Santa Claus. Kids believe in Santa Claus, right? Kids believe that there's a fat man that flies around the world in one night and gives toys to all the children in the world and he goes down chimneys that are like 10 inches in diameter and what if you don't have a chimney, I don't know, magically pulled flying through the air by a bunch of deer or reindeer, you know, one with their red nose. Kids believe this on average until they are eight or nine years old. My kids were the ones that were ruining it for kids the whole time. Everyone's mad at me, you know, my kids are telling their kids there's no Santa Claus when they're four. They're like, did you know? I'm like, yeah. I'm not into lying to my kids ever. Not even before I was saved. The Easter Bunny. It's funny how they're always attacking. Let's not believe in the resurrection of Christ. Let's teach the kids that there's a magical bunny that brings you eggs and candy and toys and all these things when you should be celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Same thing, seven, eight years old. Kids believe in the Easter Bunny until they are seven or eight years old on average. The tooth fairy. You lose a tooth and you put it under your pillow and a magical fairy comes and gives you, it used to be a quarter, but inflation, it's probably like 50 bucks now. But the kids believe this stuff until they're almost 10 years old and this is what their parents push on them. Here's some other ones. Here's some other ones that kids in school can remember believing. See if you remember these. If you swallow a watermelon seed, a watermelon will grow inside you. You ever heard that one? Stepping on a crack will literally break your mother's back. I had a couple of friends in school that would never step on a crack because they believed that. If you touch a toad, you'll get warts. Some people were like, that's not true. Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis. I remember that one. If you cross your eyes for long enough, it'll stay that way. Especially if someone slaps you on the back at the exact same time. We were always constantly trying to catch each other, like cross your eyes, wham! I think it was just a reason to hit your friend. If you eat a lot of carrots, you'd be able to see in the dark. The point is this, the point is this, is that kids believe a lot of silly things. Kids believe it's very easy to get kids to believe almost anything. I remember when my kids, another thing I was remembering, because I would tell some silly dad stories as a dad, the kids would ask me, how did work go? And I went up to the mountains and I brought this massive pine cone back. One time I was working on this plant in the mountains and I brought this big power plant or this big pine cone back that was sitting on the road. I'm like, yeah, the kids will like that. And I remember telling the kids, and my kids were about, the youngest was about 10 at that time. And I told them like, yeah, here's the thing, I went up to this place in the mountains and it's not just giant pine cones, everything's giant. The spiders are giant. We had to fight our way through giant spiders to get into the power plant. I mean, all this stuff, and the kids are like, they're like 10, older than 10, they're like, whatever dad. Because they're past that point of being able to tell silly stories too. But the point I'm trying to get you to understand is kids believe anything. You see how dangerous this is now? When you got five, six, seven years old, and you got a bunch of perverts in school teaching them a bunch of sick twisted stuff, kids believe anything. You must nurture them and protect them from that evil. Look at 1 Peter chapter one. Once they start to get about nine, 10 years old, they start kind of thinking on their own and they start kind of figuring things out. But look at 1 Peter chapter one, look at verse 14. Another analogy used about children here, talking about Christians. Look at 1 Peter chapter one in verse number 14. The Bible says, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which have called you as holy, so be ye holy in a manner of conversation because it is written, be ye holy for I am holy. You say, what about these kids that are below 10 or in this gullible stage of their life? The only important thing, and this is why the Bible is so adamant about discipline with your children, is because all children at that age need is to be obedient. They need a parent that's gonna teach them the truth and they need to be obedient. And this is where that chastisement comes in. Because if they're not obedient, they get chastised so they can keep being taught the truth because they're ignorant. They don't know. Even New Christians, this is great advice in 1 Peter chapter one where you're like, I don't understand everything about the Bible. Hey, just obey though. If something comes up in the Bible and you're like, I've never heard that doctrine before and I didn't know, just like we talked about Wednesday, I didn't know that I should be separating from wicked people and I shouldn't be putting my family in situations like that. Hey, just obey. You know, the understanding will come just as with children, why 1 Peter chapter one is using this example, but all you have to do is obey. And as long as you're being taught this, all these promises will apply to you. So question is, when do you stop hovering? So you hover as a parent, when do you stop? Are your kids 30 years old and you're still hovering over them? Turn to 1 Samuel chapter two. When to stop hovering? Remember that number 10 that I brought up. I just kept thinking about the number 10 and the age of 10 with my kids for some reason. When do you stop hovering? And I'm not saying quit being a parent when you're 10. That's not what I'm talking about. But I want to just give you a philosophy here that is totally true in your life. And there's a reason that Proverbs 22 said be times. It said early. That's what it means, early. Look at 1 Samuel chapter two. See, folks, as children get older, those corrections that you are making to them should get smaller. As children get older, those corrections should get smaller and smaller and smaller. I'm not saying there's not gonna be times when you have a teenager and you have to shoe them back on the path. But the corrections should be small at that point. And look, I hope that even my adult children still will take counsel. If I feel they need counsel. I hope that my children will always take counsel because the Bible says even adults should take counsel. Even adults should have a multitude of counselors. But look, major corrections are over after the teenage years. Let me testify from experience on that. After the teenage years, major corrections are done. You had better handle things by the age of 10, by the age of 11, by the age of 12. You had better handle things be times early, or you are headed for tough times as a parent. You say, why? You say, why is it that way? Because while your corrections should get smaller, and you're gonna see this in this story that I read you in 1 Samuel chapter two, while your corrections should get smaller, your ability to correct also gets smaller. And we'll see this. The verse number 22. At some point, what I'm trying to get you to understand, folks, is at some point, you've got what you've got. At some point, that character of your children, when they are in those teenage years, when they are in those late teenage years, those correct, you may get to a point where they have got issues that those small corrections that you can make are not able to fix anymore. Again, be times early, early. So you're sitting there this morning and you're saying, my kids are young, I'm good. No, now is the time. Now is the time that they need to be on this path. Now is the time when they need to be trained in the way that they should go. Look at 1 Samuel chapter two, and look at verse number 22. Now, Eli was very old. Eli was a judge, and he heard all that his sons did unto Israel. His children were now these priests in the temple, and they were very wicked doing wicked things, fornication, all sorts of terrible things, and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, the father says unto the sons, why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all these people. The father goes and he tries to chastise his older children at this point. He says, name my sons. It is no good report that I hear. You make the Lord's people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him. But if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him, not withstanding, that means, nevertheless, they hearken not unto the voice of their father. They just didn't listen at that point. And obviously, they were even God had given up on them at this point. But the point of trying to get you to understand that the chastisement of their father did nothing at this point. They're just like, whatever. Eli, he's got what he's got here. Why? Because he didn't chase and be times. Because he didn't train them up early in their lives. And now, he's trying to correct them, and it's too late. It's a sad thing. It's a sad thing, but even God had given up on them at this point. So how long should you hover? How long should you teach and train and nurture and admonish? The answer is, as long as it takes. And the answer really is, if it takes too long, hovering won't help. So it must be done early. Now we look at Proverbs chapter 30 in verse number 17, or just look at the front of your bulletin. Now I wanna show you some very serious verses. I mean, God is giving some very serious verses about children that haven't been trained this way. Look at Proverbs 30 in verse number 17. I mean, people will read this today. You're probably not gonna hear these verses read in church today. But people will read these today and they're like, oh man, that's crazy. No, this is how serious this is. Look at verse 17, it says, the eye that mocketh at his father and despise it to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out and the young eagles shall eat it. The Bible says if you chastise your children, you deliver their soul from hell. Meaning if you don't get your children trained on this path, they can end up not being saved. They could end up, when you come to them, you don't do anything until they're 10 and you come to them and you've lived this hypocritical life and you're like, oh, by the way, let me tell you about the gospel, son. They're gonna laugh in your face. And look, they could reject the word of God. If you don't do it, be times. Don't do it early. Leviticus 29 says, for everyone that curses his father or mother shall surely be put to death. He that cursed his father or his mother, his blood shall be upon him. Look, this is the hopelessness of it. This is what the Bible is trying to show you is that if you don't do it, you could end up in a hopeless situation. Turn to Proverbs 13, Proverbs 13, 24, and let's just, well, I'll just read it for you. I've already read it for you, but this is why fathers, fathers, when the Bible says he that spareth his rod, hate it his son, but he that love with him, chasteneth him be times. Meaning if you don't, the Bible is literally saying, if you don't spank your kids, you don't love them. Because if you don't chasten them and spank them to get them to obey, to get them on this path, the Bible is literally saying, you know, you hate your son. So fathers should, they should default to the tougher end of the spectrum. And look, this is a huge miss today. Fathers are too light today. The danger that's out there after your family is not being countered in a serious enough fashion by the fathers today. That's why you're seeing this. You need to spank your four year old so you don't lose your 16 year old. The Bible is pleading with you here. The Bible is telling you again and again and again, teach them this way at all costs. Or the world will get them. You know what Satan is called? You know what Satan is called? He's called the God of this world. All these philosophies are from Satan. You want to be like, oh, it's crazy. It's nuts. It's all from Satan. That's why it's so wicked. And that's why it hurts. Even people that know nothing about the Bible, their own conscience that God gave them tells them that it's crazy. That's wrong. Another thing you need to ask yourself is this. What kind of people are these people that are telling you you should pay less attention to your children? You need to think about that. What kind of people are pushing this philosophy that you should take your eyes away from your children? Then you add to this the draw of money. Then you add to this the fact that, I don't know what it is, 80, 90% of families now have two working parents. The draw of money. Give them to the school. Give them to the daycare. There's a billboard that my wife and I see every time we drive to Sacramento. I'm like, we simply can't understand it. But it's literally a picture of a small child, probably four. And it says, our daycare or our care is so good they will never want to come home. Have you seen that? And we're just like, how odd. How odd, is that a good thing that your children will never want to come home to their parents? I think maybe to some people it is. You know, giving your kids off for someone else to raise. You know, this will seem weird to the younger people in the room this morning. It used to be a shameful thing. I can still remember conversations in my house with my parents talking about how some aunt or uncle put their kids in daycare. And it was a huge, huge controversy. And you're like, what? It's normal now. Yeah, it is normal now, but it didn't used to be. How long ago? 1985. It was a shameful thing to not raise your own children. But look, this has literally become a huge business today. I was looking up daycare, the daycare industry is growing at like 9 or 10% per year in this country. That's more than average stock market gains. It's just this industry to, I mean, why have kids if you're just gonna give them over to Satan to raise? So are you a helicopter parent? People ask me, I say, absolutely I am. You bet I am. And I will continue to be. Psalm chapter 127, look at verse number three. Psalm chapter 127. Look at verse number three. We'll end here. The Bible says in Psalm 127, three says, Low children are in heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Look, God just gives us these children to borrow. God gives us these children as a blessing to us. How are you going to protect? You know, how are you gonna be a steward to what God has given you? Listen to what he tells you. He gives you every single detail that you need to know about how you should raise your children, about how serious you should take this heritage that came from the Lord. These children are a blessing. They are his. He tells us how to protect them. All we have to do is man up and do it. All we have to do as parents is what? Obey. You're like, ah, it doesn't, I wasn't raised that way. It doesn't feel, stop being ruled by your emotions and just obey what God tells you to do. There's a lot of danger out there for these kids. And the only thing that will protect them is you obeying the word of God as their parent. Helicopter parent, you bet. Call me that all day long. Let's borrow our heads and have a word of prayer.