Priscilla's Page

Equipped: "To be supplied with the necessary materials for an undertaking" (American Heritage Dictionary). Those involved in the blowing to bits of the many lives in Oklahoma City were certainly supplied with the necessary materials to maim and kill. Those digressed individuals who devised the plan to dispense such havoc must have had anger, bitterness and a great measure of malice dancing in their evil heads. To have developed such a mode of diabolic destruction, knowing that death and harm would come, sprang only from fiendish and corrupt minds. To most of us, it shatters thoughts of safety in public work places. What was the basic environment in the home of these individuals? It is time for parents today to become seriously involved in the activities in the homes of this nation. We are "to train up a child in the way he should go . . ." (Proverbs 22:6). Sometimes I have to wonder, "Have children been taught correctly how to live?" The mind of a child grows, fortunately, learning either good or evil. A child can be trained to respect and to love others. There should be no room for hate in the mind of a child. To walk in love is better than to run in fear. Love will not cause a building to explode!

A kindergarten child manages to sneak a loaded pistol into the classroom hidden in a book bag, only to have that weapon discharge endangering those present! Could this be the beginning of grief in the child's life? What prompted the action? Too much TV? Parental misguiding or neglect? Or just curiosity? "Thou shalt not kill" can and should be taught at an early age, then death dealing toys placed under lock and key or destroyed! Realistic guns, available as toys, may trigger results for which there is no reprieve! -- a lesson many have learned. Why do the youth of this nation feel compelled to kill or maim just to settle differences? Are the small children hearing, "I'll get even with you!" "I hate you," "Out of my way, you #%$&*" etc.? Are they thinking it is okay to harbor those thoughts and use those words? Somewhere, someone has neglected something! What is happening in this country, perhaps home by single home? What conditions surround all these "poor" actions in life?

A national question: Can we as a nation fix the problem?
The ambitious answer: We must try!

We as individuals need to do something about the sin that is traveling with the speed of a summer flash flood across our land! That sin is called irresponsible, ho-hum attitude toward God. The knowledge of the Bible is not understood as it should be.

All people need God. They may not know it, but they do! Solomon, the son of King David, says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7). The next thought -- educate the fools among us!

Here is some sound advice for parents who are the first teachers the children usually recognize in the home. Fear the Lord enough to learn of and teach his ways! God advised the people to teach their children early in life and to learn of him. To obey the Ten Commandments [excepting 'to keep the Sabbath Day (seventh day or Saturday) holy,' Editor] is not a new parental obligation, apparently just a forgotten one. Teach the children of this nation the Bible and all that it has promised in it, both the good and the bad, and they will be better equipped for living than if they had any number of guns and live ammunition in their book bags. If Bible knowledge is committed to memory and used, there will be less time for evil thoughts to mature into disastrous deeds with horrendous results. Parents can choose to teach in the comfort and privacy of the home or the church. The government has no control over such things. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). This should be the solemn pledge of every solitary family interested in preserving the citizens of today, both young and old. Do we have so much to accomplish and are the problems so great that there is no time left to read the Bible and obey it? Learn the truth about living together as a nation under God, a God that loves all his people. He is the Lord and Creator of all, should we not bow before him in obedience? Maybe the nation should concentrate on preparing for the return of the Lord! Problems will not vanish, just fall into the proper perspective. Then and only then will the entire land be well equipped!