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The Bible Says Children -- and Big Families -- Are Good, not Bad!
What? Don't these people know there's a population explosion in the world? Haven't they heard we're going to run out of resources? Don't they know about birth control? Don't they  know it takes both the husband and wife working to support a family nowadays?
Meet Steve and Sandra Hopkins of Burnet County, Texas, which is northwest of Austin. Yes, yes, they've heard all these objections and cries of fear before. But Steve and Sandra are following God's commands and despite every New Panic of the Week in the media's screaming headlines, they're proving that where God commands, God supplies. In other words, they're saying if you respond to God in faith, He will help you. He will make the seemingly impossible, possible.
But isn't this environmentally harmful? Aren't they eating too much food and leaving behind a huge carbon footprint? As it turns out, the big secret is that there's no looming, worldwide famine such as scientists have been warning us about. Since April 22, 1970, many in the U.S. and abroad have celebrated Earth Day, an environmental teach-in to protect the planet. Even in 1970 so-called experts predicted quick destruction if something wasn't done NOW. A few of the many failed prophecies:
“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” • George Wald, Harvard Biologist, Earth Day, 1970. OH NO!!! “By…[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.” • Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist, 1970. OH NOOO!!! RUN AND HIDE!! By the way, the fact that Mr. Ehrlich wrote the best-selling book "The Population Bomb" wouldn't have anything to do with his views, now would it? Hey gang -- here's two things to look for in evaluating arguments: do they call us to respond in faith or fear (it's easier to provoke fear than faith and courage), and, does anyone make money over calling us to respond in fear? Recipe for wealth: find a fear, blow it up with phony science (most people are going to be too lazy to check it out), market it successfully, then get laws passed to protect your agenda.
In the Bible, God never envisioned people not having enough resources. He knew in advance how many would be born, what they'd be doing, and what they'd need. Folks, we're going to have enough of what we need! He goes on to say that a nation will wither and die if it lacks enough people, in Prov. 14:28 -- "In a multitude of people is a king's glory, but in the dearth of people (or, a shortage) is a prince's ruin." So, nations and their cultures will survive with many people. Those without enough people will die out unless they import, or allow to invade, foreign people or workers. An average of 2.1 children per married couple is needed for a nation to replace itself. For years, the average fertility rate per European couple has been about 1.6. Thus, Europe in its present form will die out only to be replaced by Muslims, who are the ones having the children in Europe. And then Europe can enjoy the domination of shariah law! Did you know that the Koran sanctions men beating their wives? -- Surah 4:34. And you thought the Old Testament was harsh? Ha!
OK, so just why does this family have so many children? They're obeying God's command for His creation and man in Gen. 1:28 -- "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Guess what -- that command has never been rescinded! When God commands, He provides. If God's been faithful to the Hopkins family He will be faithful to you -- if you respond in faith and obedience.
I've known the Hopkins family for years. What makes them different besides their size? Well, here's some things: No Wal Mart tantrums! The children behave well enough in public that strangers have complimented Steve and Sandra. They are so often a pleasure to be around and can easily converse with adults. The children, being homeschooled, are far safer than in public schools, and they are never lonely. And by the way, their oldest, who's not pictured here but who's now married, earned a college scholarship. Yup, that homeschooling works after all. Sandra doesn't work outside the home and while financially it is often a struggle, nobody is going without food or clothing.
And God's plan for families will work for you if you follow His commands in faith and don't live in fear. Much more could be written here, but it you have questions you can email Steve at: 15childrenandcounting@gmail.com Below is just a small part of what Steve and Sandra have found and teach about God's plan for families -- including yours! Here's what Steve says:
"Today, in America, many fathers and mothers and families are returning to the simple way of life exemplified by those brave Pilgrim families; a life that acknowledges God and seeks obedience to His Word, and conformity to the image of Christ in every way. We are one of those families. And it is our hope that, in sharing the grace of our Lord mercifully shown us, that others might be encouraged to launch out into the deep as well, looking to that Great Shepherd of our souls, the Lord, Jesus Christ.
What follows is a simple pattern of family life drawn from the pages of Scripture that we know will bless every family that sets sail for that same New World. So, if you will, consider dropping anchor here for a few minutes, and read, and enter covenant with God, before stepping on to the land.
1. Father, turn your heart home to your wife and children, and end the curse. Leave your worldly loves, and begin to focus on the spiritual growth and well being of your wife and children. -- Ex. 20:3, Josh. 23:8, 24:15; Prov. 1:8, Mal. 4:6
2. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loves the church, and laid down His life for her. -- Eph. 5:25, 28, 33; Col. 3:19, I Peter 3:7
3. Wives, submit to your own husbands as unto the Lord. -- Eph. 5:24, Col. 3:18, I Peter 3:1
4. Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. -- Eph. 6:1, Prov. 6:20, 23:22; Col. 3:20
5. Husband, wash your wife and children in the Word of God every day. You are the priest of your home and it is your duty before God to open the Scriptures with your family daily, letting nothing interfere with that precious time of Bible reading, prayer, and singing of hymns. Gen. 8:20, Deut. 6:6, Job 1:4,5; Col. 3:16
6. Men, remove the abominable influences of the world from your homes before they make your houses desolate. Job 31:1, Psalm 101:3, Acts 19:19
7. Husband and father, be the provider for your family, even if it means moving into a one room shack. Wives are to be keepers at home, not bread-winners, lest the Word of God be blaspemed. Titus 2:3-5. Also, no man is shown anywhere in the Scriptures as staying at home to raise the children. Nowhere.
8. Wife, support your husband in his efforts to be the leader of your home. --Eph. 5:24, Col. 3:18
9. Fathers and mothers, do not spare the rod. The Bible says, if you spare the rod, you hate your children. Administer the rod in love, and teach obedience at first command. Prov. 13:24, 19:18, 22:15, 29:15; Heb. 12:7
10. Choose godly like-minded friends for your family and children, as foolish companions will cause their downfall. Prov. 14:7, I Cor. 15:33
11. Educate your children at home, teaching them the commands of God and the Christian worldview at every juncture. Deut. 4:9, 6:6, 7; 11:19; Eph. 6:4
12. Be fruitful and multiply as children are a gift from God. Psalm 127 and 128, Prov. 14:28
13. Cut out all the world associating recreations and do things together as a family. I Cor. 15:33, Eph. 5:8, I John 2:15
14. Join with a Bible believing church that is family integrated (that does not separate the family members, but encourages the family to sit and worship and learn together. -- Fathers, wives, and children were instructed together, such as I John 2:12-14, Eph. 5:22-6:4. See also
15. Encourage a Biblical distinction between your sons and daughters; teach your young men to be manly men, and your young ladies to be feminine ladies. -- I Peter 3:4
16. People should not have to ask who wears the pants in your family, they should see it. Men are not to put on the effeminate, neither are women to put on men's clothing, it is abomination to God. Before men started wearing dresses, women started wearing pants. Deut. 22:5
17. Protect the purity of your wife and daughters by providing for them modest apparrel. Gen. 3:10,11; I Tim. 2:9, I Peter 3:3
18. Fathers and mothers, work towards strong relationships with your children. --Col. 3:21, Eph. 6:4
19. Teach your sons to be the breadwinners by working with them and including them in your employments as much as possible. -- See the examples of the lives of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from the book of Genesis. While these men weren't perfect, God's major covenants began with them.) who involved their sons in the support of their families.
20. Teach your daughters to serve their fathers as helpers, and their mothers in guiding the house and making a home, so they can go from helping their father to helping their husbands one day. Encouraging them to pursue the man's roles will only set them on a course for future disappointment. -- Titus 2:3-5.
21. Pray often. Pray individually. Pray together as husband and wife. Pray together as a family, and cry out to God for the grace to fulfill your missions as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. Matt. 6:25, Eph. 6:18, Phil. 4:6, 13, 19."
The main goal of this website is to expose you to new ideas and get you to think. Renovation Ministries invites feedback. Lacking a paid staff it might be some time before I respond. Take any position you want when emailing. But emails with misspellings or obscenities will be ignored. Sloppy communication is sloppy thinking. Believe what you want -- just think it through!
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