SR November 2015
17
Rev. Dr. Kenneth Chroniger
Alfred Station SDB Church, NY
President’s Page
Family Matters
Pastor Robert Babcock
Marlboro SDB Church, NJ
Because of the way the police, the
justice system and society as a whole
treats African-Americans, some feel
that they must think that black lives
don’t matter. They are rebelling
against that notion with the chant
“Black Lives Matter.” To be honest,
I can’t really speak to that issue, be-
cause I haven’t walked in their shoes.
But I tend to believe that what God’s
Word teaches is that all lives matter.
Ken Chroniger has asked me to speak
next year at conference on the subject
of the “Family.” In this context, it has
occurred to me that more than ever
before, the family is under attack in
America — almost to the point where
it seems that the preponderance of
Americans today no longer think the
FAMILY MATTERS.
The attack against the God-instituted
family unit has come from many arenas:
from government-funded child abor-
tion clinics; the easy access of divorce;
the increasing number of absentee
fathers; mothers and fathers both
working and allowing daycare centers
to raise their children; more and
more couples living together out of
wedlock. The list goes on and on, to
the point where today the Supreme
Court of our land has passed a law
demanding that every state recognize
and perform same sex marriages.
Couples can’t even perform the basic
functions of the marriage that God
instituted and called good. Such a
union may fulfill the requirements of
our fallen society, but it is not and
can never be the FAMILY that God
intended.
Our nation was founded on the Godly
principals of the Christian Family.
From Genesis to Revelation, marriage
and the family is emphasized and
encouraged. It started with Adam and
Eve, it goes through such luminaries as
Boaz and Ruth, and it ends with
Christ and the church. Marriage is
everywhere in there. I will not say
that every writer mentions it, but it
is pretty close. The Bible contains
actual chapters regarding instruction
on marriage and the family; and
numerous individual verses through-
out the Bible in the form of laws,
proverbs, songs, prophecies, and
clear teachings.
The Bible supports marriage and the
family from cover to cover.
All of our forefathers understood the
necessity of Godly Families to make
our nation great. We seem to have
lost sight of that basic necessity in
our society today.
An appropriate scripture for us to
consider is Psalm 128. From the
Contemporary English Version of the
Bible it reads:
1 The Lord will bless you
if you respect him
and obey his laws.
2 Your fields will produce,
and you will be happy –
all will go well.
3 Your wife will be as fruitful
as a grapevine,
and just as an olive tree
is rich with olives,
your home will be rich
with healthy children.
4 That is how the Lord will bless
everyone who respects him.
5 I pray that the L
ORD
will bless you from Zion
and let Jerusalem prosper
as long as you live.
6 May you live long enough
to see your grandchildren.
Let’s pray for peace in Israel!
The 128th Chapter of Psalms, as in
the former chapter, is a psalm for
families especially emphasizing that
the well-being of our families depends
upon the blessing of God. In this
scripture we are taught that the only
way to obtain that blessing is to live
in the fear of God and in obedience
to him. Those that do so, in general,
shall be blessed and those that ignore
God’s design and plans for the family
will not receive His blessing, because
in God’s eyes FAMILY MATTERS.
SR
