​God said this to the nation that he had chosen as his own special possession in the Old Testament, “what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 10:12).
Now consider our nation: No fear of the Lord, a wholesale rejection of God and his ways. A nation which has legalized murder of the most helpless among us, and is systematically seeking to redefine the most basic of God’s design regarding marriage and gender. Sexual immorality is the rule, not the exception. In almost every way, we have called evil good and good, evil.
Are we favored by God? It would be the epitome of arrogance and ignorance to assume so. 

​In Reformed churches children do not have “responsibilities” such as specific roles in the worship service or congregational life. They are, however, joyfully counted as members of the congregation and are encouraged, within the limits of their growing and developing understanding and abilities, to know and believe all that the Bible teaches as they are taught it by parents and the church, to learn what it means to worship God both privately and corporately, and to be growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ.
Perhaps the responsibilities of young ones are best seen in the responsibilities of parents and the church members toward them; namely to love them as a member of the body of Christ and to commit to assist them in Christian nurture, to teach them the principles of the Christian faith, to pray with and for them, and to set an example of piety and godliness before them.

​I’d say first that many religious schools aren’t any better than secular ones. True Christian schools, however, are far better than secular ones in that, by definition, they carry on the work of education within a biblical worldview, one that, understanding the need for true excellence in education, relates everything that is taught to the truths of God’s word; that all of creation declares the glory of God, and math and science an order which only makes sense in God’s universe.
In upper grades especially, Christian schools’ campus life fosters free exchange of ideas, a vanishing commodity in universities today, while recognizing the submission of every subject, every program, every thought, to the word of God.
Christian schools, when at their best, have as their goal to play a part in training young people up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, and to bring every thought captive to Christ.

​If inclusiveness here means welcoming all types of people at church, or recognizing the value of all types of people, then yes. One of the most basic tenets of Christianity is that all people are truly created equal, that every single person, of every stripe, every race, sex, color, social or economic position, is created in the image of God and therefore valuable, and that every single person is responsible to God, born fallen and in bondage to sin, and liable to the judgment due for that sin. If it means that all people are included in the invitation to repent of their sin and come to Christ in faith, and promised that if they do they will receive forgiveness, then again, yes. Christianity, in those ways, is a truly inclusive religion, but truly exclusive in the fact that there is no other way to eternal life than through Jesus Christ.

Spiritual maturity is measured by one’s likeness to Christ. Of course, it goes (almost) without saying that no likeness to Christ is possible at all as long as a person has no real faith-based relationship with him. That is, spiritual maturity is not even an issue when one is spiritually dead.
​
For a Christian, though, likeness to Christ is the goal of our election (Romans 8:29) and the purpose of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Viewed from another angle, spiritual maturity is measured the same way the maturity of a fruit tree is, by the amount and quality of its fruit, specifically what the Bible calls the fruit of the Spirit; and we’re not talking about some hyper-spiritualistic drama; rather, the Bible tells us what the fruit is that the Holy Spirit works in us; Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Those are the measure of spiritual maturity.

​God, who created all things, who instituted the family, and whose wisdom infinitely exceeds ours, has given us his direction regarding child-rearing, and that includes corporal punishment. Proverbs 13:24; 22:15; 23:14; 29:15, 17; and Hebrews 12:7 all speak of the wisdom of such loving, measured punishment. The bible does not condone abuse, of course, but neither does it agree with those who equate all forms of corporal punishment with abuse.
Many today have more and more turned away from God’s wisdom in this area, and with an easily observable, and biblically predicted, outcome. The bible says that we reap what we sow, and perhaps nowhere is this principle more obvious than here. Children raised with no discipline grow up to be young adults without discipline and with no respect for order and legitimate authority. A look at what is happening on many college campuses today sadly bears this out.

​This question comes right from the pages of the Bible. In the record of his interaction with a certain man, Jesus, after summarizing all of God’s law in two great commandments; love God with all your being, and love your neighbor as yourself, is asked this very question, “and who is my neighbor?”
Jesus answers with a story about a man who was attacked by robbers along the road and left for dead. Three people of three different social classes then happen upon the man. Only the third stops; a Samaritan, the last one the hearers of the story would expect. He binds up the man’s wounds, takes him into town and provides for his care.
The point of the parable, and the answer to our question is that anyone of genuine need whom God puts in our path, that we have the ability to help, is our neighbor, even one whom we might otherwise consider an enemy.

​Good leaders certainly will have the ability to lead, they will also have a clear idea of the destination to which they are leading people and of the best path by which to arrive there.
In the realm of the church, for those who would be leaders of God’s people, God himself has given qualifications and qualities in the Bible which give priority to character traits.
To summarize, a leader in Christ’s church must be above reproach and well thought of by others; with self-control, respectable, gentle, not quarrelsome, and neither addicted to wine nor a lover of money. He must be one who demonstrates his ability to lead by leading his own family well.  He must also be able to teach, which requires a knowledge of God’s word.
Those are the kind of traits that God requires and that he produces in those he would have as leaders of his church.

​The top three major issues in our nation, in no particular order, are; godlessness, godlessness, and godlessness. Every evil, every injustice, every social issue; violence, drugs, human trafficking, you name it, all finds their roots in a rejection of God, in the fact that the race has “worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator.”
That is just the way it is. Whether we consider it on an individual or a national scale, turning from God, relying on ourselves, insisting on ruling our own lives with no concern for the things of God, cannot be blessed by God. Instead, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” That wrath takes a multitude of forms, one of the most common is God turning people (or nations) over to their sin and allowing them to reap what they have sewn. That’s our problem. 

​I would say that while there are certain ways in which certain types of technology can be a help for spiritual growth, perhaps through making Bibles, sermons, and teaching etc. more accessible, I think that it is far more often a hindrance. Its most negative quality is probably that it is a monumental distraction from more serious, necessary, and godly pursuits, in drawing people away from God’s word toward more mundane and even negative activities. It also, especially when it comes to the paradoxically titled social media, encourages isolation, which is at odds with the fellowship, service, and accountability that God’s word calls his people to be involved in.
Technology is perhaps well compared to a very sharp saw blade – a useful tool, but one that must be used very carefully and with close attention paid to how easily it can injure.