Drug Proof Kids

We need a serious look at what drugs and addiction to create a resistance and resilience plan for our kids.

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Episode Transcript

Ethan (00:01):
Raising joyful children in an angry world, a podcast
dedicated to faithful parentsnavigating their families
through a stormy culture
Drug proofing your kids, or atleast an inoculation.
This is Raising Joyful Childrenin an Angry World.
I'm your host, Paul Osborne.
In the 1960s and especially the70s, cigarette and tobacco

(00:21):
companies were accused ofmarketing to kids.
Flavored tobacco, candycigarettes.
The country's child healthadvocates did not want kids
hooked on this unhealthy habit.
And people saw the seductivemethodology that tobacco firms
were using.
Boy, how things have changed.

(00:43):
Rarely, rarely do I meet someonewho believes the same thing
about marijuana.
Just last week in Houston,Texas, or maybe two weeks now, a
teenager shot his mother andsister, and it was determined he
had ate too many gummy bearslaced with THC, and had lost all

(01:04):
sense of reality.
Attempted matricide.
That's considered one of thedarkest evils a person can
commit.
Trying to kill your mother.
That's Norman Bates Psycho.
Fortunately, I believe themother and the sister lived.
But the effect on the propagandaof this business is almost

(01:25):
unimaginably powerful.
See, so many Americans havesurrendered the spiritual
warning systems, the knowledgeof the demonic world.
And so stores that sell gummybears and candy and cookies and
brownies that are laced withTHC.
Oh, that's considered safeaccording to the law of many

(01:46):
states.
And it's a good tax base.
It's safer than alcohol.
The endless studies paid for bythis industry.
These lobbyists tell us theopposite of what the studies
that aren't paid for by thoselobbyists are reporting.
I will point to you in the shownote.

(02:08):
Alicia Finley's interview fromthe Wall Street Journal with an
expert named Bertha Madras.
The article is called.
Why aren't you hearing aboutmarijuana's health effect?
Read it and you might get a clueas to the danger and the reason
it is rarely talked about.
But for the Christian parent, wehave some good news about the

(02:30):
reality and what God teaches usabout this, so that our kids can
try and resist this.
So first, you've got tounderstand the goal of a
marketer.
It's habitual use.
It's repetitive customers.
It's people that need their fix.
That's what consumer productscompanies do to make money.

(02:52):
And you're not going to be ableto shield our family from drugs
without understanding.
What this is ultimately about,they're trying to get you hooked
as a, as a business, but there'salso a demonic force seduction
in terms of a mind alteringdrug.
That's being marketed through agummy bear.
It's called spiritual warfare.

(03:14):
A second of all, I think if youunderstand what addiction is,
and there's a new book out byDunovan Riley, and he writes
this about addiction, I thinkthis gives us some insight.
Addiction is not merely a battleof willpower or a psychological
chess match.
It's spiritual warfare.
It's a clash between the forcesof hopelessness and the

(03:37):
redemptive grace.
Of a higher power in our case ofJesus, it's darkness versus
light.
So, first of all, we got toteach our kids the stories of
the Bible, so that theyunderstand we're in a war and
that we have an enemy who istrying to steal away our hope to
take away our light and seduceus into something that is bad

(04:01):
for us and is destructive.
And one of the things I want tosuggest to you that we do when
we send our kids to Sundayschool, and I really hope you
get this, that if addiction isbased on hopelessness, what
we're trying to do is build theingredient of hope into the

(04:22):
hearts and minds of our kids.
The Bible tells us that faith,hope, and love are connected.
In fact, it says faith isconfidence in things hoped for.
The formation of a worldview, aview of life that is filled with
hope, that sees that in the end,all things are restored,

(04:47):
believes the stories of theBible are true, that the message
of forgiveness and absolutionand renewal That are in these
stories from our God is how webuild the formation of hope.
Think about the stories, Josephand the, and, and the coat of

(05:07):
many colors, the story ofbetrayal by his family and yet
hope that God would redeem it.
And he does.
There's one story after theother of the.
Fallenness of humanity and theredemption of God and the
hopefulness that is in all ofthose stories, those themes and

(05:28):
what we do when we teach themand we talk about them is we
actually are putting aningredient by the power of the
Holy Spirit into the heart ofthe child and a vision and a
mind that sees A vision of hope,then the heart is oriented

(05:49):
towards hope and that mind trustGod, it's not a guarantee
against addiction, but it is ashield.
And should those fiery dartssomehow avoid that shield and
trap one of our kids, it's stillthe path back to overcoming what
has happened to us.

(06:10):
You're not going to battleaddiction without hope.
The stories of the scripturecreate for our kids a reality, a
core set of what is trustworthyso that by God's grace and the
Holy Spirit, they live a lifethat is hopeful.
I re watched Hoosiers this weekwith the passing of Gene

(06:33):
Hackman.
If you haven't watched themovie, go watch it.
It's a story about redemption ofa basketball coach who's on his
last chance.
It's the restoration of analcoholic father, the assistant
coach and redemption of hisson's relationship with him.
And underneath all of it is thequiet, confident son of a

(06:56):
preacher who's praying for themall the way through it.
The foundation of this film isfound in our Bible.
Hope, love, redemption.
Without the preacher's son onthe team, it's just another
sports story.
This is what we're trying tobuild into our kids.
We must have our kids in churchand in a church that teaches the

(07:20):
Bible stories.
You and I need to chat aboutthem and understand them and
understand what they're buildingand the spiritual ingredient
that God is providing us to putinto their heart.
You probably have heard this ifyou've ever been in the business
world.
The cynic says, hope is not astrategy.
Well, the faithful respond, hopeis God's promise.

(07:44):
It's not a strategy.
It's a reality and it isnecessary to living a joyful
life.
The ultimate battle for theheart and soul is a fight for
identity.
Our king invites our kids toknow who they are, what to

(08:05):
believe, and where they belong.
Until next time, let's rememberthe words for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven.