TLP 202: Parenting a Zombie, Part 3 | the zombie’s diet

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Because they hate the good and love the evil, God compares their actions to cannibalism.

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Welcome to Truth. Love. Parents. Where we use God's Word to become intentional, premeditated parents.

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Here's your host, A .M. Brewster. Happy Autumn. Autumn is my favorite time of year.

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I love the changing leaves. I love the sweater weather. I love the excuse to drink more hot chocolate.

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October is my dad's birth month, it's my daughter's birth month, and now it's officially the first time that we've ever hit over 50 reviews and an overall five -star rating on iTunes.

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In fact, our newest five -star review comes from Tayloretta, and here's what it says.

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I heard about TLP through a woman at my church who teaches various parenting discipline courses. She highly recommended it, and so I checked it out.

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TLP in and of itself is great, but what has radically shifted my parenting are the deep topics coupled with the clear and weighty focus this podcast puts on Scripture.

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I feel like after listening to an episode while doing the dishes or driving in the car that I need to go back and get out my

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Bible to catch it all. There's an abundance of feel -good content out there—blogs, podcasts, or otherwise—but what

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I love here is that its focus is on me as a parent first. It has been tough to swallow, and my flesh wants something more topical that quote -unquote practically meets all my parenting woes, but God's Word is relevant and perfect for every situation all the time, and I love that this is the focus with TLP.

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I also love that the episodes are short and succinct—five stars all the way. Well, you guys are awesome.

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Your reviews are so incredibly generous and kind. I praise God for such an awesome group of intentional, premeditated parents with whom to spend my time, and I love that so far we've been successful in not getting in the way of the

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Bible. May we continue to be true to God's Word moving forward as well. If you would like to leave a rating or a review, we would be honored to have you do so.

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The two best places to do that are iTunes and Facebook. Of course, if you listen to TLP on a different directory, you can totally rate us there as well if they give you that option.

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The only timely problem is that we might not be able to see it and share it here, but at least the other people who use that service will see it.

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I suppose if you were really serious about spreading the Word concerning Truth Love Parent, you could write a review and then copy and paste it everywhere you can.

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Either way, you should definitely do whatever you believe would please the Lord. With that said, I want to take a moment to thank

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Matt and Sonia for choosing to worship the Lord in part by supporting TLP financially.

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Their monthly gifts, coupled with the sacrificial gifts of our core group of patrons, makes it possible for us to continue producing these free parenting resources.

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One of our patrons recently increased her monthly giving, and that increase is going to allow us to expedite our first book,

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Quit! God's Cure for Family Strife. Kara is very much looking forward to this resource, but she's equally excited to get into the hands of moms and dads all over the world as she is her own.

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So thank you Matt, Sonia, and Kara for not only blessing TLP, but blessing the thousands of listeners we have.

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You guys are awesome. And each of them would also like to personally invite you to click on the five ways to support

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TLP link in the description of this episode. It will take you to TruthLoveParent .com where you can learn about our mission, goals, and how you can play a part.

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Okay, let's dive into today's topic. Of course, if you haven't heard parts one and two of this series, please stop the show and check out the episodes 200 and 201.

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But if you're returning, let's do a quick review. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of your child, and we're using the imagery of a zombie because it helps us to appreciate the destructive and disgusting nature of foolishness.

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Last time we saw that your child's zombie behavior is a result of them lacking their minds. Yes, they have a brain, but they enjoy the sin that will destroy them.

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They don't understand that which is truly valuable. They hate what's good for them, and they're incapable of glorifying

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God while doing the most benign things. We also saw that they lack the appropriate knowledge, but even if they had the knowledge, the zombie fool hates understanding, hates wisdom, hates the things of God, and they love doing stupid or wicked things, and they have messed up communication.

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And perhaps you've noticed those behaviors in your children. And for those of you with a kindergarten or elementary -aged children, this is super hard to accept, but your kids, especially if they're unsaved, are fools.

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So, we've seen the root issues, but to put a fine point on it, let's consider Psalm 14 .1

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and 53 .1. Both of these verses read, the fool says in his heart, there is no

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God. They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good.

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Now, some of you are going to say, I understand that my child has zombie behavior, but they believe in God. Well, here's the thing.

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Like we discussed in the Mirror's Christianity series that started in episode 95, your children do what they do because they believe what they believe.

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If they truly believe that God's commands are best, they will obey them. Every Christian on the planet denies

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God's commands from time to time, and it's in those moments we have to be honest enough to admit that we're living like atheists.

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Practical atheism is living like God doesn't exist. It may not be all the time, but when we act in a corrupt or abominable way, when we don't do good, we're living as if there is no

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God. And the rest of the verses in these psalms explain the problem in more detail. And both of these passages are so similar that I can combine them with very few changes to either.

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Here is the ABSV, the Aaron Brewster synchronized version of Psalm 14 and Psalm 53.

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When you check out the transcript on our blog or our notes at Taking Back the Family, you'll see that the green words are shared by both passages.

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The blue words are found in Psalm 14, and the purple words are found in Psalm 53. Here we go,

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Psalm 1453. The fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds of iniquity.

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There is none who does good. The Lord God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

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They have all fallen away and turned aside. Together they have become corrupt. There is none who does good, not even one.

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Let me stop right there. We see that zombie behavior lacks understanding. They lack a

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Godward focus in their lives. They've fallen away from truth and embraced a lie. Continuing on, we see this question, have those who work evil no knowledge?

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This should sound familiar. Zombies have no knowledge. Then it continues, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the

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Lord God. See, I told you the similarities between zombies and fools are uncanny.

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They eat up my people as they eat bread. Now, I don't think that God is necessarily talking about actual cannibalism, but the imagery is stunning.

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And the rest of the passage talks about the eventual destruction of the fool and the potential salvation they could have.

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I'll go ahead and read it now, but we'll talk about the destruction, the salvation of the fool in a few episodes. There they are in great terror, where there is no terror.

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For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you. For God is with the generations of the righteous.

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You put them to shame, for God has rejected them. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the

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Lord is his refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion. When the

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Lord God restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice. Let Israel be glad. I think the verse about the fool eating

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God's people is a great transition point into the diet of the fool. And for that, we're going to focus on some equally picturesque passages.

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Number one, the zombie feeds on folly. Proverbs 15 14, the mouths of fools feed on folly.

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Of course, they not only eat it, they enjoy it. Last time you read Proverbs 15 21, folly is a joy to him who lacks sense.

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Don't forget that folly is a lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight. It also includes criminally or tragically foolish actions or conduct.

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It describes evil, wickedness, especially lewd behavior. It's a foolish act or idea.

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It also describes an excessively costly or unprofitable undertaking. This is what the zombie eats because this is what the zombie loves.

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This type of diet can exhibit itself in a life -dominating bent toward destructive behavior, but it also shows itself when our kids join foolish, empty, repetitive joking.

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It shows itself when our kids consistently don't plan ahead, and it creeps out when our children devise foolish plans.

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Now, some of this may make you say, yeah, Aaron, but they're just kids. You're describing childishness. I know.

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Zombie behavior is bound up in the heart of a child. The zombie lives as if there is no God to whom he's responsible.

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Childishness and immaturity are synonyms for foolishness. But not only does the fool feed on folly, number two, the zombie feeds on his own flesh.

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Ecclesiastes 4 .5 reads, the fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.

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Isaiah 9 .20 says, they slice meat on the right but are still hungry, and they devour on the left but are not satisfied.

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Each devours the flesh of his own arm. Again, I'm not saying that your children are actually eating the meat off their bodies, but once again,

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I think it's startling that God uses zombie -like cannibalism to illustrate how the fool lives. But what exactly is

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God illustrating for us? The fool is so mindless that he doesn't realize that by avoiding wise living, he's actually consuming his own health, enjoyment, vitality, and satisfaction.

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The phrase folds his hands, which we heard in Ecclesiastes 4 .5, is used two other times in Proverbs and refers to laziness.

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That's in Proverbs 6 .10 and 24 .33. Basically, by foolishly delighting in that which

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God hates and hating that in which God delights, the fool is destroying herself as if she were eating herself alive.

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This points toward the future destruction of the fool that we'll look at in a couple episodes. But lastly, number three, the zombie feeds on God's people.

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Remember Psalm 14, 53, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the

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Lord God? Also consider Micah 3, 1 through 4. And I said, hear you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel.

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Is it not for you to know justice? You who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones, who eat the flesh of my people and flay their skin from off them and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron.

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Wow, why does God compare them to zombies? Because they hate the good and love the evil, their actions are akin to cannibalism.

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The behavior described here is exactly what Jesus was illustrating when in Matthew 7, 6 he said, do not give dogs what is holy and do not throw your pearls before pigs lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

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Fools and scoffers will not value the nuggets of truth you're laying at their feet. They'll simply crush them on their way to attacking you.

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This is one reason the two greatest commandments are to love God first and foremost and then to love others, because when we love what is right, we cherish people.

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We don't consume them. Now again, this imagery may make it hard to see this behavior in our kids.

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None of our children are eating themselves or others, but there are two things we must do. Number one, we must first understand why

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God uses this imagery. Selfish godlessness is wicked. God hates it.

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It's as disgusting to him as zombies are to us. Our kids won't accidentally glorify

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God, and when they live in their own power for their own pleasure to their own glory, it's like they're consuming themselves and those around them.

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That's why, number two, we must see how our kids' behavior fits into these illustrations.

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We have to make ourselves see it. Foolish zombie behavior enjoys folly. It enjoys that which ends in personal destruction, and it enjoys that which destroys other people.

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This includes cutting speech. How many of your kids just can't seem to speak kindly to each other?

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That's zombie behavior. This includes the foolish thinking that causes our children to believe that they will do fine on the test without studying.

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This includes the destructive habits our children have developed. Yes, it includes drugs and pornography, but it also includes a dislike for healthy food, an obsession with junk food.

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It also includes the habit of being attracted to worldly people. It includes the habit of laziness that results in our kids not doing their chores, schoolwork, or job responsibilities.

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Because they lack sense, our kids are drawn to destructive words, actions, and feelings. They do what they do because they want what they want, and they want what they want because they believe that they don't need to live for God right now.

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And that's how rasping, staggering, decomposing zombies live. That's how a fool lives.

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As always, again, I'll include the passages at which we looked in our free episode notes. Lord willing, next time we'll look at how the zombies' relationships affect and are affected by them.

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After that, we'll be warned of the eventual destruction that accompanies foolish living, and then spend an entire wonderful episode discussing

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God's cure for zombies. I hope to see you then. Truth. Love.

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Parents is part of the Evermind Ministries family and is dedicated to helping you become an intentional premeditated parent.

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Join us next time as we search God's Word for the truth your family needs today.