Ascending into the Presence of God

To make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Lk 1:17

Lamplighter

My 14 year old daughter's life has been extremely transformed as a result of "The Lamplighter books.” We value these books more than our food. No joke. Thanks a million!!! Joan

My oldest daughter after listening to one of the stories in Lamplighter Theatre said, "Mom, if they're this good, can we please buy the whole set!" Thank you for your ministry.

“Within a week I read six Lamplighter books. The next week I read another six. The impact these books had on my life was astounding. Homeschool mom, Terra”

“Lamplighter books are having a tremendous effect on me and my family.  Grace is flourishing in our home. George”

“My wife and I read the Hidden Hand and believe it is the finest book we’ve ever read!” Bill

I, on my part, here renounce all acquaintance with you! I will NEVER sit down at the same

table; enter the same room; or breathe the same air with you;

never speak to you; listen to you; or recognize you in any manner,

until my deep wrongs are avenged!

A man is known by the company he keeps. It is also true that a person's character is to a large extent developed by the books he reads.”

"Many times the reading of a book has made the future of a man."Ralph Waldo Emerson

Abraham Lincoln commented: "The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who will get me a book I have not read.“

"If we encounter a man of rare intellect we should ask him what books he reads." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have laboured hard for." Socrates.

"Next to the Holy Scriptures, the greatest aide to the life of faith may be Christian biographies." A.W. Tozer.

With Character Comprehension Quizzes!

WWW.LAMPLIGHTER.NET

"Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures?”

Ezekiel 8:12a

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "when I will send a famine on the land-- not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of

the LORD, but they shall not find it.Amos 8

The Rest of the Story!

In a world of sensate images, pulsating sounds, violent scenes, sexual perversion, and television-induced short attention spans, a new species has evolved—scientifically labeled as “vidiots.” According to the book, Virtue—Public and Private, “Television has unquestionably become the value shaper, and the most ubiquitous teacher that any civilization has ever had—running for an average of 7 ½ hours a day in 98% of American homes.” And this statistic was researched thirty years ago! Today, with Iphone technology, it is up to 10 hours per day and a person with an average lifespan will have spent 10 years of his life in front of the TV. By the time he is 17, he could view up to 1.5 million acts of violence and witness 360,000 murders.

Neil Postman coined it well when he said,

“We are amusing ourselves to death!”

I, on my part, here renounce all acquaintance with you! I will NEVER sit down at the same

table; enter the same room; or breathe the same air with you;

never speak to you; listen to you; or recognize you in any manner,

until my deep wrongs are avenged!

We live in an image-dominated culture that has produced monumental consequences: to the disregard of authority, the rewriting of history, the lack of interest in science, self and pleasure-centeredness, and according to G. E. Veith, the emergence of new values based on instant gratification and the need to be continually entertained, and no time to read. In fact according to the book Northbound Train, only 5 – 10% of the entire North American Continent reads non-fiction, or of anything of real value. Where are children learning about absolute truth? From the media!

Chicago (IL) - According to a recent study conducted by a neuroscience group at the University of Southern California, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook harm and cripple the moral values of their users. Why? The study claims that those sites do not provide the necessary room to feel compassion or admiration.

Lawrence Kohlberg in his research states, "By contributing to cognitive impairment, mass media of entertainment has a deleterious effect on a child's moral, social, emotional, and religious development. Dr. Ted Baehr states in his book, Culture-Wise Family, "With regard to social and emotional development, a child needs dramatic play to develop these areas, but dramatic play…is inhibited by watching TV or movies. Watching social interaction on TV is not enough, because a child must do or act." They must be more than an observer, or their social, emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual growth will be impaired.

Baehr continues by saying, "In the case of psychological maturation, the necessary function of suppressing detrimental functions of the libido is impaired because TV and other mass media indulge these detrimental functions. With regard to religious development, impairment of the symbolic function results in the "clogging of the filters of religious perception" so that the child's doorway to experience the transcendent is blocked…TV inhibits a Christian ontology and worldview."

One particularly telling statistic is that at 10:00 a.m. on any given Saturday, approximately 60 percent of all American children are watching television.  Though the public does not consider cartoons to be violent, scientists note that cartoons feature some of the highest rates of violence found in the media.  And Today, the percentage of adults watching cartoons has soared with adolescent behavior now becoming common place in male adults into their 30’s and more recently into their 40’s.

Right brain activity causes the body to release chemicals called endorphins, which make it feel good (endorphins, a natural sedative with similar properties to heroin), thus resulting in an addiction.

In one study it was found that TV reduces brain activity in the pre frontal cortex (higher level reasoning), promoting activity in lower brain regions, resulting in less intelligence and the more animal-like behaviors of sex, violence and food.

Blessed (yrwa) is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful. (1:1)

But his delight is in the Law/Word/Instruction of the LORD, and on His Word he meditates day and night; and everything he does, he prospers. (1:2,3)

“You are my Son; today I have begotten you.”Kiss the Son, lest he be angry (2:7,12)

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (2:12)

Psalms 1 & 2

Ps. 117 Praise the Lord (v 1, first) Praise the Lord (v 2, last)

Ps. 118 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for his is good; for his loyal love endures forever! (v 1, first)Oh give thanks to the LORD, for his is good; for his loyal love endures forever! (v 29, last)

Ps. 119 Ps. 120 -134

Ps. 135 Praise the Lord (v 1, first) Praise the Lord (v 2, last)

Ps. 136 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for his is good; for his loyal love endures forever! (v 1, first)Oh give thanks to the God of heaven, for his loyal love endures forever! (v 26, last)

I, on my part, here renounce all acquaintance with you! I will NEVER sit down at the same

table; enter the same room; or breathe the same air with you;

never speak to you; listen to you; or recognize you in any manner,

until my deep wrongs are avenged!

George Mueller for the first 4 years after conversion at age 20 said, "I made no progress in my spiritual development. But when I regularly read on through the whole bible with reference to my own heart and soul, I directly made progress. Then my peace and joy continued more and more; now I have been doing this for 47 years; I have now read through the whole Bible about 100 times and I always find it fresh when I begin again. Thus my peace and joy have increased more and more." He said this when he was 71. He lived 21 more years; A.T. Pearson who wrote his biography said that Mueller by the time he was 92 had read the Bible from cover to cover, 200 times. Which means that from 71 to 92, he was reading through the Bible four times each year!