Insights from the Word
  • Home
  • Articles
    • 2000 Articles 1-7 >
      • 1. The Perfect Storm
      • 2. Biographical Update
      • 3. Why so much Judgment?
      • 4. Glasses come in Pairs
      • 5. Why so much about Church?
      • 6. Reflections on an Election
      • 7. For Me to Live is Maintenance
    • 2001 Articles 8-22 >
      • 8. From Common Sense to nonsense
      • 9. Left Behind
      • 10. Owners or Guardians?
      • 11. From Honeymoon Harmony to Divorce
      • 12. For Goodness Sake
      • 13. A Perfect Prayer
      • 14. No is not a Negative
      • 15. What My Shoes have Taught Me
      • 16. For Mercy Sake
      • 17. The Attack on America
      • 18. The Motivation of a Sucide Terrorest
      • 19. The Message of the Terorist
      • 20. The Anthrax Scare
      • 21. Real Thanksgiving
      • 22. I have been Robbed!
    • 2002 Articles 23-39 >
      • 23. A Tribute to George
      • 24. Church Math
      • 25. Marriage Math
      • 26. How Sad
      • 27. The Anatomy of an Affair
      • 28. "I have a Problem."
      • 29. When
      • 30. Sport History
      • 31. Under God
      • 32. An "Honest" Thief
      • 33. Why does Life have to be so Difficult?
      • 34. A Tribute to Maria
      • 35. What Jesus' Words Have Taught Me
      • 36. Who Ministers to the Minister?
      • 37. The Whiner
      • 38. Reckoned Righteous by Works
      • 39. Are New Year's Resolutions Biblical?
    • 2003 Articles 40-53 >
      • 40. One of the Greatest Need America
      • 41. Your Memorial Table
      • 42. George W. Bush Verses Saddam Hussein
      • 43. Learning to Listen
      • 44. The Problem with Gambling
      • 45. Memorial Day
      • 46. My Ecounter with an Orthhodox Jew
      • 47. Scott Free
      • 48. What My Auto Accident Taught Me
      • 49. The Decline in Family Living
      • 50. Give Me a Problem
      • 51. Decoding the Da Vinci Code
      • 52. Thanksgiving is not a Holiday
      • 53. What a Christmas Present!
    • 2004 Articles 54-67 >
      • 54. What Do You Mean by that?
      • 55. What are Parents to Do?
      • 56. "The Passion of Christ"
      • 57. Martha Stewart's Greatest Lesson
      • 58. Same Sex Marriage
      • 59. A Tribute to a Servant
      • 60. Happy Marriages
      • 61. Independence
      • 62. Kerry's Logic
      • 63. The Olympic Spirit
      • 64. Playing Cards
      • 65. Cardinal Virtures
      • 66. Now that the Election is over
      • 67. Tribute to My Mother
    • 2005 Articles 68-79 >
      • 68. Real Spiritual Growth
      • 69. No Time to Think
      • 70. The Ten Commandments Controversy
      • 71. Do We Need a Pope?
      • 72. Everybody Loves Raymond
      • 73. Examples Worthy of Note
      • 74. How Two Different People Learned to Get Along
      • 75. "The God who Wasn't"
      • 76. Katrina and Now Rita!
      • 77. Would You Say "No" to $4 Million?
      • 78. "In God We Trust"
      • 79. The Redemption of Tookie Willaims
    • 2006 Articles 80-91 >
      • 80. Is Religion a Problem?
      • 81. The Rights of the Born
      • 82. Did You Hear What She Said about Muslims?
      • 83. Judas: Betrayer or Best Friend?
      • 84. Weekend or Week--Beginning?
      • 85. A Tribute to My (Spiritual) Father
      • 86. Your Relationship to the Word of God
      • 87. What an Opportunity!
      • 88. America's Four Gods
      • 89. How to Deal with Your Enemies
      • 90. The Case for Systematic Exposition
      • 91. Don't Miss the Message
    • 2007 Articles 92-104 >
      • 92. I can Afford it!
      • 93. The Gospel according to Patricia
      • 94. The Functional Church
      • 95. Who wants to Deal with a Taxman?
      • 96. Vital Virtures
      • 97. Have You Grown up Yet?
      • 98. A July 4th Reminder
      • 99. The Volume of Silence
      • 100. Biblical Illiteracy
      • 101. A Modest Political Propospal
      • 102. How to Handle Credit Cards
      • 103. When it is Tough to be Thankful
      • 104. Romney's Religion
    • 2008 Articles 105-114 >
      • 105. Continue
      • 106. A Tribute to Jack
      • 107. Why Good Ftiday?
      • 108. Happy Birthday
      • 109. The Most Important Room in the House
      • 110. The 80-20 Rule
      • 111. Be Sensible
      • 112. To Be Like Christ
      • 113. Sweet Reasonableness
      • 114. The Other Benefit of Christmas
    • 2009 Articles 115-126 >
      • 115. What Determines who Obtains Eternal Life?
      • 116. The Healing Touch
      • 117. The Function of Dysfunction
      • 118. When Your World Falls Apart
      • 119. 24-7-365
      • 120. To Complain or not to Complain
      • 121. "Suggestions"
      • 122. Making a Mark
      • 123. God's Timing
      • 124. Jesus Wept
      • 125. Andrew
      • 126. The Cost of Service
    • 2010 Articles 127-138 >
      • 127. Don't Ask; Don't Tell
      • 128. A Forest Dark
      • 129. The Rule of Law
      • 130. The Hits and Miss of Grace
      • 131. People Need the Lord
      • 132. Examples Worthy of Notes
      • 133. A Hassle Reduction Strategy
      • 134. Gossip
      • 135. My Favorite Poem
      • 136. Let's Put the Cross in its Place
      • 137. "Don't Spare Me"
      • 138 The Unseen Message of Christmas
    • 2011 Articles 139-147 >
      • 139. What Parents Should Teach their Children
      • 140. How to Avoid Having to Serve
      • 141. What Happen to Mike?
      • 142. An Atheist Recommends God
      • 143. Surprise
      • 144. Socialism
      • 145. Union, Unity, and Uniformity
      • 146. Get in the Way
      • 147. "Let George do it."
    • 2012 Articles 148-160 >
      • 148. Truth or Consequences
      • 149. Don't Leave Home without it
      • 150. Take a Break
      • 151. The Worth of an Individual
      • 152. A Tribute to Nana
      • 153. Jesus Crossed the Line
      • 154. Thomas Jefferson
      • 155. Taxes
      • 156. You Must be Present to Win
      • 157. A Grandfather's Wish
      • 158. Trials. Temptations, and Tests
      • 159. Is There a Santa Claus?
      • 160. A Tribute to Sumner Wemp
    • 2013 Articles 161-172 >
      • 161. How to Finish Well
      • 162. Rewards
      • 163. Spiritual Binging
      • 164. There is no way out of this one
      • 165. Half Empty or Half Full
      • 166. Nones
      • 167. Greet One Another with a Holy Kiss
      • 168. God's Answer to Atheism
      • 169. Obedience
      • 170. The Problem of Fellowship with God
      • 171. Character Development
      • 172. For Mercy's Sake
    • 2014 Articles 173-180 >
      • 173. Lies
      • 174. Endure to the End
      • 175. Teaching Children How Money Grows
      • 176. The Principle of Delay
      • 177. By Their Fruit
      • 178. Sermons that Changed My Life
      • 179. If Paul Harvey were the Devil
      • 180. The Principle of Practice
    • 2015 Articles 181- >
      • 181. In Wrath Remember Mercy
      • 182. Choosing the Right Shepherd
      • 183. The Lord's Requirements
      • 184. Your Ear Lobe. Thumb, and Big Toe
      • More articles will be added as they are written
  • Basic Courses
    • The Spiritual Life
    • The Family Life (The Ultimate in Marriage)
    • The Christian Life
    • Bible Overview (The Plane View of the Bible)
    • Bible Survey (The Bible: Book by Book)
    • Bible Doctrine (Relating Doctrine to Daily Life)
    • Bible Evangelism (Evangelism without Fear)
    • Bible Study (Oh to Know the Truth)
    • Bible Teaching (How to Prepare Effective Messaages)
    • Church History
  • Advanced Courses
    • The Formation of the Bible (the canon)
    • The Translation of the Bible
    • The Chronology of the Bible
    • The Historical Accuracy of the Bible
    • Jewish Prophecies of the Messiah
    • The Synoptic Problem
    • The Riddle of Revelation
  • Topical Studies
    • Struggling with Assurance
    • Eternal Security
    • Prayer
    • The Will of God
    • The 5 Principles
    • Are Believers under the Mosaic Law?
    • Why So Many Denominations?
    • Natural Disasters
    • The Explanation of Mass Murder
    • Do we need a Pope?
    • More Topical Studies coming
  • Theological Studies
    • Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?
    • Roman Catholicism
    • Calvinism
    • Lordship Salvation: Is it Biblical?
    • John MacArthur Jr.'s System of Salvation
    • The Miraculous Today
    • Should you seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?
    • Speaking in Tongues
  • More
    • Free Commentaries >
      • Ruth
      • Proverbs
    • Free Books >
      • Optimum Health
    • Free Audio Messages
    • Books For Sale >
      • Evangelism: A Biblical Approach
      • Repentance: The Most Misunderstood Word in the Bible
      • Salvation Controversy
      • Joshua
      • Daniel
      • Amos
      • Jonah
      • Gospel of John
      • Galatians
      • Titus
    • About Mike
    • Contact Mike

The Decline in Family Living

God intended for parents and children to live together as a family (Deut. 6:7-9). When America was first founded and immigrants, armed with a Judeo-Christian heritage, poured onto American soil, the social structure was such that living as a family was the norm. Most families lived on a farm and children spent time with their parents. Then, family living began to decline.

1.   The Industrial Revelation made America more urban. Urban fathers worked outside the home.

2.   The automobile made the family more mobile, which took them outside the home more, but family still lived in neighborhoods. In the neighborhood, there was a sense of community in that people knew their neighbors and their neighbors knew them.

3.   When World War II came, the men left home to go to war and the women left home to go to the factories. When the war was over, the men came home and the women didn’t. The extra income was nice for extra things and there were more things to buy. Nevertheless, although the neighbors were not as close, there was still the neighborhood. Neighborhoods had sidewalks! Homes built before 1974 have sidewalks. Sidewalks gave people another opportunity to meet and greet their neighbors. Many newer communities lack sidewalks, so residents tend to drive (“Where you live affects your life,” Parade Magazine, August 3, 2003, p. 9).

4.   Prior to World War II, the radio began to occupy the evenings of many. In the 1950’s, TV began to replace the radio as the activity of choice in the evening.

5.   In the meantime, the car, the sexual revelation, birth control, and abortion took teens more and more out of the house and away from the influence and the ideals of the home.

6.   As the population grew and cities expanded, American became more and more suburban. In suburbia, there were fewer and fewer sidewalks and more and more driveways. There was less and less sense of family and community.

7.   By the end of the twentieth century, the very nature of the family was being redefined. Many had been reared by one parent. In 1960, every state in the United States had a law against homosexuality. Now, homosexuals want to be legally married! As a result of these changes, the definition of “family” has changed. Many are confused as to what a family is supposed to be.

There is more. In many places in America today, once children enter the public schools system, they are taught tolerance is a great virtue, not something that can be a great vice as well, that homosexuality is simple an alternative, not an abomination, and that sex outside of marriage is permissible, provided that you use a condom to prevent a disease and/or an unwanted pregnancy. Then, there are the movies, the music, and those monstrous computer games, etc.

Family living is no longer the norm. What is a family to do? The pattern for family living is in Deuteronomy 6. Parents are to love the Lord (Dt. 6:5), know the Word (Dt. 6:6), and teach the Word diligently to their children, which means spending time with them (Dt. 6:7). It takes a great deal of thought, planning, energy, and discipline to establish and maintain family living in the American culture of the 21st century. We need to pray for the families we know.
                                 © G. Michael Cocoris, 9/30/2003
Proudly powered by Weebly