At times, the raising of children would try the patience of Job! As Art Linkletter says, they do and say almost anything. But what got to me most, was the questions they asked. I did not mind the questions which could be answered with a simple "Yes" or "No." Or how old was Methuselah when he died? The questions that required an explanation -- those were the ones that always got me. A simple question was almost always followed with a "Why?" In turn, a "Because" would always be followed with a "Because Why?" I soon learned that I might as well give them the rationale for the answer, because someday they would be raising families of their own. I was teaching a principle of parenting and besides the best time to teach a principle was when they wanted to learn, not when I wanted to teach it. It is called the "Frog in the pocket principle" – When a boy shows up at school with a frog in the pocket, it is time to teach biology, not the lesson plans for the day.

On a beautiful spring day Sunday morning, the kind for a picnic or going to the park to feed the ducks, that the question happened. We had just bought a new car and the children were really excited about it. The two girls were looking forward to the drive, but my son had other things on his mind. Then came the question I had asked myself a number of years earlier and had worked out an answer for myself. But was it the answer for him? You know how children are these days. It was not a simple "Yes" or "No" type question, but one that would have to be answered, and I wanted to give the correct answer to a life time question. The question came when we were walking out the front door of the house to get in the brand new car. The question -- "Why do we have to go to Church?" "Why do we have to go to Church?" A "you have to . . . because I said so" was never an acceptable answer. A strictly Scriptural answer would not do, as the children were at the age where they doubted everything including Santa Claus and needed proof. That is what the schools were teaching, not prayer and Christian values. The questioning of authority, government, the Wars in Asia, the civil rights of the individual, and race relations; "do what you want," was "the in thing" back then.

As we got into the new car, I started up the motor, and said:

"Son, Today, 1.8 million people are incarcerated in jails and prisons in the United States. That is the largest number for any country in the world. In the last twelve years federal and state governments have spent 148 billion dollars just for building new and larger jails and prisons. The governments spend as much in three and a half years to maintain the prison as to build it. In other words in a 30 year period only six percent of a prison cost is the expense of construction. The federal and state governments plan to spend another 35 billion over the next five years for new prisons and jails. The prisons and jails are full, operating at 115 percent occupancy.

Between thirty and thirty-five percent of men inmates are non-violent, but the average cost of housing a prisoner for one year is $64,000. $64,000 for one year."

"Now, who are the people being sentenced to prison?

First, the highest percentage is children of unwed mothers. In 1967 twenty-six percent of all non-whites were born out of wedlock. Now it is seventy-six percent. For the whites, it was nine percent, but now it is twenty-six percent. In another fifteen years it is estimated at fifty to eighty percent for whites.

Second, the average prisoner has less than an eighth grade reading level. Poor schooling, and the inability to make good decisions, result in not getting nor maintaining a job.

Third, over eighty-five percent did not have a stable job when they committed the crime. If one does not have the ability to read and write, one can not get and maintain a job."

As we finally got out of the driveway, I interjected "Boy doesn't this car run smoothly."

"Dad, what does that prison stuff have to do with me?"

"Son, the prisons are full of people that do what they want, not what God wants. Remember the movie last night. You said 'that couple was just messing around.' It used to be 'They were committing adultery.' Then it became cheating, and then extra-marital relations. When stated that way, it does not sound like they were doing anything wrong. I have even heard you say you had to be married to commit adultery."

"Dad, I remember that discussion."

"Son, it is still adultery. What I did not say then was that some man-made laws are not in harmony with God's law. Remember when you asked the question, what happens if our dog "Snoopy" bites someone, and I said 'every dog gets one bite.' The first time a dog bites someone, the owner is told that the second time, the dog will be taken and killed. The same principle is true with adultery. The civil courts in Alabama say the first time one has sexual relations with a person, was an unavoidable accident, but the second time with that same person, then it is adultery. This is not the truth of God's law.

1. One can get pregnant the first time.
2. One can get a sexually transmitted disease the first time.
3. One can get AIDS the first time.
4. One can even die due to the first time. God knows that. That is why he wrote about it in his Bible.

God said the same thing about killing, murder, the taking of someone's life -- justifiable homicide. Whatever you call it, it is still killing. It is the same with lies and lying -- with stealing. That is what the Bible teaches."

We turned the corner and now only had to go six blocks to church.

"Son, that is what I am trying to tell you. Don't you crawl up into mother's and my lap every night for a hug, a squeeze, and a good night kiss. You need it. We need it. You and your sisters get all the love from your mother and me. That is what a family is all about. God made you that way."

"You need a good education. By a good education, I mean not only the ability to read, write, learn history, arithmetic, and literature, which the public schools teach, but the ability to judge what is good for you and how to choose your friends. This comes from Bible school and the morning worship service. You need to establish values, Christian values as taught in the Bible. The public schools don't teach these, nor do they allow you to pray, except in case of nuclear attack." "Dad!" "Just checking to see if you were listening."

"Science has shown that people who love and are being loved live longer. Like last night on the news, we saw the story, that people with dogs live longer than people without dogs or cats. Also, people who love and are loved are less likely to commit suicide. That is why the Bible says in I John 4:19 'We love, because He first loved us.'

People that smoke, drink, chew, and use drugs live shorter lives. The Bible says in Roman 12:1 'by the mercies of God, that we present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God as a reasonable service.'"

"Dad, give me the short answer. One of those twenty-five words or less answer."

"Son, how about a thirty-one word answer.

Luke 10:27 states it in the second person--'Thou,' but I always read it in the first person--'I.'

'I shalt love the Lord my God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my strength, and with all my mind; and my neighbour as myself.' Thirty-one words containing the Golden Rule and then some. These two great commandments are found in Matthew 19, Mark 12, Luke 10, Romans 13, James 2, and Galatians – i.e., the Good Samaritan, the rich man who went away sorrowful, the royal law -- these summarize the intent of the Bible and how to live."

We finally turned into the church parking lot and I shut off the motor to the new car.

My son shouted "There is Bryan. I'll see you after church." and off he went. I yelled at him "Son, come back, you forgot your "user's manual." With a smile, he said, "Dad, you're right, I am just like the car," and off he went.

As I got out of the car, I wondered if I had answered his question satisfactory. I knew if he carried and read his God given "user's manual" often enough, he would know why he was going to church.

I did not even talk about Christ and his death on the cross for our sins. I had not even quoted Hebrews 10:25 about "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some." That would have been too easy and would have probably missed the point, if one is not sure of the Bible. While I have brought the illustrations in this lesson up to the present, the ideas are still the same.

• How would you answer this question if your children asked -- "Why do we have to go to Church?"
• How have you answered the question for yourself?
• To live longer?
• To learn to love and be loved as a two parent family?
• To get a Christian education?
• To be with friends?
• To stay out of prison?

Ten years from now, it is estimated that over four million will be imprisoned at 325 Billion dollars a year.

1. No love from a two parent family,
2. Poor education and not knowing right from wrong?
3. No jobs.

God wrote a "user's manual" for his creation -- mankind, and if mankind follows it, mankind will be happier, more pleasant, and have a more content life on this earth. The love of God and his people living in harmony -- no adultery, no killing, no stealing, no prisons. Now over thirty years later, the car has been junked, but the answer to that question "WHY DO WE HAVE TO GO TO CHURCH" and other questions, I must have answered right. He is still carrying the God given "user's manual" -- the Bible with him.