Brownies with a Difference!
Many parents are hard pressed to explain to their youth why some music, movies, books, and magazines are not acceptable material for them to bring into the home or to listen to or see.
One parent came up with an original idea that is hard to refute. The father listened to all the reasons his children gave for wanting to see a particular PG-13 movie. It had their favorite actors. Everyone else was seeing it. Even church members said it was great. It was only rated PG-13 because of the suggestion of sex--they never really showed it. The language was pretty good--the Lord's name was only used in vain three times in the whole movie.
The teens did admit there was a scene where a building and a bunch of people were blown up, but the violence was just the normal stuff. It wasn't too bad. And, even if there were a few minor things, the special effects were fabulous and the plot was action packed.
However, even with all the justifications the teens made for the PG-13 rating, the father still wouldn't give in. He didn't even give his children a satisfactory explanation for saying, "No." He just said, "No!"
A little later on that evening the father asked his teens if they would like some brownies he had baked. He explained that he'd taken the family's favorite recipe and added a little something new. The children asked what it was.
The father calmly replied that he had added dog poop. However, he quickly assured them, it was only a little bit. All other ingredients were gourmet quality and he had taken great care to bake the brownies at the precise temperature for the exact time. He was sure the brownies would be superb.
Even with their father's promise that the brownies were of almost perfect quality, the teens would not take any. The father acted surprised. After all, it was only one small part that was causing them to be so stubborn. He was certain they would hardly notice it. Still the teens held firm and would not try the brownies.
The father then told his children how the movie they wanted to see was just like the brownies. Our minds lead us into believing that just a little bit of evil won't matter. But, the truth is even a little bit of poop makes the difference between a great treat and something disgusting and totally unacceptable.
The father went on to explain that even though the movie industry would have us believe that most of today's movies are acceptable fare for adults and youth, they are not.
Now, when this father's children want to see something that is of questionable material, the father merely asks them if they would like some of his special dog poop brownies. That closes the subject.
Received from Merry Hearts Mailing List.
Note: This is a good story to tell your children, since it puts sin into its proper perspective. I presented this story with the appropriate props (brownies and the "difference" - securely sealed in a plastic zip-lock bag) to our Children's Sunday School Class. Needless to say, it made a big impression. They were also somewhat leery of eating the brownies afterward, and wouldn't do so until I assured them many times that the brownies did not have the additional ingredient. Bon appetite!
Reflections
We are what we think.
- 07/25/2017 07:00 AM
Take Up and Read: Questions That Matter
This current blog series on Reflections is intended to encourage Christians to read more vigorously by providing a beginner’s guide to some of the Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully a very brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers, as St. Augustine was called to in his dramatic conversion to Christianity,…
() - 07/18/2017 07:00 AM
The Big Questions of Life: Death and Grief, Part 3
It is clearly not easy to experience intense pain, either physically or mentally, or be the victim of a natural disaster or of someone’s evil actions. But it may even be worse to watch our loved ones experience painful and tragic circumstances. And yet, human life includes all sorts of suffering. Because suffering and death are inevitable, all of us…
() - 07/11/2017 07:00 AM
Logically Questioning Strange Ideas and Controversial Theories
As a Christian scholar and logic instructor, I often get asked about my thoughts on strange phenomena, controversial theories, and alternative conspiratorial explanations. Through the years I’ve frequently been asked about such unusual things as UFOs, the apparitions of Mary, near-death experiences, and a host of conspiracy theories such as those relating to the JFK assassination, denial of the Holocaust,…
() - 07/04/2017 07:00 AM
The Big Questions of Life: Death and Grief, Part 2
When thinking through the big questions of life, we must include honest reflection about our mortality. Just as we are born, so also shall we die. Medical technology may lengthen the human life span somewhat, but it will not succeed in curing or eliminating death. So while it isn’t always easy to think soberly and realistically about our inevitable demise,…
() - 06/27/2017 07:00 AM
Making Evangelical Churches More Inviting to Christian Intellectuals
There is a growing crisis in evangelical churches today. However, most evangelicals are unaware of the nature of the emergency or of its looming repercussions. The problem is that many intellectually oriented Christian adults increasingly feel out of place in evangelical churches. They often say that as intellectuals, the typical evangelical church has little to offer them in terms of…
() - 06/20/2017 07:00 AM
The Big Questions of Life: Death and Grief, Part 1
This might sound a little strange or even morbid to some, but I am captivated by the topic of death. The first Catholic funeral I attended as a boy fascinated me. I’ll never forget the elaborate Funeral Mass, the foreboding casket lying near the altar, and the priest’s liberal use of incense, which filled the church with a pleasant aroma.…
() - 06/13/2017 12:00 PM
Take Up and Read: A History of Apologetics
This current blog series on Reflections is intended to encourage Christians to read more vigorously by providing a beginner’s guide to some of the Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully a very brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers, as St. Augustine was called to in his dramatic conversion to Christianity,…
() - 06/06/2017 06:00 AM
Work and Leisure: Divine Gifts but Potential Idols
In the Christian world-and-life view, both work and leisure are considered good things. Both come as gifts from God’s hand and are rooted and discerned from the Lord’s foundational act in creation. Yet these gracious endowments can be easily misused and become idols that wreak havoc in people’s lives. The diabolical nature of sin is that it so enslaves people…
() - 05/30/2017 06:00 AM
Take Up and Read: Who Is This Jesus?
This current blog series on Reflections is intended to encourage Christians to read more vigorously by providing a beginner’s guide to some of the Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully a very brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers, as St. Augustine was called to in his dramatic conversion to Christianity,…
() - 05/23/2017 06:00 AM
How Does Zoroastrianism Compare to Christianity?
Everybody knows about the Middle Eastern monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But few people know there is another religion that originated in the Middle East whose adherents also believe in and worship one God. That little known religion is called Zoroastrianism, or the Parsi faith. As we saw in my previous article, Zoroastrianism is the ancient Persian religion that…
()
http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/brownies.html
Last updated November 25, 2006
Top of Page 
Back