Chronicles of the End Times
Chronicles of the End Times
Faith and the Modern Family Crisis
Are we witnessing the collapse of the traditional family? Join us as we take an eye-opening journey through the startling statistics of family breakdown over the past 70 years, revealing a dramatic rise in children born to unmarried mothers, surging from 5% in the 1950s to a staggering 41% in 2020. Listen to Marlon Wayans as he passionately shares how his father's presence molded him and his siblings into successful, upright individuals. We'll dissect the consequences of drifting away from traditional family values and recognize the irreplaceable roles that fathers and mothers play in nurturing a God-centered upbringing. Drawing wisdom from 1 Corinthians 13, we highlight the timeless virtues of patience, kindness, and selflessness, essential for building strong and loving families.
Welcome everyone. This is Russ Scalzo Chronicles of the End Times. Thank you for being with me today. I'm excited to talk about some things that I feel are very important and things that you have also seen deteriorate over the years. Of course, the political situation in America, the economy, the war in Israel, the war in Ukraine, other less popular wars going on around the world, Elon Musk and X banned from Brazil, and so many other things. But today we're going to talk about the family. Today we're going to be looking at a specific problem that has been growing exponentially over the last 70 or so years, and that is the breakdown of the family and in our society.
00:55
Today, that is supported. Family is whatever you want to make it, but God has specific ideas on how families should operate and who they should be and how we should raise our children, so our children will be blessed, that our children would be prosperous in every way spiritually, mentally, physically, financially. So, let's look at a few numbers. In the 1950s, 5% of children were born to unmarried mothers, and that jumps to 41% in 2020. We don't know what it is now, but I'm sure it's not much better. What's even sadder is, today's society is okay with that. In fact, they applaud the fact that children don't need a father and a mother, that it's fine. You know, women can raise their own children and they can make their own way, and the role of a man or a father is no longer treated with respect.
01:50
I want you to listen to a little interview. It only lasts about a minute or so by Marlon Wayans. You may know the Wayans brothers. They are hilarious, talented actors who came on the scene 0n the show In Living Color in the 90s, and this is one of the younger brothers. Let's check out what he has to say about his family life and about his dad.
Speaker 2
02:14
Something that a lot of people on my block didn't have.
I had a mother that cared for us, and I had a father the importance of a father a man that is there. And when my father died, he said if you ever want to know me, get to know my father. Whenever you miss me, I'm in that book right there. So sometimes at night, when I can't sleep because my daddy is gone, I pick that book up and those words scream to me as my father talking to me. My dad, Howard Wayans, was a man, so much so that my daddy raised kings. You know, we are successful because we was raised right. We had a mother that loved us and a father that protected us and respected, and we had something to answer to besides them, God.
02:50
My parents did a great job. How do you get all these successful children? Because my daddy taught me a scripture in the Bible honor thy mother and father, so that your days on this earth will be long. The scripture is just about being grateful and honoring. I honor my parents now with my walk as a father. I honor them, I take care of my kids. I'm a man. I am a man. My brothers are men. My father raised good men.
Speaker 1
03:10
That is really powerful. When I heard that, I really wanted to share it. It's sad how fathers and their roles have been torn down by this society. It seems we want to rebuild everything. Tear everything down that God put in place.
03:27
This is where many people's heads are at. Well, we can do it our way. You know that's a bunch of garbage. You don't have to live like that. We don't have to go by those rules. We can have it our own way. We can mix things up with genders and stuff. We don't go by those laws anymore.
03:42
But let me tell you right now, it affects the children. It affects the decisions they're going to make. It affects how they act, how they perform, how they handle themselves in situations, how they treat others. Do they have that great love? Do they have that God-given protection of a father and a mother? And I know bad things happen, believe me. It's not like I'm isolated from these things and haven't felt them in my own family, but when I look at young men today, I wonder. They want to play video games, watch football, hang out with their friends, have some beers, and it seems like they want to be Peter Pan. They don't ever want to grow up. They want to make some money, have some fun, and have a nice car. If that's all you want and who you are, please don't get married. Please don't have children, because we have a big enough mess as it is. But those that want to step up, those who want to be men, those who want to take responsibility, who want to be leaders, mentors, they're like finding find gold. Are there young men out there like that today? Absolutely. I've met them, but I can tell you they are far from the majority.
04:48
Many times at a wedding, you'll hear someone read 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, affectionately known as the love chapter. I'm only going to read four verses. It puts in perfect perspective what we're talking about today. It says love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, does not boast, it is not proud; it is not rude, it's not self-seeking, it is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Now we can apply that to ourselves, and we should. It should be our goal to be like that. How in the world are we going to get like that when our nature is really the opposite of that? Right, we're kind of self-serving. You know, if we just let ourselves go and follow our hearts which is always disastrous and do what we want, we're going to be far from this.
05:49
But what I want to bring to our attention in these closing minutes is, who is love? The scripture tells us that God is love. We've talked about this before. He's not someone who loves or someone who loves better than anybody else. Jesus is love. He is the essence of love. It's who he is.
06:10
When Jesus said I am, he's saying I am everything. Basically, what he's saying. The beginning, the end, everything that exists is Jesus, and if we can grab a hold of that, then we have something. So, let's think of it in His name. Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind, he does not envy; he does not boast, he's not proud, he's not rude, he's not self-seeking, he is not easily angered; he keeps no record of wrongs. He does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. This is who he is. This is who Jesus Christ is, and he set up the way we should live.
06:54
He created the family. He said do this according to my word and you will be blessed. You will have peace, no matter what happens to you. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you because I am love. Because we have walked away from this and because we have rebelled, our society is an absolute disaster. We are like people walking around in the pitch black, stumbling, putting our hands forward, trying to find where we're going. Without the light of the word of God, using trial and error to be fulfilled, it's impossible. Throwing darts against the wall, hoping something sticks.
07:34
Listen, we're all broken, unless you can go back in time and start your life over. We're all broken. We've all got stuff to fix, we all got stuff that needs to be forgiven and we all have things that need to be healed. So, if you're like that today, don't waste any time. Reach out to the one who is love. Reach out to Jesus Christ for healing and for brand new beginnings. This is Russ Scalzo for Chronicles of the End Times. If you enjoyed the podcast, please go to https://www.russscalzo.com and click on support. I appreciate everyone who gives it means a lot. God bless, keep looking up. The King is coming.
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