Friday, January 23, 2026

It's Friday, January 23, 2026.

I'm Albert Moller, and this is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from

a Christian worldview.

Sometimes there's a story, and then you recognize, no, inside this story, there's a bigger

story.

So I want us to look at a major report coming out.

It's coming off from Australia.

Here's what it tells us.

After about a month ago, a law went into effect that eventually barred most children and

younger teenagers from access to social media platforms.

The New York Times and others are reporting that nearly five million teen accounts have

been removed.

The platforms, 10 in particular, are the law prohibits when it comes to young people's

use.

They include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit.

And the law says that those who are not yet 16 are not allowed on these platforms and

the platforms are legally bound to basically remove users or block them who are under age

16.

So you have to be 16 years old.

That has to be certified by some kind of process in order for you to have access to

one of these platforms.

All right.

So that's interesting.

And it's based upon the fact that the Australian government was faced with an avalanche of

evidence indicating the harm that comes to younger teenagers and to children when it comes

to exposure to social media.

Now, by the way, this doesn't mean that it's safer for those who are 16 and older.

It simply means that the Australian government, like most governments, describes a certain

age range for what's often referred to as paternalistic policies.

That's the government standing in as a father or as a parent to say, you ought not to do

this.

Okay.

That paternalistic policy is really important here because I think the big story is not

five million young users kicked off these platforms.

I think the big story is how they're getting back on because news reports are telling

us that these teenagers in particular are getting back on.

How are they getting back on?

Well, the big shock is many of them are getting back on with the cooperation of their parents

and that's the parents who are helping their teenagers under age 16 to get around these

policies sometimes by signing on as the parents or using the parents' information.

And it is rather difficult in Australia.

It turns out we are told for young people who are covered by this law, who are not yet

16, to use parental information or parental access without the parents finding out.

And that's the big story here.

It's not only that the parents are finding out and they're okay with it.

It is that in many cases, the parents are well, they're frustrated that their young people

don't have access to social media and so they are actively intervening in order to

subvert the law.

And so it's not the kids alone who are trying to get around the law.

It's parents in many cases who are facilitating that get around.

Now you look at this and this really does tell us something about modern parenting and

what you're looking at in the challenge of the social media and the digital age.

It turns out that the seduction is so great that you have a lot of parents who are saying,

look, these kids don't have a decent life if they're not online.

You kick these kids off these platforms, how are they going to have any friends?

How are they going to communicate?

This is depriving them of some kind of basic human right.

You also have social media influencers and this is something I just scratched my head

and wondered at this parents who are proud of their children and teenagers for being social

media influencers.

And if they get cut off, of course, on the platforms, they can't continue to influence

in this social media way.

And so these parents are facilitating, once again, by allowing or even facilitating their

young people to sign in with their own information and even affirming that it's the parent.

The parents are affirming.

It's me when actually it is their children and it's bad enough when you have children

and teenagers who find a way to go around when you have the parents facilitating that

just raises the stakes enormously.

And it does tell us about the redefinition of parenting.

So many parents believe it is their job to keep their kids happy by the kids' definition.

And not only that, far too many parents, and this is true of middle-class parents and

it's not just limited to the middle class, but the middle class are the big numbers here.

It is just true that there are too many middle-class parents who like their children being popular

and like the fact that their children are popular or trying to be popular online.

Of course, the reason the Australian government put this law into effect is the devastating

data coming of how many young people are harmed by social media exposure.

And by harm, we're talking about acts of self-harm, we're talking about depression, we're

talking about isolation and rage, we're talking about all kinds of things.

And just even the exposure of these children to issues of relational and well, multidimensional

vulnerability, that's something parents are supposed to prevent, not facilitate, even

in the violation of a law.

But you know, Christians need to recognize that there is something in this problem that

points to a fundamental truth, and that is government can't parent.

Now if parents won't parent, that's a disaster.

But it does come down to parents.

The government can pass a law, but if the parents allow this go around and even with their

children and teenagers seek to subvert the law, it's the parents who are really in the

driver's seat here.

And that's something that is just basic to creation order.

It reminds us that government can adopt all kinds of laws, but if parents are determined

to subvert those laws, well, there's a societal breakdown right there.

And this is why this story is at least in the start about 5 million children and teenagers

kicked off the platforms, but the story ends up being about how many parents and others

are helping them to get right back on.

Okay, next I want to turn before we take questions, I want to turn to another headline.

This one is about an appeals court pending decision on whether or not the state of Texas

can have the tin commandments posted in classrooms on classroom walls.

Okay, so that's just the interesting way we're going to get into this issue today.

And this particular report tells us that even as this case has been working as way through

the courts, it is now a front end center in terms of a constitutional issue.

And predictably, the sides are lined out here.

You have citizens who say, look, the tin commandments are absolutely fundamental to Western

civilization.

They need to be in the classroom.

And you have others who are saying, no, that is an unconstitutional imposition of a specific

religion and a religious document and that shouldn't be accepted.

Now when it comes down to that conflict, I'm with the first party, not with a second.

It is absolutely true that the tin commandments are absolutely fundamental to Western civilization.

And I will make that argument and I will make it as strongly as I can, but that's not

the interesting part of this story.

It's interesting to be sure.

But more interesting are some comments made by parents about having the tin commandments

in the classroom.

And so I want to look at one particular comment from a parent.

This is also in a Times report.

And you have a parent here who is talking about his own children.

And he's talking about the tin commandments.

And let me tell you, the article sets it up by saying this quote, critics of the law

say that posting the commandments where students have no choice but to see them amounts

to state endorsement of religion and exclude students of face not connected to the commandments.

I think that's a ridiculous argument, by the way, especially when there are other issues,

other statements, other documents on the wall.

This is a particular animus towards Christianity and Judaism.

I think we need to recognize that.

It's exactly what it is.

By the way, it is a secular, allergic response to the law, a law based in divine revelation.

Now that's interesting, but it's the next paragraph that's a lot more interesting.

And my guess is you're not going to see this coming, okay?

So the next paragraph sites a teacher quote, it, meaning the tin commandments, it talks

about adultery, it talks about coveting your neighbor's man servant said, I won't

say his name, a teacher, who's a fifth grade math teacher in Keller, Texas, who has his

own young children quote, I don't want them meaning his own children to have to figure

out what these things mean.

End quote.

Okay.

So the article begins with a kind of secular allergy to the tin commandments, that's very

clear.

We understand why.

But when you look at this particular parental comment, it's a parent saying, look, I've

got young children and the tin commandment talks about things as adultery and coveting

your neighbor's wife and man servant, et cetera.

He says, I don't want to have to define those things.

I don't think it's fair to put those in the classrooms.

Parents don't want their children being exposed to such things.

Okay.

So now we have the argument that children shouldn't learn the tin commandments because they can't

handle the tin commandments and parents shouldn't be put in the position of having to explain

the things found in the tin commandments to their children.

Let's just step back and understand, this is a much bigger problem.

If you're going to call this a problem, it's a much bigger problem when you look at

the entire Bible.

You look at the entirety of the Old Testament.

Let's just say not only does the Old Testament use the word adultery, it very honestly portrays

what adultery is in all its sinfulness and in God's judgment against it and that comes

right down to coveting your neighbor's wife, et cetera.

Now I understand as a parent and as a grandparent, these things have to be explained to children

in an age-appropriate manner.

But the fact is that our children need to learn the tin commandments and they need to

learn the tin commandments early.

They need to learn the tin commandments, however, in the context of a gospel home and a

gospel church in which the entirety of the counsel of God is taught.

But the tin commandments are absolutely fundamental.

And you'll recall a text like Deuteronomy chapter 6 where God tells Moses that he has

to say to the people that they are to teach their children the law.

And when their son asks them in times to come of the meaning of the law, then the parent

is to explain it and put it in the larger biblical context.

So this isn't a new problem.

This is a problem in Israel in the earliest stages of Israel's development after the giving

of the law.

The law was given by God through Moses and it was through Moses that God told the parents

of the children of Israel teach your children.

In Deuteronomy 6, beginning in verse 4, we read here, oh Israel, the Lord our God, the

Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with

all your might.

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children.

And shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when

you lie down and when you rise.

So you have right here in Scripture the order to the parents of the children of Israel

that they are to teach their children the law and that continues to be the responsibility

of Christians in a gospel context to do the very same thing.

And right there in Deuteronomy 6, the children of Israel are told and in particular the fathers

of Israel are told when your son comes to you asking, what is the meaning of this law?

Well, the fathers of Israel are told you need to answer the boy's question.

The children of Israel are also told to put it in the context of God's saving work.

That is exactly the responsibility that falls to Christian parents.

Mothers and fathers with our sons and our daughters.

It makes evidently at least one schoolteacher in Texas feel uncomfortable.

Well, let me just state that evidently God's people, that is a godly parents, will find

a way to answer the question in the most appropriate manner, understanding that is the child

grows, that child is going to need to know more and more in terms of specificity.

That is true when it comes to the Ten Commandments.

It is true for the whole council of God.

Okay, so I am always encouraged by the questions that are sent in from listeners and some of

them just give me a little extra encouragement.

So one letter came in from a 19 year old young man and he is in love and he has met a

godly young woman and he wants to get married.

So here is what he says.

He says, my girlfriend and I both really want to get married and we talk about it almost

every day.

I wish I could give you more context but for the sake of keeping my question brief, I simply

want to ask you, assuming a man's girlfriend is a godly young woman and he is a godly young

man, what is your advice to a young man who knows he wants to marry but knows not when

he should marry her?

Okay, very articulate, well stated question and I simply want to say that given what you

told us here, you are a 19 year old young man, you are dating, courting a godly young woman

and if there be no impediment to the two of you getting married then my suggestion is

you marry as soon as you are able.

Now that is a specifically worded statement.

You marry as soon as you are able and that means I think that you have the maturity and

the ability to establish a household because that is exactly what in marriage you are doing

in a biblical sense.

You are establishing a household, a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cling

to his wife and they should become one flesh and this is a new union and it means the establishment

of a new family and the ability to do that.

I think it comes much earlier than our secular society believes.

I think the delay of marriage is not only an issue of great frustration and demographic

crisis, it is also an occasion for sin and I think it is just ought not to be this way.

So my encouragement would be to be in conversation with your parents, I hope their believers and

that will give you good counsel and her parents and in the context of the local church fellow

believers and in particular the elders of the church and I think if it is a godly biblical

church I think they are going to be inclined to want you to get married if again there is

no reason you should not and there is every reason you should then sooner than later

my young friend, God bless you sooner than later and God bless you for the honesty and

the urgency of your question and I love the way you put it, a young man who knows not

when he should marry her and I will simply say again with all the right requirements put

in place I want to come back to say dear young brother sooner rather than later and God

bless you both.

I also want to get to a question right away from a woman who wrote in and she says quote

I have an upcoming baby shower where there is a conundrum between family members.

The young mother is a single woman who was raised in a Christian home in a solid church.

She began spiraling in life when her mother left the family for another man and just a few

months ago showed up at my door pregnant and repentant.

She has fully acknowledged the seriousness of her sin, turning her life around and making

changes for the Lord, her family is split however and how to handle the baby shower.

One side says there shouldn't be one because of the sin involved and it isn't something

to be celebrated.

The other side says repentance is the key.

Since the mother has her penance she should be helped and encouraged and a new wife amid

such repentance should be celebrated basically she says what are your thoughts on this situation.

Well I think this is a genuine conundrum but I do think that there is a biblical wisdom

through this.

The biblical wisdom is shifting at this point the concern from the mother to the baby and

a baby shower should in particular be about the celebration of an impending birth and God's

gift of new life but it should also be about providing the things that will be helpful

and necessary for that mother to be able to take care of that baby and so let's just

put it this way.

The fact is that the writer of this letter has indicated clearly her understanding in

a biblical sense of sin, the sinfulness of sin and the sin of fornication, a sex outside

of marriage and she also says this young woman who has committed this sin is repentant and

fully recognizes the nature of her sin okay so here's where we understand that the sex

act was sinful but the baby is not.

Every baby is to be welcomed every single baby every single human being made in the image

of God every single baby is to be welcomed and cared for and here's the thing and you'll

notice that Christians actually have a pretty good instinct on this even when they haven't

figured things out carefully or analytically in biblical terms you celebrate the baby.

That baby is a gift you pick that baby up and you look at that little wonder and you understand

this is the glory of God demonstrated in the gift of life and only God himself could bring

about this gift.

Another dimension of this is that this young woman and I'm simply taking the letter writer's

word for it that she's repentant and understands the nature of her sin the context here indicates

she's a young Christian and this is in a gospel context it should therefore be of concern

to a local church that could offer guidance and real assistance and discernment in the

midst of all of this.

But once again I'll simply say we're living in a world in which the failure to make real

and rightful distinctions is a genuine problem Christians need to learn in biblical terms

how to make the right distinctions and the right acts of discernment and in this case it

is celebrating the baby while being clear on the context of sin but also being very clear

about the forgiveness of sin by God's grace and the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

One final thought here let's just pause for a moment and recognize how thankful we are

that this young woman didn't abort that baby because that's exactly what so many people

in our society would say she should have done just get rid of the problem.

I'm very thankful that that's not the case and this baby is soon to be born.

You understand the context you understand the sinfulness of sin you also understand the

glory of God in the birth of a baby and you welcome that baby and treasure that baby because

that's exactly what God's people know to do.

Okay now a question coming from a young man he writes and says I practice sexual purity

and yet I still have vivid sexual dreams or experiences I assume this means in the

dreams am I being attacked by sex demons if yes how do I defeat them well number one

if you are a believer you cannot be possessed by a demon you are filled with the Holy

Spirit and so number one believers need not to worry about something like demon possession.

Now does this mean that we deny the demonic powers around us and that includes the demonic

powers of temptation no we don't but the fact is that you don't need specifically a demonic

explanation for this this is just evidence of sin and of our sin nature and by the way I'm

speaking to a young man here that's a reminder that if indeed you are struggling with this it

would appear in biblical counsel that you need to be married and number one at a certain age it

becomes very clear that a man who is struggling sexually with this kind of thing and is unmarried

that that that in itself is a reminder of the fact that God made you for his glory for a purpose

and again it goes back to creation order the first command given to the man you know and the

woman together be fruitful and multiply but very clear in Genesis chapter two therefore a man

shall leave his father mother and shall cleave to his wife and they should become one flesh

that is God's plan now there may be other complications here I don't know but I'll simply say

you don't you don't need to blame this on demons you need to take responsibility for it and

that means filling your mind with scripture but it does mean it does mean that in a fallen world

and with the reality of sin you know one of the things that in the book of common prayer order

of worship in terms of the declaration of marriage is that marriage is among other things a remedy

for sin that is emphatically true and I wish more Christian young men took that wisdom seriously

all right in the news many of us are aware of the death of Dilbert creator Scott Adams

he wrote the comic strip for years and unless there writes in saying identify myself as a staunch

act 1711 Christian as such I use the wisdom and authority as scripture under the guidance of

the Holy Spirit to inform my understanding would you please he asked comment on the deathbed

conversion of Dilbert creator Scott Adams he says I know I am not his judge but want further

discernment on basic elements of a valid articulation of saving faith okay so there was discussion

about this I simply want to state much of what I have heard about this and extended articulation

from Scott Adams before his death is that he was prepared before his death simply to claim

the name of Jesus Christ and to claim the gospel and be saved but he even said he was not going to

do that until the very last minute let me just state that the biblical presentation of the gospel

is of the declaration of the gospel that comes alongside the Holy Spirit's work in drawing

sinners to Christ and drawing sinners to faith in Jesus Christ and and drawing sinners to

repentance of sin drawing sinners to desire Christ I saw none of that language none of it at all

in reference to to Scott Adams now I'm not Scott Adams judge and frankly I don't have enough

information to state this in a determinative way one way or the other I'll simply say that a

deathbed conversion or a conversion at any point is is really rightly and biblically to be a

demonstration of how Christ has drawn a sinner to himself and that sinner has come to Christ and

that means an eager confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ it doesn't mean some kind of death

bed deal this gets back to the problem of some who say that salvation comes just by some

act of articulation or intellectual ascent I don't think that's biblical at all again

what you see in scripture is that Christ calls sinners unto himself and those sinners respond

in faith they they desire Christ and they desire salvation and they they they turn to Christ in

faith they don't just make a last minute deal you know some people in reference to this or

other context they mentioned the thief on the cross but the the fact is that what we see in that

biblical passage is a sinner who desires salvation and desires Christ he says you know Lord remember

me when you come into your kingdom that's the demonstration of a sinner being drawn to Christ

and yes right there even on a cross himself but that is not an indication or a demonstration

of the gospel working in a last minute negotiated deal or for that matter of last minute personal

declaration that is just not a biblical understanding of conversion okay long similar lines a

Lister wrote in and mentioned that he had heard me read the apostles creed in a service

at southern seminary including he says the line that Jesus descended into hell he says I'm

curious if this is a belief you hold in why particularly he cites Luke 23 43 where Jesus tells

the thief on the cross that they will be together and paradise that day okay so you know it just

seem to follow we were just talking about the thief on the cross so let's just end on this let me

just clarify this because it's real easy the the English language is the problem here it's not a

problem in the original of the of the apostles creed it's not a problem in in Latin which is the

dominant form of course has been translated into English but when it was translated into English

the word Hades was simply translated as hell Hades is the realm of the dead it's a new testament

term it is not hell is the place of everlasting punishment it is instead the realm of the dead so when

we say he descended into hell what we're saying is Jesus truly genuinely died and the the Hebrew

cognate in the Old Testament is the word sheel again the realm of the dead so I appreciate your

careful listening and I deal with this in my book on the apostles creed the shortest chapter

is this simply because I say all it is saying but what it is profoundly confessing is the

biblical truth that Christ genuinely died for our sins some churches due to possible confusion leave

it out I'll simply say I yeah I much prefer to leave it in I think it it affirms a very important

biblical truth and if it has to be explained then you know that's our job let's explain it all right

again I appreciate your questions you can write me at mail at albertmower.com always glad to hear

from you thanks for listening to the briefing for more information go to my website at albertmower.com

you can follow me on x or twitter by going to x.com forward slash albert mower for information

on the southern Baptist theological seminary go to spts.edu for information on boys college just

go to boyscollege.com today I'm speaking in Charleston South Carolina and I'll meet you again on

Monday for the brief