Peter Dubbelman
Family Life/Administrative Pastor
The below two scriptures provide excellent lenses from which to view what God wants from parents.
Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed (Psa 112:1-2)
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deut 6:6-7)
Did you notice the four sections found in Deut 6:6-7: sitting at home, walking along the road, bed time, and morning time? The purpose of each one of the below items is to give ideas on how a parent can build faith in the home:
• Meal Time: when you sit at home, teach core values. Sit down as a family and regularly eat a meal. Use this time to listen, talk, and create family unity.
• Drive Time: wherever you are going (to school, work, etc.) and however you are doing it (car, feet, etc.) as you go interpret life to your child and where possible interact with the world (like the good Samaritan) so that they can see a godly example.
• Bed Time: when you lie down, counsel your child by listening to their heart. Take this time to also pray with them.
• Morning Time: when you get up, are you spending time with God? Unless you model this dynamic for your family your children will never catch on. Explain to your kids, by words and example, that your quiet time sets the priorities for the rest of your day.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
The Beautiful Crisis
Nathan Stam
Children/Comm. Pastor
I recently finished reading G.K. Chesterton’s introduction to the life of St. Francis of Assisi. I had always known a little bit about St. Francis; for instance I knew that he once said: “Preach the Gospel. If necessary, use words.” Or something along those lines. But I never knew much about his person and his place in history.
There were several passages of Chesterton’s that really struck me, but none more powerful than this description of Francis:
“He was a poet whose whole life was a poem…His whole course through life was a series of scenes in which he had a perpetual luck in bringing things to a beautiful crisis.”
A beautiful crisis. The crisis of the Gospel of Christ invading the darkness of the world. The inevitable conflict of the Love of God encountering humanism and materialism. The collision of the Grace of Jesus with poverty, injustice and pride.
Francis was all about living life outrageously and a love relationship with God. A poet whose whole life was a poem. As I think about my life and my relationship with Jesus and with others I can’t help but notice how often I play it safe—in my relationships, in my church, in my community—and I wonder how my life would change if my course in life was “bringing things to a beautiful crisis” for the sake of the Gospel. Jesus once said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it.”
Apex Baptist Church, are you up for living outrageously? Can you hear the call to follow hard after God? Chesterton goes on to write, “Through all his [Francis] plunging and restless days ran the refrain: I have not suffered enough; I have not sacrificed enough; I am not yet worthy even of the shadow of the crown of thorns. He wandered about the valleys of the world looking for the hill that has the outline of a skull.”
Here’s the challenge for you and me: May the refrain, or theme, of our lives be our desperate love for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May we “hang on to reason by one invisible and indestructible hair” and yet spend our days as “ministers of reconciliation,” pleading with all creation on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
Children/Comm. Pastor
I recently finished reading G.K. Chesterton’s introduction to the life of St. Francis of Assisi. I had always known a little bit about St. Francis; for instance I knew that he once said: “Preach the Gospel. If necessary, use words.” Or something along those lines. But I never knew much about his person and his place in history.
There were several passages of Chesterton’s that really struck me, but none more powerful than this description of Francis:
“He was a poet whose whole life was a poem…His whole course through life was a series of scenes in which he had a perpetual luck in bringing things to a beautiful crisis.”
A beautiful crisis. The crisis of the Gospel of Christ invading the darkness of the world. The inevitable conflict of the Love of God encountering humanism and materialism. The collision of the Grace of Jesus with poverty, injustice and pride.
Francis was all about living life outrageously and a love relationship with God. A poet whose whole life was a poem. As I think about my life and my relationship with Jesus and with others I can’t help but notice how often I play it safe—in my relationships, in my church, in my community—and I wonder how my life would change if my course in life was “bringing things to a beautiful crisis” for the sake of the Gospel. Jesus once said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it.”
Apex Baptist Church, are you up for living outrageously? Can you hear the call to follow hard after God? Chesterton goes on to write, “Through all his [Francis] plunging and restless days ran the refrain: I have not suffered enough; I have not sacrificed enough; I am not yet worthy even of the shadow of the crown of thorns. He wandered about the valleys of the world looking for the hill that has the outline of a skull.”
Here’s the challenge for you and me: May the refrain, or theme, of our lives be our desperate love for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May we “hang on to reason by one invisible and indestructible hair” and yet spend our days as “ministers of reconciliation,” pleading with all creation on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
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