Category Archives: Family

Life: Sudden Tragedy for Rick Warren

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Sudden Tragedy for Rick Warren

I give my condolences to Rick and Kay Warren in the loss of their son this week.  How can anyone understand their despair at the moment, but to know sheer anguish, grief and pain?  I pray for Rick and Kay that they will continue to rely upon the Lord as they have for several decades of watching God do miraculous work through them.
There are few people who have their names as well known as Pastor Rick compared to the number of people in the world.  He has used his position to build credibility for the sake of the gospel and provide people hope for life.  So many stories have been told of the saving work of God reading his books and hearing his messages of inspiration, compassion and hope, like the woman who used his book, “Purpose Driven Life” to bring an intruder, murderer, to faith in Christ.1  Warren has used his position to host a political debate in the 2008 election campaign.2  He has publically declared his support to Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage in California, although he has wavered on that support.3  There are few people who have as big a spiritual target as Rick Warren. 
It’s likely that opponents of Rick would use this opportunity to criticize or bash him. This is not a time for criticism or division.  This is a time to reflect on our own humanity and weakness.  As the Apostle Paul wrote, “But by the grace of God I am what I am…”4None of us has the strength to make it through life on our own power and please the Lord in everything.  It is only by the grace of God that we are saved and the grace of God that we are set apart for His work.
I rejoice with Rick and Kay that their son, Matthew, chose to trust in Jesus Christ as his Savior.  I rejoice that one day, they and everyone else who has trusted in Jesus Christ, will be able to forget the hardships of the world and worship before the throne of grace.  I rejoice that one day every tear will be wiped away and joy will completely fill our hearts to His praise.
I sorrow with Rick and Kay for the loss of Matthew.  Too many momentary decisions are irreversible and eternal. And yes, suicide is the wrong choice. I sorrow that Matthew will never be able to rejoin us this side of heaven.  I sorrow that He will not be able to see the power of God working through his life this side of heaven. Yet, who can say they fully understand what he was going through, besides the Lord? Who can utter one word of judgment against Matthew?  We can only weep at the loss of a son, friend and brother.  We can only seek to come alongside others and give them hope from the God of hope, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”5
Now is the time to reflect and comfort.  “Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart.6 Now is the time to be true followers of Jesus and to be known for our love for each other.7

 

1http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=20340
2http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0808/17/se.01.html
3http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/11/28/1250921/rick-warren-i-regret-coming-out-in-support-of-californias-anti-gay-marriage-proposition/?mobile=nc
41 Corinthians 15:10; 5Romans 15:13; 6Ecclesiastes 7:2; 7John 13:34-35

 

 

Men: Raising Men (3)

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Men: Raising Men (3)

As go the men, so goes the church.  There is not a verse in Scripture for that, but there are many allusions to the importance of men in raising men.  Men have a tough role of providing for their family and leading them spiritually.  It’s easy to relegate spiritual responsibility to the mother, especially if she is not working.  The man works hard all day and is tired when he comes home.  He’s looking for ways to make life easier.  Patience and perseverance in raising children in godly ways is not easy.
It happened almost two hundred years ago that Sunday Schools were founded.  Prior to that, family spiritual growth depended on parents and the pastor, as children sat with their parents in church.  But in the early 1800s, a great assist was founded for helping families and it was structured within the church.
“Whereas in 1820 Protestants had thought about children’s religious experiences primarily in terms of family and church, by 1880 it was impossible to conceive of them without reference to the Sunday school. During the nineteenth century, this new institution became the primary locale – outside of the family – for religious indoctrination of Protestant youth. In the annals of church history the saga of Sunday school was unique, involving…the creation of a new institution to fulfill functions previous entrusted to parents and pastors…” – Ann Boylan (provided by Jeremy Thomas) 

While Sunday school is a good thing, man and parents, generally speaking, transferred spiritual development to Sunday School over a period of 60 years.  There was nothing intentional or evil in the initiation of Sunday School.  It was a great blessing to many parents, especially parents who were not discipled by their own parents.  Yet, slowly, families became dependent on Sunday School in the church and less spiritual training was accomplished in the home.  After all, that way there was less conflict in the home and parents would support Sunday School teachers. 

            Furthermore, youth ministry has had an abundance of youth ministry aids, like youth pastors, magazines and music and while youth leaders are pouring their hearts into the youth, the expected results are not as visible.  Alvin Reid observes, 

 “It is obvious that youth ministry in America has not produced a generation of young people who are passionate about the church…the number of full time youth pastors has grown dramatically and a plethora of magazines, music, and ideas aimed at youth have been birthed along the way.  Meanwhile…the numbers of young people won to Christ dropped at about as fast a rate.” – Alvin Reid (provided by Jeremy Thomas)

It might look like the problem exists with the youth ministry.  In most cases not at all. Youth ministries are thinking of everything they can to help raise young people.  The problem rests with the family. Families are not raising up men and women that are hungering for truth and passionate about service.  There are many zealous youth, but not like the youth of 40 years ago. 

            We have to place responsibility where God places it.  Solomon exhorts his sons to listen and take heed to his teaching, 

Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding;
 2 For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law.
 3 When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
 4 He also taught me, and said to me:  “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live.
 5 Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. (Pro. 4:1-5) 

Fathers are responsible to exhort and be diligent to teach their children (Deut. 6:1-9).  Unfortunately, when children do not respond or worse, rebel, parents let their responsibility slide, because they do not want conflict and do not know how to raise children to the holiness of God.  As children become indifferent, fathers become indifferent to God’s mandates to raise up godly children,  

4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4) 

When fathers become indifferent, they are in rebellion against God’s calling and God’s mandate.   

            I would never blame Sunday School for the state in which we are living now.  The responsibility rests solely with the family and specifically with us fathers.  Are you willing to teach Father greatness to your children?1 Are you willing to take your rightful position as head of your family and lead them to the throne of grace?   

            Let’s not blame anyone else for whether our children are following the Lord or not.  Let’s take personal responsibility and man-up to God’s calling.  If you have any questions or need mechanics, let me know. 

1See the message delivered on March 17 and posted on March 18, 2013, “Get a Grip on Father Greatness.”

Men: Raising Men (2)

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Men: Raising Men (2)

 

What is the effect of fatherless homes?  One person wrote,

In reality the world is as full of bad mothers as it is of bad fathers, and it is not the motherless children who become delinquent but the fatherless ones. (Louis de Bernieres)

That may be a general statement with plenty of exceptions, but it does expose the importance of the father’s role in the life of children.   It is likely why James emphasizes the importance of ministry to orphans when he writes,

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (Jam. 1:27)

Orphans (and widows) are much more vulnerable, because there is not the one (the godly husband or the godly father) God designed to protect them.  God designed from the beginning that every child should have two parents – a man and a woman – in the home.  Children learn roles and responsibilities from both parents.  It is difficult to learn those roles if one of the parents is not present. The problem is the hearts of fathers and children are often separated by problems of sins.  In the last book of the Old Testament, God promises that one day He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children,

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.  6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. (Mal. 4:5-6)

After Malachi spoke, there was a period of 400 years of silence from God.  There was so much conflict and rebellion between people, including fathers and children, that God was silent. 

            We live in a day when more and more children are growing up in fatherless homes.  It’s interesting to note the influence of not having fathers in a home.  The National Center for Fathering records1,

Fatherless Homes Produce:
  • 90% of Runaway Children
  • 85% of Children With Behavior Problems
  • 71% of High School Drop Outs
  • 70% of Juvenile Detentions
  • 75% of Children Addicted to Drugs
  • 63% of Teenage Suicides
  • 80% of Rapists
  • 85% of Prison Inmates

Additionally the following sources provide interesting considerations2:

Educational Attainment. Kids living in single-parent homes or in step-families report lower educational expectations on the part of their parents, less parental monitoring of school work, and less overall social supervision than children from intact families. (N.M. Astore and S. McLanahan, American Sociological Review, No. 56 (1991)

Confused Identities. Boys who grow up in father-absent homes are more likely that those in father-present homes to have trouble establishing appropriate sex roles and gender identity.(P.L. Adams, J.R. Milner, and N.A. Schrepf, Fatherless Children, New York, Wiley Press, 1984).

Aggression.In a longitudinal study of 1,197 fourth-grade students, researchers observed “greater levels of aggression in boys from mother-only households than from boys in mother-father households.” (N. Vaden-Kierman, N. Ialongo, J. Pearson, and S. Kellam, “Household Family Structure and Children’s Aggressive Behavior: A Longitudinal Study of Urban Elementary School Children,” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 23, no. 5 (1995).

Achievement.Children from low-income, two-parent families outperform students from high-income, single-parent homes. Almost twice as many high achievers come from two-parent homes as one-parent homes. (One-Parent Families and Their Children, Charles F. Kettering Foundation, 1990).

Delinquency.Only 13 percent of juvenile delinquents come from families in which the biological mother and father are married to each other. By contract, 33 percent have parents who are either divorced or separated and 44 percent have parents who were never married. (Wisconsin Dept. of Health and Social Services, April 1994).

Criminal Activity. The likelihood that a young male will engage in criminal activity doubles if he is raised without a father and triples if he lives in a neighborhood with a high concentration of single-parent families. Source: A. Anne Hill, June O’Neill, Underclass Behaviors in the United States, CUNY, Baruch College. 1993

The need of fathers is clear both statistically, but primarily from God’s Word. Fortunately, God sends hope.  That hope is in Jesus Christ.  He is the solution to our problems and woes.  He is the solution to fatherless homes.  He is the solution to draw fathers to children.  Are you walking with Him?

 

1“What Can the Federal Government Do To Decrease Crime and Revitalize Communities?” The National Institute of Justice, 1998.

2http://fatherhood.about.com/od/fathersrights/a/fatherless_children.htm

 

 

Men: Raising Men (1)

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Men: Raising Men (1)

I recently read this quote from one of my favorite Presidents:

“In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
– Theodore Roosevelt

We often don’t do anything, because we want to do the right thing.  We often don’t do anything, because there are so many options that we can’t decide which one to choose.  We often don’t do anything, because we don’t understand our role as leaders and will let someone else lead.  Men have lived that pattern ever since Adam and Eve failed in the Garden of Eden.

When Adam should have been leading and protecting, he stood on the sidelines and let Eve (as she would later be called) lead.  She was conversing with the serpent and Adam should have been protecting her, 

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said,`You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3“but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said,`You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Gen. 3:1-6)

That’s what happens when a man stands on the sideline and does nothing.

            There are also horrible things that happen in the home today when a man does not fulfill his role as a father. Note these statistics:

For every 10 men in the average church…

• 9 will have kids who leave the church

• 8 will not find their jobs satisfying

• 6 will pay monthly minimum on credit cards

• 5 have a major problem with pornography

• 4 will get divorced affecting 1,000,000 children each year

• Only 1 will have a biblical worldview

• All 10 will struggle to balance family & work: Because they really want to HAVE FUN!  (Provided by Pastor Bruce Einspahr)

We need to raise men to be men and understand the Father’s business: raising men to be true men.  Right now families are content if there is somecommunication.  God wants us to build into young men God the Father’s priorities and life.  That comes through 1) learning to love God with all of our heart, soul and strength; 2) hiding the Scriptures into our heart; and 3) being diligent to teach our children and the children around us to become disciples of Jesus Christ (Deut. 6:1-15).

            What is your part in the process?  Are you content standing on the side?  Are you content watching America go down the spiral of the immorality morass and the vacuum of emptiness?  Are you willing to step up to your God-given role of raising men to be godly men who will raise generation after generation of godly people?  Don’t wait.  Get going now.

Men: Men Leading Men (1)

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Men: Men Leading Men (1)

There is a scarcity of men in spiritual leadership today.  It is really nothing new.  The scarcity began back in the Garden of Eden, when Adam stood near the woman (later called Eve) and watched the devil deceive her.  He did nothing to prevent the attacks on God’s character and God’s Word.  The devil challenged the woman and like most women, she was up for the challenge, but she came up short.  Why?  She came up short that is, because she failed to depend on the character and will of God, because her protector, Adam, did not lead. 

            Yes Adam was standing with her, because when she ate of the fruit she gave the fruit to Adam also.  Moses records the text in Genesis 3:6, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Gen. 3:6, emphasis mine)  He was right there, but he stood by and like many men today continue to stand by on the sidelines rather than entering into the battle of life. How do we turn this around?  We must reach men and disciple them to godliness.

            There are blatantly challenging statistics regarding our current culture.  Bruce Einspahr reported recently as a pastor’s conference about the profession of faith in several generations.  He cited from the Billy Graham Organization:

·         65% of those in the Builder generation have trusted Christ

·         35% of those in the Boomer generation have trusted Christ

·         15% of those in the Gen-X generation have trusted Christ

·         4% of the kids alive today will make a profession of faith. 

Those are significant statistics and may reveal why America is suffering spiritually and we see downward results in many other venues, like morality, social, economic and political arenas.  If we don’t reach each generation, the USA will become a second rate country, because it will lose its blessing God granted through the founding fathers.  It was the founding fathers who instilled biblical values in their families, but life happens and the values have changed.  In fact, the values are spirally down so quickly that only a revival will turn things around.  

            I’ll address this in the next article of Men Leading Men, especially as it relates to the father of the family influence.

Forgiveness: Restoring Relationships God’s Way

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Restoring Relationships God’s Way

Beginning in the beginning, there have been problems and conflicts in relationships.  If Adam and Eve had conflicts, and we see it all through Scripture, then it’s pretty likely that even the best relationships will have conflicts.  It all results because of sin in the world. The creature is born centered on self and it takes divine enablement to truly focus and serve others. So the question is not what do I do IF it happens, but what do I do WHEN it happens.

This first slide shows the reality of some problem between two people.  It can be two or a mob.  Whatever the relationship, there is going to be some kind of conflict.  (I know these are in a cartoon form, but let’s try to get the principle)

The human response is often to lash back or internalize and “carry” the pain OR a multitude of options in between those two actions.  Often, our response to someone is sin.  For example if I lash back at someone for sinning against me, I have just sinned.  Yes, even though I didn’t start it, I chose to respond in sin and think that I could solve the problem my way.  Sometimes it’s the sin of reaction and sometimes it’s the sin of internalization.  Both are wrong responses.

Instead I need to choose the biblical approach and forgive.  One of the Hebrew words for forgive is nasah, which means “to lift up.”  A second Hebrew word is salah, which means “ready to pardon.”  Both give a good picture of what we are supposed to do. Lift the sin (the penalty and pain of the sin) to the throne of God for Him to deal with it.  A third forgive word is a Greek word aphia-mi, which literally means “to send away.”  God wants us to send away to Him the sin pain and let Him deal with it.  We are not very judicial with offenses against ourselves.  Our flesh reacts and does all sorts of strange things, like think we are as smart as God.

“Lifting up” and “ready to pardon” demonstrate the ready attitude to lift it up to God.  The phrase “send away” means that I’m not going to deal with it against the offender, because I will trust the Lord to deal with it. 

In the next slide the offended person chooses to forgive, that is lifts up or sends away the penalty to the throne of God.  The black symbol with the yellow burst is supposed to be a  chair or throne as an illustration of the Shekinah Glory described in the Old Testament or the Presence of God in heaven.

Lifting up the conflict to the Lord fits well with 1 Peter 5:7, which says “casting all your cares on the Lord, for He cares for you.”  I first deal vertically with the problem and is the principle taught in Mark 11:25, “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. (Mar 11:25)  Once you choose to deal with the problem vertically, then you can begin to deal with the horizontal relationship.

You may still feel the pain of the offense.  The relationship may still be struggling.  But you, because you’ve given it to God, you can choose to have a heart of love toward the offender.  That’s the third slide below.  Notice that God will deal with the other person in His way.  Unfortunately, it may not be in your timing.  It may not be in your lifetime.  Yet, God is infinite in wisdom, justice, power and mercy to know how best to deal with the relationship.  His way is far better than anything we can consider (Is. 55:8-9). The key is you now are able to have a heart of love toward the other person.  This is also the principle from 1 Peter 4:8, “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”  It’s covered, because you trust in the covering of the blood of Christ on the cross.

 


When a person lifts up the offense to God, he can have a heart of love toward the offender.  The person no longer has to have any kind of revenge desire, because he’s given it to God. It is a choice, to love at this point, but it is what God desires according to Luke 17:3-10; Matthew 18:15-17; Romans 12:14-21; and 1 Peter 3:8-12.

The last slide shows that God may want you to make the decision to reach out to the offender, or even confront the offender.  IF God is working through you to the offender it will be God’s love.  It may be firm and deliberate, because sin may need to be confronted (Luke 17:3-4), but it is done from God’s love, not personal vengeance (Romans 12:15-21)
 

These slides are a simplistic way of looking at forgiveness.  They do not answer all the questions in a relationship.  They begin the process of dealing with forgiveness. 

Do they help you?

Straight Shooting Arrows

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Of course it had to happen.  Two days after the message on “Straight Shooting Arrows” or how to raise godly children, the newspaper reported exactly when a child must disobey his parents – the mom directed her son to sin.  The boy was in a very difficult situation.  In Lynnwood, WA a ten-year-old boy was directed by his mom to burglarize a home.  Unfortunately, the homeowner was home and the whole thing was caught on security cameras. The child is now under the father’s custody and the mother held on $25,000 bail.
Friends this is not just academic stuff.  It’s easy to understand the biblical principles of teaching Children, obey your parents, and Father’s do not provoke your children.  But the reality is there are two HUGE hurdles.

First is the application of making all of it work.  All things being equal if there are normal children and  parents who want to do the right thing, you have a chance of seeing hearts melted and homes repaired to godliness.  It’s difficult enough when both parents and children are “normal.”  Yet, they both have sin natures fighting against the Spirit to do the right thing.  Paul writes, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. (Gal. 5:17)  Furthermore, Paul writes, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. (Rom. 7:19)  There’s a battle in normal people.

However, and secondly, there is not an ice cube’s chance in Hades, if the parents are not in tune with Jesus and no one outside the home is willing to work with the children.  Our communities are filled with broken homes where parents don’t care about Jesus, right and wrong, or morality.  What is going on in the heart of the children, do you suppose?  They want to respond to Jesus, but no is leading them to the Savior and discipling them beyond their fleshly desires.  Who is teaching that boy in Lynnwood, WA how to say, “Mom, I want to obey you.  I want to honor you.  I want to do the right thing in life and that means I can’t burglarize someone else’s home.”  If we in the church don’t come along side of him, how will he learn?  Many of these young people are orphans, living at home.  James writes, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (Jam. 1:27)

Friends, we Christians have job security.  There are so many discipling opportunities if we will open our eyes and set aside our own desires to love on the youth of America.  We are beginning to have an explosion of youth at church.  If you want an eternal opportunity, you can meet with Justin to see if you have the heart to minister to them.  Most of you do.  Just let the Lord work through you. 

Question: How much do you help someone?

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Question: How do you discern whether to help someone?

How would you counsel someone who has the means to financially help an adult family member who lives in squalor by choice due to poor financial (and spiritual) choices, poor health (physical & mental), choosing not to work, etc?  Do you counsel to take care of the person’s needs or let the State help?  What do you consider about helping the family member or withdrawing support? 

I go back and forth between Scriptures such as 1 Timothy 5:8, which admonishes those who do not support family members as “being worse than an unbeliever” if you don’t take care of your family and others which caution giving help, such as “throwing pearls before swine,” which obviously directly refers to not giving Scripture to scoffers, but the application of support can be derived from this.  Where do you draw the line or do you draw the line (as a Christian)? Are you really helping by helping or just breeding more sin? Will either choice really have eternal consequences for them or for you? 

These are very difficult questions. 1) it involves family, so the emotions are going to be tested and 2) you’re using passages of Scripture that must be compared with each other, because no one passage gives the simple answer.
My answer is only based on the information you’ve provided and I’m not sure I have all the facts that are needed, but here are some thoughts. I know you are seeking His righteousness (Matt. 6:33) and are looking for discernment (Heb. 5:14). You’ll know in your conscience based on the leading of the Holy Spirit and grace (Titus 2:11-13), what to do. At least, make the best choice before the Lord based on what you know from Scripture in each circumstance. 

You mentioned that he is living that way by choice. That is my key. If it is his choice, then I need to remember 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” 

I recognize that my resources must be considered in grace 1 John 3:17, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him” but considering 2 Thessalonians 3:10, it would be for someone who is willing to work, but has hit hard times and needs legitimate help.  

I can in grace provide help in mercy (Rom. 2:4-5; Jam. 2:13), but if his choice is not to work, then I may be playing the fool and getting in God’s way of letting his hunger drive him to work Pro 16:26, “The person who labors, labors for himself, For his hungry mouth drives him on.” I may be getting in God’s way of divine discipline.  

On the other hand, if no one has discipled the person and they foolishly made the poor decisions, but WANT to do the right thing, then financial help may get them back on their feet. But if they are in the downward spiral of Ephesians 4:17-19, then I would be getting in God’s way. The key for me would be, does he want to do the godly thing (cf. 2 Tim. 2:22). 

If he turns to the state, he’s still choosing to not work and the state is foolish to enable someone to continue in their foolish ways. That brings a curse on any people and we are deep into foolishness regarding some of our welfare support, etc. I certainly understand the tension of “being worse than an unbeliever” 1 Tim. 5:8. 

Yet I struggle with “dead while she lives” (not living in a faithful relationship with Jesus Christ) (1 Tim. 5:6). If she, the widow, who is in physical, financial need is dead in her relationship with Christ, then no help should be given, unless there is repentance. Of course there is room for mercy as your conscience might direct. I would agree that helping someone who doesn’t want help is throwing pearls before swine. That is a person who is in the seventh stage of the downward spiral (Eph. 4:17-19).
Do a search on the biblical word “lazy” and it is not a pleasant view. Proverbs 20:4 describes his consequences. To help people like that who are not humble seems to be enabling someone in his sin. To continue to help someone in his sin without rebuke and restoration seems to have eternal consequences of a loss of reward for that person.  

We have a burden to disciple those who are hungering for truth as you do with all the young people. There will be many who will refuse that help and their consequences should drive them to brokenness and help from the Lord. (Ps. 51:16-17)
I wish I could give you a one sentence answer, but this is too big of an issue. Interesting, I had another case last week about a family in the church dealing with a family member in a marriage relationship. One spouse was willing to work, but the man was not. They could not support themselves and were continuing to make unwise decisions that keep them in the downward spiral. Sometimes I think the enemy tries to use Scripture to put a guilt complex on us to do what you said, “throw pearls before swine [even our own family]” and take away from resources that could be used to help those who are hungering for truth and righteousness.

 

Life Bears Witness

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This morning, I had the privilege of preparing Logan, Collin and Cody with their dad Brady for the baptism that we’ll have on July 8.  We talked about faith, salvation, baptism and a number of other important subjects to ensure they were ready.  One of the subjects was “what should be true in a believer’s life after salvation.”  After salvation, there should be some kind of transformation, because the unbeliever transforms into a believer, a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).

I illustrated to the boys with a simple example.  I said if the three boys came into my office and took the pictures and objects and threw them against the wall, I asked them if would they be reflecting their dad or someone else.  Collin immediately said, “The devil.” (He’s going to be a pastor some day!)  I said, “That’s right, because your dad would never do something like that.  When you are respectful of other people’s property, you are reflecting your dad, who is in the place of God, and not the devil.”  I went on to say that if a believer did come in and destroyed the office, they would be reflecting what the devil does, because he comes to murder and destroy.  It’s often a reality that believers act like their former father the devil, rather than their heavenly father (cf. 1 John 3:7-8).

Jesus was confronted by Jews who wanted to kill Him for claiming that God was His Father.  Rather than defend Himself, He said, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” (John 10:31)  Obviously, His works reflected the Father and not anyone else.

Whom do you reflect in your works (your life)?  Do you reflect one who is devoted to, pursuing and enjoying the Lord Jesus Christ?  Or do your works (your life) reflect something other than one pursuing the Lord?  Press ahead to Him in His upward calling (Phil. 3:14).