July 2010 Archives

Your eight-year-old hears things. Your son hears wild stories. Your daughter sees the constant allure of commercials.  He hears the taunts of the schoolyard. She feels an inner dread growing out of her many fears. How do you help your eight-year-old child with such difficult issues? What is needed most is the news of the gospel; specifically, the good news of the grace of God.  The word gospel means "good news."  Matthew speaks of the Jesus proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. That is, the good news of the kingdom where Jesus is King. This good news means that people can be rescued from darkness. Your eight-year-old already knows something of this darkness.  He knows the darkness personally from the fears and brokenness caused by his own sin. He also knows of the darkness from the ugliness of the world around him. Perhaps he has experienced the death of someone close to him. Or perhaps she has heard the cruel taunts of other children. He may have experienced the vicious devastation of a "natural" disaster or the ravages of war.  Whatever the source, he has seen and experienced the attacks of the kingdom of darkness. He was born a slave to this darkness. The good news is that Jesus is able to rescue him from darkness. The gospel matters. 

For most, the statement that the gospel matters for toddlers lacks a sense of immediacy. This seems more suitable for older children and adults.  However, this perspective reveals a common underlying problem. The problem is that information transfer is seen as the primary method of bringing people to Christ. In other words, you tell someone about Christ and hope they will respond. The person to whom you are speaking is the one who holds the cards.  Your role is ultimately passive.

Whatever, it doesn't matter.

You have heard these words before. Perhaps, you have heard them from your own lips.  These words are not words of encouragement or optimism. These are words of discouragement and disappointment. They are said when we feel let down, betrayed. The irony is that often when these words are spoken they really mean that something matters very much.

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There is tremendous comfort to be found in knowing what God is doing in our lives each day. The Holy Spirit has graciously made known to us what God is going to do on any particular day.   Armed with this reality, it is possible to face each day with the certainty of knowing what God's actions will be. Someone might be asking where this information can be found. This is where faith comes in.  Obviously, I am not talking about knowing what will happen at 3 p.m. this afternoon. Neither am I talking about being able to predict the earthquake that happened in Washington, D.C. this morning.  What we do know, however, is that God is a God who is trustworthy and cares for his people as a loving Shepherd. Nothing will ever change this. In Daniel 3 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew that God had the power to rescue them from the flames. That was not in question. So their praise for God was not based upon the circumstances that occur, but on the faithfulness of God. To be specific, their praise of God was not contingent upon whether he would rescue them from the flames.  No matter what happened to them in the fire, God would still be faithful. This is why these three young men could be so confident as they faced the fire.

Today, my wife and I are travelling to Duke University for an appointment at the Brain Tumor Center. As I shared with you in a previous post, my wife has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.  The type of tumor is a stage 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme.  This is an aggressive tumor. We are going today for another MRI and evaluation of the initial round of radiation and chemotherapy.  Around 2 p.m. today, we will find out how effective the treatment has been.  In other words we will find out what God has been doing since Ruth's surgery last April. 

Do you love the church?  This question is one of the most important questions you will ever answer.  An answer in the affirmative is binding. It is similar in importance to the affirmative answer given in a wedding ceremony. The pastor asks the question, "Will you take this woman to be your wife?" If the answer is "Yes," at least two important things happen. The first is that you make your new wife happy. The second binds you to a committed relationship of service and sacrifice to your wife for the rest of your life.

The statement that sin is never logical seems obvious enough. If an action is contrary to God's commands we would expect the outcome to less than good. Yet how many times when observing sinful behavior in others do we hear the words, "how could you do that; what were you thinking"?  When one child takes another's favorite toy knowing it will cause trouble, we ask, "Why did he do that?" as if the answer were a mystery. The implication is that if the child had been thinking logically or wisely he would not have taken the toy.  In this case it is easy to see that the child was acting selfishly and not obeying God.  This is not really a knowledge issue but one of disobedience and selfishness. However, when it comes to the behavior of adults it seems that logical, biblical behavior is expected. So we ask the question, "What was the person thinking?"

Summer is marked by hot weather and too often, hot tempers.  One reason for this is the change in schedule from school time to my time. Both children and parents look forward to summertime as a break from the busyness of the school year. But the flexibility of summer schedules also can create conflicts of interest.  Parents may see summer as a time to get things done around the house. Children may have other ideas about how to spend the summer months. The result - conflict of interest.  Both parents and children are looking for a reward.  Conflict and hot tempers come from seeing rewards as something one is entitled to.    

There is no more powerful gift you can give to your children than for the Word of God to bring light to your own eyes.

How important is the Bible to you and the way you live?  You want your children to follow the ways of Scripture. You want them to know its content.   You want them to know its Author. You know that what the Holy Spirit has written in his Word is essential for life.  But allow me to ask again, how important is the Bible to you? Is it possible that you love what the Bible will do for you, but you struggle with actually loving it? In other words, you love the benefits of the Bible's teaching - things like obedient children and a calm household - but there is not a deep longing for Scripture itself.