Proverbs 4:20-27 is a helpful guide for protecting your heart. The command to guard your heart, in verse 23, is embedded between two practical considerations to help you accomplish this. The first consideration in protecting the heart is to be aware of what goes into the heart. This only makes sense if everything that a person does flows from the heart. In verse 20, Solomon urges his son to carefully listen to his words: My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. There is a direct connection with this verse and Deuteronomy 6:5-7 and Ephesians 6:1-3. The father’s words, and by extension the mother’s, are not just random thoughts. They specifically reference God’s words […]
Monthly Archives: May 2013
35 posts
This Summer is a season of change. In the summers of the 1960’s waves of cultural change washed over our social landscape with amazing speed. Fifty years later, the waves of change still pound our shores. Your children live in a culture where the God of the Bible is a national embarrassment – no reasonable person would worship such a God. Children raised to honor God will become the targets of a culture that thinks they have moved on from God. The implications of these cultural changes mandate that we must be vigilant protecting our hearts – everything that we are flows from the heart. Proverbs 4:20-27 tells us exactly how to protect and guard our inner man. Verse 23 […]
Summer is upon us, again. But this summer has the potential to be different. In addition to the normal summer themes of heat, vacations, what to do with the kids, hurricanes and other storms, there is a growing cultural instability that is about to reach critical mass. The supreme court will rule sometime next month regarding same-sex marriage. Regardless of the decision that is reached turmoil will follow. Apart from a massive turning to Christ, we must accept the reality that our culture views marriage as a relic of the past. The human race was founded on the building block of marriage. God gave the creation mandate in Genesis 1:26-28 to male and female with the command to go forward […]
Kevin, a young teenage boy has an opportunity to be alone with Tiffany, a girl with a reputation of being sexually active. If he thinks that he might get caught and his parents will find out, or that he might get a sexually-transmitted disease, he might decide not to be alone with her. However, suppose she entices him into thinking that no one will find out (see Proverbs 7) and that a little fun never hurt anyone. Then, he might be persuaded to be alone with her. Kevin’s problem is that he is being motivated by perceived consequences rather than how he can love God. Selfishly deciding not to be with Tiffany because of negative consequences will ultimately lead to […]
Do you remember that hundreds of thousands have died so you can worship in freedom? Do you remember that you have no guarantee that tomorrow will come? Do you remember that everything that is worth having comes from God? Do you remember that it is God who provides your daily meals? Do you remember that all of your stuff, all of your possessions cannot produce joy? Do you remember that you would not know joy without the care of God? Do you remember that you are here to live for God and to die to yourself? Do you remember that you are not your own, but that you were bought with a price? Do you remember to tell your children […]
Dear holy, heavenly Father, you have given each of us much to do this day. We have school and other work to do, we have appointments and practices to go to, we need food to sustain us, and we need your protection as we travel about. Help us not to worry about these things, but cause us to praise you in all that we do today. By your grace, may we seek your kingdom first in all that we do. Right now, this day, may we serve you. If you bring us into tomorrow we will deal with that then. Please father, give us what we need today, our daily bread, so that we can serve and honor you. In […]
Seventy years ago, in Gone with the Wind, Clark Gable uttered the first curse word in a popular movie. How things have changed! What was shocking in 1939 has become common place, even casually accepted, today. In training your children, it is important for you to understand what makes words inappropriate. If you focus only on what is wrong you will miss the mark of bringing honor to God. For example, you compile a list of words that are “bad.” In their place you have a list of words that are acceptable alternatives. For example, words like darn, shoot, heck and doggone it, are seen as acceptable alternatives to their similar sounding bad counterparts. So, when you can’t find your […]
The tornado that struck Oklahoma this week left stark images of entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble. All that people owned was destroyed in seconds. The images of the devastation provide a moment of clarity that is too quickly forgotten. Life does not consist in the amount of stuff you possess. Life consists in knowing the one true living God. Tell your children what life is really about. Luke 12:15 “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a mans’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” NIV “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” NLT
Your children may have questions about the destructive tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma this past Monday. Your answer to these questions will impact the way your children think about God. When something good happens like an unexpected gift or news that a biopsy was benign, it is not difficult to say that God is good. When someone who is obviously evil experiences judgement it is also easy to talk about the goodness and justice of God. But what about when the third massive tornado strikes the same town in 15 years? This third storm, an EF5 tornado, leveled neighborhoods and took the lives of children in their elementary school. Is God still good and just? What do you tell your […]
It is much easier to speak first, thinking you will listen later. But often, speaking first means losing the opportunity to listen at all. It is hard to be a good listener. The pressing issues of everyday life are obstacles to good, everyday listening. You can become so focused on your own problems that you fail to be a good listener. This sort of preoccupation leads to what I call parentspeak. Parentspeak is talking without listening. This is the sort of everyday talk that damages your relationship with your kids. Most parents do this at times, sometimes without even being conscious of it. Here is an example of parentspeak. See if this conversation sounds at all familiar to you. You […]