This weekend don’t miss the opportunity to look at the sky and learn about God’s glory. Every day God declares his majesty in the skies. It is just that on the weekends we may have more opportunity to actually look at the message God brings in the sky. Psalm 19:1 tells us this is: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. This Psalm tells you can always look at the sky and quickly see how God is at work. The skies tell us that God is powerful, that he awesome, that he is dangerous, that he can display great beauty or bring great destruction from the same cloud, and that he […]
Monthly Archives: April 2014
27 posts
Age thirteen is an important milestone in the life of your child. Your teenager is beginning to emerge into adulthood. These years are difficult; the process of maturing from child to adult is challenging. Think of all that has to happen in a few short years. The parent-child relationship must change from total dependence, obedience and submission to relative independence; respect and honor instead of immediate obedience; and unmediated accountability to God and church, apart from parents. This is a drastic change. Sometime it seems that within mere moments your child has left home and been replaced with this teenager person. This person is the same one that was born some thirteen years earlier. But he is also quite […]
Over Medication: Sleeping ourselves to Death. Research this week has shown us once more that we can do lots of things with medication. We can calm shaky nerves,make the sleepless slumber, and banish chronic pain. We do these with medications such as Ativan, Ambien, and Hydrocodone and they do work. Unfortunately, we are finding that this does not come without cost. Click here to read the rest of the post.
Youthful lusts and lying go hand in hand. Teenagers are unlikely to tell their parents that they want to borrow the car to go to a party for drugs, drinking, sex or looking at porn. No, the story will more likely be along the lines of “… a couple of the guys want to go catch a movie and a pizza. And since Joe is going out of town a I’ll be later than normal, okay? Thanks Dad”! This is what happened with Amnon. He didn’t care about what God wanted. He didn’t care about his father. He only cared about what his father could provide for him—in this case the object of his lust, Tamar. Notice that Amnon doesn’t […]
The response of immediately trying to deny responsibility comes naturally to us and to our children. Children are fearful of the consequences of their sin and lie to avoid them. Christ must be shown as the one who can bring peace to a fearful heart. It is vital that this pattern be addressed quickly and thoroughly. If it is not, then the habit of lying will take root and become a means to other ends. The next progression in lying is to lie when there is something to be acquired. This type of lie can range from trying to make someone else look bad to scheming to obtain something that cannot be had in a way that pleases God. In […]
Children’s lies are among the most painful words a parent can hear. You know that every one is born sin and that Bible teaches that children come forth from the womb speaking lies (Psalm 58:3). Still, when you realize your child is lying to you, it hurts. Lying is an indication that children are much more self-aware than they are often given credit for. It is compelling evidence of their true heritage: original sin. Children don’t have to be taught to lie, it comes naturally. One reason children lie is because they fear exposure. They are afraid others will find out their thoughts and doubts are hidden. Thus, lying seems to be the best way to solve the problem. However, […]
Some practical, hands-on counsel from Tedd Tripp! Proverbs 9 will help our children evaluate themselves, “Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning” (Prov. 9:7–9). We used this passage to help our children evaluate their responses to parental authority. I would draw a stick figure of myself. I would ask, “What four words in this passage describe the communication of the parent?” They would search the passage and discover these four words, “Correct, rebuke, instruct, […]