Pick a sport, any sport and with it comes: parent meetings, practices, games, make-up games, and team parties. Now add one or two more children to the mix plus summer ball, fall ball, winter ball and the regular season. Don’t forget dance, scouts, extracurricular activities, music practice, birthday parties, church activities, serving in the community, school, homework, handing out with friends, and hobbies. Put this all together and we get one busy family.

 

One thing that we don’t see in this busy family is family worship. A time where the entire family with the leadership of dad are sitting together hearing and discussing God’s Word, praying, singing, and sharing life. History proves that as the family goes, so goes the society. If you look at our society, even in the church, the consensus is that the family is going somewhere for sure, “south.”

 

One of the key elements with reclaiming the family for God is the daily discipline of family worship. And family worship begins with reclaiming the father’s role as lead disciple maker in his home.  David Wegener in an article in Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood entitled, “The Father’s Role in Family Worship” said this, “Nothing will spur a father toward godly, spiritual discipline in his own walk with Christ more than leading his family in worship…this practice sets a tone of harmony and love in the household and is a source of strength when they go through affliction together.”

 

In his book Family Driven Faith, Voddie Baucham Jr. says that there are seven steps to begin Family Worship (FW):

1. FW must be born of conviction.
2. FW begins with the head of the household.
3. FW must be scheduled.
4. FW must be simple.
5. FW must be natural.
6. FW must be mandatory.
7. FW must be participatory.

Regardless of where you are in life, it is never too late to begin family worship. Every good discipline takes time and energy. To discuss some practical ways to do this, join us this Friday, June 20 at noon at Gridiron Burger.

 

Brandon

If ever in the history of America we needed to honor mothering, it is today. Sunday, May 11 marked the 100^th anniversary of Mother’s Day started by Anna Jarvis in honor of her mother. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 83 million mothers in the United States. More mothers now work out of the home and the number of single-mother households has tripled to more than 10 million since 1970. “The holiday was meant to be a celebration of mothers who dedicate themselves completely to nurturing their children and making a cozy, safe home like Anna’s mother did for her.”

Unfortunately, today, most moms and most women are overworked, tired and underappreciated. They literally have to be everything to everybody. When thinking about moms, I turn to Proverbs 31:10-31. It describes a woman who is worthy of honor. She is a hard worker. She maintains a good attitude. She is wise. And by the end of the day, her husband and children praise her. She doesn’t focus on anything else but caring for her family and home. She doesn’t worry about being anything else to anyone else. And she does this because she wants to glorify God with her life. This is how it ends:

“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain
but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”

May the Lord bless you on the 100^th anniversary of Mothers’ Day. Thank you for being mom!

Brandon

Ever thought about getting a face lift? Most of us wish we could have a new look to help us feel better about ourselves.  Face lifts help to tighten up loose skin while getting rid of those deep lines and wrinkles. The procedure costs about $7,000 and takes only 2 to 3 hours. In one treatment, you can have a new, long-lasting look. Heck, you can even be back at work within 2 weeks and feel better about yourself. But, will it really make life better?

Jesus Christ offers us a type of face lift that will actually change the way we look and feel. But this type of face lift doesn’t use a scalpel or anesthesia. This type of procedure requires a change of heart. It requires the grace of God to penetrate to the depth of your heart, every day. It requires allowing yourself to feel deeply loved and letting yourself love others with faith. It requires not letting anything corrupt your love for God.

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”

What does it take to have a joyful heart? For me, it takes being grateful for what I have. It takes trusting in God’s sovereignty over every area of my life. It means that I stop trying to fix my wife and kids. It means that I accept that hardships and suffering are a part of my daily life. It means stopping to enjoy a sunset. It means shutting off the television and spending time with my family. It means laughing a lot more. It means letting things go. I’ve tried these things and you know what, it works! My countenance changes and I actually smile. My face literally “lifts” because my heart has changed.

What about you? Are you in need of a face lift? What will it take to have a joyful heart in your life?

Reread Ephesians 6:21-24. Meditate on God’s grace. Ask yourself if you have the peace of God in your life. Pray that Christ would help you love Him with an “incorruptible” love. List five things that you could differently that would bring joy into your life and start applying the first one today.

Brandon

I remember reading a book written in 1981 by Harold Kushner, a Conservative Rabbi, called When Bad Things Happen to Good People. In this book, Kushner addresses the principal problem of why, if the universe was created and is governed by a God who is of a good and loving nature, there is nonetheless so much suffering and pain in it.

We all ask the same question when things in our lives aren’t that great. We have an unexpected fight with our spouse. Our kids simply won’t obey us and we are losing control. We can’t seem to find that right person and dating isn’t that great. We recently lose a job or sale. We find out we have cancer or that a loved one is dying. We keep getting slammed by our past.

Why do these bad things keep happening if I am saved by Jesus and God is so loving?
The answer: Because we still live in a fallen world in fallen bodies, ruled by an evil prince.

So, what do we do to simply get through the day?  The answer: humble ourselves and trust every moment to God’s loving and faithful control.  Peter says in 1 Peter 5:6-10,

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casing all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

 May God give you perspective and strength to keep your eyes on Jesus both in the good and hard times.

 

Brandon

“There is something in human nature that just doesn’t want to face the reality that we live in two worlds.  We live in the physical, material world where we have jobs, read books, and go about our business.  And we live in a spiritual world-and that is a world at war.”

John Eldredge

I was reflecting on these words and found myself asking …”Why is it our nature to deny the spiritual world?”  I came up with two reasons in my own life.

First, we live in a physical world.  A world measured by the five senses where, according to secular humanism, science is the ultimate authority on what is real.  In our daily maneuvering through this physical world topics like spiritual warfare simply don’t fit.  Yet, when we are still and quite, there is a voice in us that whispers “there is more.”  We can’t touch it, we can’t taste it, but if we are honest with ourselves not only do we hope there is more, we need there to be more!  One of the glories of being human is that this physical place is not our only reality and to deny this is to be sub-human.

Secondly, to acknowledge there is more puts us in a much more dependent position than we like to admit.  If our struggles really are not with flesh and blood but with an unseen enemy we need help.  We can’t do this alone, and no matter how hard we fight to order our physical world, there is a huge part of our lives that is beyond us.  What is interesting is that this realization is part of what makes the Gospel “good news”!  We are dependent, whether we admit it or not, and we have the help we need.  Though we may be physically alone, we are never abandoned!  Once again, our dependence is a trait of our humanity and once embraced a source of limitless joy.

So, as with most things, it comes down to a crisis of belief.  What is the final authority in our lives?  What defines reality?  Make no mistake…a decision must be made.  Either we will seek to define reality ourselves, or we will submit to the one who spoke the worlds into existence.  The choice is ours.

Ted

“We don’t have time to consider carefully whether we want to be in this war; we are in it whether we acknowledge it or not (Chip Ingram, The Invisible War, 27).”

Most of us struggle with believing we are in a fight. But the reality is that we are very much in a fight that is both brutal and violent.  It reminds me of the Ultimate Fighting Champion or UFC which is a mixed martial arts tournament to find the world’s best fighters based upon the Brazilian vale tudo fighting or No Holds Barred. Here are the rules of the competition or as they say, “Ways to Victory”:

• Knockout (KO): as soon as a fighter becomes unconscious due to strikes, his opponent is declared the winner
• Submission: a fighter may admit defeat during a match
• Doctor Stoppage: the referee will call for a time out if a fighter’s ability to continue is in question as a result of apparent injuries
• Corner stoppage: a fighter’s corner men may announce defeat on the fighter’s behalf by throwing in the towel during the match in progress or between rounds.
• Forfeit: a fighter or his representative may forfeit a match prior to the beginning of the match, thereby losing the match

Unfortunately, unlike the UFC, the only way the fight ends for us is either death or glorification. The ultimate KO!  But, we can win the fight daily because we already have eternally. The apostle John says in his letter…

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcomes the world - our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:4-5).”

Final Note: We are UFC’s - Ultimate Fighting Champions because we have Jesus! Because we have Jesus, we fight from victory not for it. What are you doing this week to fight from victory? Praying? Spending time getting to know the Victor in His Word? Capturing the lies that penetrate your thoughts and exchanging them with truth statements from His Word? Spending time with the Church? We must do whatever it takes to be UFCs. What will it take for you?

Brandon

I love this time of the year. March Madness, sweet tea and Jesus. What more do we need?  This is the time where teams “strut their stuff” waiting to be crowned “king” of college basketball.  In order to do well in the tournament you have to have a desire to win, determination, confidence and hard work.  Everything opposite of Jesus’ attitude during the same week over 2,000 years ago.Two words that describe this week of Jesus’ life are brokenness and humility. Two words that don’t come natural to me. Yet, if I am a follower of Christ and my life is to imitate His, then the question I wrestle with is do these two words, brokenness and humility, represent my life and person?

“FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING,
SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.”

- John 12:15

Our King on a donkey is an image of brokenness and humility.  And, because of this image, in just a week’s time, he was rejected, beaten and crucified.  The champion wasn’t honored or exalted at the end of His tournament, but humbled and broken.  And He is calling us to take the same posture.  Is that okay with us?  Or, do we want that “one shinning moment” and be crowned “National Champions?”

As you reflect on Easter while watching March Madness and drinking sweet tea think about this, to truly be a champion, do you need to win or lose?  Jesus said in Luke 9:24 that whoever wants to “(win) his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will (win) it.”

Brandon

This Sunday begins our celebration of the last week of Jesus’ ministry on Earth.  It is a time full of meaning, symbolism, emotion, and significance.  It is also a time that can fly right by us and leave no lasting imprint on our lives.  If we are not careful, we can miss the true joy of the Easter celebration and the freedom that the events we celebrate have won for us.

“What has God done for us in the resurrected Christ?”  In the article available HERE, Dr. John Piper gives us a few powerful biblical answers for us to reflect as we enter this Easter season.

It’s so easy in our world to separate our lives into neat categories.  It helps us keep life ordered and moving along and we work hard to make sure there’s no “spill over”.  I’m not sure that’s how Paul saw things.  Paul seems to be to be an all or nothing kind of guy, especially when it came to following Jesus.  There was not “church”, “social life”, and “work”… all life was lived under the banner of Jesus and His calling to be a salt and light in the world.

In Ephesians 6:5-9 Paul covers a third key relationship in the lives of believers, the employee/employer relationship.  As I read these verses a thought came to mind…who we are and the way we act are inseparable.  In other words worship is more than the music on Sunday, it’s the manner in which we liver our lives…especially at work!  Work is where our gifting and calling have the most opportune chance of coming together for an eternal impact.  It may not feel spiritual, but the reality is everything is spiritual, and therefore every opportunity is a chance for us to love well and declare the greatness of our God.

Wherever you may find yourself today I want to challenge you to view the work of your hands in light of the gospel.  There is no menial job because no matter what we do God is with us.  He is waiting to use each of us in ways we’ve never dreamed of.  The question is, are we available.

Ted

Remember those 8^th grade dances?  How about the slow-dance?  We had to keep at least six inches between us while we rocked back and forth.  It was awkward and uncomfortable because you never really knew who was leading.  Most marriages in the church today are like those 8^th grade slow-dances.  Awkward, boring and uncomfortable.  And, one of the major contributors of this in marriage is a confusion of roles and responsibilities.  Who leads?  Who follows?  Who handles the money?  Who takes care of the children?  Who provides the income?  Who leads the prayer?Instead of trying to move thorough the confusion, frustration and tension, most couples end up either living in misery or getting out.  In a January 16, 2008 article describing a new phenomenon called Sudden Divorce Syndrome, here is how one author described this scenario:

“A husband in his 40s is left speechless when his wife of over 20 years tells him that she wants a divorce.  He never saw it coming.  Sure, their relationship has had its ups and downs, but to him, things seemed to be going okay.  Actually, he was hearing less complaining from his wife than he had in a long while.

So here’s her side: Tired of years of a lackluster relationship, this wife senses that nothing is going to change in her lackluster marriage.  She complained for awhile, but lately has been resigned that the marriage was over.  Now she wants out while she still has value in the dating market.”

Why wait until it gets to this point?  Paul says it clear in Ephesians 5:22-24, husbands are to be servant leaders and wives are to respond by “giving them space” to lead.  But most of us aren’t willing to go there.  And thus we go round and round until the chaperon says the dance is over.  So the question is, who is defining the roles and responsibilities in your marriage?  The Scriptures or the world? God or man?  In order for a marriage to move from an awkward slow-dance to a fun two-step, roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined, embraced and lived out.

Brandon