Unfaithful Children

Yesterday on our "Parents After God's Own Heart" Facebook page, we posted the following:

"One of the biggest reasons for unfaithful adult children is that they were raised by unfaithful parents. If parents practiced a religion of convenience and that was the example shown to the children, the grown children will usually do the same. As time goes on, there are more and more "convenient excuses" and "uncommitted followers" as our society becomes busier and busier.

Put God, Jesus, and His church FIRST. Everything in front of any of those is an idol."

A reader sent this follow up and wanted to share it. It's their personal family situation, but they thought it would help others, possibly.

"I would like to submit the following comment to your post about unfaithful children, if you feel it would be useful to others?

I agree this can be true (*Note....What we posted yesterday). But another perspective, if I may. We would be considered "faithful" because we attended all services and programs offered by our congregation, my husband a deacon, lead singing and I taught bible class. We still have one unfaithful and one who has never obeyed the gospel.

Our lack of personal training in the home and letting them see God was first in everything we did was a mistake we made. We just assumed they would grasp the concept of a loving relationship with God and the church by osmosis, I guess. As parents, we can always second guess our parenting skills, but, please, young parents, take the time to pray, teach the word, morals, etc with your children. You can start as soon as they are born! Use life situations to talk about what the Bible says and it's answer to the situation. Help them grow their love and reliance on God for their everyday needs. I know we can do everything right and some will still go astray.......God gave us a free will to worship him or not. But, I believe your odds will be greatly increased if you raise your child to become a lover of God and follower of Christ, not just a church member. It takes both to make a faithful Christian.

I wish the expecting parents would seek out the advice and wisdom of those who have traveled the road before them. It took me quite a while to understand it takes more than being a bench warmer to be in a right relationship with God. Unfortunately, too late to have much influence on my children's spiritual development."

When Tragedy Strikes

Last Monday, Labor Day, my husband's brother and our sister-in-law had tragedy strike her side of the family.  She can say it much better and in much more detail than I can, so please take the time to read her post HERE.  It's her recount of that day and the week that followed.

My heart still aches for his family.  I'm sure they wake up every day and hope that what has happened has just been a really bad dream.  But it's a true nightmare that doesn't just stop at night.  It continues day after day.

The memorial service focused on what a good, kind man this guy was.  He never said no to anyone in need. The preacher used the story of the Good Samaritan to describe him.  He told about how he could fix anything with his hands.  He worked hard.

One thing that stuck out in my mind as we visited with the ones we were related to is something they almost all said, "Thank you for coming." "Thank you for being here."  We wanted to be there. We are thankful we could be there.

Last Wednesday night I did a lesson in my ladies' class about valuing the individual - being present for the person right in front of you.  I love that thought!

So many times, when we visit the sick, comfort the hurting, or just talk with friends or acquaintances, we are in a hurry.  We have a to-do list and a mission, but it's about what WE need or want.  It's about OUR schedule.  It's about OUR time table.  But ministering to others by just being there is HUGE.  BEING THERE is HUGE.  Listening, serving, loving, caring.....it's all about THEM.

This week you will encounter people who need you.  They need you to just be there.  They need to know that you care.  Give them your time.  Listen.  Love. Care. Serve.  Be present.  Value them.  Show them that you have time for them. Don't be in such a hurry.

When tragedy strikes, or even in just normal everyday conversations, someone is needing you to be there for them.  BE PRESENT FOR THE PERSON RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.  That moment may never come again. Don't waste it.

 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4

Let's Stop the "Fluff"

I saw this "tweet" on Twitter yesterday that was really good.

"We cannot expect our children to mature spiritually if we feed them fluff. 

Discounting their ability to grow is actually insulting to them.”

There's too much "fluff" going on, spiritually, and my husband and I are taking steps to make sure our family isn't participating in it!  We are activity making sure we are studying, teaching, learning, and going straight to the ONLY source of what is true and right to get the truth - God's Word - the Bible.

In the religious world, there's much adieu about fluff.  Worship has, at times and in some places, become more about experiences and feelings and how "I" feel than it is about the God and Jesus we are worshipping.  It's become more entertaining and less reverent.  The church may be more about programs and attendance and funds than it is about seeking and saving the lost.

It's easy to fall into the "fluffy" way.  But that way isn't the way the Lord wants us to go. He wants our lives, our dying to self, our daily walk in His Word, in His steps, and by His example. He wants our faith, our love, our dedication, our obedience, our commitment, our worship, our families, our marriages, our relationships with others.  He wants EVERYTHING to be ALL about HIM. He wants more than just an acknowledgement that He is there.  He wants to be IN us.  After all, that's what His children signed up for the moment they became His.

So, let's stop the fluff.  Let's stand for truth. Let's speak truth and teach truth.  All else is just fluff - tickling ears.  

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.  2 Timothy 4:2-4

Emergencies

Last week at camp, one of my jobs was to serve as camp nurse.  This was the second year I had done this job.  Last year's responsibilities were to dispense medications, take care of minor cuts and scraps, and deal with the occasional headache.  This year, within the first two hours of camp, I was faced with more serious issues and a trip to the emergency room.

The first emergency was a knee injury.  A young man was playing basketball, but simply ran straight across the court and felt a pain like being hit in the knee with a 2 x 4.  He was in obvious pain and his knee cap had floated up above where it was supposed to be.  We loaded up the camper and took him to him to the nearest emergency room.  His diagnosis was a definite problem - a torn patellar ligament and tibial bone fracture.  His parents were notified and after an appointment with a surgeon yesterday, he will be having surgery on his knee tomorrow. It was a real, serious emergency!

A few days later I had a second emergency.  One of the counselors came running out to tell me that one of the girls was having trouble.  I quickly went to find her laying on the sidewalk.  Because I know this girl personally, it appeared like she had been playing her favorite sport - basketball - and had the wind knocked out of her.  It looked just like I've actually seen it look during games.  But she hadn't been playing basketball.  She had been running quickly back and forth to the cabins during a competitive scavenger hunt game.

The young girl had blacked out, but come to.  She was dizzy, confused, and disoriented.  It was really scary!  Her vision was affected and she was off balance.  After several moments, she was still the same way.  It seemed like a concussion, though she hadn't hit her head.  I called her dad and we determined she should go to the emergency room.  Another counselor and mutual friend and I loaded her up and met her dad and grandmother at the emergency room.  By the time we got there, the young lady had actually gotten some better.  It was a relief to see her coming around and acting more like herself.

The doctor evaluated the young girl and felt like she probably just overheated.  It still seems like the symptoms were more of a concussion-type, but we'll really never know.  Thankfully by the next day the young girl was totally back to normal - just a little tired.  A very scary emergency!

During the whole week of camp as my "job" focused on major and minor physical emergencies, on the spiritual side of what camp was all about, the focus was on the spiritual emergencies in the lives of the campers.  Sadly, for young people and older people, we don't always get as alarmed about our spiritual lives as we do our physical lives.  We don't always pay attention to the warning signs that our spiritual lives are in trouble.   But why?  Aren't our spiritual bodies much more important that our spiritual bodies?  Yes, God's Word teaches that they are much more important.  The condition of our spiritual bodies determines how we will spend our eternity.  The condition of our spiritual bodies is of vital importance!  When our spiritual bodies are sick, it is a most serious emergency!

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

¹⁷ Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. ¹⁸ For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Philippians 3:15-21

As this verse says, when we find ourselves "living as enemies of the cross of Christ", we have a serious spiritual emergency.  So, what do we do about it?  Verse 16 says to "live up to what we have already attained".  That means to live up to what God has given us as children of God - salvation, forgiveness, eternal life!  To "live up to it" would be live according to His will for us.  Not that any of us can be perfect, but that we are striving to live a holy life - a life modeled by the example of Jesus, our Savior.  Yes, we'll fail.  Yes, we'll still have struggles.  But "living up to it" also means having the confidence in the fact that the blood of Jesus will cleanse us when we struggle and fail.  We don't have to worry about it.  We don't have to get down about it.  We can live boldly and confidently knowing that God is there to help our spiritual bodies with any emergency that comes along.


On this Gratituesday, I am very, very grateful that God is the healer of my spiritual emergencies.  In fact, He can help me with any emergency I have.  

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Running on "E"

It may sound really strange to most of you, but I think it's fun seeing how far I can go on a tank of gas.  I've mentioned before that my husband spoils me in some ways - such as the fact that I rarely have to get gas myself.  He almost always keeps the van full for me.  However, occassionally, he doesn't check it and it gets low or I have to go several far places in a few days and it gets low before he checks on it.  If the kids are with me (especially the two middle boys) they are quick to look to see how much gas is in the tank if I'm behind the wheel.  They don't trust me because they know I'll drive as far as I can past the "E"!

It's kind of a game to me.  I've looked up in the book that came with the van and know that I have 2.1 gallons left when the gas light comes on and "dings".  So, that's about 38 miles.  I keep track of that so I know I can make it back home from wherever we are at the time. So far my game has worked.  I've only run out of gas once in my life and that was before our children were born and it was on the outskirts of town.   Of course there are some times I realize there's just no way I can make it and I have to stop and get gas - but not often.

Running on "E" may work in a vehicle.  I may be able to get by with doing that forever.  But there's one place in life that running on "E" will never work and that is in my spiritual life.  Running on "E" - not filling up with God, with Jesus, with the Bible, with prayer and meditation - will quickly deplete my fuel and cause me to break down.

A stranded vehicle that's run out of gas would cause me problems.  I might have to wait for help.  I might have to walk for help.  I might cause myself to be late for something or some other trouble.  But, a spiritual life that is stranded - a life that is empty of any spiritual fuel will make my life totally wrecked.

Running on "E" in my spiritual life isn't a game I should ever play.  It's serious business.  It would not only affect my life now, but could effect my eternal life as well.

Let's all make it a priority to "fill up" our spiritual lives and never run on "E".

Happy Friday, everyone!