Would your friends say you are generous with your time, talent and treasure? How about your family or your church? A pastor may challenge you to look at your check book or debit card statement to assess how generous you have been with your money. The sermon usually goes along the lines of, “where your money goes reflects where your heart is.” In a similar vein, kids may challenge you to look at your calendar to see how generous you have been with time committed to them. Where you spend time does reflect priorities in life.
Ideally, the checkbook would reflect at least a tithe to the church and support for great para-church ministries. Likewise, your calendar would show birthdays, anniversaries, school events and other kids’ activities as priorities across the year. Time, talent and treasure are all gifts from God and He is glorified through generous giving of those gifts for Kingdom work.
I had a friend that failed to read up on the traffic rules and signage for Holland when he visited the country on a business trip. He knew it wasn’t England so he would get to drive on the “normal” side of the road and thus assumed all else would be similar to his American experience. Upon arrival in Amsterdam he promptly drove into the centrum and found a handy parking spot in front of a restaurant. After ordering some breakfast he looked out the window to see the car being towed off! He had parked in a “No Parking” zone. Pleading ignorance to the foreign sign was not an adequate excuse and did not reduce the fine. A very expensive lesson in obedience was learned.
King David had a similar experience when he tried to move the ark of God ...read on
Is spanking a crime? The media seems to be using high profile child abuse charges levied against a dad as fuel to give that argument credence. There has been a new flurry of articles written by “experts” on the subject. But be alert to phrases like, “And while the modern scientific consensus is clear …” when they are not backed up with objective scientific evidence. Biblical writings are absolutely clear that discipline is foundational in raising a godly generation – young people that respect authority, the rule of law and honor their father and mother. There is a good argument that the present trend of lawlessness and disrespect for authority that percolates in parts of our government and society is the result of a generation raising children with more concern about hurting self-esteem than building self-esteem through sound disciplinary practices in the home.
“Do not withhold discipline from a child; read on...
Are you ready for some football? It doesn’t appear that the NFL was ready for what it got the first couple of weeks of the season. I confess, I am old school and still embrace the rule of law that guarantees us due process when charged with a crime. The way the media and society obsess over YouTube videos and other picture postings, innocence until proven guilty is being turned on its head! We as consumers should not tolerate this, but I digress.
What I find fascinating is the level of physical discipline that professional athletes must practice in order to compete at the level they do. Many of them are able to apply similar levels of discipline to the emotional and spiritual aspects of their lives as well but those athletes do not typically make the paper.
You do not have to be a professional athlete to struggle with inconsistent physical, emotional or spiritual disciplines in life. We see pastors fall from grace and CEOs mismanage the company’s pension funds. We see men struggling with alcohol and dads losing their temper.
Paul provides an example for us in 2 Corinthians, ...read on
My daughter and I were backpacking with other dads and daughters in the Weminuche Valley of the San Juan Mountains back in June. It was our overnight on the trail so after a great day, we enjoyed dinner and good discussion around the campfire. Then the moon rose over the ridge. It was a full moon in full glory illuminating the whole valley in grand fashion. It was so bright that we cast giant shadows as we walked in its light! It provided a brilliant reflection of the sun that night and was certainly the brightest moon we had ever experienced.
I was struck by the analogy of that experience to my walk as a Christian. I am to be a reflection of the Son in order to illumine the valleys of life that family or friends may be walking through. While the moon waxes and wanes through its phases, I as a Christian am waxed to the full by the Holy Spirit. The only waning that goes on is by choice. read on...
It was October 4th, 1997, on The Mall in Washington D.C. – I was one of over a million men attending Promise Keepers’ Stand in the Gap event. We listened to some of the nation’s top preachers & teachers challenge us on the many fronts of manhood; we heard of Jesus’ example of loving selflessly and sacrificially and were challenged to love our wives in the same way; we sang in force, “A Mighty Fortress is our God”, “As for Me and My House” and other hymns; we were on our knees with billfolds open to pictures of our family, praying for them; and we were encouraged and equipped in the word of God to Stand in the Gap for marriage and family, and for the Church. That was the first time I had heard with such clarity what it meant to be a man.
To put an exclamation point on the experience, the Lord worked through a stewardess on the flight returning a plane load of men to Houston early on October 5th, almost all of whom had been on The Mall the day before. After the safety briefing, the stewardess said, “Men, I know y’all received a lot of negative press for the gathering on The Mall yesterday. But I want you to know that we women love you, we love what you are doing and pray that you will keep on doing it!” Applause and Amens erupted. read on ...
What are you full of? Better yet, what do your friends say you are full of? We are all full of something – full of self or full of the Spirit. Or we are somewhere in between playing the game of balance with the spiritual and natural life in this world. It is easy to do ‘Spirit-filled’ on Sundays but Monday through Friday we turn naturally to self, self-motivation and self-actualization in the workplace.
Stress can be a good indicator as to what you are full of. The stress level increases when the Spirit is pushed out by the noise of the world and the pressure-packed decisions that are part of life. It is not as normal to turn to the Holy Spirit in prayer to process a business decision as it is a health concern. read on ...
What are you fearful of? No doubt several world situations have you fearful if you are caught up in the 24/7 news cycle! There is quite a choice – rioting in Ferguson, murders in Chicago, illegal entry across our southern border, ISIS capturing Fallujah, refugees pinned on a mountainside in Iraq, Israel at war, Ukraine battling Russian insurgence, chemical weapons in Syria, aggressive persecution including beheadings by ISIS, and the list goes on. In some parts of the world people fear for their way of life while others fear for life itself.
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. – Proverbs 29:25. We live in a broken world because man is broken. Man is in need of a Savior and He is Jesus the Christ. As we turn to Him in a personal relationship ...read on
What kind of inheritance did you receive, or do you anticipate receiving from your dad? I inherited the silk maps of different groups of islands in the South Pacific my dad had with him in the cockpit of his Hellcat fighter during World War II. They have fared much better than he did post the stress young Navy pilots dealt with during those times. I also inherited some of his characteristics, his athleticism and competitive spirit.
In his latter days, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. Read on ...
Be Strong in Mind to be “All In” with relationship to Jesus the Christ – When Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with … all your mind”, He was referring to how our thoughts guide us in relationship with Him.
Paul’s word to the Corinthians addressed the mental discipline needed in this world – “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” – 2Cor. 10:5. The charge is to keep the mind from drifting to unclean thoughts that will distract and lead to disobedience.
Failure to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ opens the door to bad choices and temptations ...Read on
