Tuesday - Lessons with Questions

Lessons from Questions

 

Throughout Jesus' time on earth He very often taught by asking questions of those around Him.  I love questions.  I often teach and coach others by answering a question with a question.  Why do this?  Is asking a question when people expect an answer rude?  Is it presumptuous?  Is it easier to give your answer rather than help people reason and think?  If you don't think this is true, just try this on your children.

 

In the past few months during my personal quite time, as the Lord has directed me, I have started writing down questions of myself.  Jesus used this.  I do with it others.  Why not do it to me?   Even in scripture we are taught to "Search me O Lord and "check me out with a microscope".  See if there is any deep, hidden stuff in my life, magnify it."  Scary!  Do I really want God to put that kind of scrutiny on me?  Is there a secret closet of my life that I think no one sees? Do I really want to think about confessing it? I ask myself these questions all the time because that's what I've been taught to do.  But, I want to present to you a question that I doubt you normally ask of yourself.  It's just one.  Only you can answer it.

 

Based on 1 Cor. 10:22,  "What do I have in my life that could provoke the Lord to jealousy?"

 

Begin by asking yourself where are my priorities?  Write this stuff down, guys.  Journal it.  Keep it for your kids to learn from.  Don't kid yourself.  We all have something.

 

Thanks for today's blog posting to - Fred Lively

 

Thanks,
 
Gary
 
gkendall@KendallSystems.com
www.KendallSystems.com
972-488-0009
"While it is hard to motivate someone with no Vision, it is almost impossible to stop someone with a Vision." - gary kendall

 

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Friday is for Vision

Visioncasting

 

What Vision are you casting to your family and friends?  When you speak your words have power.  Are you speaking good or evil?  When you tell someone "You're no good" you are speaking a curse on that person.  When you grumble and complain you are casting a negative vision.  When you say "It can't be done" you are casting a negative vision. 

 

People, especially kids, tend to live up to or down to your expectations of them.  If you expect the bad in them then you should not be surprised when they deliver it.

 

Say there is someone in your life you are having issues with like a spouse, child, co-worker, future pastor, whoever.  If you want the best then speak it and cast a positive vision.  Find something you can compliment in that person and encourage that thing.  Never mind the thing you don't like in that person, let God handle that, instead, build up, edify and encourage the other person in the thing you find that is good in them. 

 

Do they drive you nuts because they are so slow at getting their work done?  Then instead of complaining about how slow it is, compliment them for taking the time to be thorough.  My 14 year old son went to get something out of the hall closet (the family everything, video, game, closest) the other day and could not get in because it was so cluttered.  So he pulled everything out, vacuumed the entire floor, restacked the videos and games, put everything back in and organized it.  No one asked him to, no one told him he had to do that, he just saw it and did it.  Now I could have complained to him about a lot of other thins he had not done (chores or mowing the lawn or it could be anything) but I seized the opportunity to compliment him.  I told him I really appreciated his initiative, his hard work, his attention to detail, and his thoroughness in getting this done.  I reinforced it by rewarding him with points (we have a point system in our house  - get points for doing good stuff, lose points for bad stuff and trade points in for videos or games or special treats.  It works great).  I made a big deal about how proud I was of him for doing what he did especially when he was not asked to.  Now he will remember that because I cast a positive vision for him and spoke blessings into him.  He will want to live up to those expectations and receive more praise in the future for similar acts.

 

So we have a new pastor coming.  So maybe there is something you don't care for in the new pastor.  Find something you do like and compliment him on that.  Find ways to truthfully say encouraging things to him to build him up.

 

Say you are out eating in a restaurant and you get good service from your waiter.  When the meal is over, ask to speak to the manager (they always get nervous when you ask for the manager).  When the manage comes over, compliment the waiter and the outstanding service you received and tell him you will be back for great service like they have provided.  Everyone else complains, why not be the one that compliments.

 

Cast a positive Vision.

 

Sometimes when someone is acting up and causing problems, instead of yelling at them or complaining to them, take a closer look at them.  What is really going on with that person.  Maybe you don't know everything.  Find out and help them out.  We were working with the youth a few weeks ago and there was one guy who kept needling people and pushing their buttons to get a reaction.  I watched him all week do this.  Then at the end of the week I took 5 of the guys one on one and talked to them and complimented something I saw in them that week that was good.  I cast a positive vision in them.  This one guy who needled everyone I took aside and told him that he had a gift for being able to read people.  I told him he was very good at figuring people out but that he was misusing that ability to pick on people and get a reaction out of them.  I went on to say that I did not think he was doing this to be mean, he was doing it because 1) he wanted attention and 2) he did not know how to talk to people and the only ay he knew to get someone to talk to him was to push their buttons.  Instead of doing that, I told him to start using his ability to find out what people needed and then to start trying to help meet the other person's need and to use that as a way to build a relation, get the attention he needs, and gain a friend in the process.

 

Philippians 4:8 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

 

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no vision, the people perish...

 

Everyone is casting some sort of vision.  What kind of Vision are you casting? 

 

Thanks,
 
Gary
 
gkendall@KendallSystems.com
www.KendallSystems.com
972-488-0009
"While it is hard to motivate someone with no Vision, it is almost impossible to stop someone with a Vision." - gary kendall

 

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Wednesday- Be Encouraged to Lead

Take a Stand 

 

Gentlemen, today I'm encouraging you, challenging you to lead by example and lead by following God's will.  The topic is simple: the upcoming decision by our church to accept the man chosen to be our new pastor.  The search committee put in many hours on their knees praying together and alone.  They interviewed dozens and dozens of men.  They sought God on this matter.  Many of us in the congregation prayed for them day in and day out.  We prayed for their safety when traveling, for the precious time with their own families that would be sacrificed.  We prayed for God to lead them, guide them, show them the best man of God to lead our flock.  We prayed for a man with the vision for our church that we have and a vision that is beyond.  Our church has been blessed with that- a pastor that has vision beyond our own.  We prayed and agonized over the months of no news.  We were excited and anxious as word came that the search team had a significant announcement.

 

All along we had no say or guarantee in the final decision the team reached.  We put that in God's hands. Did God lose His grip?  Did God let something slip out of His grasp?  May it never be said!  The almighty God and Father still reigns and for some unknown reason, still cares about the minutia of our lives.  We trusted in God to lead the search team.  Let our trust continue.  Was our trust misplaced in the members of the committee?  No.

 

A lot of things get blamed on God and a lot of things get credited to God that have nothing to do with God whatsoever.  When someone makes a decision and says it was God's will, then the decision turns out to be a poor one or the person is discovered to be a charlatan.  God is still on His throne.  When someone achieves something and gives God credit but the thing accomplished is contrary to His Word.  God is not mocked.  God's will may not always be easy to determine.  When one door closes or is stubborn to open one person may be convinced that God is telling them no.  Another person may be convinced that same occurrence means God is saying to keep trying, pursue, don't give up.  God is still sovereign, still in control even though we don't have a clue.

 

I don't know this chosen man personally; very few of us can at this point.  There is no way that everyone in our church would ever be able to know our pastor personally.  But what I do know is this:  I prayed for the yet-unknown pastor times.  I prayed for the search team.  I prayed for all those things above and more.  I believe God does intimately work in our personal lives and can make things happen for His glory.  I have no reason to doubt, no reason to second guess, no reason to withhold my full support of the decision of the search team.  I supported the decisions in the past.  Men may fail.  Men may change their minds.  Men may be lead by God other places.  Our God is faithful and is able to lead this body of Christ with fallible men. It is not our decision for our pastor to remain at our church for 50 years.  It may be our preference, but it is not our choice.  How dare we doubt God when things don't go our way.

 

I'm learning more from Nehemiah.  It doesn't seem possible in my little pea brain that so much can be tucked away in this little book of His blessed Word.  Twice in this small book something is mentioned that we, in our casserole-toting Baptist world, don't discuss much….fasting.   I do not know why fasting is not discussed much in our circles and I'm certainly no pro about it.  I've been reading and I'm coming to understand that when fasting is coupled with prayer and Bible study, fasting can lead to a much deeper, almost intense understanding of God, His Word and His will.  I need that right now.  I need to know what I can do, how I can be used by Him to support the man chosen by our search team.  We can't enter into this relationship looking back or looking elsewhere, we must enter into it arm in arm, heading straight into battle.  There is too much to be done truly in the name of the Lord, too many souls to be won and too many saved to be strengthened to allow for this foolishness.  I look forward to what God shows me as my fasting continues.

 

We can't know all that lies ahead.  We can't answer all the ifs.  Just because we don't understand something, doesn't mean it can't be right.  Praise God that He does things I don't understand!  I am still called to be faithful.  We can only do what we are called to do.  I am not called to know every matter in this search for a new pastor.  I am called to be obedient.  I am called to pray.  I am called to follow the other commands in Scripture when things look uncertain.  No where am I called to speculate with my 10 closest friends on why the man chosen is not God's will.  I am called to support, uphold, pray, encourage, uplift, edify.  That is where I am trying to remain. 

 

Be encouraged, lead, be strong,

Philip Buford

 

VERY GOOD STUFF. Thanks for today's blog posting to - Philip Buford

Thanks,
 
Gary
 
gkendall@KendallSystems.com
www.KendallSystems.com
972-488-0009
"While it is hard to motivate someone with no Vision, it is almost impossible to stop someone with a Vision." - gary kendall

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"But I'm not good at that..."

The Lord has been pushing me in this area over the past few months, really convicted me a couple of weeks ago, and now through various resources has begun teaching me some important things. I say this so you can know that I am talking from the bottom up, not from a lofty perch.

Evangelism. Feel a knot in your stomach already don’t you? I know I would have a couple of months ago – now I am excited about any opportunity I may get to share Christ’s love with someone – anyone. What has changed? A couple of things: mainly me. Well, almost all. God certainly hasn’t changed, nor His position on what we should be doing about evangelism. What has changed is how I view myself and others, and also how I view the task of evangelism.

 

            Change #1: My view of myself in relation to God

                        I have written about it before but I’ll say it again – realizing just how bad I was, really owning up to it and finally realizing in my heart (not just my head) then receiving God’s grace, love, and acceptance, well – there’s nothing better than to be chased down and loved is there?

Finally feeling it – that God does love me, not in some abstract Systematic Theology 101 way, but personally, intimately made all the difference in how I relate back to Him and others. I have more grace and forgiveness for others because I know what God has redeemed me from and I know that He wants to do the same for everyone. Which leads me to:

 

            Change #2: What to do about Evangelism

I should just post this link, tell you to buy the book and that’s it because I really can’t explain it any better than he does, but I’ll try to give a short summary. The basic idea is to just be friendly to people. Not just your friends! To step out of your comfort zone and go talk to the outcast, the loner, the arrogant guy, the rude lady, whoever. I have always thought that evangelism would be a failure unless at least one of three things happened:

1. An invitation to church or Sunday School was at least extended – bonus if accepted.

                        2. The Wages of Sin and The Plan of Salvation told

                        3. On the spot conversion

 

Is that your image of evangelism? That’s a lot of pressure and requires a lot of knowledge doesn’t it? What if they have had a bad ‘religion’ experience? How do I answer the tough questions they may have? If I don’t have the answer, they will think that Jesus isn’t the Way and it’s all a load of garbage, so I have to polish my story, learn every refutation to every hard question, learn how to force them to see their need – like I have said before when we do things in our own power – more often than not they fail and are really difficult. What if all it took was being friendly and showing not preaching about God’s love. Preaching is WONDERFUL and I love nothing more than hearing a good sermon, but sometimes we meet people who aren’t open to that yet. Their soil is thorny and parched with birds just hanging out in the trees waiting to swoop in and snatch any bit truth that may land on their hearts.

 

Sometimes it is just our job to show them God’s love. Jesus never expected the sick to be healthy, why do we? Why do we get angry with sinners instead of heartbroken? Especially now as we begin to think and plan new and exciting ways to reach out to the men and families of our church and Dallas as a whole, we must be prepared to get down and do the hard work of loving people. Because that what it all comes down to – we love because He loves us. Pretty simple isn’t it?

 

You really should get this book: Bill Hybels: Just Walk Across The Room

Nathan Campbell

 

Monday Blog

We were heading out this morning to an appointment, the only barrier being the location of my son's shoes.  He has gotten into the careless habit of tossing them where ever with little thought of the later trouble.  We spent well over 20 minutes searching for them, but when they were finally located we were happy, thankful, and relieved.  We quickly headed out the door on on our way.

 

Aren't we thankful Christ searches so diligently for those that are lost.  It is His heart's desire.  Second Peter 3:9 tells us "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."  Christ will return as promised but lingers purely out of His great love for man and desire to find the lost.

 

The people nor the disciples understood why a person like Jesus would want to spend time even talking to someone like Zacchaeus, muck less go to his home.  But Jesus told the people after Zacchaeus made his great display of faith and repentance that "salvation has come to this house ... For the Son of Man came to Seek and Save what was lost." (Luke 19:10)  Jesus, the Lord of All took time to find one that was lost.

 

We are commanded to be a witness to the lost.  If it is the desire of Christ, it should be out desire as well.

 

Darrell Baty

 

 

 

 

 

Surrender

SURRENDER

The time has come for us to quit playing chess with God over our lives. We cannot win, but we can delay the victory, dragging on the pain of grasping and the poison of possessing. You see, there are two kinds of losses in life. The first is shared by all mankind—the losses that come to us. Call them what you will— accidents, fate, acts of God. The point is that we have no control over them. We do not determine when, where, what, or even how. There is no predicting these losses; they happen to us. We choose only how we respond.

The second kind is known only to the pilgrim. They are losses that we choose. A chosen loss is different from repentance, when we give up something that was never ours to have. With a chosen loss, we place on the altar something very dear to us, something innocent, whose only danger is in its goodness, that we might come to love it too much. It is the act of consecration, where little by little or all at once, we give over our lives to the only One who can truly keep them.

Spiritual surrender is not resignation. It is not choosing to care no longer. Nor is it Eastern mysticism, an attempt to get beyond the suffering of this life by going completely numb. As a friend describes, "It is surrender with desire, or in desire."  Desire is still present, felt, welcomed even. But the will to secure is made subject to the divine will in an act of abandoned trust. Think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

(Excerpt from Journey of Desire by John Eldredge)

 

Thanks for today's blog posting to - Dick Kendrick

 

Thanks,
 
Gary
 
gkendall@KendallSystems.com
www.KendallSystems.com
972-488-0009
"While it is hard to motivate someone with no Vision, it is almost impossible to stop someone with a Vision." - gary kendall

 

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Crunch Time

We are almost there – weeks away from meeting the man that God has brought to our body! What an exciting time, rife with opportunity for good and bad.
This is a critical time when as a group we must decide between:

“This is God’s Will” or “This been done in our power, and as such is a mistake”

This is an important distinction and one that we should all consider because corporately we have been praying that God would lead us to His man.
How we react to the choice and the final decision when you drill down past teaching style, preference, worship style, education, family, looks, charisma – if you are honest, you are left with two options - and that is a fork in your road.

If this is God’s Will, then we have not only an obligation, but a great blessing in trusting, following, and obeying! Here then is an opportunity for courage, faithfulness, and speaking the truth in love – because let’s be honest, we will meet grumblers and complainers who are unhappy with something in the list, but haven’t come to that fork yet. I am recovering grumbler and complainer and some days are better than others, but now is the time for us as aspiring Men of God to implement and exhort others in love to live the words of Ephesians 4:29:

 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Here is why: if someone is grumbling or complaining about the body’s future, lead them to this fork and ask them “choose ye this day” essentially – because that is what it comes down to isn’t it? You will either follow God or believe that this isn’t what God wants.
At that point, they have the opportunity to speak in love about their convictions and try and effect change and repentance, but not complain or grumble. There is a huge difference.

I have seen it before where a church body loses effectiveness because people forget these words "Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining" Philippians 2:14.

Let us seek God’s will and remember Jesus’ words in Luke 11:11 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?”


Nathan Campbell
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Wednesday - be encouraged, for our God reigns

God Provides

 

Oh we worship a faithful God.  Read Nehemiah chapter 9.  How many times does it say something the Lord did for the people of Israel?  Over and over again He is compassionate and providential, never forsaking the people.  That chapter is so full of praise.

v. 5 O may Thy glorious name be blessed and exalted above all blessing and praise!

v. 6 Thou alone art the Lord.  Thou hast made the heavens.  The heaven of heavens with all their host.

v. 7 Thou are the Lord God

v. 8 Thou has fulfilled Thy promise.  For Thou art righteous.

v. 10 Then Thou didst perform signs and wonders against Pharaoh

v. 11 Thou didst divide the sea….and their pursuers Thou didst hurl into the depths

v. 12 Thou didst lead them

 

On and on it goes, giving glory and praise to God.  As I read this I was struck by the awesomeness of God and how I take Him lightly.  How dare I do that! 

 

I read vs 25 and I realized something.  

v. 25 And they captured fortified cities and a fertile land.  They took possession of houses full of every good thing, hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, fruit trees in abundance.  So they ate, were filled, and grew fat, and reveled in Thy great goodness.  

 

I know I’ve heard this before but it’s been a while.  When God promised the people He was leading them to a land flowing with milk and honey, the blessed Promised Land, I don’t know what the people thought they were going to receive.  When I was little I just thought they were going to a new chunk of land that God set aside for them and it was going to a nice place.  Then we heard about the giants and biggo grapes and walls falling down and cities being conquered.  Then finally the children of Israel moved in and spread out.  I figured they built houses and started tilling up the land like on Little House on the Prairie.  Well that was not the case at all.  God took them to a very inhabited place, a developed place with established towns.  God gave them houses already built, wells that were already dug, land already full of crops and trees full of food.  They didn’t get the scrap of land no one wanted, that no one had developed.  They got the best real estate around with the furnished condo. 

 

Does God provide?  Boy, does He!  And is God faithful and forgiving?.   Read on.  Read the rest of the chapter and just see how Israel turned their back on God over and over and God received them back over and over with all the love as before.  We cannot understand that love.  We hope for it.  We hope He will be forgiving and merciful.  Save the righteous and holy for later.  Let me see the loving, gracious, faithful God.  We just cannot understand how God can be absolutely, wholly all those things all at once.  But He is. 

V. 31 Nevertheless, in Thy great compassion Thou didst not make an end of them or forsake them.  For Thou art a gracious and compassionate God. 

 

When we are faithful to Him, unashamedly obedient, He provides and blesses.  I’m not preaching prosperity doctrine here.  I’m preaching get yourself right before God, honor Him with your life.  He will take care of the rest.  

 

I like verse 32.  How often do we come before God with requests knowing it is a minor thing in the scope of all the world.  Look at this…"Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who dost keep covenant and lovingkindness, do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before Thee."  We do the same as countless millions before. We want the almighty God, Creator of the very universe to step into our little world and help our child make friends, get us a close parking spot, show us money we forgot we had, fix our car, help us sleep well at night.  And you know what?  He does all that and longs to do more.

 

He is faithful and true.  Amen.

 

Be faithful and lead,

Philip Buford

 

Greatness vs. Excellence

As men, should we aspire to greatness or excellence? I think it is part of our culture and part of our nature as men to desire position, title, esteem, awards, praise from others, maybe even just respect.

All of those things I am going to define as greatness. I am not saying that being given those things (because all good things come from God) is evil or sinful – but could it be that a misplaced desire for them is?
What if, in everything we did, in instead of seeking ‘greatness’ we sought excellence? Excellence honors God, greatness honors ourselves. I have seen in my life that when I clawed and scratched for greatness it was either frustratingly elusive or came with consequences to my spiritual and family life. When I have sought excellence that honors God, sometimes the effort goes unnoticed by everyone, sometimes God rewards with small measures of greatness that then, because my focus has been on Him, I can give proper credit to the true source of blessing – Him.

We want to be great men of God – but have we embraced the fact that what we do or who we are may never be known to anyone (maybe not even our family)? The key to this is humility. I used to think of humility as something I had to force myself into (which was accurate at that time) – I was incredibly proud and arrogant of my intellect, achievements, and talents. God humbled me, sometimes in private, but sadly, often in public. Once I understood who I really was, what God thought of me (and my sin), and the price He paid to redeem me, and that no amount of goodness or self-righteousness could have caused Him to do that (see my previous blogs for more of this thought) – I was really humbled.

I used to want to be a deacon. My great-grandfather was a pastor, both of my grandfathers were deacons (in the same church), my father was a deacon. I assumed as soon as I was married – presto – another deacon was made. I came to realize that I wanted the title, the prestige – not the work. I was looking at this last night – deacon means “one who serves” – do I need a title, ceremony, or nametag to serve? Of course not!

We are ALL servants to the King. No matter what title anyone may bestow on us, no matter who asks our opinion – we should always do what the King wants. We should always say what the King would want said. He wants excellence from us in every area of our lives because it reflects His opinion of what we are worth to Him! When we are pursuing excellence in our relationships, work, family, and most importantly self, we honor God. We demonstrate that we understand our eternal position and we work excellently, not out of debt (because it is un-payable) but because of thankfulness. With excellence, God may (choice, not ability!) use us in those positions of greatness by His mercy and providence. However, He will place us there, not us. I needed to be reminded of this.

Nathan Campbell
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Be Encouraged and Lead

Help Them Know

 

Nehemiah continues to challenge and inspire me.  The heading right before chapter 8 verse 13 puzzled me. I read “Feast of Booths Restored” and about the people being told to cut branches of leafy trees and build booths. I wondered the meaning.  I looked deeper and read the referenced passages in Leviticus 23.  The booths were a temporary shelter, representing the dwellings the children of Israel lived in while they were in the wilderness, while they wandered 40 years.  Nehemiah told the people living in the rebuilt Jerusalem to bring back the Festival of Booths.  This was to remind the people of God providence, guidance and corrective hand.

 

It was a campout for the whole nation.  They set up their little makeshift wigwams on the rooftops, in their courts, the courts around the temple and in the square by the gates. You know the kids were loving it, or at least the boys.  Going out with dad to cut down and haul back the branches, asking why and learning about the ways God worked.  The kids probably ran around comparing their booth to those of their cousins and friends.  The probably annoyed their mom and dad by getting in the way and running around waving branches instead of helping. How many of us loved to set up a “tent” under the dining room table then playing for hours?  We’ve let our kids make tents with bed sheets across chairs or over a table.  We even let them set up a camping tent in the house.  They run from their bedroom to the tent with favorite toys or books.  I bet the kids loved the Festival of Booths for some of the same reasons.  I’m sure the mom’s were not as thrilled….great, camping out for a week when I’ve got all my cooking stuff set up in the house.  But they understood it was important.  The parents knew in this week their children, while running around being kids, would catch some of the message.  They would learn how their ancestors were lead long ago by Almighty Jehovah God out of bondage in Egypt to the promised land. 

 

I think sometimes our understanding of time passage in the Bible is not clear.  It had been about 1000 years since Moses lead the people out of Egypt.  1000 years, that is a really long time.  For us it has been just over 200 years since our nation declared independence from our mother country and around 400 years ago is when settlers arrived.  It had been 1000 years since the Festival of Booths had been celebrated.   During the exodus from Egypt the people lived in very temporary housing so they could be on the move when needed.  There was nothing really special about the booths, the tents, the temporary housing that Nehemiah’s followers built in Jerusalem. It was just a physical, practical tool that God told them to use to remind the generations to come what had happened and how God took care of the people, why the people had to remain in the desert for 40 yrs and how God faithfully lead them into Canaan.  Why do we say they wandered for 40 years.  I always thought they were lost, wandering around.  They weren’t wandering, they were in time out.  A biggo 40 year timeout in the desert. 

 

This Festival of Booths was a 7 day deliberate departure from the everyday routine to teach their children and remind themselves about God’s love, mercy, guiding hand, justice, forgiveness, faithfulness and sovereignty.  They could not work for the first 2 days of the celebration. Much of the days were filled with prayers and special meals.  It was a special time each year to teach, in a very unique way. about what God had done.  It surely made a lasting impression on the children.  God made these festivals, feasts and  holidays for very specific reasons – to have the people stop the every day life and remember, confess, repent, praise and worship. 

 

We have got to make time with our families to teach them.  I have always struggled with this.  As a small child, younger than 2^nd grade, I remember my family having devotion time together.  I remember mom sitting on the couch with my older brother and me reading Bible stories to us.  I remember the whole family kneeling around the living room praying.  It was very structured.  My mom died, dad remarried and none of that was ever repeated or even talked about. I never experienced family devotion time as an older child or teenager. My wife and I tried several times to get the kids together and study the Bible.  It was not easy and normally did not go well due to my own ideas.  I was unrealistic.  I had in mind a high school or college type Bible Study.  What I planned never made sense for a family setting with young kids.  All I knew was a sit down Bible Study: get out your pen and paper and discuss.  I can’t tell you how many years I was so frustrated because I could not teach my children all the great stories of the Bible and things God was teaching me because they would not sit still, be quiet and listen.  Finally I just let go and prayed and prayed and prayed.  I was burdened about it.  God please use me, somehow.  Maybe my ideas are not the right way for my family.  Show me how to do it.  I want to teach them about You and Your Word.  But how?

 

Then one day it just happened.  A simple question about what they learned at church or question about a Bible story came up and it hit me….car time.  That time, whether 5 minutes, 20 minutes or an hour when you are in the car heading somewhere to do something can be a great time to talk about God.  Sometimes I’ll turn off the radio or cd and just talk about what God is doing in our family or with friends or ask the kids what things they want me to pray about for them or tell me about a friend at school.  For a while I was telling them Bible stories in chronological order through the Bible.  They loved that.  The older they get the tougher it gets to pull them into a discussion.  Now that one is driving himself everywhere, he and I have to make different time. 

 

I know that when we get home from where ever we’ve been it will all be craziness in the house.  But in the car I can have their attention.  Instead of getting mad because we don’t have a structured family time with God, I have learned to look for time in other places of our routines.  Sometimes it is with one child, sometimes it is with all three.  Sunday mornings can be a tough time to have a meaningful discussion.  They are all sleepy and grumpy.  But coming home from church on Sunday morning and Sunday evening are great times.  It may take 15 questions to just get a few answers out of them about what they did in Sunday School, but it is worth it.  You are showing them that discussing what they learned is important to you.  You are showing them that they are important to you. 

 

Deuteronomy 6:7 says we should teach our children God’s ways “when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”  This sounds to me like you should have discussions about God whenever, wherever and often.  For us that verse means on the way to WalMart, on the way to church, on the way to school or sports or music practice.  Don’t let those little times get by.  We all learn in small doses. 

 

Maybe we’ll set up a tent this weekend in the living room and have our own Festival of Booths.  I’m all for it.  I know the two little kids will jump on board…..getting my 17 year old to buy in and my wife…that might be a different story. 

 

Guys we must lead our families. The point is simple.  Take those deliberate steps, even if they are awkward and uncomfortable- teach your family.  It will not happen unless you MAKE it happen. 

 

Lead others to Him,

Philip Buford

Thur. 4 Missions: Rule of Three

Guy Muse knocks it out again. Love this guy's (ahem) blog.

Pulls a note from Curtis Sergeant regarding lessons to learn from the Marine Corp: Rule of Three.

Money Quote

The three tasks/goals for which each of us is responsible involve 1) going out and engaging the lost with the Gospel, 2) making disciples of those who choose to follow Christ (including baptism), 3) teaching/training them to be Christ's ekklesia where they live by obeying Christ's commands.

This is hedgehog thinking.