A good dad....

It is in our nature to compare things.  We want the most value for our dollar, so we buy the big jug of bbq sauce, or the large pail of ice cream.  We look at batting averages and shooting percentages and make evaluations on the value of athletes to our fantasy sports teams.  We keep track of the gas mileage our car gets and then share it at our next family reunion to brag /complain.

             When we say someone is a ‘good dad’, we are using some sort of measuring stick.  Often we use the behavior of kids- but this is problematic as children are free moral beings and can reject the ways of their parents- many godly parents could attest to this painful reality.  Good dads can end up with little stinkers that become big stinkers.

            A good dad is one who leads his family in walking in the ways of God.  He follows God’s word, listening and obeying.  He leads his family in bending their heart to the Lord, repenting of their sins both to the Lord and to one another. He accurately portrays what God the father is like by his own character and life.  He makes it hard for his wife and kids to walk away from Jesus, who calls them all to follow him.   He is one who carries a deep sense of amazement at the fact that God has rescued him and sees his whole life lived as thankfulness to that reality.

             May God make me that kind of dad.  May God fill his church with these kind of men.

            

Singing, Mr Rogers, and God

         

  I know that some of you will think this is crazy talk- but humor me.  Our family recently took home a few of the old hymn books that Bethel is giving away and have used them a few times at our home to sing some songs after supper for our family devotions.  No piano, or guitar, or even an autoharp, just our voices singing the great songs of the faith.  I took the opportunity to tell my family story about the song “Great is thy Faithfulness” which they had not heard before (my step mom  Ruth made a recording with that song on it and was played at her funeral 23years ago).  I think they will think about that song differently now.

            Now we are not great singers (I tend to change keys randomly)  so we are not putting together a van and going on tour.  But I think God is pleased with our singing. He does tell us to sing over 100 times in the bible. God does. It’s a command.  But feel free not to.  Right?  His commands are optional. ( the last 3 sentences were sarcasm =)… )
            I know some of you don’t like to sing– someone, sometime, told you  that you sound like a seal- and you have clammed up.  Let God’s invitation to make a joyful noise free you from thinking it is some sort of chorale competition and let ‘er rip with the voice you have. God will smile-  and your soul needs to sing. 

A friend shared this remix of Mr Rogers talking about singing-  I don't agree with his man centered view of truth- but their are nuggets of truth in here. Enjoy!  

see Mr Rogers here

Funerals, kids, and what you have to be to get into heaven...

The preacher was asking the kids who were at the front of the church for the kids sermon what they needed to be to get to heaven.  He did not get the desired response such as "born again" or  "believer"  instead, one kid, who saw the world in black and white terms perked up, “Pastor, you gotta be dead!”    

            We as parents and leaders of children can easily think that we should shield our children from anything to do with death.  It is hard to know what to say to a child when their pet has died, much less a grandparent or a parent.  We so often fall for giving them some nice sounding cliches that we  would be hard pressed to explain.  For instance- God doesn't take Grandpa to heaven because "he needed a fishing buddy" that kind of mushy talk may make a kid feel good, but it is problematic because it makes God needy and ultimate selfish.   Or we may say... "God wanted another angel so he took ______ " We don't become angels in heaven when we die.. really!  Don't demean what it means to be a human by turning us into angels.  We are human...and will always be human. We will one day receive a resurrected body like Jesus has.  Till then believers are in the presence of God.  God became flesh in Jesus- he did not become an angel. 

            Remember that the goal of being a parent is not to make our kids comfortable or life easy for them. We want to give them the ability to live as they were made to live- people in relationship with God.  Death comes as a result of sin.  The only solution for sin is Jesus Christ.  Without Jesus we have no solution for sin.  With him the sin and death problem is solved. God’s word gives us the promise that we have hope for this life and the next. Death does not have the last word.  Jesus promises us eternal life and this life is in Him. Heaven is not a place we have to go to, we get to go.   So death is hard and it stings- sometimes very hard- but Jesus is with us and will be there at the bottom of the sadness. 

            Talk with your kids about death.  Take them to funerals.  Don’t shield them from the reality of sin and all its ugliness. They will then be open to hear the good news of Jesus and the beautiful hope of eternity as precious and sweet, good news for them. 

Sports and sinners.....

         

Those who know me, know that I love sports, both playing and watching.  I cut out clippings of the Minnesota Vikings in the 70’s and made scrapbooks.  I died a thousand deaths during the Vikes Super Bowl losses.  I screamed shouts of joy when the Twins won the World Series in ‘87 and ’91.  If Bud Grant would run for president I think I would vote for him.  We need some of his no nonsense leadership.  My dream when I was younger was to play a sport professionally. Then my talent (lack of) got in the way. I just gave up the dream a year ago.  Some of us are slow to accept the facts.

            I believe athletics, all competition for that matter, reveals character- it shows us ourselves.  I remember  getting so angry at losing the game of Monopoly to my cousin’s or siblings when we would play as kids.  The world domination game of Risk reveals my love of winning like few board games.   During competition we tend to blame others. We think we deserve special treatment.  We think something is okay if we can get by with it. (sorry.. it is a foul even when it is not called…) We think wearing a pair of sneakers allows us to speak harshly to another person with a whistle.  I don’t see that the Bible allows us to act one way on the basketball court and another way in the church lobby.  Do we tell our kids to “go ahead and cheat on the test... the teacher is letting you get by with it today”   Really?  "Go ahead and steal the candy.. the clerk is blind...."   Huh??  Aren’t we called to love our neighbor… even when we are competing against them?  Isn’t the referee our neighbor?

            The temptation for some followers of Jesus is to abandon sports.  I would encourage God’s people to redeem them. Keep them in their place, sports are not God. We don’t let sport dictate our families worship patterns.  We say no to a traveling team. People have done it before. What will it profit a man if he should gain the whole world (a good jump shot) and then forfeit his soul?

              Talk with your kids about what is going on in a game, look beyond the final score and see what is happening in your own soul and the soul of your children.  Issues of pride, grace, patience, fairness are there– then talk about how games show us our need of a Savior.  Sin is revealed.  That is okay.  In fact, I would argue that we are better for seeing what we are than pretending we are something we are not.  Tell your kids how thankful you are that Jesus has come for you. Then return to the game and treat as it is…. a game.  

Happiness Waits at the Stuff Mart

     Have you ever found yourself walking through a store, looking at the items for sale and then compare it to the same item you have at home and become less than content?  You see the big fluffy bath towels and then think of your towels at home that have lost some of their fluffiness and brightness due to a few dozen spins through the washing machine and you find yourself less than content with your towels.  Maybe for you it is clothes, or cars, or a smart phone, or church, or pastor, or someone else’s job, or family, or spouse.  Coveting is one of those sins that can be easily hid and often times culturally encouraged, yet is toxic to our soul. 

       I find that I will have this general unease in my soul after going “shopping” at a big box store.  I look at things I don’t need and don’t have room for and then am unhappy that I didn’t buy anything.   I see it in my boys,  we go to Wal-Mart and we look at the ball gloves and bats and the allure of the new becomes overwhelming. Begging often becomes the main mode of communication.   Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, the powerful line from the hymn says.             

            The 10^th Commandment says “Thou shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, manservant, maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”  

            How easily we think that “the next thing” will help us achieve the life that will satisfy, only to find out that those new towels don’t give the life that we thought they would. So we run to the next thing.  Meanwhile, Jesus calls to us. “Come to me all you who are thirsty and I will give you life giving water” He calls us to repent and run to him with our ever wandering hearts.  He is what our soul longs for.  He is what this coveting heart is thirsting for.   

"There's No Place Like Home"

Dorothy clicks her ruby red slippers together 3 times and repeats the magical phrase “there’s no place like home”, then with the magic of movies, Dorothy ends up back in her bedroom on her beloved Kansas farm, her trip to the land of OZ only a dream.  I still get a lump in my throat when I think of it.  I can see Dorothy sitting on her bed, with the music building  saying the line with joy- "there's no place like home" .

The 9^th Commandment says “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house”    God knew what he is was doing when he gave the people of Israel this commandment.  They had just left their homes in Egypt and would be living in tents- and soon be longing for the homes of their neighbors. 

            God has hard wired us to have a home. A place of rest and safety. A place that is ours. Coveting another’s home shows that something is wrong in our soul. We are no longer grateful for the place that God has given us. We are being pulled into the unending cycle of thinking a bigger, nicer, cleaner, newer home will heal the longing for a home that our soul has.

         Karen and I talk about the feeling that we get when we travel to our respective "homes" - the place where we spent our first 18 years of our life, and which neither of us have lived close to for the last 30 years. The pull we feel to go back there. The stirring in our soul as we drive down the roads that lead us to those farms.  It is a powerful thing. 

            The truth is that our longing for a home for our soul is ultimately satisfied only in God himself. Jesus is our rest. He is our home.  Our temporary address here on earth is a gift from him to be enjoyed and cared for and used for rest for our bodies and a harbor for us and others. Yet it is a temporary address. We are created for God. Sin beckons us to find our home in anything but God.   Through faith in Jesus we have the promise of an eternal home with him. Then we will be able to finally truly say,  “there’s no place like home”

What's in a Name????  

          Many of us have the experience of someone using your name as a way to tease you.  They rhyme your name with something disrespectful and then sing song it. “Itchy Richy” was a favorite used against me. Poison Ivy was another non rhyming poke at me.  Our names matter, how we use them says a lot about us and our relationship with another.   We have a name for the one who holds all things together. We call him God.  He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Son has become human and has the name Jesus. 

            The 2^nd Commandment says “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord in vain”.  Have you ever used God’s name in a way that is not consistent with whom He is?  We give our children a great gift when we teach them to honor God by using his name respectfully.  We don’t use it as an exclamation point. I have heard a modern day take on this commandment is “No OMGs!” (O My God!). Is it honoring to God to use his name as way to comment about someone’s car, or hair, or facebook post?   Don’t be mistaken we should use God’s name often- but in a way that is respectful of whom God is. 

            This command gives us the chance to talk about how we need God’s forgiveness for how we use God and his name to give the impression that we are more spiritual than we are.  Ever pray and think more about how you sound to others than what you are really talking to the creator of the universe about?  Those of us who have been around church awhile are especially prone to this type of commandment breaking. Pastors can so easily fall prey to this kind of evil name dropping. A short article like this gives one more chance to do the same.  Even my repenting and talking about God needs to be washed in the blood of the lamb.  Thank God that Jesus came and lived and died and rose again for commandment breakers like me.