Daniel N. Lee

The weather recently has been about as predictable as a 13 year old boy the last couple of days. Sunny for a while, then the clouds roll in, rain, thunder, lightning, chaos, panic, wet dogs, followed by sun and humidity the rest of the day.

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Who is my neighbor?

That is the most dangerous question anybody ever asked Jesus. And the answer changed the world.

I checked my social media feeds like a teenage girl on Sunday night and Monday. What would people be saying about Miley Cyrus this year? She did something crazy, something out of the box, something I’ve never seen before.

But the internet was silent. And Christians were silent.

What did she do? Check it out for yourself:

That’s right. Miley won the big award – Video of the Year – and had a homeless teenager named Jesse accept the award on her behalf. His speech was an eye-opening look at the plight of thousands and thousands of runaway and homeless youth across the country and in LA specifically.

Thousands of teenagers are living on the streets for various reasons. Some were kicked out of their homes, some lost their homes, some ran away from home. Whatever the reason, these kids are not going to go anywhere or make anything of their lives without someone to give them a hand up.

There are groups across the country trying to reach and help this particular demographic. Companies like Dry Bones Denver are making a big impact in the lives of street kids and homeless youth. But still thousands of teenagers packed with potential are slipping through the cracks.

Last year at this time the world was talking about Miley Cyrus. The Christian blogosphere nearly broke the internet. I wrote my own post about her infamous duet with Robin Thicke. We were quickly and passionately spouting out judgment and condemnation on Miley and all of youth culture.

This year, the world is silent. And Christians are silent. I have only seen one article shared concerning Miley’s acceptance speech. One. That’s not to say that more have not been written, but Matt Walsh certainly has not touched on it. I’ve not seen a Christianity Today blog about it; nor a Relevant Magazine insiders look into the speech.

The Church is silent, and that silence screams volumes to the world.

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Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2)

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? (1 Corinthians 5:12)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

There’s a song we sing in church sometimes, an old hymn called “Oh How I Love Jesus.” I grew up singing that song. It has a very simple tune and a very repetitive chorus – easy for a young boy to pick up on.

As I mature, both in years and in my understanding of faith, songs like this begin to bug me. Just take a look at the lyrics:
There is a name I love to hear; I love to sing its worth
It sounds like music in my ear; the sweetest name on earth


It tells me of a Savior’s love who died to set me free
It tells me of his precious blood – the sinner’s perfect plea


It tells of One whose loving heart can feel my deepest woe
Who in each sorrow bears a part that none can bear below


Chorus: Oh, how I love Jesus; Oh, how I love Jesus
Oh, how I love Jesus because he first loved me

Here’s the problem I am beginning to have with this song and others like it. It makes us feel good, but it doesn’t encourage us to do good. There is nothing in this song that would spur me on towards “love and good deeds.” Yes, Jesus came to save you, but he didn’t come to save only you. And he didn’t save you so that you could “go to heaven” some day. He saved you from this corrupt generation so that you could bring heaven here this day.

Yes, we should sing the praises of God our Father, Christ our Savior, and the Spirit our guide. By all means, our God should be glorified in song and praised through music. But as we do this we should also keep in mind these two things: 1) Our singing is to have a horizontal dimension as well as a vertical. In other words we are to “speak to one another” through our songs. We are to “teach and admonish one another” in our music. 2) God is glorified more greatly by a life well lived in service to Him. Our lives should reflect his glory. Others (read: non-believers) are supposed to be so taken aback by how we live that they have no choice but to “glorify [our] Father in heaven.”

I’ve often heard people complain that many modern worship songs sound more like sappy love rock ballads. And I grant you that many contemporary Christian songs played on the radio do have a certain “Jesus is my boyfriend” feel to them. But this is not new to the Christian music scene. “Oh How I Love Jesus” was written in the mid-1800s.

I’m not trying to totally dismiss our beloved hymns, either. I think that some of them simply need a fresh update with more theologically sound lyrics. What if the song went something like this:

There is a name I love to share
With those in deepest need
A name to lift them from despair
And show them grace indeed.


Oh, how I love others
Oh, how I love others
Oh, how I love others
Because Jesus first loved me


We love because He first loved us… And he has given us this command: anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 John 4:19 & 21)

I haven’t written much at all this year. I go through seasons where I need to listen more than I speak and read more than I write. While I haven’t been writing much, I have been reading more than ever. I have never been one to breeze through a novel in a couple of days. I envy those “speed readers.” But at my own pace and leisure, the number of books on my list has grown significantly over the last few years. I’ve already read more books this year than I did over the total course of last year.

Here are the voices to which I’ve been listening. Here are the lives I’ve been living. Here are the conversations into which I have entered.

• The Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan
• Bringing Up Boys, by James Dobson
• Ender’s Shadow, by Orson Scott Card
• The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan
• What’s So Amazing about Grace? by Philip Yancey
• Shadow of the Hegemon, by Orson Scott Card
• The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan
• Twelve Ordinary Men, by John MacArthur
• Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
• Odd Thomas, by Dean Koontz
• The Son of Neptune, by Rick Riordan
• Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
• The Giver, by Lois Lowry
• Divergent, by Veronica Roth
• Indescribable, by Lois Giglio and Matt Redman
• The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan
• The Irrational Atheist, by Vox Day
• Dad Is Fat, by Jim Gaffigan
• Hollow City, by Ransom Riggs
• Darwin’s Black Box, by Michael Behe
• The Fault in Our Stars, by John Greene
• Shadow Puppets, by Orson Scott Card
• The House of Hades, by Rick Riordan
• Shadow of the Giant, by Orson Scott Card
• Shadows in Flight, by Orson Scott Card
• The Case for the Real Jesus, by Lee Strobel
• The Canon, by Natalie Angier
• Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry
• Letters from a Skeptic, by Gregory Boyd
• Who Is This Man? by John Ortberg
• Messenger, by Lois Lowry
• Son, by Lois Lowry

He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

You want to make this world a more just place? Start with those right around you. Put your love into action in your neighborhood, at your workplace, at school, or maybe even perhaps at…church.

What would happen if everyone in your church took seriously the call to act justly?

What if next time you meet with your church, instead of asking “How are you?” you asked “How can I serve you? What do you need help with? How can I help? What can I do?”

Maybe it would begin to look something like this:

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. (Acts 4:32-34)

Lord, 
May we, Your people, act justly from day to day. May our eyes be opened to see the extreme needs of those all around us. May we seek your peace, may we show your love, and may we bring about justice when and where we can. Let us not be content to simply talk about justice or “love with words and speech,” but let us live out our love so fully that there truly will be no needy persons in our church.
Amen

What’s God’s will for my life?

People ask that question all the time. I’ve asked it. You’ve asked it. It’s as common of a question as they get. And it seems that for every person who asks that question, there is another person trying to answer that question for others.

Even when you read Scripture, the answers to the question, “What does God want?” vary from person to person.

Ecclesiastes says this: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind” (12:13).

Fear God. Keep his commandments. Done.

But…which commandments? There are, according to most counts, 613 commandments from God found in the Law of Moses. Just fear God and keep his checklist of requirements. You’ll be fine!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But 613 is a little steep. So let’s boil it down to 10. Keep the Ten Commandments and you’ll do well. In fact, Jesus tells a guy that if he just keep these commandments he’ll be alright. The only thing he would lack would be to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow him.

That seems a little extreme. How about narrowing it down a little more. What is the single greatest command? If we had to boil it all down to one thing, what is this life all about? Jesus answers that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with your entire being. And he throws a bonus command in with it – love your neighbor as yourself.

Here’s the paradox. The more commands we are given, the easier it is for us to do. We can feel really good about ourselves if we follow 586 out of 613 commands. Even 9 out of 10 commands isn’t all that bad. But what if we fail at obeying ONE command? What if we have ONE job and we screw it up?

I would rather take a test with 200 multiple choice and/or true and false questions than a 2 question essay test. I could miss 60 questions on the first test and still walk away with a passing grade. But if I mess up on even one of the two questions, I have failed.

That’s why Paul can say in Romans 5, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” The stakes are higher now than they were under the old law. A few sacrifices a year could atone for breaking a few of the 613 commands. But what sacrifice can take care of breaking the one command that really matters? There is more on the line. The failure is more obvious, more blatant. We have less of a safety net when everything hinges on one or two commands – love God and love your neighbor. But as the stakes get higher, the grace becomes that much more powerful.

I think that’s behind the heart of what was written by the prophet Micah so many centuries ago:

With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (6:6-7)

What kind of sacrifice can cover such catastrophic failure? We’re at a loss of what to do. There are not enough bonus points available to even bump us up to a passing grade.

God simply says, I’ll take care of it. Here’s all I want you to do.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Jesus, the savior of the world, the Son of the living God, takes your test, rips it up, and says, “Follow me.” God will give us Jesus’ test score. We simply need to become like Jesus in the process.

What is God’s will for your life? What does He want from you?

Love God and walk humbly with Him.
Love your neighbor as yourself by acting justly and showing mercy.

That’s it.

Or as Agustine of Hippo put it, “Love God and then do as you will.”

More on this next week.

This Friday is Valentine’s Day. Little is known about Saint Valentine, but there is evidence that he was died in northern Rome on February 14. One thing led to another and now we commemorate his life by buying expensive chocolates and cut flowers.

Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love – specifically romantic love. I’m sure there will be countless proposals in fancy restaurants across the globe, and many more children who are able to do the math backwards 9 months from their birth date.

To the world, romantic love is about as good as it gets. Hollywood makes billions by capitalizing on our felt need for love, affection, and romance. Nicholas Sparks and Danielle Steel know exactly the kind of thing their audience longs for. Songs are written in the name of love. Masterpieces are painted and sculpted for love’s sake. Romantic love has inspired plays and poetry, wars and suicide. To the world it would seem that the pursuit of romantic love is the highest calling one can hope to achieve. Once you’ve “put a ring on it,” you have arrived.

But Christians know something the world does not know. Romantic love is but a shadow of true, unconditional love. The Greeks had a word for this kind of love. English does not. In Greek the highest form of love is called agape.

Agape is the love by which God’s very nature is defined. “God is love,” says 1 John 4. In Jesus’ farewell speech before his crucifixion, he gave them one last command, “Agapate (imperative for “love”) one another as I have egapesa (loved) you” (John 15:12). In fact, Jesus makes his expectations crystal clear. The world is supposed to know who Jesus’ disciples are, not by their clothes or their doctrine or their political agenda or their bumper stickers, but by their agape love.

So what does this kind of love look like? Paul helps fill in the blanks a bit in 1 Corinthians 13, AKA “The Love Chapter.”

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

That’s a look at agape love. It seems very different from the “love stories” produced by Hollywood or shown on prime time TV. We live in a world governed by romantic love. The Greeks also had a word for that, eros. It’s where we get the word “erotic.” But think about this, romantic, eros love as we see it in the world is pretty much the opposite of unconditional, agape love.

Romantic love is impatient, romantic love is unkind. It envies, it boasts, it is proud. It dishonors others, it is self-seeking, it is easily angered, it keeps record of wrongs. Romantic love delights in evil but does not rejoices with the truth. It rarely protects, rarely trusts, rarely hopes, rarely perseveres.
Romantic love often fails.

And we wonder why the divorce rate is so high.

I want you to read through this passage two more times and think how the world would be different if the following were true:

Christians are patient, Christians are kind. They do not envy, they do not boast, they are not proud. They do not dishonor others, they are not self-seeking, they are not easily angered, they keep no record of wrongs. Christians do not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth. They always protect, always trust, always hope, always persevere.
Christian love never fails.

Wouldn’t this be a wonderful world to live in if the above paragraph were true? Unfortunately, the church is made up of imperfect people, and imperfect people love imperfectly. So it might be a bit much to wish for all Christians everywhere to love to this extent.

But what about you. You can’t change what others do. You can’t force anyone else to love. But you can make the change for yourself. You can insert your name into that paragraph and make it your own. So try this with me. Maybe even read it out loud. Copy and paste this paragraph and print it out. Stick it where you will see it on a daily basis.

Learn how to love.

I am patient, I am kind. I do not envy, I do not boast, I am not proud. I do not dishonor others, I am not self-seeking, I am not easily angered, I keep no record of wrongs. I do not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth. I always protect, always trust, always hope, always persevere.
My love never fails.

Love is the most powerful tool Jesus left for his disciples. Let’s become master lovers. Let’s be recognized by nothing other than our love.

I’ve been on a parenting kick recently. Not sure why. Probably has to do with the fact that being a parent of two is much more demanding than being a parent of one. No offense to anyone who is raising a single child! I’ve just found that, for myself, raising two demands much more of my time, efforts, energy, and patience.

So I’ve been trying to focus recently on what it means to be a good father. And as I study, learn, and grow, I am attempting to share my thoughts so that somehow I might help make a difference in the lives of other parents and children.

I’m offering up Five P’s of Parenting that tie in closely with Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Yesterday, I wrote about the first two P’s, Prayer and Presence. Now I’m going to finish up with Passion, Persistence, and Perseverance.

3. PASSION
I think Proverbs 22:6 is one of the most misunderstood and misused of all the collected proverbs. It has been used to build a case for an authoritarian style of parenting in which the children must fully and utterly obey the parent, or else. Some parents have a tendency to view this verse as a “My way or the highway” mentality. It ends up being understood as something like, “Train up a child in the way [you think] he should go…” or, “Train up a child in the way [that you demand] he should go.”

But I really like the way the Amplified Bible translates this verse: “Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

When there are multiple ways of translating and interpreting a certain word or phrase, the Amplified Bible will include those meanings in brackets. Here, the translators want to make it clear that the idea behind the phrase, “in the way he should go,” has more to do with the child’s own God-given gifts, abilities, talents, and interests than those of his parents. In other words, train your child up in keeping with his God-given passions.

This is a lot more difficult to do because it requires that parents actually, like, get to know their kids. You can’t know your kids’ passions if you never spend time with them or let them choose what activities they want to pursue. This requires parents to get over themselves and stop trying to live vicariously though their children. Little Johnny might like chess more than baseball. Susie might like a chemistry set for Christmas instead of a doll house. Your right-brained artist might not want to follow in your footsteps to become an accountant.

And let me be clear – this is more than just giving your children what they want and bowing to their every desire. Training a child in the way he should go sometimes requires laying down the law, unplugging the video games, and making your kids be productive. On the other hand, discerning the way he should go requires you to discover, together with your child, how God has gifted him and training/guiding him to reach his full potential.

You can’t really tell your child what to be passionate about, and your passions may not be her passions. But the one passion you absolutely must share with your children is your passion for God. A child learns to worship from his/her parents. Be passionate about God in your homes and in worship on Sunday. Make involvement in the church a priority. Study the Bible together. Pray together. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs together.

We may not be able to demand that our children go a certain way (lower case), but it is definitely our job as parents to get our kids started in The Way (upper case).

4. PERSISTENCE
Our three year old son is nothing if not persistent. If there is something he wants, he will ask for it and ask for it until the very act of asking gets him in trouble! There are only so many times I can stand to hear a little whiny voice asking, “Can I have a cookie?”


But when it comes to parenting, we must be persistent. Webster defines persistence as, “the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people.” Those “other people,” in this case, might be the cutest little bundles of joy, the very fruit of your womb. But. Lord, do those tiny rays of sunshine know how to test limits and push boundaries!!!

This can be the most difficult of the Five P’s to stick with. But the simple fact is KIDS NEED STRUCTURE. I’m so sick of this psycho-babble out there that says kids need the freedom to discover their own way. Well, Mr. PhD, I’d rather not have my kid discover his own way right into the kitty litter box or the roof of my house.

This laissez-faire, anything goes style of parenting just simply does not work. It gives parents an excuse, backed by “experts,” to be lazy and inconsistent. Children need boundaries, not only to keep them safe but, more importantly, to give them a sense of trust and security with their parents. Children need to know that their parents are going to keep them protected every single time, no matter what. And if that means we have to punish them again and again for testing the same boundary, so be it. I want my child to know that when I say stop, I mean stop – whether he is about to jump off the couch in our living room or about to run into the Wal-Mart parking lot.

We must be persistent. Children need consistency. They need to know what to expect.

And as our children mature, it’s increasingly important that we parents model persistence in our faith – worshiping, praying, and meeting with the church even in the midst of crisis or hardship. Older kids, especially into their teenage years, can see right through our “Christian” masks. They can spot hypocrisy a mile away. They need parents who will demonstrate faithful discipleship at all costs.

5. PERSEVERANCE
I could have chosen “patience” for my last “P,” but I think many parents are way past patience. Most days, patience seems so far out of reach that I would simply be putting myself and my fellow parents on a guilt trip if I harped on the need for more patience.

What I think parents, myself included, need instead is perseverance. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Parents face trial after trial, test after test, day after day. We work long hours with little appreciation. It’s one of the hardest jobs to do right, and it seems like everybody has an opinion about what you’re doing wrong! And many first time parents, quite frankly, are immature. I know I was. But like James reminds us, perseverance in the face of trials produces maturity.

I don’t know what it is that keeps me going, able to get up night after night, morning after morning. There are days where even the best parents just want to stay in bed and not have any responsibility whatsoever. But that’s not possible. We must persevere. We have no other choice.

Parenting is a 24/7 job for 18 (or more) years. It can often be difficult to keep the end result in mind.

Romans 5:3-4 gives us a good reminder: “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

And again, Peter lists perseverance among the highest Christian virtues: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:5-8

So don’t give up. Persevere. Be persistent and passionate. Be present. Be prayerful. By doing so, you will “Start your child off on the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it.”

I am a horrible bowler. I’m lucky if I get within 20 points of 100. On the Wii I’m pretty good, but in real life I’m that adult who should probably go ahead and use the bumpers.

And I know why I’m no good at sending a 10-pound sphere down a 60-foot lane in an attempt to knock down the ten pins. Two reasons: 1) I only go bowling once or twice a year, tops, so I have no chance to practice at getting good. 2) My release is horrible.

Really good bowlers have their steps, their back swing, their release, and their follow-through down to a science. And it’s all a matter of muscle memory for them. They know as soon as the ball is released if it’s going to be a strike or if it’s going to veer left.

It’s all in the release. Give the ball a good start down the lane and the rest will take care of itself.

It’s all in the release.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Many of the problems we see with kids once they get to school age can be traced back to their home life long before school began. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks very effectively and passionately about the need for a good start in life during the following TED Talk. If you’ve got a few minutes, go ahead and watch the video. He makes some excellent points about what it means to train up a child in the way he should go.

So what does it look like for us Christian parents to “Train up” our children “in the way [they] should go?”

I’d like to offer up 5 P’s of PARENTING


[Full disclosure: As a young parent myself, the things I am writing and talking about are as much for my own sake as anyone else’s.]


1. PRAYER
This should be obvious to Christian parents. Prayer is one of the fundamental spiritual disciplines. It’s our primary life-line through which we communicate our praise, thanksgiving, petitions and requests to God Almighty. God, the Creator of the Universe, wants us to talk to Him just like we want our own children to talk to us.

When my oldest son (3) is angry, upset, frustrated (he says “flusterated;” it’s adorable), scared, or hurt, I WANT him to talk to me about it. It would break my heart if my own son didn’t feel like he could cry out in the night for me to come into his room because he’s afraid. If he’s playing in another room and hurts himself, I can’t help him unless he tells me what’s wrong.

Listen to what Paul says in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Oh, I’m not anxious about anything concerning my parenting skills, my children, or our family’s future! – Said no parent ever. God wants us to bring our requests to Him. He doesn’t want us to be anxious and fret over situations we can’t control. But he wants us to turn our worries over to Him – because He CAN control the situations (see 1 Peter 5:7). And in doing so, the promise is that we will be blessed with a “peace that transcends all understanding” – wouldn’t that be nice?

So pray. Pray for yourself as a parent. Pray for your spouse. Pray for your children. Pray for your children’s future spouse and children. Pray for protection. Pray for courage. Pray for peace. Pray for patience. Pray when you’re happy. Pray when you feel like you’re the Worst. Parent. Ever. Pray with your kids. Teach your kids to pray.

In effect, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

2. PRESENCE
Study after study after study has shown a correlation between quality time as a family and higher levels of success in school, college, and the work place as children get older. The opposite is also true. Children who spend very little time interacting with their parents tend to do poorly in school and are even more likely to end up in jail. And this is a crying shame, especially in a country where nearly HALF of all children will grow up in a broken home or a home where only one parent/caregiver is present.

Being a youth minister has opened my eyes to how dysfunctional many families can be. Even in intact homes, the parents are over worked and over stressed because they have established a lifestyle for themselves and their family that is nearly impossible to maintain. They fall into the trap of thinking that what their kids need is more things – video games, cars, smart phones, clothes, exotic vacations, and so on. But what their kids, what our kids, really need is more TIME. And quite frankly, time seems to be the one thing that a lot of parents are simply unable or unwilling to give their kids.

It was never intended to be this way. God had an ideal in mind for the family unit that seems completely alien to our society today. It was an ideal in which the parents would, you know, teach their kids. A child’s education, especially in spiritual matters, was never intended to be out sourced to some uncaring, paid “professional.” Any training and education a child received outside the home was meant to be merely supplemental building upon a solid foundation that had been laid over the first formative years of the child’s life.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 makes this point abundantly clear:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

How many Christian families never talk about spiritual matters outside of church? Unfortunately very few keep the conversations going throughout the week. And the biggest reason, I think, is that families are simply too busy. Families allow themselves to get caught up in the busyness of life and allow chaos and crisis to govern their time.

We need more parents who are willing to take a stand and say “No” to some things. We need more parents who are committed to being the very best spiritual guides for their children, parents who are not content to outsource their NUMBER ONE JOB to some Sunday School Teacher or Youth Minister. We need parents who will totally and completely immerse (baptize) their homes in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to the point that their is no question about what is most important to them.

But we can’t do that if we don’t spend time with our kids and if we don’t spend time with God.

TO BE CONTINUED…
[Next time: Passion, Persistence, and Perseverance]