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Published: 12 June 2014

Another Hallmark weekend is nearly upon us. Father’s Day and days like it are great for some people. Those who have a Norman Rockwell life rejoice on days like this and honor “dad” with gifts, cook-outs and cards. However, the other side of these kinds of days are quite hard. There are some folks whose dads were not at all honorable, in fact some were abusive. The shattered dream of the happy nuclear family is hard for some to deal with. For some, their greatest blessings and memories are framed in family…for others, their worst memories and regrets are rooted in their immediate blood kin. What do we do? Well, first remember that through Jesus, God has promised to give us Himself as Father and a new family of brothers and sisters in the church. These new relationships are meant to be a blessing to us. We have many parents and many siblings in the faith. We have many children too and the family keeps growing. Second, we can become the kind of people that we either had or hoped to have in life. Too often we repeat the same mistakes of past generations when we have the resources to be different. A young couple from our church recently renewed their vows and made the GEN3 Commitment before their friends and faith family. They have made a public commitment to do all they can to intentionally pursue a godly life for three generations. They decided to be the ones that break the cycle of divorce and dysfunction so common in our culture. I’m proud of them and “for them” and pray many more will follow in their footsteps. This coming Father’s Day we’ll be studying what Jesus had to say about family. If we took His words to heart, it would keep us from idolatry on the one hand and ignoring those closest to us on the other. Jesus is smart, He knows what life is about and how to live it.

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Published: 06 June 2014

Because of all the litigation in this country companies have to issue warnings about all sorts of things that should be common sense.  When we buy a cup of coffee, most of us would like it hot; now we have warnings that the “contents are hot.”  When we buy a jar of nuts, it seems like we would intuitively know that the contents came in contact with machinery that processes peanuts.  I understand that peanut allergies are serious but wow…  There are many warning signs when we are driving too.  I have not always observed them, to my regret.  After a while we get a bit numb to warnings and they lose their “punch.”  There are categories of warnings that if ignored are not going to cause significant harm—removing the tag on your pillow for example.  However, there are warnings that we better take seriously or there can be eternal consequences.  Yes, you read that right…eternal consequences.  The warnings of Jesus in Matthew 12 are serious.  We have studied the first one in verses 31, 32.  If we harden our heart to the work of the Holy Spirit we will reach a point of unforgiveness.  Yikes!  The next warning is in the form of a small parable, we find it in verses 43-45.  Jesus was warning those who were rejecting God’s work in their lives that self-reformation only works for a little while.  Eventually our self effort will fail and we will be worse off than we were before.  There are warnings that should be in small letters…”your coffee is hot.”  There are warnings that should be in BIG letters; TAKE JESUS SERIOUSLY!  I’m glad that most of you reading this blog have taken Him seriously.  Please pray for those who will gather Sunday---if any are still rejecting that they will joyfully surrender their hearts to the Lover of their souls.