The "Christian Family" Part 2, what God wants

Yesterday I explained in general how I believe that the typical or cliché “Christian Family” lives.  I did this because, in my opinion, this way of living is aiding the destruction of Christians today.  The reason I believe this is that the devil isn’t in a hurry to destroy you.  Yes, he came to kill steal and destroy (John 10:10) but he doesn’t care if he does it today or tomorrow.  His ultimate goal is for us to go to Hell.  If he can make our lives miserable along the way then that’s an added bonus but that isn’t his end goal.  The best way to destroy the body of Christ, the Church, is from within using the family structure.  So today I will discuss briefly what I believe that God wants out of our Christian Families.

First and foremost, God wants us to have a personal relationship with him through his son Jesus.  He just doesn’t want to hear from us or be on our minds on Sunday.  Remember the “pray without ceasing” part (1 Thes 5:17)?  This is a big part of that relationship.  Think about the most important relationship you have on this earth.  It may be with your mom or your dad.  It could be with a friend or your kids.  If you’re married, I hope it’s with your spouse but if it isn’t, you should at least be honest with yourself for this exercise.  Thinking about this most important relationship, how often do you nurture it or how often do you take advantage of it?  How many things do you encounter throughout the day that reminds you of this person in a good way?  How often do you talk to or want to talk to this person?  God wants this kind of relationship with you.  If parents have this kind of relationship with God, their children will know it.  I guarantee that your children know exactly who your best friend is. 

Next, he wants you to be “prayed up” if for no other reason than to have indescribable peace (Philippians 4:6,7).  But He just doesn’t want those times of earnest prayer (which He does want) but he also wants those times when something reminds you of Him and you thank Him for it.  He wants to be that most important relationship that you thought about earlier.  Having a heart or attitude that prays without ceasing is the best way to maintain your daily Christian walk.  Now with all of that said, he does desire those times when it is just you and Him and you are pouring your heart and soul out to Him.  Maybe it is a time of praise or a time of bearing your soul, but either way He desires that alone time.

God wants us to have great marriages.  That’s why He has rules in place to protect it.  The purposes for having a great marriage far exceed what I can write about here but the reasons do seem obvious to me but they all boil down to Jesus’ statement that He came that we have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10…again).  When you are fighting with your spouse, do you feel like you are living abundantly?  Abundantly bad maybe.  A solid, loving relationship between husband and wife is the primary basis for what God wants out of a “Christian Family”.  Without that true love (not lust, infatuation, or the “in-love” feeling) the “Christian Family” that God wants will become the complaisant family that many see today where husband and wife begrudge each other.  One of my most favorite scriptures is Matt 22:36-40;

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

If husband and wife can have this kind of love for each other, the devil CAN NOT destroy your family!

God wants moms and dads to work for him.  God not only wants part of your money (tithe) but he wants your time too.  He wants you to show Him that you love him through your works; “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17).  Read James chapter 2 and you will see that not only should we have faith but God wants our works or our actions too.  He wants us to do everything as though we are doing it unto Him (Col 3:23).  He wants us to talk about Him and spread his word (Mark 16:15).

This is what I believe God wants from us.  Does it exist?  Yes.  If you aren’t living this now, can you?  Yes.  It is never too late to conform to God’s will.  If you really want to make a change and have an impact for God, start at home.  Start with Matt 22:36-40 and go from there.  If husband and wife will love God first and then love each other, I believe God will bring peace to that family and allow them to truly start impacting their community.

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you disagree and let me know if you need more information.

God loves you and I do too!

The "Christian Family", Part 1

On November 29^th I promised you “More on this later” in reference to the “Christian Family” attitude.  Maybe I should have referenced it as a lifestyle instead.  If you read this, you may get your toes stepped on and you may think I’m crazy.  You may say to yourself “no family is like this” or “I bet his family isn’t like this”.  One thing is for certain, I think I’ll have you at least thinking about your Christian Family and if so, then I’ve succeeded today.

The typical Christian family attitude or lifestyle, what is it? 

First, it starts with Mom and Dad.  What kind of Christians are they?  As most of us know, many of us are “Sunday Christians”.  On Sunday, they are at church.  As a matter of fact, they never miss a service.  Their Christianity revolves around the church service and their walk with God is measured by how much they got out of the service.  The problem begins when they take their bible back into the house.  It generally will sit, unmoved, until the next Wednesday or Sunday.  A “Sunday Christian” doesn’t think to read their bible because they are just too busy during the week.  They want to read but they just can’t find the time.  Every Sunday they look forward to getting to church so they can finally read their bible when they follow along with the pastor as he reads.

Second, this lifestyle continues with Mom and Dad.  They lack a real prayer life.  Oh they pray before every meal.  They will even sneak in a prayer before bed.  But what they lack is that real time with God.  They fail to pray without ceasing (1 Thes 5:17), they don’t have an attitude of prayer.  Praying is something that they do when they need something from God.  A Sunday Christian knows that every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17) but so often, they fail to thank God for them.  Their children have never heard them behind closed doors interceding for them.

Next, the kids…no wait, still mom and dad.  The typical Christian Family lifestyle continues with a lack of relationships at home.  Relationships at home tend to be superficial.  Mom and Dad are obviously tolerating each other most of the time.  The children rarely hear true, heartfelt conversations between mom and dad.  Their conversations may be matter-of-fact and revolve mostly around past or upcoming events like what’s for dinner.  There is very little discussion of how much each parent means to the other and there is certainly very little discussion about how much God has blessed them no matter what’s going on in their lives.

Now the kids?  Nope.  In a typical Christian Family cliché home, there is very little “action” concerning God.  In other words, children don’t see mom and dad actively doing something for God.  Fortunately, even in the worst of these homes, charity still exists so the children at least get to see compassion for those less fortunate.  But past that, there probably aren’t many good deeds being done in God’s name.  When was the last time this families children saw their dad witness to a waiter or when was the last time that mom asked the waitress if she knew Jesus?

As you’ve probably gathered, the kids play no part in this.  The 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”.  The responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of the parents.  Now, by now, you are probably asking “ok, how should a real Christian family live”?  Well I’m glad that you’ve asked.  Unfortunately, time has not been my friend today so I will devote my next post to that topic.

Until the next time, God loves you and I do too!

I'm a Vols fan, why the heck am I cheering for Tim Tebow?

Hey Vol fans, remember when everyone said they hated Tim Tebow just because he played for the Gators?  I know I do.  He just didn't seem to ever to do anything wrong when he played for Florida.  Now he's in the NFL and guess what, he still doesn't seem to be able to do anything wrong.  Even if he stinks the first 3 quarters of a game like he did today, he still comes out smelling like a rose in the end. 

As much as I enjoy talking sports, it isn't Tim Tebow's play that I want to share my thoughts about.  Mr. Tebow is a polarizing person, people either love him or hate him.  The ones that love him can't wait to hear him give credit to God again or kneel to pray again or hear a commentator talk about his faith again.  Those that hate him can't wait for him to lose or they really pick apart his play.  But the haters still have a hard time attacking his faith.

For the record, Kim and I are not Tim Tebow haters.  Because of his faith and the way he played, we were never haters when he played for Florida and we both were cheering for him to win his second Heisman trophy.  But now, we are full-fledged Tim Tebow fans.  Is it because he is such a great QB?  No.  Tim Tebow is exactly the kind of role model that I want my children looking up to.  He is not ashamed of God and gives Him credit for everything.  He was an underdog that very few people thought would make it in the NFL but he has proven what hard work and a little bit of faith can do.  He showed us how to take a back seat to someone as a 3rd string quarterback with humility, dignity, and grace.  He loves his parents and is respectful of his coach.

Can you ever remember a time when the Christian faith has been talked about so much in the media in a positive way?  Commentators can't talk about Tebow without mentioning his faith.  Of course they say as little as possible about him being a Christian and they certainly don't ever mention Jesus' name.  But when they mention Tebow's faith even the most rebellious muslim knows his faith is Christianity.  As a Christian, I am proud to have Tebow as an ambassador of our faith. 

Does God need Tebow?  Absolutely not.  Does our society need someone like Tebow?  I think so.  Do Christians need to stand up and take the same type of public stand regarding Christianity that Tebow has?  YES, YES, YES!  I believe that Mr. Tebow serves as a reminder to many of us that we can take the same kind of stand at our work.  Look at Tebow, he doesn't have the most talent, he is one of the least respected QB's in the league, he probably isn't even the best QB on his team.  However, he still isn't afraid to live out loud for Jesus.  We all should learn from Tim Tebow and never be afraid to be a Christian in front of our peers.

Be courageous this week and live out loud for Jesus.

God loves you and I do too!

John Knight was dead...

While Kim and I were on our way back from Nashville today I had a nice moment with God that I wanted to share with you.  Kim was busy cooking up shirt orders with her vendor so I was just listening to the radio when "Alive Again" by Matt Maher came on.  As Kim talked on the phone, I just drove and cried because of what God had done in me.  This happens to me frequently while driving so I know other drivers think I must look pretty silly praising God and singing like I'm getting paid to do it.  But I don't care. 

Last Tuesday I wrote about the ups and the downs that we Christians experience.  But what happens if we stay too long in the down period?  Or worse, what if we turn our backs on God when we're in the down period?   Before January of this year, I had allowed myself to reach an all new spiritual low.  I had turned my back on God.  I had turned so slowly, like the hands on a clock, that no one could see me turning.  I had kept God in my rear-view mirror so that I could keep an eye on him to make myself feel better but I had definitely turned my back on Him.   I was more or less spiritually dead and no one knew it.

In January of this year, Kim and I went away for a weekend (after a really big fight) to try to figure out what we were going to do.  After a lot of soul searching and brutal honesty with each other I had to come to grip with the fact that the marriage problems we were having were because I wasn't where I needed to be with God.  That weekend, God "shattered my darkness and washed away my blindness" so that now, I'm alive again. 

I got so emotional today for two reasons.  First, I was soooo happy that God "called and shouted and broke through my deafness" so that I'm alive again.  Second, I was soooo sad that I let God down but more than that, that it took me so long to let Him make me alive again.  I wasted so much time while taking so long to allow God to wake me up.  This song is very dear to me because I can relate so well to being alive again and it always reminds me to "do what ever I have to to break through" to get into God's presence.

Have you ever had an experience like I had today?  Where are you with God today, this very second?  Can you go to bed every night knowing that everything you did during the day was witnessed by Jesus Himself and you have nothing to be ashamed of.  If you did have something to be ashamed of, are you repenting?  I hope so.  If you haven't heard this song, you can visit the link above to listen.

 
God loves you and I do too!

Do you want to have a good day?

Do you want to have a good day today or maybe tomorrow?  I don't think I've ever met anyone that would say "I don't want to have a good day tomorrow" and I'm sure you haven't either.  OK, we've established that you would like to have a good day tomorrow but what can you do to either make sure that happens or at the very least, increase the likelihood that it happens?


Some people I know can't start their day until they have had a cup of coffee or their morning cigarette.  Others I know can't start their day right until they have had breakfast.  And there are still others that can't start their day without a chaotic morning filled with getting the kids fed and off to school.  Do any of these things really get us off to a good day?  


What is a good day to you?


I think that's an important question to answer before I give my advice.  You should stop for a second and ponder what is a good day to you.  What would make tomorrow a successful day or a happy day for you?  Does it have anything to do with God?  If things go your way tomorrow, what part does God play in it?  Take your time, I'll wait.


At this point, if you are still on my blog, I will assume that God does play a role in you having a good day.


I fully believe that any good thing worth having is worth working for.  I bet you've heard that before.  I believe if you want to make good grades, you have to do homework.  If want to keep your job, you have to go to work.  If you have a garden and want good vegetables, you have to tend the garden.  If you want a good day, you need to plan for it and you will need to do something to attain it.


My advice is very simple and probably quite predictable; I believe to have a good day tomorrow you should start it with a quiet time with God.  For some, this is something you've never done and for others this is something you've known to do and don't.  My good friend Jon Sweet gave some very good advice for those that don't know how to have a quiet time.  He suggested that you simply make the very first thing you do when you wake up is to bow your knee and say the Lord's prayer.   If you can't do this, I suggest you tune in some Christian music in your car and meditate on God while on your way to work or to take the kids to school.  


How you choose to do it really doesn't matter, you just need to do it.  It is so important to make an effort to spend time with God.  Think about it, God is the most important thing in our lives and yet we probably sacrifice less for Him than anything.  I dare you to spend some time with God in the morning.  I promise it will make having a bad day a lot harder.  Good luck!


God loves you and I do too!