All to Him I Owe

“Dad, can I ask you a question?”

In our house, we are in a season of parenting in which we hear this question frequently. On a recent, two-day camping trip with the girls, I counted a minimum of twelve times that they asked me that question. All children are naturally inquisitive. They are observing, processing, and coming to conclusions. One of our many jobs as parents is to be teachers that provide them with the answers that help them grow and mature appropriately.

Deuteronomy 6:7 says, “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” According to this verse, there is a 24-hour nature to our teaching responsibility. It doesn’t just happen during a block class or a designated time. The instruction of our children is to happen as we live alongside them day in and day out.

Because of this 24-hour responsibility, it is imperative that we consider two items. First, we must take responsibility for creating a teaching atmosphere in our family that is conducive to this 24-hour teaching. Second, we must also learn to recognize the multitude of teachable moments that surface throughout the day, and seize them. May I share with you today a few thoughts that I’m learning and aspiring to implement that might be a help to you as parents?

In order to create a teaching atmosphere, consider implementing the following two things:

1. Create seasons of life and times in a day that are free from excessive busyness and noise. Fewer and fewer homes are experiencing seasons of rest and quiet. The extracurricular activities are consuming the schedule. The noise of television, video games, and music blasts through homes, creating a difficult atmosphere to just talk and listen. Most of us are schedulers. We operate with a calendar close by, and schedule our lives events. Would you consider beginning to schedule times of quiet and rest? Every classroom teacher knows the value of well-rested children, who have learned to sit still and listen quietly.
2.  Strive for good parent/child interaction. It is easy in the busyness of life to just allow the television to do our babysitting for us. When life is busy, we want to send kids to their room or to the yard to get out of our hair so we can accomplish our tasks. If we make a regular habit of these things, we can subtly train our children to stay away from us, because they are a distraction. But, in reality, we ought to want them to be around (especially as they get into their teen years).

The following are some “walkest-by-the-way” teachable moments to use:

1. The follow-up conversation after our children observe bad examples. Have you ever watched a child have a tantrum in the store? Have your kids ever seen someone lose their cool in the check-out line? Those bad examples can often be a great opportunity to follow up with a simple conversation that helps our children know what was done wrong and what should have been done.
2. The follow-up conversation after our children observe good examples. Acts of kindness, gratitude, good behavior, and sweet responses of others can be great opportunities to teach our children. Commend those acts, and explain why they were good!
3. Preparation for life events. A friend of mine taught me and Beneth a simple principle in parenting: practice in private what you expect in public. Anytime you are about to participate in a public event (church service, dinner at someone’s home, a visit to grandma’s, etc.), take some time ahead of the event to teach and practice behaviors that are expected in those times.
4. First-hand exposure to people who have had interesting life experiences. I enjoy having people in our home, and I love watching our girls sit and listen to the stories of missionaries who visit us. I like watching their eyes as they hear adults tell of their life experiences. Our girls have heard stories and learned truths from people sitting at our dinner table that they will never forget.
5. Answer their regular questions with patience, love, and truth.  Inquisitive children want answers, and if they don’t get them from us, they will look somewhere else for them. Teachable moments occur every time our children ask questions. Many teachers in the world give wrong answers. But it is imperative that we follow the Deuteronomy 6:7 exhortation and grasp the task of being parents that teach as we “walk by the way.”

May the Lord give us the strength, energy, and wisdom to be great teachers to our children this week.

** Note: this post is a slight re-write from a previous post concerning our annual Men’s Retreat. **

Our annual Ladies Retreat is this weekend. We have 37 ladies signed up and ready to spend the weekend together enjoying the outdoors, preaching, good food, and fellowship. Each one attending the retreat incurs a cost. There is a financial cost to attend, a day off of work, a separation from family, and the cost of giving up your own bed to sleep in a camp bed! Though much is spent to make this weekend happen, there is also a value that comes from this weekend. I would like to submit five values to this weekend’s retreat.

1. The value of seclusion – There is great value in getting away from the busyness of work, family, and daily life. Cell phone coverage is limited and there are no tvs in the room, or newspapers delivered to your doorstep. The retreat really is a getaway that pulls us away from the normal voices that fill our ears on a daily basis and allows us to focus on the still small voice of God.

2. The value of concentration – Because of the seclusion that camp offers we are freed to concentrate on the things that matter most in our lives. Our spiritual condition is the most important part of us and is sadly the thing we sometimes overlook first in the busyness of life. The retreat offers a time to concentrate on our walk with the Lord and the spiritual needs that are present within our heart. The schedule is relatively relaxed. It is not hard to grab a chair, coffee and the Bible and just spend time with the Lord. The four times of Bible preaching support this concentration and serve as the platform to direct our thoughts towards our relationship with God.

3. The value of exposition – Our speaker this weekend is Mrs. Harriet Dickson. She will carefully explain the scriptures in a pointed way that helps each one hear the voice of God from the Word of God. Though we are going to enjoy shooting, paintball, good food, games and laughter the preaching of the Word is the most valuable of activities that we will experience.

4. The value of interaction – Most of our relationships at church are established as we meet together each Sunday. Our conversations are quick and filled with surface level conversations. Depending on where we sit in the auditorium there may be some ladies that you have never interacted with more than a nod, and a hello. This retreat allows you the value of an extended time of interaction with the ladies in our congregation. I hope you will come with a desire to meet someone new and build a stronger relationship with the ladies in our church.

5. The value of decision – The messages we  hear at camp will emphasize making a decision to live differently in response to the Word of God. In the quiet times of decision we have the opportunity to set a course for our lives that can affect us (and possibly our families) for all of eternity.

No one argues the cost of going to a weekend retreat. The cost is worth it though when we put into the context of the value of a retreat.

Throughout the pages of Scripture, men of God were driven into times of prolonged solitude with God. The solitude came in places like an ark, a prison cell, the backside of a desert, a pasture, and the belly of a fish. God drove some of these men to these quiet places, while others just stepped into them through obedience.

We need quiet solitary places! This world can be a noisy place filled with the sounds of a fallen world and all of its temptations. Our souls are often noisy places as the worries, stress, and tensions mount and fill our lives. The noise fills our lives and makes the simple disciplines of the spiritual life like prayer, Bible reading, and Scripture meditation extremely difficult.

I wish that I desired the quiet places with God more than I do. The truth of the matter is that God often drives me kicking and screaming to the quiet places. It scares me that I get uncomfortable when it seems too quiet. I feel at times like an addict attempting to detox from noise while I fidget, wiggle, and wrestle with thoughts while God imposes quiet on my life. It amazes me that setting aside thirty minutes to an hour of quiet time with God can be such a battle. We bow our heads to pray and suddenly become ADD in our thoughts as we wrestle to articulate clear requests and praise to God.

My guess is that we are all very much alike. We are battling to have quiet time, while often battling with God, because He is driving us into the quiet place. Often, He is doing so through difficult circumstances and adversity. You might be facing some of these things today and wrestling with the idea that you are in a place where you have no one else but God and a lot of quiet. Think about this for a moment: if we are battling to have quiet time and God chooses to bring events into our lives that drive us into the quiet place, isn’t that a blessing?

I want to encourage you today to thank God for driving you into the quiet places. Take advantage of those places and “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Don’t hurry away from those times and places when it is just you and God. Relish those times and make the most of them. It is the goodness of God that He provides them for you.

I leave you with this encouraging poem below.

_________________________________________________________

I needed the quiet so He drew me aside.
Into the shadows where we could confide.
Away from the bustle where all the day long
I hurried and worried when active and strong.

I needed the quiet tho at first I rebelled
But gently, so gently, my cross He upheld
And whispered so sweetly of spiritual things.
Tho weakened in body, my spirit took wings
To heights never dreamed of when active all day.
He loved me so greatly He drew me away.

I needed the quiet. No prison my bed,
But a beautiful valley of blessings instead.
A place to grow richer in Jesus to hide.
I needed the quiet so He drew me aside.

Alice Hansche Mortenson

Are you striving for ministry competency or maturity in Christ? More and more I realize that a large portion of my efforts in ministry are spent trying to gain a certain level of competency in ministry, rather than a maturity in Christ.

Striving for a spirit of excellence in ministry and being adequately prepared for the ministry God has given us is not inherently wrong. But if we are not careful, it can distract us from what should be our main concern—growing in our maturity in Christ.

I’ve noticed that most individuals in ministry find themselves devoting a lot of attention to five areas of competency.

1. Administrative skills
2. Schedule management
3. Sermon preparation and delivery
4. Counseling skills
5. Event and program planning

A quick look at my weekly schedule would show all five of these areas permeating my calendar and to-do list. Many would call this the work of the ministry! When the bulk of our efforts are spent trying to develop these five areas, we can subtly find ourselves “grading” our success or failure based upon these areas. For instance, I spoke with a pastor recently who told me how discouraged he was in ministry, because of the messiness of his desk and because he seems to keep planning events at the last minute. He was discouraged, because he was basing his success solely upon his ability to improve in his administrative skills and event planning. Though I’m an advocate of both, I challenged him with his standard of success. Is success in God’s eyes based upon his administrative skills and event planning, or is there something more important at stake?

Ephesians 4:15 reminds us that God’s goal for us is to “grow up into Him in all things…” So, what does maturity in Christ look like? This list is not exhaustive, but it is a starting point.

1. Maturity in Christ is having a right definition of success in the ministry. True ministry success is faithfully doing God’s will. Regardless of the efficiency of my office, the creativity and depth of a sermon, or the wow of a recent event, God wants us to be faithful! Faithfulness is doing the right thing consistently, though I’m not seeing fruit immediately.
2. Maturity in Christ is living consistently in a state of dependence on the Spirit. It is so easy to do the work of the ministry in the flesh. The longer we are in ministry and the more skilled we become at certain aspects within the ministry, the easier it is to depend on ourselves, apart from the Spirit’s enablement. Self-dependent people do not pray; dependent people do! I read recently that John Fletcher was described as “staining the walls of his study with the breath of his prayers.” Could that be said of our cars, offices, and homes? Do we demonstrate a prayerful dependence on the Spirit?
3. Maturity in Christ is maintaining a desire for Christ’s glory over my own popularity. One of the reasons we are so driven to maintain ministry competency is that we hate the embarrassment of doing the ministry in a feeble way. That passion to not look poorly in the eyes of men can often become a driving motivation in all that we do. Instead of being concerned with the opinions of man, let’s be concerned about the glory of Christ. Is He being lifted up? Is He preeminent, or are we competing with Him for attention? I so appreciate the little phrase that was given to me a number of years ago: “Nothing to prove, One to please!” That is what it should be all about.
4. Maturity in Christ is guarding a daily routine of fellowship with Christ. Notice it is a daily routine of fellowship, not simply a daily routine. Daily routines of Bible reading, prayer, and meditation can often become just that—routines that we do with little thought or effort. They are more a habit than true fellowship with Christ. Our Bible reading and prayer life should be growing our level of fellowship with Christ, not merely our knowledge about Christ. Be careful about merely “double-dipping” in your Bible reading. That means, be careful about just studying for your next sermon and hoping to let that count for gaining a little fellowship with Christ. Sometimes the best thing we can do for our souls is to pick up the Bible and let it speak to us about us. This is far better than picking it up to hear what it says so we can just tell others what it says.

Don’t become bogged down with focusing on ministry competency. Make your goal this week to be maturing in Christ. When we have become what God wants us to be personally, we will have become what our ministries need us to be!

Beneth and I have personally experienced two home break-ins during our marriage. Those break-ins created a series of little habits in our lives like always keeping one light on, double-checking locks when we go to bed at night, and quickly looking at all the windows as soon as we walk into our home to see if they have been opened. We do those things because those break-ins have created a sense of vulnerability in us.

Vulnerability is the sense that I have a limited ability to protect myself from harm. The terrorist attack on 9/11 reminded our nation that we are vulnerable. The bombs that went off during last week’s marathon reminded us again of our vulnerability. We are also reminded of our vulnerability as we read our local newspapers describing various crimes that have occurred to people who live where we do and live like we do.

The sense of vulnerability creates a common question among us: “How much personal protection should I have in my life?” The secondary questions that follow that question are questions like how many guns should a person own, how big a security system should we have on our home, and should I buy a German shepherd or a Rottweiler?

Proverbs 21:30-31 gives us a starting point to help us answer these questions regarding security and personal protection. It says, ” [v. 30] There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD. [vs.31] The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.” Verse 30 simply reminds us to never fight against God, and verse 31 reminds us to never fight without God.

Owning a gun or having a security system on your home is not inherently wrong. But we cannot place a higher level of trust in those types of things than we do in God. If we do trust those things more than we trust God, we are demonstrating a fight against God. If we trust those things because we doubt God’s ability to protect us, than we are trying to fight without Him.

I heard someone say this one time, “I’ve done all I can do; now I guess it is time to start trusting Him.” He articulated what we often practice. We prepare ourselves, and then begin to trust God. Preparing for the day of battle is not wrong, but I must be trusting God while I’m preparing, not just when I’ve finished preparing.

When we contemplate the question, “How much protection should I have in my life?” I want you to remember this little principle.

Prepare with moderation while trusting God

for the duration.

 Vulnerability can often produce fear in the lives of believers. Remember as a Christian that safety is not the absence of danger but rather the presence of God. We are never left alone or overlooked by God. Don’t let fear paralyze you and keep you from doing the will of God this week. The safest place to be is in the will of God. The most dangerous place to be is out of the will of God.

Yesterday during the Boston Marathon a victory line became a line of destruction. The horrific pictures of blood stained sidewalks, smoke, and injured people fill our mind. It will be a topic of conversation both today and many days ahead. People without a Biblical worldview will quickly conclude that this is simply another piece of evidence supporting the absence of God’s existence or an absence of God’s control over the world.

In Luke 13:1-5 we find a text to use as a guide for us as believers during times like this. Christ used the “headlines” plucked from the news of that day to create a conversation with unbelievers. In the conversation He answered their questions and brought other news events to their attention. Throughout the conversation He did not allow the tragedy of loss to distract Him from the need of the living.

I urge us to not forget the living who are around us today. The people around us are not just bodies with personalities. They are bodies with souls that will one day spend eternity somewhere. The events of yesterday remind us that death may come to people at a time when and where they least expect it. Life truly is a vapor (James 4:14).

The Gospel is most precious during times like this. It is the clearest evidence that God does truly care for mankind and that He is in control. We have an opportunity before us to present the gospel to souls that may be more attentive then they were two days ago. We have an opportunity to see the power of the gospel at work in the lives of people who believe. We have an opportunity to see God take what seems like a line of destruction (the marathon) and once again turn it into a line of victory through the lives that are gloriously changed through the gospel during this time. Let’s seize the opportunity!

I’m praying today for the families of those whose loved ones were lost or seriously injured. I’m praying for the safety that is only of the Lord for my country, city, and family. I’m also praying for opportunities to give the gospel. — Pastor Ron (John 16:33)

There is a room in our church that is creatively called “the Brain.” It is the room our leadership meets in once a month for the purpose of planning, praying and leading our congregation. There are a number of items posted on the walls to remind us of important principles that apply to our role as leaders. In 2012 the following principles were posted for us to remember and though 2012 is over I hope we will still use them in 2013 and the years to come.

1. The call to lead Faith Baptist Church in God’s will includes a call for us to diligently seek God’s will.

2. God’s will must always supersede our own personal opinions or desires.

3. We must be careful to avoid solely determining God’s will through:

• Another ministries practice
• The previous administration of this congregation
• What will help us avoid the most communication or conflict?

4. God will provide for that which is His will.

5. Our job is to know and lead the congregation in God’s will not to convince the congregation of God’s will.

6. God’s will is revealed through principles and the “ways” of God revealed in scripture.

Last week was the launch service of our sister church, Faith Baptist Church of Roseville. Click on the website link below if you are in the Roseville area needing a good church home, or wanting to keep an eye on another church planting ministry.

Faith Baptist Church of Roseville Website

A few years ago this list by Dr. MacArthur was given to me along with a letter of encouragement. I have these ten things posted above my desk as a daily reminder to the seriousness and privilege of being a pastor. I agree with all ten of these! The 10th one is definitely true of me.

Ten Reasons I Am a Pastor
By John MacArthur

1. The church is the only institution Christ promised to build and bless.

2. The corporate functions of the Body all take place in the church.

3. Preaching is the chief human means God uses to dispense His grace. – I have the privilege each Sunday of proclaiming God’s message to His people – a message of grace, by which God saves people and transforms lives.

4. I can be consumed with study and communion with God. – There’s a public side to me that the congregation sees, but there’s a private side to me that only God knows.

5. I am directly responsible to God for the lives of the people He has given me to shepherd. – I watch over their souls as one “who will give an account” (Heb. 13:17).

6. I am also accountable to the people in my church. – Everything is exposed to them: my life and family, my personal strengths and weaknesses-everything. I cherish that accountability.

7. I love the challenge of building an effective leadership team from the people God has put in the church.

8. The pastorate embraces all of life. – I share the joy of parents over the birth of a child, as well as the pain of children over the death of a mother or father. I help celebrate at a wedding; I also offer comfort at a funeral. There is an inevitable unpredictability that accompanies my calling-an incredible adventure may begin at any given moment. It is at those times that the pastor goes beyond his sermon to stand in the gap for God in the lives of His people.

9. The rewards in this life are marvelous.

10. I’m afraid not to be a pastor.

This article has some great thoughts for our single adults here at FBC.

Single, Satisfied and Sent: A Mission for the Not Yet Married