Right?

I have been considering all the comments that have been submitted regarding the Mother's Day post. I have wondered for years about the gifts that have gone out to mothers and that is one of the reasons that I posted the questions that I did.
Mother's Day is next week. I have changed my message (and my plan) about three times. I was asked yesterday what the message was going to be about. This has been a difficult question for me to answer. With all of the things going on in our church at this time, I have been consumed with some very specific teachings. I have had to combat what I believe the Apostle Paul would term "doctrines of devils". These doctrines are being embraced by believers.

The reason that I write this on the blog is to ask you to pray that I will have discernment in the message that I deliver this coming Sunday. I want the message to be from the Lord, and I want it to be for the right audience. The "doctrines" that have been consuming my time for the last week need to be addressed in our church, but just because I have been given the "platform" doesn't mean that I need to deliver the message this week.

To put it plainly, I need the right message for the right audience at the right time.

Hypocrite?

It seems that in recent years the most stated reason for youth "abandoning the faith" is that they feel their parents are hypocrites. Hearing this reason stated repeatedly over the last two years, Karen and I have constantly been evaluating how our children perceive us. During this time we have had several concerns. I think that these have been due to the enormous responsibility of rearing children that belong to God and not us.

As we have parented our children, I can think of no other time that the weight of this responsibility has been more clear than two days ago when I was looking through my oldest daughters schoolwork. In her folder I found an assignment that was supposed to be a character sketch of whomever she chose. I pray that I can be the man she sees.

Click on picture to see a larger image.

Humbled, Jon

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a month away! I think these special days are the most difficult to prepare a message for. Do mothers come to church expecting to be praised? Do they expect to be challenged? Do they even want to be addressed from the pulpit on their day, or does Mother's Day only matter on the family level?
As I have been thinking about this for a few weeks now, one thing is certain. No one ever had a perfect mother, (although my own mom has a lot to be proud of) and only one mother ever had a perfect son. (this is not one of the things that my mom has to be proud of!)

If addressed from the pulpit, will this be difficult for those praying to become mothers? Will this be difficult for those mothers that have lost children? How does one make this an all inclusive message? Does it need to be, or can we focus on one group?

As an aside, I found out last night that the only reason I have the opportunity to preach on Mother's Day is because the Pastor who was first asked said he'd rather preach on a different week! No wonder.

Clarification

As I read my last post, I realize that the meaning may not come across as I intend. I attempted to be vague, yet I fear I left the wrong impression.

To clarify, I believe the Lord may have gifted me to meet specific temporary needs. If I begin to think the Lord has given me a particular gift because of who I am, I will stray from His will. If I abandon the work that God has currently given me, assuming that I can use these gifts elsewhere, mightn't He take them away?

My last post was to say that I am remaining where I am at. It is here that God has put me and it is here that He has gifted me! Why look elsewhere? It is the work that He has for me and not the position that is important.

Clear as mud?

Inside scoop

For those of you in the know, I thought I would add a short message today.

Karen and I, as well as many of you, have earnestly been praying about a possible career change for me. If you have not heard the latest update, I will not have the opportunity to change careers any time soon. I appreciate all of your prayers and would humbly ask you to continue praying that the Lord will continue to use me as He desires.

We know that the Lord uses many things to stretch us and cause growth. This may be one of those times. I believe that the Lord gifts people according to the needs of the church. When those needs change, mightn't the gifts as well?

I ask that to say this, a calling may be specific and not general. At least for now, I am going to assume that is the case in this instance. Until the Lord shows me differently, my desire is to be used where I am at.

Thanks for your prayers, Jon

The value of a dollar

Karen shared a story with me during lunch yesterday that I'm sure many of you have already experienced. The names may be different but I'll bet the circumstances are similar.



Our youngest daughter (Audrey) has a birthday coming up next month. As every parent does, Karen asked Audrey what present she wanted on her special day. Audrey was quick to give a reply. She wanted a "Just Like You" doll from the American Girl collection. She had seen it in the catalog and was quick to inform her mother that it was only $95.00



Ordinarily we would put this down as a child just not understanding the value of money. This however was clearly not the case for Audrey.



In an effort to challenge our children to read through the entire Bible this year, I promised the first girl who finished reading through the Bible $100.00 (Our children need to earn their own way to camp). The girls, including Karen, have been working at this faithfully. When Karen told Audrey that she was not going to purchase a $95.00 doll as a B-day present, she added that if Audrey thought the doll was a necessity she could use the money she earned from her bible reading to purchase the doll.

Knowing the value of a dollar, Audrey replied, "I'm not going to spend all my money on a doll, that wouldn't be worth it."

Child Rearing and your child's Rear

The last few weeks have been busy ones, and I have not taken the opportunity to post as often as I should. For that, I apologize!

To keep everyone up to date, I have been asked to preach on Easter Sunday. I am looking forward to the opportunity, but I have spent many hours seeking the Lord's direction for this message. Today I believe that I have the direction I have been looking for. Praise the Lord!

On a different matter, I have been meditating on this verse...

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

I truly believe that many have been in the habit of improperly applying this verse. The reason that I say this is because I have heard parents (when discussing rebellious children) say that they find comfort in this verse. They believe that their child will eventually come back to the Lord if they just give them room and make no waves.

Let me be perfectly clear when I state my opinion here...
This verse is not meant to bring comfort, it is meant to bring warning!

When we interpret this to mean that our children no longer need correction and guidance we are giving Satan a foothold in their lives. We are also allowing Satan to deceive us in regard to what the Lord has said. After all, that is what he did in Eden. He twisted what God said in order to deceive. How have we allowed Satan to take the word "depart" and change it to "come back"?

If your children are departing let it be a warning that they need more training. Is this becoming clear to you? I earnestly hope that you will not be deceived about your parental responsibility in regard to this passage.