Religion

Tonight as the boys and I were reading our nightly stories, we finished up Max Lucado’s “God Thinks Your Wonderful” and as we were reading, Baby B sits up in bed and says “Gods Way Is Perfect!”  And then he sat back down in his bed and I tried to finish reading the book.

After that point, I really don’t remember much of the story other than I just wanted to hug my son.

Today was one of those days at work, things didn’t go according to plan and I just didn’t seem to get ahead. But tonight, after Baby B said “Gods Way Is Perfect” I just felt like God was talking to me. And I don’t mean that in a weird way, but I felt that was my time with God tonight. I had already read my devotional, but that was my moment of God saying that everything was ok! But tonight, in that moment, life was ok, better than ok, it was perfect.

Tonight, Gods Way Is Perfect!

 

 

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Nothing good comes when a sentence starts with “It’s one of those ……” and you can fill in the blank as to what could be said.

It’s one of those days….
It’s one of those outfits….
It’s one of those types of families…..

You get the idea. Well, a co-worker mentioned the other day about her church, which is a local Catholic Church and when she asked about the music at the church that we attend, I mentioned that they led off the previous service with Zac Brown Band’s Homegrown and she looked at me and said, oh, you attend on of those churches.

Now, you have to know my co-worker and understand their personality to accept the backhanded comment a little easier. But this one just kind of hit me wrong and it did for several reasons.

1) They knew that I attended church and at the end of the day, isn’t that the most important thing? Not which denomination, but the fact that we attend.
2) The boys love this church. They are literally asking each day if we are going to church. HUGE!
3) This is the first church that my wife and I have attended and have loved being a part of. We feel like we belong. We feel like we are apart of something bigger here. Something bigger than we did when we attended the United Methodist Church and my wife and I both attended a Methodist church our entire lives, so over 30 years.

So I stood quiet for a moment and gathered my thoughts, because my first response would not have been the right one. So I smiled and said yes, yes we do attend one of those churches. We attend a church that is reaching over 1,200 each Sunday. We are attending one of those churches that had missionaries in 3rd world countries but also doing amazing local outreach in our community. We attend one of those churches that meets people where they want to be met, not following the traditional worship style. We attend one of those churches that goes out among the people and make a difference.  And it is more revealing to more and more each Sunday why contemporary/non-denominational churches are growing and reaching more and more people each week and why the traditional church is losing members at a large level.

So why do I mention faith and religion and church as much as I have lately? Not sure to be honest, it is just something that I’ve been thinking more about lately. But what I know is that attending this church has done something big in the lives of my children and strengthen the relationship between my wife and myself. And I hope, at some point when my kids read this, that they will see how that we have tried to show them a greater being in faith.

So yes, we attend one of those churches, one of those churches that is changing lives, including mine.

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I have started a new month long devotional reading the book of Proverbs, but strangely enough, another devotional that I stumbled upon was Proverbs 22:6 and it I couldn’t stop reading:

Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Isn’t that our job as parents? To start teaching our children off in the way that they should go forward throughout their lives? Isn’t it our job to prepare them for life? isn’t it our job to give them the tools and foundation to make good and responsible decisions, so that they can be good contributing members of our society?

I think about how I talk to my children when they do something that is not correct. I try to be patient and I hope that as they grow older, they will be patient with others and especially with each other. I think about the example that I set with my life and how they look up to me, am I doing everything that I can to be a good father, so that one day, they will be good fathers?

All of these things filled my mind after reading this verse, I just prayed that I could be a good father and a good example to my children, as I hope that they learn the good things that I try to do, and see through my faults.

I would encourage each of you to take a moment, read the verse here and just reflect on it.

 

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I happen to catch The Bible series last night on the History channel and towards the end of the movie, they showed Thomas and how he doubted that Jesus had returned and it got me thinking if I was a Doubting Thomas.

John 20:24-29

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Appears to Thomas

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Do you find yourself questioning things, especially as it pertains to God? I have. And there might be times that I still do? But, I know that I doubt less than I did. I think that it is part of growing older and dealing with life situations and how my faith has increased.

But I am challenging myself to be less of a Doubting Thomas and more of a believer, and not just for myself, but more importantly for my kids. I want them to look at me as they grow older and see how I respond and how I have faith.  Faith is a hard thing, and like Thomas, it takes seeing to believe and there are times in life, that you can not always see things to know that they are real or that they will come to be.

So in this time of the Christmas season, a time where little children show us that they have faith in Santa Claus and the birth of Jesus, I hope to cast aside my doubts and believe more and take more leaps of faith.

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Every year, I set the goal to start reading The Bible again and each year, something seems to get in the way of that time. I have always put an excuse or put something else above that time to read, but not now. For the last 2 months I have set aside 10 minutes a day to sit in quiet and read The Bible. And yes, I realize that 10 minutes is not a lot, but how much free time do you usually get with twin boys?

Quiet time is hard to find and there is always something to be cleaned, something to be straightened, but I realized that I was putting aside something that not only I wanted to do, but needed to do as a father. I needed to prepare myself in a different way, look at things in a different way, prepare my children for a life of growing up with going to church. And for me, the first step was picking up The Bible. Ok, I’ll be honest, yes, I own actually 2 Bibles, I’ve been reading the The Bible on my phone using the YouVersion.com app.  Is it cheating? Maybe? But I am reading The Bible and isn’t that what counts?

Our society is changing, let’s be honest and it is really changing in the way of the church. The traditional churches that we one knew are on the way out. Sure, I think that you’ll see some that will be in existence, but churches are now held in basketball gyms, The Compaq Center (Joel Osteen), a bar in Denver, coffee shops, on the beach, and the list goes on and on. And with that, churches need to reach people in a new way, i.e. The Bible app.

So, I’m back on my goal of actually reading The Bible and just started a year long devotional and have really enjoyed the quiet time and reflection that I have in reading it. I just hope and pray that this new journey will help me be more patient with my boys as they grow and allow me to share with them my faith, but also help them find out their own.

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Today isn’t just about the Easter bunny coming for a visit, it is the day that Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

We have setup Easter eggs for the boys and have their baskets ready. The boys have been been fighting off colds the last several days, so I am not sure if we will be attending church today or not? But we will spend the day together, as a family. Easter is a time for reflection. Easter is time to remember that Jesus gave up his life here on earth to save the lives of those of us here.

So whatever you do today, I hope that you spend time with your family and that you remember the reason for today.

 

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Today is a symbolic day within the Christian community, as it is the day that Jesus died on the cross for us.  I don’t want to go too deep here, as everyone has their own personal beliefs on religion.
I think that as with everything, you can look at days like this in multiple ways.  It can be a time for internal reflection of your own personal religious beliefs. It can also serve as just another day for those that do not believe.

But as a Christian, I look at it 2 ways.

1) Jesus took it upon himself to fulfill the prophecy to save the world and my sins.  But even on the cross, he saved the life of one of the criminals that was hanging on the cross with him.

42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” 43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.Luke 23:42-43

2) God sacrificed his only son Jesus, for us. As a parent, it is our responsibility to sacrifice ourselves for our children. We need to put their needs in front of ours.

So, if you are a Christian, take a moment and reflect on this Good Friday and what the symbol of the cross means for you, both as a Christian and a parent. If you are not a Christian, then I pray that you would consider reading more about Good Friday using a great site YouVersion.

 

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Some where along the way in the last 2 years, I have changed and changed in a good way. Things that I could once watch and listen to on the radio can spark an emotion in me that I have never experienced.

For years I have listened to the music of Christian artist Mark Schultz and he has three songs that just get me every time that I hear them.  Tonight though, I want to focus on He’s My Son. Here is the story behind the song and I think that you’ll understand why it gets me:

Mark Schultz wrote this song about a family dealing with their son’s cancer when he was a youth minister at a church in Nashville, Tennessee. It was inspired by the grieving of a couple in his church, whose son had been diagnosed with leukemia. Shultz observed the struggles of the mother and father. He explained in CCM Top 100 Greatest Songs In Christian Music: “Louise often stayed up with (Martin) until he fell asleep. She would rub his back and try to comfort him, but she felt helpless. Some nights, John would wake up and walk down the hall to Martin’s room and watch him sleep. As he stood there, he would try to imagine what life would be like without his son.”
Schultz added that he “tried for several months to write a song for John and Louise, but nothing seemed to capture what they were going through. I couldn’t begin to understand the depth of pain John and Louise faced every day – but God did.” He then went on to explain that eventually “the only thing I had to do with this song is that I just happened to be there when God sat it in my lap.” – Source: Song Facts

You see, my wife and I have been blessed beyond belief.  We have two very healthy and active boys. No matter how my day goes, I can walk into the room and they can change the course of my day.  I can do something that not all parents can do, I can hug my sons and kiss them goodnight.  I can lay in the floor and let them crawl all on me. I can chase them around the room or let them chase me. And I can do all of these things, every single day. And there are father’s that are out there that would give anything to do those things.

And as I watch Mark’s song, He’s My Son, it just hits me even harder how lucky we are, because I don’t know what I would do if I got the news that my son had Leukemia or some other disease?  I cringe at the thought. I cry for those that do have to deal with this realness every day.  And I hope that if I am every faced with something like this, that I can remember this song, because at the end of the day, He’s My Son and I would love my child and pray every day for them to be healed. I would pray that I could take their illness on instead of them. And I would remind myself, that as a Christian, I’m Still HIS Son and that

Please take a moment to watch He’s My Son by Mark Schultz, it is life changing for parents.

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CrossWhen I was in Texas, the small group that I was a part of that meet every Sunday morning would start each class with a simple question: “Seen God this week?” And it was a simple question, but one that was really powerful for me.  It really made me more aware of what was going on during the week, to stop and look around for how God was working not only in my life but others. And when I started really focusing on this, I saw things differently.

Years later, I move to the east coast. I still attend church, just not as involved as I was out in Texas. This is for my reasons, but it dawned on my a few weeks ago how much I missed answering that question every week. So it got me thinking, have I seen God this week? And it was a simple yes! I saw him when I woke up this morning and got to see my sons smiling at me. I will see him again tonight when I go home from work and my boys start jumping up and down waiting for me to play with them.

And every night, before I go to sleep, I thank God for having another day with my little boys and hope that he gives me tomorrow with them as well.  But now that I am more aware of this need/desire, it has renewed my energy about God. I might not be involved with my current church as I was with the church in Texas and that is for many reasons, but I will be reading the bible more. I just purchased two books by Adam Hamilton “24 Hours That Changed The World” & “Final Words at the Cross ” and hope to start reading them this weekend. I hope that these book continue to help me seek a deeper relationship with God, which will ultimately make me a better father.

So, as you go about your week and daily activities, stop and ask yourself if you have seen God this week?

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