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SEPTEMBER 2017
Ever hear about those Christians who claim that they have cracked the biblical code and have discovered the exact date that Christ is coming back? Those guys are never right, since we’re all still here, but I did think about that in the context of Daniel chapter 9
If you have been on this journey through Daniel with us the last seven weeks, you might start feeling tempted to stop and read something a little more “understandable” for your family. I mean what are these visions? How am I supposed to explain these to my family? Can’t I just read the more “relevant” parts of the New Testament?
My wife just said, “don’t you think it’s going to be challenging to have Devo’s around the rest of the book of Daniel?” I joking said, “yes, maybe we should just say….Daniel chapter seven….good luck.” Ha. Truth is, after Daniel six with the lion's den story, it does get more mysterious...
AUGUST 2016
We started singing a new song a few weeks ago at church called “More than Conquerors” by Rend Collective. Usually when I listen to songs, I tend to focus more on harmony than anything else, unless it’s a song we are to sing in corporate worship. As an elder of our church, I have the responsibility, along with four other men, to oversee the songs we sing as a congregation.
As the book of Daniel has been progressing, one thing that continues to be a challenge for me is the faithfulness of Daniel and his friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). They were faithful in chapter one by entrusting their care to God and not the king’s provision.
Chapter three ended last week with Nebuchadnezzar praising God because of his deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the seven-times-hotter fiery furnace. He made a decree that a tearing of limb from limb be executed on anyone who spoke against God and in chapter four, we see him send a testimony of what the Most High God had done for him.
Regardless of what emotions are flowing in our students’ minds, they need our prayers more than ever. There is an enemy that wants to steal, kill, and destroy God’s good creation. Followers of Christ must wake up to the dangers that wait for our kids in the hallways. What better time to pray for our students? Here are five ways we can pray for our kids right now.
Daniel 3 is probably one of the most famous stories in the old testament. I can’t count the number of times I’ve probably seen the Veggie Tale’s version of it. It’s such a crazy story of God’s intervention that it almost seems unbelievable. How can three God-fearing men survive being thrown into a massive overheated fire pit?
Last week we started a new series on Daniel, “A Man Set Apart.” We saw last week how everything that happened to Daniel was given from the LORD, how the LORD is sovereign over everything, and we even started to see how the LORD works everything for his glory and purposes.
JULY 2016
God’s sovereignty, or control, can be a heated topic. Some think that if he controls and dictates everything then that would make us like robots. Others think God controlling every little decision creates a warm ‘theology blanket’ for their soul.
“Who Can Heal America” is the right question. In the midst of terrorism and racism and needless death and murder, we need to seek healing for this nation. We need healing for the hurting hearts, the sinful hearts, the broken hearts. However, I don’t believe President Obama, Clinton, or Trump are poised to usher in this season of healing.
Many families (including ours) have found it overwhelmingly difficult to begin family devotions, especially if family devotions are something that has never been a part of their upbringing. But many families (like ours) have found that the overwhelming difficulty is man made, usually man of the house made.
Growing up in a broken home, far from Christ, the idea of “family devotions” wasn’t even on the radar for me. I wasn’t even aware of the concept, let alone the value behind it. However, after the Lord saved me in High School...
Yesterday at our home group we read this week’s chapter, John 20, in our Bible Study time with the kids. It was important for us because we get to see Jesus after his resurrection. We have been in this “Knowing Jesus” series, as a Gospel Family community...
Today’s Front Page will break your heart. Stories of violence and death and racism and terrorism fill the headlines of the morning news. Although we feel like we can take no more, reminders of injustice and cries for justice are reported and broadcasted in seemingly unprecedented volume.
"You shall not murder," The LORD said on Mount Sanai (Ex. 20:13). This was the command he had given to his people. But their Jewish minds were made up. Jesus had to be put to death. He was a breaker of the Law (specifically in breaking the Sabbath) and was a blasphemer, calling God his father, making himself equal with God (John 5:18). But it was against their law to have anyone put to death.
JUNE 2016
Imagine an older man, in his final days, gathering his children around him so that he could give them his final words. With one more chance to influence, one more chance to pass the torch, one more chance to leave a legacy. What would he want to say?
Do you struggle to have a consistent “family worship”? Do you struggle to gathering your family for some sort of “family worship?” I find that a lot of us are. I find that I am. But are you like Bruce? “Who’s Bruce?” you say? Well, maybe you should watch this video first.
How many times have you heard in Christian circles over the years, the testimonies of men and women talking about how their mother had been praying for them for years before they turned to Christ? I feel like I hear this all the time.
For the last three chapters Jesus has been talking to his disciples about his upcoming departure. In this chapter, Jesus now turns his attention to his Father and prays. As he’s been talking to his disciples of a fullness of joy, but I’m sure he is full of sorrow as Good Friday approaches.
George is mainly known for being a man of prayer and establishing, and sustaining, orphan houses in England in the 1900′s. He cared for thousands of orphans and all of his work with the orphan homes was funded and supported by prayer. He never asked anyone for money..
If we can get to the point where we no longer need to pretend like we have it together, then we can ask for help before things get to a "code red" crisis. No one I know has this thing all figured out.
Every chance Nathan (our six year old) gets to ask someone if they know Jesus, he does it. It doesn’t matter if it’s his piano teacher, the neighbor selling lemonade at the garage sale or the stylist at Great Clips. This has challenged me in many ways as a parent...
MAY 2016
Parenting is hard. At dinner this week I kept starting to talk and then got interrupted every time by my three year old saying something crazy or making a loud noise. And I’m not the type of person that just talks over people so I kept starting and stopping. In defeat I just put my head down on the table.
What would you do if you had just a few moments left with someone you loved? Jesus knows his time has come to depart from this world. His death is just over the horizon and the way he’ll die has to constantly be in the forefront of his mind. But what does he do with his last moments with his disciples?
Peter tells husbands to understand, honor, and protect their wives, “So that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7). Somehow, there is a connection between the health of our marriages and the health of our prayers.
The other day I took Nathan to his tee ball practice. It was just us together in the car. We weren’t able to sign up for a team near our house so it’s a little bit of a drive to get to the practice field. Usually on a drive like this I would just throw on the radio or maybe one of my favorite podcast..
Family Worship cultivates a pattern of Family Time, inviting everyone in the home to push aside all distractions, take a break from all media, and just be still in the presence of God and one another for a few minutes everyday.
APRIL 2016
Jesus came to do the works of God. As long as Jesus was in the world, he was focused on glorifying his Father and accomplishing the work that he gave him to do (John 17:4). “Who sinned,” his disciples asked in this story we’re about to read, "this man or his parents?”
I used to sing a song to my daughter when she was a baby, called, "He's Still Working on Me." The song, written by Joel Hemphill, teaches the truth of Philippians 1:6: "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
Yesterday at church it was my turn to lead communion. It was such an honor to stand up and lead our church in remembering what Jesus did for us. The phrase from the familiar communion passage from 1 Corinthians was "..in remembrance of me."...
A few days from now I will have completed my goal of reading the entire Bible in a year. I have 4 days left on my Bible Reading Plan App, intuitively called "Bible." I say 1-year but it's taken me a year and a half to get here. Thankfully you can "catch-up" if you get behind and it resets things so you are not behind.
“Not even his brothers believed in him” (John 7:5). And the Jews were divided over Jesus. “How does this man have learning,” they would say, “He has never even studied!” It seems like all were seeking him, but for several different reasons. Some wanted to learn from him. Some wanted to follow him.
A few years ago my wife and I befriended a man that lived in a van outside a neighbor's house. His name was John and his van was on Aspen street so we called him John "Aspen." John was a strong atheist at that time in his life and was very aggressive at times to our help and my conversations with him.
MARCH 2016
Easter weekend is filled with stories of miracles, life, Gospel, and the Lord’s Might. But what happened after that first Easter Sunday? Does this story of Might continue?
God has appointed two representatives for man--Adam and Jesus. The bible teaches that the lives of these two men deeply affect us. Actually, their deaths (spiritual and physical) deeply affect us as well. We’ve all experienced and continue to experience the effects of Adam’s sin.
In his classic book, The Cross of Christ, John Stott highlights the unprecedented and unparalleled violence of the cross. Examining the origins and practices of this barbaric form of capital punishment, he describes the cross as “the most humiliating form of execution.”
My daughter, Gracie, turns six today. Six! How can she be six? How can she already be six when just yesterday she fit on my chest as I rocked her to sleep?
We read about missionary martyrs in the Middle East and terrorist attacks in Brussels. We see updates in our news feed on school shootings and the manhunt for the Paris shooters, and through it all, in the midst of all of the brokenness, hurting, and heartbreak, we feel…
Family devotions are challenging. They’re tough. They require time, commitment, consistency, and patience. It’s opening the Bible instead of turning on the TV. It’s praying for forgiveness with your children five minutes after yelling at them...
This week I realized I have issues. I mean I’ve always had issues but the deeper I walk in relationship to Jesus the more he seems to be drawing all of that out of me. It makes me deal with it, which is good, but it’s uncovering layers of deep sin that I normally suppress and don’t mess with...
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How do you motivate your children? How do you encourage good behavior? Let me get really practical...ever have one of your kids not eating dinner very well and you might say something like…
There were two men. One, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, and a teacher of Israel. The other, a baptizer in the outskirts of town. If anyone would know who Jesus was surely it would be the religious man. He was the educated one...
I live in the south, Texas to be exact. And in Texas most people would say, "I'm a Christian." But what does that really mean?
When people think about siblings, the first thing that often comes to mind is "Sibling Rivalry." We envision kids fighting over toys, refusing to share, chasing each other around the house, and wrestling until a parent/referee breaks it up.
FEBRUARY 2016
We got 18 kids in a room to discuss the importance of Family Prayer. As five of them share, we hear a simple view of a profound family spiritual discipline. Even at a young age, these children see family prayer as something that..
Do you know Jesus? This is a great question for, but not limited to, an unbeliever. This is a great question we need to ask ourselves as well. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, I asked myself this question two weeks ago.
Teachers teach. They don't confuse. Or at least they don't intentionally try to. Before working in my current office job, I was a fifth grade teacher for seven years. I loved it.
The NFL's 2016 advertising campaign, "Football is Family," was impossible to miss last night during the 50th Super Bowl. The game between the Broncos and Panthers was interrupted often with a new "Football is Family" ad, displaying groups of "Super Bowl Babies" (those born in championship cities 9 months after a Super Bowl win).
One of the ways the Lord has allowed me to better understand grace-based parenting is by looking at the Biblical example of the opposite; namely, selfish, works-based parenting.
JANUARY 2016
There is hope for every broken home; hope for the impossible; hope for the families who have opened the door to sin, and hope for the family who lives in the debris of the wreckage...
There is a thread of mentorship woven throughout the Scriptures, as the church is encouraged, time and time again, to imitate mature believers, following their example:
My son, Elijah, broke his leg this week. It was a small fracture, what the doctor called a "Toddler's Fracture," but it required a cast, nonetheless. While listening to the doctor talk about...
For my birthday this weekend, my wife surprised me with a kid-free weekend, filled with dates. Dates with my wife used to come easy, daily even, but with three little kids, a dinner with no high chairs or a movie with no cartoons, need a little planning.
With the 2016 presidential race heating up, and candidates campaigning on everything from national security and the economy to health care and immigration, I thought I'd ask my 5-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son what they would do if they were elected President of the United States of America.
2015 or older:
The screams of anger and defiance pierced the joyous reception happening in the church house where my husband pastors. No amount of reasoning, threats of spanking, or bribing calmed the situation...
Over these last few weeks our family has been hit or miss with our family devotional time. I know, I know, I feel like I'm disappointing you all...But I always want us to be real with each other, and I definitely don’t want to come off like my family has it all together, and that we never miss a Devo. We do.