As I'm reading through 1 Samuel it's important to notice something crucial about the title character. Samuel was a great man of God. His birth was miraculous, his life was dedicated to God's service before it began, God spoke to him at a young age, and he was known among the people as the Lord's prophet. He lead Israel and anointed the nation's first two kings. He was the final and most effective judge of Israel, and is listed in the Hebrews 11 list of Faithful servants of God. But this week I noticed something about him that hadn't ever hit me before. In spite of being a great spiritual leader, Samuel was not the best father.
I was glancing through the NASB Life Application Study Bible I keep in my office earlier this week. In it there are sections that break down key characters in scripture. There is a list of strengths and accomplishments, weaknesses and mistakes, lessons from their lives, vital statistics, and key verses. It's a great tool, and if you're looking for a Bible with a little more information, a Life Application Bible is a great tool.
Samuel's section only has one thing under weaknesses and mistakes, "Was unable to lead his sons into a close relationship with God." 1 Samuel 8 begins by saying, "And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba. His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice." The people of Israel know this about Samuel's sons, and they ask him to appoint a king to rule over them.
We have a great spiritual leader who has done great things for God. But it seems to be at the cost of His family. Samuel does great things, but his sons are corrupt and do not serve God as their father does. How has this happened?
If we look at Samuel's life, he didn't have the best role model in terms of fatherhood. After he was weaned, he was taken and presented at the house of the Lord in order to serve God. Each year his mother would bring him a robe she had made when she came to offer sacrifices with her husband, but other than that the Bible doesn't indicate that there was any other interaction with Samuel's biological father, Elkanah. He was raised by Eli the priest.
While Eli judged Israel for 40 years (1 Samuel 4.18), he was a poor father. The Bible calls his two sons "worthless men; they did not know the Lord" (1 Samuel 2.12). They take their positions as priests and use it for their own gain and comfort. They would lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and word finally reaches Eli about all that his sons are doing.
While he speaks with them about the issue, he fails to discipline and correct them. He leaves it simply at a warning of not to sin against God. That is the example of fatherhood that Samuel learned from.
Men, pastors, church leaders, we cannot sacrifice our families for ministry. My mentor recently completed his doctorate focused on raising a parsonage family. He posed the question, "What does it profit a pastor to gain the whole world and to lose his family?" He has told me repeatedly "I will fail as a pastor before I fail as a husband or father. Someone else can do the work of the church, but no one else can be a husband to my wife or father to my kids."
It does not matter what we may accomplish for the Church, if it costs us our families, we have greatly missed the point. Men we must step up and make a change. We must determine to be good fathers, to be spiritual leaders first in our own homes. We must minister to our wives, and we must teach our children to love and serve God. Family must come before everything but God. Someone else can do the work of the church, but only you can be the man of your household.
This is a lesson I'm still learning and trying to apply. I've been married for ten months and twenty-two days. I make mistakes all the time, I don't fully know what it means to love my wife as Christ loves the church, let alone how to actually do that. But I want to. More and more I'm understanding just how incredible she is. More and more I'm realizing that if God gives me nothing else in life except her, I'm still so far ahead. More and more I'm seeing the huge blessing that I have received in her. I want to be the man she deserves. I want to minster to her and be a blessing to her.
I don't have kids yet, but as I've seen and observed parents over the course of my life I'm picking up things to do and also to never do. I'm praying that God prepares me to be a father, and to raise sons who are mighty warriors for the God of the universe, and daughters who are princesses of the King of Kings. Will I make mistakes, absolutely. But I will not sacrifice them, or my wife, for any church ministry.
Men, God gives us families, He puts us in leadership as heads of our households, so that we can be a blessing to them. We are there to teach our families to love and serve God. We are there to model masculinity to our children, and Holiness to our families. Be an example of a Godly man, husband, and father. Set a standard for others to reach for. We cannot do it on our own. We need God first and foremost. We must walk with Him, know Him, and communicate with Him so that we can lead as He has called us to. We must have fellowship with other men, with people who can help keep us accountable and will walk with us and support us as we strive to be Men of God.
To God alone be the Glory!
Peace be with you
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Monday, November 28, 2011
Thanksgiving and the Following days
There is a lot on my mind, this is going to be one of those blogs with a bunch of random thoughts.
My favorite day of the year is Thanksgiving. I love the time with my cousins. Its the one day of the year my paternal grandmother wants her whole family together. My grandma has been an incredible pillar of our family. She is the reason my cousins and I are so close. She's poured time into us. Many of my favorite childhood memories are around her kitchen table, in her backyard, basement, and living room, and all of them take place with the cousins that she made me be friends with. Because of my grandma, we enjoy time together, and soak up every moment we have.
But this year I began to notice a change. Time has passed and we're grown up. Four of us are now married, two have children. One won't come to anything due to family issues. Our conversations have changed from hopes and dreams of the future, to grown up conversations. Instead of playing games and building forts, we fall asleep on the floor watching football. We've changed, we've grown up, and I'm finding myself wanting to move in different directions.
I love my family, especially my cousins. But my wife and I have our own life now, and as we go down this road together it takes me in some ways, away from the traditions of the past. And I'm excited for the future with her. We've talked about traditions we want, about how we'd love to spend holidays in the future with our kids and friends; and I can't wait for them to happen. Time passes, and things change.
I think of Black Friday. A few times I've gone out, simply to get a good deal on what I got my sister for Christmas, or so my mom wouldn't have to go out to get something for my little brother at 4 am. But over the past few years I've grown to hate Black Friday. And this year I asked a question, What does God think of Black Friday?
I've been kicking it around in my mind for the last few days, and I don't know that I have an answer. Many people go out as I have in the past, to get good deals on gifts for others. But over the last year my view of stuff has changed. A year ago I was cleaning out foreclosed homes with my cousin and her husband. You see the stuff that people treasured in life, but had no where to take it when they lost the house. You see the stuff that had mattered, but not enough to keep when they had to leave, it's the stuff that didn't matter as much as the other stuff.
I don't want a bunch of stuff. As I get older I look at things I used to collect, things I used to think were really cool, or that I'd used forever. My in laws brought everything my wife owned to our house a few months ago. My parents have some boxes of my old stuff in their basement. Honestly part of me just wants to throw it all out. If I don't know what's in there, if I haven't needed it for the past seven years, then there is no way I'll miss it if I get rid of it now. I had looked through some of it before I moved because there was something I needed, and I found stuff I had forgotten I had. My wife and I are now looking at things we have and realizing we don't need it, that we don't want all of this stuff just sitting around.
Today I was reading in Genesis 26, and I saw this, "Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him" (vs 12-14). God made Isaac rich; He blessed him and gave him abundantly more than he ever could have needed. God does stuff like that. His blessings are so great that He gives us far more than we ever could need. God is rich, and He loves to bless those who are faithful to Him.
If God provides wealth, then it can't be a bad thing. Wealth and possessions in themselves aren't bad. The love of wealth is what is bad, as it says in 1 Timothy 6. The drive for more wealth, the focus on wealth instead of the giver of it; that is what is evil. And just because someone voluntarily lives in poverty it doesn't mean that they are righteous. Paul says in Philippians 4.19, "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." God says in Malachi 3.10, "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,' says the LORD of hosts, 'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.'" And as it says in Genesis 26, God blessed Isaac and made him rich.
We are blessed by God to bless others. God has given us wealth, let's be generous with it. If you don't think you're rich, watch the Nooma Video by Rob Bell titled, Rich. Let's look for ways to serve. This Christmas my wife and I are giving away stuffed animals. In college a buddy and I gave away roses to people in a nursing home on Valentines day. The church I am currently serving is going to be looking at child sponsorship. There are so many ways that we can bless others, God has blessed us so that we can be a blessing.
The random thoughts that I've just shared are the things that have been on my heart and in my head for the last few days. I guess these are the things that I've been convicted about, and the questions that I don't have the answers to.
My simple request of all who read this is that we would be a blessing to others. There is a song by a group called Nickelback, it's their only song I've ever heard, and they aren't a group I listen to, but the chorus this one song I think gets the idea.
If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died
What if everyone cared? What if everyone loved? What if everyone shared? What if all of us were a blessing?
There is one other song by Brandon Heath, and the chorus says this,
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Ask God to open your eyes to see through His. See how you have been blessed, and be a blessing to others.
Peace be with you
My favorite day of the year is Thanksgiving. I love the time with my cousins. Its the one day of the year my paternal grandmother wants her whole family together. My grandma has been an incredible pillar of our family. She is the reason my cousins and I are so close. She's poured time into us. Many of my favorite childhood memories are around her kitchen table, in her backyard, basement, and living room, and all of them take place with the cousins that she made me be friends with. Because of my grandma, we enjoy time together, and soak up every moment we have.
But this year I began to notice a change. Time has passed and we're grown up. Four of us are now married, two have children. One won't come to anything due to family issues. Our conversations have changed from hopes and dreams of the future, to grown up conversations. Instead of playing games and building forts, we fall asleep on the floor watching football. We've changed, we've grown up, and I'm finding myself wanting to move in different directions.
I love my family, especially my cousins. But my wife and I have our own life now, and as we go down this road together it takes me in some ways, away from the traditions of the past. And I'm excited for the future with her. We've talked about traditions we want, about how we'd love to spend holidays in the future with our kids and friends; and I can't wait for them to happen. Time passes, and things change.
I think of Black Friday. A few times I've gone out, simply to get a good deal on what I got my sister for Christmas, or so my mom wouldn't have to go out to get something for my little brother at 4 am. But over the past few years I've grown to hate Black Friday. And this year I asked a question, What does God think of Black Friday?
I've been kicking it around in my mind for the last few days, and I don't know that I have an answer. Many people go out as I have in the past, to get good deals on gifts for others. But over the last year my view of stuff has changed. A year ago I was cleaning out foreclosed homes with my cousin and her husband. You see the stuff that people treasured in life, but had no where to take it when they lost the house. You see the stuff that had mattered, but not enough to keep when they had to leave, it's the stuff that didn't matter as much as the other stuff.
I don't want a bunch of stuff. As I get older I look at things I used to collect, things I used to think were really cool, or that I'd used forever. My in laws brought everything my wife owned to our house a few months ago. My parents have some boxes of my old stuff in their basement. Honestly part of me just wants to throw it all out. If I don't know what's in there, if I haven't needed it for the past seven years, then there is no way I'll miss it if I get rid of it now. I had looked through some of it before I moved because there was something I needed, and I found stuff I had forgotten I had. My wife and I are now looking at things we have and realizing we don't need it, that we don't want all of this stuff just sitting around.
Today I was reading in Genesis 26, and I saw this, "Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him" (vs 12-14). God made Isaac rich; He blessed him and gave him abundantly more than he ever could have needed. God does stuff like that. His blessings are so great that He gives us far more than we ever could need. God is rich, and He loves to bless those who are faithful to Him.
If God provides wealth, then it can't be a bad thing. Wealth and possessions in themselves aren't bad. The love of wealth is what is bad, as it says in 1 Timothy 6. The drive for more wealth, the focus on wealth instead of the giver of it; that is what is evil. And just because someone voluntarily lives in poverty it doesn't mean that they are righteous. Paul says in Philippians 4.19, "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." God says in Malachi 3.10, "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,' says the LORD of hosts, 'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.'" And as it says in Genesis 26, God blessed Isaac and made him rich.
We are blessed by God to bless others. God has given us wealth, let's be generous with it. If you don't think you're rich, watch the Nooma Video by Rob Bell titled, Rich. Let's look for ways to serve. This Christmas my wife and I are giving away stuffed animals. In college a buddy and I gave away roses to people in a nursing home on Valentines day. The church I am currently serving is going to be looking at child sponsorship. There are so many ways that we can bless others, God has blessed us so that we can be a blessing.
The random thoughts that I've just shared are the things that have been on my heart and in my head for the last few days. I guess these are the things that I've been convicted about, and the questions that I don't have the answers to.
My simple request of all who read this is that we would be a blessing to others. There is a song by a group called Nickelback, it's their only song I've ever heard, and they aren't a group I listen to, but the chorus this one song I think gets the idea.
If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died
What if everyone cared? What if everyone loved? What if everyone shared? What if all of us were a blessing?
There is one other song by Brandon Heath, and the chorus says this,
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Ask God to open your eyes to see through His. See how you have been blessed, and be a blessing to others.
Peace be with you
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Theme of the Year
Today I was sitting at the local coffee house going over some stuff for Sunday night. I'm doing a brief look at 1 Timothy before we start Mere Christianity. This week is chapter 5 and 6. As I began to look at the blog I wrote a few weeks ago a word hit me, relationships. As I thought about it, that word has been hitting me a lot recently. I wrote it at the top of the page next to 2011.
I began to think about last year, the word for 2010 was "Christlikeness". Everything I studied, preached, read, focused on that. This year I've realized that the word is "relationships". It's a fitting topic really seeing as how I just got married.
I'm seeing the importance of relationships more and more. I'm seeing how so much of the Bible's teachings are about relationships. I shared some of this in my 1 Timothy findings. Now as I begin my next study this word has come to the forefront again.
Right now I'm at the beginning of a study on the different "footholds" of the devil. If you've read Ephesians you're familiar with 4.26-27, "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity." (NASB) The NIV has the word "foothold" in place of opportunity, but I'll get into that more in the near future. Anger that leads to sin or that is allowed to stew is not the only foothold of Satan, and again my current study is looking at several of them.
The thing that I've noticed this year is that relationships are what life is all about. God said in the beginning, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;" God exists in relationship, He always has. We are made in the image of a relational God. He created us to exist in relationship with Him, but also with each other. "Then the LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.'" Genesis 2.18.
Satan hates God and everything He has done. His sole purpose is to attack God in a vain attempt to defeat Him. If everything is based on relationships, then that is the thing sin attacks the most. The first result of sin is death. Death is separation from God, it is a broken relationship with God. Secondly we see that sin attacks the relationships of humans, predominately the marriage relationship.
The foundation of society is the family, and the foundation of the family is the marriage. If a foundation is weak, then the entire structure is unstable. If the relationship between God and man is broken, then every human relationship is unstable because there is no foundation. If a marriage is weak, then the family is unstable, and if the family is unstable, society cannot function.
Look at America today and you'll see exactly what I'm saying. Our society is full of divorced parents, single mothers, pregnant teenagers, and broken families. Our society is full of corruption, filth, financial trouble and tolerance. We are waiting to fall apart because we have no foundation. Sin has done it's job, and it's been able to because we've given Satan an opportunity.
Jesus came to restore relationships. He came to die to pay the price for sin so that our relationship with God could be healed. He came to lay a new foundation for us to build on. He showed us that God is approachable and that He desires this relationship with us. He showed us how to live in relationship with others. Jesus came to model life to us in every way.
Life is about relationships. We weren't made to live in isolation, but in fellowship with our Creator and our fellow creatures. When we live in relationship with God and each other the foundation of our world is strengthened. A strong foundation will not give the devil a foothold.
Peace be with you
I began to think about last year, the word for 2010 was "Christlikeness". Everything I studied, preached, read, focused on that. This year I've realized that the word is "relationships". It's a fitting topic really seeing as how I just got married.
I'm seeing the importance of relationships more and more. I'm seeing how so much of the Bible's teachings are about relationships. I shared some of this in my 1 Timothy findings. Now as I begin my next study this word has come to the forefront again.
Right now I'm at the beginning of a study on the different "footholds" of the devil. If you've read Ephesians you're familiar with 4.26-27, "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity." (NASB) The NIV has the word "foothold" in place of opportunity, but I'll get into that more in the near future. Anger that leads to sin or that is allowed to stew is not the only foothold of Satan, and again my current study is looking at several of them.
The thing that I've noticed this year is that relationships are what life is all about. God said in the beginning, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;" God exists in relationship, He always has. We are made in the image of a relational God. He created us to exist in relationship with Him, but also with each other. "Then the LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.'" Genesis 2.18.
Satan hates God and everything He has done. His sole purpose is to attack God in a vain attempt to defeat Him. If everything is based on relationships, then that is the thing sin attacks the most. The first result of sin is death. Death is separation from God, it is a broken relationship with God. Secondly we see that sin attacks the relationships of humans, predominately the marriage relationship.
The foundation of society is the family, and the foundation of the family is the marriage. If a foundation is weak, then the entire structure is unstable. If the relationship between God and man is broken, then every human relationship is unstable because there is no foundation. If a marriage is weak, then the family is unstable, and if the family is unstable, society cannot function.
Look at America today and you'll see exactly what I'm saying. Our society is full of divorced parents, single mothers, pregnant teenagers, and broken families. Our society is full of corruption, filth, financial trouble and tolerance. We are waiting to fall apart because we have no foundation. Sin has done it's job, and it's been able to because we've given Satan an opportunity.
Jesus came to restore relationships. He came to die to pay the price for sin so that our relationship with God could be healed. He came to lay a new foundation for us to build on. He showed us that God is approachable and that He desires this relationship with us. He showed us how to live in relationship with others. Jesus came to model life to us in every way.
Life is about relationships. We weren't made to live in isolation, but in fellowship with our Creator and our fellow creatures. When we live in relationship with God and each other the foundation of our world is strengthened. A strong foundation will not give the devil a foothold.
Peace be with you
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