pushing you on, speaking truth into your life
praying for you, Godly visions at night,
loving you, with God always insight
believing in you, seeing beyond your faults
to the greater things of God, stored deep within your heart..
being there for you, to catch you when you fall.
giving you the freedom, to share your deepest thoughts
exploring the answer with you, together seeking God
this is a parent's job, what could be better.
this is the challenge.
Who are you investing in, do you have five that you are casting visions of greatest in the service of God, believing in them, encouraging them, investing all you have in them.
What is your ideal father like, and how does that ideal compare with your ideal of God the Father? Are they the same? Does God the Father fall short of your ideal father?
Are you helping those you are fathering?
Richard.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Lead like Jesus
Step 1. Engage your listeners and talk with them. Jesus was more than a talking head and you should be too.
Step 2. Tell stories. We refer to the stories Jesus told as parables. You can use these Bible stories or use stories from your own life or from materials you have studied. Your stories should reflect the patterns and relationships in life that we all understand.
Step 3. Use symbolism. Jesus used religious symbols like "the bread of life" that were familiar to his listeners. You can refer to symbols such as the cross of Christ or the Lord's Supper.
Step 4. Teach at an appropriate level. A lesson for fourth graders would be vastly different than one for a group of college-educated adults. Jesus tailored his message around what the listeners already understood.
Step 5. Build on what your listeners already believe. Jesus never attacked others for their beliefs. He used those beliefs as a basis to help them understand the truth he was teaching.
Step 6. Restate your message whenever necessary. Jesus was patient when he taught. He rephrased his teaching or used another story to make sure his lesson was being understood.
Step 7. Care about your students. To teach like Jesus you need to have a genuine love for your students. Jesus wanted his listeners to understand, to learn and to follow him.
Step 2. Tell stories. We refer to the stories Jesus told as parables. You can use these Bible stories or use stories from your own life or from materials you have studied. Your stories should reflect the patterns and relationships in life that we all understand.
Step 3. Use symbolism. Jesus used religious symbols like "the bread of life" that were familiar to his listeners. You can refer to symbols such as the cross of Christ or the Lord's Supper.
Step 4. Teach at an appropriate level. A lesson for fourth graders would be vastly different than one for a group of college-educated adults. Jesus tailored his message around what the listeners already understood.
Step 5. Build on what your listeners already believe. Jesus never attacked others for their beliefs. He used those beliefs as a basis to help them understand the truth he was teaching.
Step 6. Restate your message whenever necessary. Jesus was patient when he taught. He rephrased his teaching or used another story to make sure his lesson was being understood.
Step 7. Care about your students. To teach like Jesus you need to have a genuine love for your students. Jesus wanted his listeners to understand, to learn and to follow him.
What's the Gospel?
The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy.
That’s the gospel.
You Can't Outgrow the Gospel
You never, never, never outgrow your need for it. Don’t ever think of the gospel as, “That’s the way you get saved, and then you get strong by leaving it and doing something else.”
No! We are strengthened by God through the gospel every day, till the day we drop.
You never outgrow the need to preach to yourself the gospel.
How the Gospel Strengthens
Here’s an illustration, and I use it not because it’s any big deal to speak from my life, but because it’s what I walked through and where I most pointedly in the last year experienced the power of the gospel to make me strong. (Many of you are walking through things much heavier than prostate cancer—much heavier.)
Do you remember the verses that I shared with you back in February that were almighty for me? It was that moment right after the doctor says, “I think we need to do a biopsy,” when this stab of fear comes. It didn’t last long, mercifully.
And then came—what? 1Thessalonians 5:9-10. It’s just as pure gospel as you can get.
God has not destined you for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,who died for you so that whether you wake or sleep you will live with him.
Settled. Peace like a river.
The Gospel Is Perfect for Your Needs
That’s just gospel—perfectly timed, perfectly applied, perfectly suited to my need. That’s why the Bible is so thick—because there are so many different needs that you have. And there are suitable places where the gospel is unfolded for you, so that if you immerse yourself in the whole book, always with an eye for what Christ has wrought for you and purchased for you in this thick, glorious history of God’s interaction with people, he will give you what you need.
Therefore, everything in me says, and I hope to say until the day I die, “Now, to him who is able to strengthen me, according to Paul’s gospel, to him—to that God—be glory forever and ever.”
God came into history in Jesus Christ; he died in order to destroy the power of hell and death and Satan and sin; and he did it through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thanks John P.
That’s the gospel.
You Can't Outgrow the Gospel
You never, never, never outgrow your need for it. Don’t ever think of the gospel as, “That’s the way you get saved, and then you get strong by leaving it and doing something else.”
No! We are strengthened by God through the gospel every day, till the day we drop.
You never outgrow the need to preach to yourself the gospel.
How the Gospel Strengthens
Here’s an illustration, and I use it not because it’s any big deal to speak from my life, but because it’s what I walked through and where I most pointedly in the last year experienced the power of the gospel to make me strong. (Many of you are walking through things much heavier than prostate cancer—much heavier.)
Do you remember the verses that I shared with you back in February that were almighty for me? It was that moment right after the doctor says, “I think we need to do a biopsy,” when this stab of fear comes. It didn’t last long, mercifully.
And then came—what? 1Thessalonians 5:9-10. It’s just as pure gospel as you can get.
God has not destined you for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,who died for you so that whether you wake or sleep you will live with him.
Settled. Peace like a river.
The Gospel Is Perfect for Your Needs
That’s just gospel—perfectly timed, perfectly applied, perfectly suited to my need. That’s why the Bible is so thick—because there are so many different needs that you have. And there are suitable places where the gospel is unfolded for you, so that if you immerse yourself in the whole book, always with an eye for what Christ has wrought for you and purchased for you in this thick, glorious history of God’s interaction with people, he will give you what you need.
Therefore, everything in me says, and I hope to say until the day I die, “Now, to him who is able to strengthen me, according to Paul’s gospel, to him—to that God—be glory forever and ever.”
God came into history in Jesus Christ; he died in order to destroy the power of hell and death and Satan and sin; and he did it through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thanks John P.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
FIRST CORINTHIANS 13 [CHRISTMAS VERSION]
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,
strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen,
baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals
and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime:
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another cook.
If I work at a soup kitchen
carol in the nursing home,
and give all that I have to charity;
but do not show love to my family,
it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels
and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties
and sing in the choir's cantata
but do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love does not envy another's home
that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way,
but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love does not give only to those who are able to give in return;
but rejoices in giving to those who cannot.
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things, and
endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break,
pearl necklaces will be lost,
golf clubs will rust;
but giving the gift of love will endure.
Author: Sharon Jaynes
Taken from Celebrating a Christ Centered Christmas
strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen,
baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals
and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime:
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another cook.
If I work at a soup kitchen
carol in the nursing home,
and give all that I have to charity;
but do not show love to my family,
it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels
and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties
and sing in the choir's cantata
but do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love does not envy another's home
that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way,
but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love does not give only to those who are able to give in return;
but rejoices in giving to those who cannot.
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things, and
endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break,
pearl necklaces will be lost,
golf clubs will rust;
but giving the gift of love will endure.
Author: Sharon Jaynes
Taken from Celebrating a Christ Centered Christmas
Thursday, December 18, 2008
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