Lynched By Mistake

May 10, 2012 5 Comments

There’s a Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown is lying in bed talking to Snoopy, who’s lying atop the covers at Charlie’s feet. Charlie says, “Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, “Is life a multiple choice test or is it a true or false test?” Next, in the closing panel, Charlie says, “Then a voice comes to me out of the dark and says, “We hate to tell you this, but life is a thousand word essay.”

It should make sense that the older you get the easier life gets. What I mean is, you’ve got your dumb mistakes behind you. You have the advantage of experience. You are wiser, more seasoned. But the problem is that whatever help comes from being experienced and wiser gets counteracted by the fact that life’s issues become more complex. When I lie awake at night, I think back to the days when I was a kid playing with a plastic baseball and bat in my backyard. That was such a simple, carefree time. The only thing I had to worry about was hitting my ball so far into the surrounding woods that I lost it. When I got hungry, I went back inside and ate. I never gave a moment’s thought to what all was involved with getting those groceries paid for and placed in those cabinets. For that matter, I never gave a moment’s thought to how the mortgage on our house got paid. I know now that “baseball stadium” back yards don’t come cheap.

How should I support my family? What church should I pastor? Where should we live? Am I doing right by my wife Tonya? Am I being a good father to my boys, Ryan and Royce? Should we renovate our garage apartment and rent it out? Are we putting enough money back for retirement? What sermon should I preach this Sunday? What post should I write today for my blog? These are the kinds of topics that I struggle with nowadays. And, yes, despite all my experience and seasoning, it’s a struggle. You want essay questions? I got ‘em.

I’ve read that at Boot Hill Cemetery in Arizona there is a grave-marker that says: Lynched By Mistake. That tells me that all mistakes aren’t created equal. Some of them carry far greater consequences than others. This is why I obsess so much over God’s specific will for my life, which just also happens to coincide with His specific will for my family’s life. I don’t want to make a bad decision that will get me, Tonya, Ryan, or Royce lynched. I’m not talking about getting lynched on an old-west gallows. I’m talking about getting lynched on the gallows of ending up in a setting or circumstance that isn’t in God’s will. You see, places like that make for dangerous ground. Gallows are everywhere if we only had the spiritual discernment to recognize them for what they are.

It is for this reason that I pray frequently and fervently, and I try to talk with God as opposed to just talking at Him. Why do I want my prayers to be dialogues and not monologues? It’s because I understand that I don’t have the answers to life’s essay questions. My best decisions come when I willingly play the role of sheep and let the Lord play the role of shepherd. I don’t always agree with the direction in which He leads me, but I do try to obey Him. Admittedly, that takes more faith in regards to some decisions than others, but I’ve learned that whenever I obey Him a great weight of responsibility is taken off my shoulders. How the decision turns out is no longer my department because I’m working out His plan, not mine. And I’m happy to report that neither I nor Tonya and the boys have gotten lynched yet.

Filed under Choices, faith, Fatherhood, fear, God's Omniscience, God's Will, Husbands, obedience, Parenting, Personal, prayer, submission, Trusting In God, Worry, Youth Tagged with , , , , , ,

A Personal Word This Monday

April 9, 2012 2 Comments

Well, I’m glad to be back with you today. Sorry for my infrequent posts lately. I had planned to do more blogging in the days leading up to Easter Sunday, but things just didn’t work out. One day I got involved in a home landscaping project that got a lot more complicated than I had estimated. Another day the high-school dismissed early because of a transformer blowout, an event that started enough dominoes falling in my life to thoroughly mess up the day I had planned. Then Ryan had a j.v. baseball game on Good Friday (don’t ask me why). The following day, Saturday, not only did I have a funeral to conduct but Ryan had an away game. On and on I could go, but you get the idea.

I’ve been told by others that I have a talent for writing. Therefore, I feel a responsibility to use that talent for the Lord. It’s tough, though, when that responsibility runs headlong into my other responsibilities, that of husband, father, pastor, etc. For one thing, there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done I’d like to get done. For another, at the age of 45, my energy level isn’t what it used to be.

I once heard an interview in which the great sportswriter Frank Deford talked about his process for writing. He said that he did his writing when he first got up in the morning because that’s the only time he had the energy. I said to myself, “I’m glad it’s not just me.” The problem is that some mornings start out wide open and never let off the gas!

If all I had to do was write blog posts, I’d churn them out at a prolific rate. If all I had to do was prepare sermons, I’d have a stockpile of them waiting to be preached. If all I had to do was church visitation, I’d be preaching to more people every Sunday. If all I had to do was work in the yard, my place would be the nicest on the block. If all I had to do was run Ryan and Royce around to their various ballgames and practices, we’d be there early every time. If all I had to do was help Tonya with the household chores and grocery shopping, I’d be a professional Mr. Mom. But when you throw all the balls into the air at once and have to juggle, that’s when things get hectic.

Please understand that I’m not complaining. I lead a blessed life and I know it. Also understand that I’m not claiming that my life is any busier than yours. Many of us are skimming atop life’s turbulent waves in the same speed-boat these days, aren’t we? All I’m doing is offering an explanation as to why I don’t post more blogs. The tinge of responsibility is certainly there. For that matter, when I’m at my best, the desire is even there. But when it comes to the time and energy, ah, there’s the rub.

In conclusion, let me say that I sincerely thank you for your readership. Don’t ever think that I take it lightly. Please keep checking in periodically or, better yet, click on “Sign Me Up” in the top-right corner of this page and become a subscriber. But whether you are a subscriber, a first-time visitor, or somewhere in between, just know that I appreciate you giving me a read. You keep reading and I’ll keep writing, that is as this busy life allows. :)

Filed under Children, Fatherhood, God's Work, Husbands, Marriage, Parenting, Personal, Talents Tagged with , , , ,

The Wonder of Being Childlike

March 26, 2012 Leave a comment

My son Ryan will turn fifteen in a couple of months. Naturally, then, he is acting less and less like the little boy I’ve watched grow up. Last Tuesday night, though, he took me back to a simpler time.

He is a freshman on his high-school j.v. baseball team, and they had an away game against Polk that night. So I made the hour-and-a-half drive to watch him play. The game ended in a 2-2 tie. The conference rule is, teams play six innings and then get one extra inning to decide a tie. If the score is still deadlocked after that seventh inning, that’s it, time to load up the buses and go home.

Ryan rode home with me and we stopped at a Burger King to grab a late supper. I ordered my usual Whopper with cheese and he ordered his usual chicken tenders. We sat down at the table and I got back up to fill my drink. When I returned I saw that Ryan was praying. I figured he was offering his typical “fast” prayer over his “fast” food. As I stood there, though, not wanting to interrupt him, I noticed that the prayer seemed a touch more lengthy and intense than usual.

Once the prayer was finished, I took my seat across from Ryan and just had to ask, “What were you praying?” Yes, that was nosy of me, but, hey, that’s how parents roll. Before Ryan answered, he gave a little grin as if he had been caught doing something off limits. Then he said, “I thanked God for the game. I thanked Him for the food. And I asked Him to have you let me get some dessert.”

You’d understand that request better if you knew how passionate the boy is over his desserts. It’s an ongoing issue with us that every time we walk into a restaurant he has to do a second round of ordering so that he can enjoy dessert while the rest of us are still finishing up our meal. There have also been plenty of occasions where I gave him the canned speech, “Son, isn’t it enough that I’ve spent $20 in gas to come to this game and then spent another $10 or $15 for us to eat afterward? Do you have to have another $3 for dessert too?”

By the way, before you label me as a heartless, miserly Scrooge, let me say that I almost always give in and let him have dessert. I have to admit that as I watch him wolf down those sweets I’ve never seen anybody enjoy anything more! And, yes, he got his ice cream-brownie-thing at Burger King that night too. I couldn’t refuse him after he melted my heart with such a sweet, simple, childlike request, one that he wasn’t even going to let me in on if I hadn’t asked.

But here’s the thing, that night, as I sat there eating my Whopper, I couldn’t help but think how wonderful it would be if we Christians could master the childlike faith of a boy asking God to lead his daddy to let him buy a dessert. What was it Jesus said?

Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4)

The pure, innocent, guileless faith of a child, how much of it do you have? I confess that the longer I walk with the Lord the less I have of it. Things just seem to keep getting more complicated and convoluted between me and the Lord. How I’d love to get back to that simplistic walk I once enjoyed with Him.

Perhaps it will be that the greater toll the aging process takes on me and the less self-sufficient I become, the more my childlike faith will return to me. That’s what I suspect will happen anyway. Let’s face it, when you just can’t do for yourself, somebody else has to do for you, right? This is a concept that we instinctively understand as children, but we unlearn it when we become adults. Unfortunately, that unlearning hurts us in regards to looking to God to meet our needs and expecting Him to grant our requests. Ryan’s little prayer the other night reminded me of all this. Now we’ll see if I can reclaim some of the childlike characteristics I have lost along the way.

Filed under Aging, Children, Desires, faith, Fatherhood, God's Provision, needs, Personal, prayer, Prayer Requests, Trusting In God, Youth Tagged with , , , , ,

A Little Bit Of Rambling From A Tired Parent

November 29, 2011 Leave a comment

It’s been a week since I last posted anything. The delay hasn’t been because I’ve run out of anything to say, but rather because I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write. Last week, of course, featured Thanksgiving day and Black Friday. That put the boys home from school, which doesn’t exactly help the writing process. We also had the big family meal at our house Thursday. Wednesday saw a lot of preparation for that and Friday saw a lot of recovering from it. I spent much of Saturday finishing up my Sunday morning sermon, and then yesterday featured a lot of errands topped off with Ryan’s j.v. basketball game.

I could say that it’s a busy time of year, but that would imply that there is one that isn’t busy. When you have two boys who each play three sports, you don’t get an off season. I sometimes find myself looking forward to the time when they’ll be out on their own. Then I have to remind myself that I should be savoring these days when we are all under one roof.

When I take a bird’s eye view of my life, the days of having the boys at home are a relatively small percentage of it. Since Ryan is three-and-a-half years older than Royce, let’s approximate those days at 25 years. Even that is giving both boys credit for checking in at home occasionally while they attend college. (And, yes, I do expect them to go to college.) So if I live to be 75 years old, 25 years would be one-third of my life.

But isn’t it funny how that one-third is intense enough to dwarf the remaining two-thirds? It kind of reminds me of what I said about our big family meal last Thursday. It takes you a while to prepare for it and it takes you a while to recover from it.

Please understand that the last thing I’m doing here is complaining about having kids. Truly, I’m in full agreement with Psalm 127:3-5, which says:

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The Fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

I’m merely pointing out the obvious fact that the daily grind of raising kids can wear you down. For example, for Christmas to be a magical season for them, moms and dads have to make it happen. And there’s certainly nothing magical about shopping malls, traffic jams, and spending money, is there?

It’s interesting that those verses from Psalm 127 describe grown children as being both weapons and protectors for their father. The passage refers to them as arrows, which makes them weapons. But what does it mean that they “shall speak with their enemies in the gate”? Well, in Bible times they didn’t have courthouses, law offices, or register of deeds offices. A city’s legal transactions were conducted at its gates by the elders. Disputes were settled there as well. So speaking with an enemy in the gate would have amounted to representing your father in a legal dispute between your father and his enemy. That, you see, covers the idea of children playing the role of protectors.

I have to say that I like the sounds of all that. When I’m older I’ll no doubt need not only some weaponry but also some protection, and these will be two of my rewards for doing a good job at child-rearing. Until then, though, I’m still looking at a lot of work and expense. Are there joys and blessings along the way? Sure, far more than I could name. I mean, it’s not like everything about the task falls under the category of “grind.” And, furthermore, I fully understand that my responsibilities as a parent won’t end when the boys leave home. Trust me, I have no plans to abandon them when they get to be adults. I guess today I’m just feeling a little run down. I probably need a vacation. It would do me and Tonya some good to get away for a while. Then again, the last vacation we took we had Ryan and Royce right there with us in the van. Oh well, forget that.

Filed under Aging, Children, Christmas, Fatherhood, Parenting, Personal, Reward, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized, Work Tagged with , , , , ,

“Is Anybody Up There?”

November 8, 2011 1 Comment

Many of us have sometimes felt like the little boy who bowed his head to pray and said, “Hello, is anybody up there?” There are times when God seems so distant. Even worse, there are times when He seems downright deaf.

When one of my two boys says, “Daddy, I want to talk you,” that child has my attention. He doesn’t have to beg or audition for it. The mere fact that I am a loving father and want to hear whatever my child might deem worthy to discuss is all it takes. Well, in Matthew 7:7-11, as part of a teaching on prayer, Jesus says this:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his sons asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Okay, so we understand that God will not only do anything that an earthly father will do but also “how much more” than the earthly father. We like the sounds of that, don’t we? And if we stopped right there we’d have a nice little blog post. But we can’t stop right there. Do you know why? It’s because the title of this post isn’t “How Much More.” The title “Is Anybody Up There?”

I know what Jesus said. I also know that I have sometimes felt like I was talking to the ceiling as I tried to pray. I’ve asked and not had it given to me. I’ve sought and not found. I’ve knocked and had the owner behind the door seem out of town. So what do we do with such times? How do we explain them? How do we keep our faith during them?

I think the best approach we can take is to go back to Christ’s comparison of God and an earthly father. I’m sure that each of my two boys sometimes thinks that I am distant, but that’s not because I actually am distant. It’s simply because I don’t treat every conversation that I have with the child as if it’s the singular most important conversation that we will ever have. I’m hearing what the child is saying, but I don’t feel the need to immediately rush to the child’s side and smother him with kisses and assurances. Do you see my point?

Let me explain it another way. Experts in the New Testament’s original Greek tell us that the Greek behind Christ’s words from Matthew 7:7-11 are best translated as “keep on asking,” “keep on seeking,” and “keep on knocking.” The teaching is that God doesn’t always immediately grant the giving, the finding, or the opening. Sometimes He only grants it after you’ve gone to Him with many, many repetitions of the same request. So let’s say that you are in the midst of requesting the same thing for the fifteenth time but you don’t really feel like God is hearing you. That’s like my son Royce hitting me with his fifteenth request to go to McDonalds. If I haven’t taken him for those fries by then, he might feel like he’s talking to the wall. But the reality of the situation will be that I’m just waiting on the best time to take him to McDonalds. I’m hearing the fifteenth request, just like I heard the fourteen that came before it. I know what I’m doing, even if Royce doesn’t understand me.

I can’t say where all this finds you today, but maybe you’ve been praying and praying for a certain thing that God hasn’t granted yet. And maybe you’re wondering today, “Is anybody up there?” Well, God had me write this post for you. Yes, He’s up there. Yes, He’s listening. Yes, He heard all your previous prayers. He’s just waiting on His perfect timing to grant your request. Remember, if an earthly father can eventually get his kid to McDonalds, how much more can a loving, all powerful, heavenly father grant your requests?

Filed under faith, Fatherhood, God's Love, God's Timing, Impatience, Patience, perseverance, prayer, Prayer Requests Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

The Power of a Word of Praise

September 30, 2011 Leave a comment

Benjamin West was a famous British artist in the 1700s. He also served as the president of the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts. He was especially known for his paintings of historical scenes.

West first become aware of his artistic talents on a day when his mother had him babysit his younger sister Sally. While his mother was gone, he discovered some bottles of colored ink and attempted to keep Sally amused by painting her portrait. In doing so, he made quite a mess. When his mother returned he expected to be reprimanded. Instead she deliberately looked beyond the mess, picked up the rather crude painting, smiled, and said, “Why, it’s Sally!” From that point on, she became his greatest source of encouragement concerning his talent. He would often say, “My mother’s kiss made me an artist.”

We have no idea just how much influence we can have over the lives of others. A well-timed word of praise can go such a long way in building a person’s confidence. Likewise, an ill-timed word of criticism can go such a long way in destroying that confidence. The single greatest thing that my father ever said to me was, “I’ve seen all these ballplayers around here, and you can play with any of them.” To this day I remember how that one sentence made me feel. It made me feel like I was as good a ballplayer as anyone in our county. Maybe that wasn’t true, but that didn’t stop me from feeling it.

Jay Orr was my pastor when I felt God’s call to the ministry. I will always be indebted to Jay for helping me to yield to that call and fulfill my God appointed role in life. And there was one line from Jay that especially found a home in my heart. We were sitting in his car talking, and he looked me squarely in the eye and said, “Well, you’re preacher material.” The funny thing is that I’m sure that Jay doesn’t even remember saying that to me. But I certainly remember it.

So the purpose of this post is to get you to find someone today and brag on them a little. You don’t have to make a big deal out of it, and I definitely don’t want you to lie. But chances are that you’ll cross paths with someone today who you can sincerely praise for something. Perhaps it will be your child. Perhaps it will be someone who looks up to you. All I’m saying is, whoever it is, a budding artist, ballplayer, or preacher, you just never know the lifelong impact you might make.

Filed under Children, Communication, Encouragement, Fatherhood, Influence, Motherhood, Parenting, Personal, Sports, Youth Tagged with , , , , , ,

1,500 Sheep

September 19, 2011 Leave a comment

Not too many years ago the Associated Press ran a story that came out of Gavas, a town in eastern Turkey. According to the story, one sheep from a very large flock walked to the edge of a cliff and jumped to its death. A second sheep soon followed. Then a third. Then a fourth. Then a fifth. The A.P. report read:

“Stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff.”

Incredibly, only 450 of the sheep died. The rest survived because their fall was cushioned by the bodies of the sheep that had jumped before them.

Here’s a typical parent-child conversation:

Jimmy: “Dad, can I take my skateboard and try a triple-spin reverse off the front porch?”

Dad: “No!”

Jimmy: “Why not? Tommy does it.”

Dad: “If Tommy jumped off a cliff, would you follow him?”

That comeback about jumping off a cliff really is the classic reason that parents use to keep a kid from caving in to peer pressure, isn’t it? It reminds me of the old “You’ll shoot your eye out” line from the movie A Christmas Story. Little Ralphie says, “That deadly phrase honored many times by hundreds of mothers was not surmountable by any means known to Kid-dom.”

Truth be told, though, parents have to warn their kids about jumping off cliffs because peer pressure is such a powerful force. In his book There’s A Sheep Born Every Second, David Kirkwood uses that A.P. story about those sheep and writes, “Imagine the peer pressure that last sheep must have felt. Surely 1,499 sheep can’t be wrong, can they?”

Since I’m currently raising a freshman and a 5th-grader myself, I feel that I can speak with some expertise on this subject. And apparently, if all the reports I’ve heard are true, there are some IDIOT parents running around out there. These parents lower the bar on standards, set bad precedents, create dangerous trends, and (in my humble opinion) should have their parenting licenses revoked.

So today’s post is a word of encouragement to all you parents who are still trying to hold the line. Keep up the good work. Don’t make the mistake of giving in to peer-pressure yourself, the pressure other parents put on you to let your kids: watch anything they want to watch, listen to anything they want to listen to, wear anything they want to wear, think anything they want to think, say anything they want to say, go anywhere they want to go, buy anything they want to buy, and do anything they want to do. Can 1,499 sheep be wrong? You’d better believe they can! And that’s why you can’t let your child be number 1,500.

Filed under Children, Choices, Courage, Desires, Dress and Appearance, Fatherhood, Motherhood, Parenting, Youth Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Learning To Really Appreciate the Moment

May 18, 2011 Leave a comment

The following quote is attributed to “Anonymous”:

First I was dying to finish high school and start college. And then I was dying to finish college and start working. And then I was dying to marry and have children to grow old enough so I could return to work. And then I was dying to retire. And now I am dying…..and suddenly I realize I forgot to live.

As I read those words, I almost feel the need to start sorting through my old sermons, blogs, and articles to make sure that I’m not “Anonymous.” Trust me, that sounds exactly like something that I would say. Sometimes it seems like I spend every day of my life dying to get to the next phase.

There are so many personal examples that I could name here, but I’ll go with the sports “career” of my ten-year-old, Royce. Right now I’m coaching his rec. league baseball team. Even though we are only three games into a little ten-game season, I’m already in countdown mode. Of course, we already have the form to sign him up for football this fall. And no sooner will that sport begin than I will want it completed too. Then will come basketball, which will be same song, third verse. On and on it goes.

Honestly, I have to MAKE myself stop and smell the roses concerning Royce’s ballplaying. When he does something good on the field or court, if I’m not careful I’ll let it get washed away by my impatience. That’s something that I CAN’T LET HAPPEN. I must join him in the moment so we can genuinely have it together. If he makes a great play to get the first out for our defense, I can’t be standing in the dugout thinking, “Okay, only two more outs and this inning is over, three more innings and this game is over, and four more games and this season is over.”

But Anonymous and I aren’t the only people who struggle in this area, are we? Could it be that you are on the list too? Be honest, right now are you dying for something to be over? Are you currently spending far too much time wishing this day, this week, this month, this year, or this “season” was over? Do you really think that whatever that next phase is will find you operating any differently? Speaking from personal experience, I doubt it will.

I have a friend who has a very annoying habit. Whenever you are talking with him, he spends most of the time looking over you to see who else he can spot. (By the way, that’s a problem short people like myself don’t have.) Seriously, even as he is in mid-sentence, he rarely makes eye contact with me. Instead his eyes scan the horizon, looking for his next encounter or conversation. Frankly, I always find that incredibly rude, even though I’ve never told him.

But as I think about it, that’s pretty much how I treat God concerning the various seasons of my life. Here He is, wanting me to join Him in enjoying a particular time or moment, but all I can do is be on the lookout for the next thing. He says, “Wait, there are lessons that I want you to learn right here. There are good memories that I want you to make. There is simple pleasure to be found in the here and now.” But my response is simply, “When do we move on, Lord? Out there is where the good stuff is.” Sound familiar? If it does, I want you to do something for me: Go to God in prayer right now and ask Him to help you appreciate each day and each season for all the wonder it holds. I’ll be taking that good advice myself now that I’m finished with this post.

Filed under Attitude, Children, Fatherhood, God's Omnipresence, Impatience, Parenting, Patience, Personal Tagged with , , , , , , ,

The One Requirement Even The Christian Must Meet For Prayer

April 14, 2011 Leave a comment

Okay, this week I’ve been doing some posting on the subject of prayer. Here’s one last word. Did you know there is one requirement that even the Christian must meet to ensure that God will hear his prayer? As you read the following passages, see if you can spot it:

If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. (Psalm 66:18)

One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. (Proverbs 28:9)

Then they will cry to the Lord, But He will not hear them; He will even hide His face from them at that time, Because they have been evil in their deeds. (Micah 3:4)

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. (Isaiah 59:2)

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. (1 Peter 3:12)

The requirement jumps right out at you, doesn’t it? Even if you are a Christian, the only way to guarantee that God will hear your prayers is to live a life of personal holiness. I’m not talking about some unattainable sinless perfection. That isn’t possible for born sinners such as us. But I am talking about making the confession of sins and the actual repentance of them integral parts of your walk with Christ.

I’ve known some Christian singles who chose to live with members of the opposite sex rather than get married. I’ve known other Christians who frequently got drunk on alcohol or high on drugs. I’ve known others who consistently conducted themselves in other sinful ways. Concerning these Christians, I’ve asked myself, “Is God even hearing their prayers?” Based upon the passages that I gave earlier, a solid case can be made to answer, “No, He’s not.”

I’m not trying to play the role of “Prayer Czar” here. God is God, and He can choose to hear any prayer that He wants to hear, regardless of how the person is living. But if His word means what it says, He has to draw some lines of division between the prayers of Christians who are trying to live right and the prayers of those who aren’t.

If this seems harsh, let me offer an illustration to help you better understand. Let’s say that a father has a son whose life is dominated by a lust for money and possessions. The young man wants everything the “good” life has to offer, even if it means bending a few rules or breaking a few laws to get it. Time and time again the father begs him to reprioritize his life and repent of his sins, but the son refuses.

Finally, with a broken heart, the Father says, “Son, I’ve tried to help you, but I‘ve grown to realize that you are dead set in your course. The only play I have left is to separate myself from you and let you hit rock bottom. You are still my child, and I will always love you, but there comes a time when love must be tough. Don’t call me, write me, or come see me again until you have changed your ways.”

Several months later, the son gets caught embezzling from his company. Not only does he lose his job, but if he doesn’t repay the thousands of dollars he stole, he’ll be formally charged and sent to jail. He goes to see his father and says, “Dad, I’m in trouble. I owe my former company a lot of money that I don’t have. If I can’t pay it, I’ll end up in jail. Will you help me?”

How do you think that father will respond? If He responds as God does, everything will hinge upon whether or not he sees true repentance in the son. If the young man is obviously broken and ready to live a different kind of life, the father will do whatever it takes (empty his savings, take out a loan, mortgage his house) to pay the son’s debt and keep him out of jail. But if it’s clear that the young man is just a somewhat less cocky version of his same old self, complete with the same priorities, attitude, and immoral streak, the father will remain staunch in his tough love and refuse to hear the son.

And the thing about God is that He always renders the correct verdict in regards to whether or not He will hear His child’s prayer. He knows the child’s situation before the child ever prays. He knows if repentance is on display. He knows if there is sincerity in the heart. Therefore, when He says either, “I’ll hear your prayer and help you” or “I won’t even hear your prayer,” His choice is the appropriate one.

Filed under Children, Disobedience, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, God's Holiness, God's Love, Greed, obedience, Personal Holiness, prayer, Repentance, Seeking Forgiveness, separation Tagged with , , ,

The Foolish Prince

March 21, 2011 Leave a comment

A prince left the ease and safety of his father’s castle in order to seek adventure in the world. He left all his riches behind and eventually reached such a low state that he was forced to dress in rags and scrounge for food wherever he could. He lived so long that way that he ultimately even forgot that he had once been a prince.

But then came the day when his father, who had been diligently searching for him for years, found him and took him home. As the father walked the prince through the castle, the prince’s memories refired and he slowly began to reclaim the life of royalty that had once been his. To his shame, he also began to realize just how foolish he had been for ever wanting to abandon such a lifestyle for a lower one.

You say, “Boy, what a stupid story. NOBODY would be as foolish as that prince.” Friend, there are Christians out there right now who have voluntarily abandoned the royal lifestyle of walking in close fellowship with Christ and chosen to live in the squalor of sin. There are Christian husbands who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, or pornography. There are Christian wives who are cheating on their husbands. There are Christian teenagers who are fully conforming to the world in their mindset, appearance, words, and deeds. Even the average Christian child knows far more about the latest SpongeBob SquarePants episode than he does the Bible.

So what about you? Are you a Christian? Well then, how is your lifestyle these days? Could it be that you have more in common with that foolish prince that you’d like to admit? Is your heavenly Father out looking for you, His wayward child who has broken off fellowship with Him? If that describes you in any way, please come to your senses.

Know this: The fellowship being broken off, even for a long time, doesn’t mean that the relationship has been severed, and God wants you back home with Him. He wants to take care of you and pour out His rich blessings upon you. But He can’t do that, prince, until the fellowship you once had with Him is restored. So, are you ready to get back to your castle and a higher way of living? The only person stopping you is you.

Filed under Backsliding, Change, Choices, Disobedience, Dress and Appearance, Eternal Security, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, God's Love, God's Provision, Husbands, obedience, Personal Holiness, Repentance, Seeking Forgiveness, Sin Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 40 other followers