Tonight our small group met at the FMH emergency room. We put together little yellow plastic bags (complete with Daybreak logo), filled with candy, apples, water bottles, pretzels, and various happy meal toys. We then went through the emergency room and offered these bags and offered to pray with people. Who hasn’t been to the emergency room, having rushed out of the house (because it was an emergency) and have had to sit there for hours with nothing to eat or drink, or even do.

We saw some people who had visited Daybreak months before and disappeared into thin air. I do have a new theory about people visiting and not coming back to church. It’s not that they didn’t like us, they are just still waiting in the emergency room!

C. was able to pray with a woman and talked to her for some time, and I and D. were able to pray with people as well. So overall the event was a great success. All my kids also went. Joshua was cool with just holding the bags and handing them out to the rest of the team. Caleb and H-G were racing against each other to see who could hand them out the fastest. Isaac was well past his bed time, so we had to keep the stroller going at all times. All of them (except Isaac) kept sneaking candy out of the bags, so we are going to have to discuss why we were giving it away.

Joshua, Caleb, and I sat on their bed the other night as we were preparing for them to go to sleep. I knew that some older boys on the bus had been calling them names and aggravating them, so I wanted to see how they were dealing with it. After talking with them, I discovered it wasn’t the older kids picking on them, it was a boy their age. Joshua and Caleb were upset because this young man would not listen to them as they told him about Jesus and God.

Who knows how five year olds explain the great truths of the Scriptures, but the other boy put his hands over his ears, shook his head, and said, “I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening.” My sons of thunder were upset that there was a person who would not listen to the stories of Jesus. It upset them that their friend did not know Him.

So I am praying for another night to sit on the bed with my boys and discuss not only that we need to tell others of Him, but that we should do it with “gentleness and respect.”

Perhaps we will look at 1 Peter 3:15-16 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

I believe that one of the ways maturity shows itself is that a person realizes some things about themselves and accepts them as fact. Can people change, absolutely – but they have to be willing to accept the facts as they stand. For example, math has never been my strong point – can that change? Sure, but I’m not in that big of a hurry to sign up for a calculus class any time soon! Also, I have always admired people who run marathons, but I have no desire to put in hours and hours every week, to prepare for the race. I prefer to use my time doing other things (which usually involve potato chips or French fries).

Which leads us to my point, discipline is something that is difficult and requires commitment. You become like what ever you are committed to. If you run eventually you will look and act like a runner (beyond a sweat suit and shoes). If you take enough classes and do your homework, you will have a degree of math proficiency.

So at age 33, I realize that I am maturing (whether I like it or not). I have chosen to follow a certain life course. I have chosen a certain lifestyle, to be a certain kind of father, person, etc.. and the Lord has blessed me. Sometimes the decisions have been good and sometimes not so good. I realize that I will more than likely will never be president of the United States, fly in outer space, or shoot spider webs out of my hands as a super hero. And you know what? – I’m ok with that. God has blessed me and I am happy with my life.

I gave Hannah-Grace a set of play make-up for her last birthday. So from time to time she will ask to get it out, and last night was one of those times. We went through the routine of putting make-up on her eyes, lips, blush on her cheeks, etc.. We even painted her finger nails and toe nails. To end our time there was a little red heart that we stuck to her cheek.

About the time I was planning to be finished, Joshua asked if he could put make-up on her as well, and then Caleb joined the fun. Kimberly and I got to talking about another issue and before we knew it, several minutes had passed. We looked back and we saw their creation – vow-la! With two boys who have a little sister who is willing to go along with some crazy plans, you have to stay on top of things.

I just finished reading Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger’s book Simple Church. It’s premise is that the reason why many churches are stagnant or declining is because they have allowed themselves to become too complicated thereby focus is diffused and effort is scattered in opposite directions. They and their group officially studied various churches and discovered that those churches that were vibrant (their word) had a simplified structure for making disciples.

Usually, I know if I am going to like a book and get anything from it in the first 30-50 pages. I knew I needed to read this book after the first few pages! The first chapter begins with an illustration of a pastor named Rush who is returning from a conference. It describes his week, and it is blow by blow very similar to mine. I said to myself, “dude, that’s me!” These gentlemen go on to describe the process for how a church can simply its’ structure in order to more effectively make disciples. If you are a church leader it is a must read, and our whole team will be reading it real soon.

I mention this because I try to make it a discipline to read regularly. I have found that when I am struggling through specific issues and need to address some things, God will bring a book at just the right time. There have also been some times (as I look back) that as I have preached through the Bible, the right Scripture has come at just the right time, to deal with a very specific issue. I didn’t plan it that way, God did. People have also come up to me and asked how I knew they were doing something, or going through something, that I would choose to preach to that particular issue. I was just preaching through the Bible, and God worked out the timing. As a church we fall into the category of “vibrant” but definitely have some things we need to tweak. This book coming to my attention now, is a God send.

It has been in the back of my brain that I may have come across as negative toward "homeshoolers" based upon the end of my blog entry yesterday. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have a very high respect for them, and Kimberly and I have even thought about it. We have had nothing but great success with the two public schools our children have attended. So as of yet there have been no issues that would cause us to reconsider it. Anyway, my frustration was with a company (i.e publisher) that focuses on a particular niche audience, at the exclusion of the rest. Their products are so good, I think everyone should have them.

A friend of this blog wrote me back (see comments), and said that he had met them and they are wonderful people but have a limited budget. So let me do my part in encouraging you to check them out, buy their products and perhaps they'll be able to expand their market!

For some time now I have been burdened by the thought of what I wanted my children to be when they leave my home and are launched into their own independence. I’m not talking about being a doctor, teacher, or preacher, etc.. but what would they “be” on the inside? What would their character be like? As I began to construct this image of my future adult children, I knew that there would be things that I would need to teach them as the years go by. With three boys, what do they need to know to be godly men? And with Hannah-Grace, what must I teach her to be a godly woman?

There are some topics that need to be put off until the children are older, but there are other topics that need to be taught now. So as I began to pray about these things, I also began to search for resources that would help Kimberly and me in this effort. I know I have the Bible as our foundation, but is there someone out there that has put a list together that we could use as an example. So, I have to let you guys know about some new resources that I came across in this effort. The name of the company is Doorposts, and you can look them up at www.doorposts.net

They need a graphic arts overhaul, but the material is wonderful. I purchased some charts to put on our kitchen walls. One deals with discipline issues and the other deals with chores. I also purchased:

For Instruction in Righteousness (deals with how to disciple children)

Plants Grow Up (helps me in developing a list of what I need to teach the boys)

Polished Cornerstones (helps me in developing a list of what I need to teach H-G)

Goldie Doll (deals with how girls define beauty and look at themselves)

When You Rise Up (they gave me this book for free because I purchased over a certain amount).

Let me add one other comment to this discussion. From everything I can determine, this publisher seems to be geared toward “home school” parents. I can’t believe that I have not heard about this publisher before now. Are these topics things that only “home school” parents ask? I don’t think so. The back of their catalog says, “Doorposts is homeschoolers’ first choice in Bible and character training curriculum!” There are two other quotes supporting the quality of the material based upon homeschooler’s recommendations.

I’m not sure why this bugs me other than it seems to divide Christian families into those who home school, and the rest. The only way you hear about this material is if you are a home schooler, which doesn’t seem right to me. I really had to dig to find it. Is there an underlying philosophy of living the Christian life that has led this publisher to focus only on the homeschoolers? Any ideas?

Last week two men from my church and I traveled to Wake Forest, NC to a conference for college students that focused them on missions. I know, I’m not a college student, but I still feel like I look like I’m 17 (no comments please). Anyway, there were some great speakers and break out sessions covering a wide range of topics.

Before the conference started on Friday evening, we were able to visit a church that had recently constructed a children’s building. It was beautiful, and we were able to pick up some invaluable tips (i.e. we need to have lots, and lots, of storage).

The last sermon that we heard was from a missionary who was commissioned somewhere in the world, and his name was not given (for his own safety). If the people were to find out that he is a Christian they would kill him and his family. I rode home thinking about this man and his family, and the danger he lives in every moment of every day, yet he proclaims Christ and is making inroads in a heavily Muslim and hostile area of the world. Needless to say, when I pulled up to my new home, two cars, children waiting to hug me as I came in, and in a free country, my heart went out to the many around the world who preach Christ only to have those things taken away.

There were a couple of statistics that got my attention:

90% of all missions are in countries that already have the gospel, thereby leaving 10% of missionaries in countries who have never heard the gospel. 95% of all pastors serve in the United States. That leaves 5% of the total number of pastors to cover the rest of the planet. Are that many really “called” to serve in suburbia? But, the question is not “why should we go,” the questions is “how can we justify staying.” And does it really matter where we go?

My heart is to get our church involved in something, somewhere, with people who have never heard the name of Jesus.

You can hear these messages for yourself at www.sebts.edu/chapel/chapelMessages.cfm