Papa B

Archive for Churchity Stuff

Faith of our Fathers?

14 August 2007, 11:12 pm. No Comments. Filed under Churchity Stuff, Family.

I ran across this article about statistics related to the impact that fathers have on their children’s faith. This has cause some interesting conversations. I thought I would share it with you.

The Truth About Men & Church:On the Importance of Fathers to Churchgoing
By Robbie Low
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/1crazylady5kids/22206/

You ever wonder if Noah wanted a day off?

4 August 2007, 7:21 pm. No Comments. Filed under Churchity Stuff.

Maybe I’m the only one who thinks about these things but do you think that Noah ever wanted a day off? God tapped him on the shoulder and said “I’m flooding the entire world. Have you ever considered a career in ship building?” Noah knew the stakes. He knew what was coming. The fate of the entire human race rested on his completing the ark. And if he did take a day off, do you think he was stressed about the work he left undone at the office? Did I mention that he was over five hundred years old?

What kind of father are you?

25 July 2007, 2:51 pm. No Comments. Filed under Churchity Stuff, Family.

I’ve read quite a few blogs and articles about fathers raising their children. One of the scriptures that gets tossed about a lot is from Deuteronomy 6:7 and I think that’s great. I love that scripture and I have personally opined on it at great length. I think it is very important to integrate your faith into every aspect of life so that training your children in the ways of the Lord are easy and fluid, but I fear there may be more.

I ran across a scripture that totally changed my heart on training my children. I used to say, “My job is to show them Jesus and lead them to life with Him.” Sounds good, right? Very noble, quite fatherly, and very short sighted.

Take a look at the book of Judges. Look at Judges 2:10. Here is what’s going on: Joshua has led Israel in taking the promised land. He and that generation died, then their children died, then THEIR children “did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.” What’s up with that?! That would be like my grandparents landing at Plymoth Rock and I somehow missed knowing about it. Here’s my take on what happened.

The generation that took the land taught their children to obey the form of worship. That next generation performed worship without fully understanding why so what they passed on to their children was ritual without meaning and that generation opted to drop the whole mess all together.

So where does that leave me? I need to train my children to train their children. I want for my daughters to love God so much that they want their children to love God so much that they want their children to love God… I don’t want my kids to “go to church” because that’s what the family does. I want them to desire Christian fellowship. I don’t want them to tithe just because I said so, but because God is worth of their first fruits.

So, what kind of father are you?

Praising through the Fruit of the Spirit

24 July 2007, 7:29 am. No Comments. Filed under Churchity Stuff, Family.

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

I realized recently that I could be doing a better job praising my children. Since my desire is for them to develop Godly characters and seek to seek Him in all their ways, I feel that I should foster in them the manifestation of the Spirit in their lives. To that end I’m going to Praise through the Fruit of the Spirit with them.

So when I see my eldest child being loving to her little sisters I’ll say “Thank you, One Potato, for showing love for your sister.” And when my third daughter is content with what she has to play with I’ll say “Thank you, Three Potato, for being peaceful.” And when my second child doesn’t glomp on her friends at church I’ll say “Two Potato, it really makes me proud when you have self-control.”

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance

23 July 2007, 10:51 am. No Comments. Filed under Churchity Stuff.

This is the outline for the sermon that I preached on July 15, 2007. Download and listen to the sermon Bear Fruit

  1. John and the Pharisees (Matt 3:1-8)
    1. Assuming best intentions, what where the Pharisees and Sadducees doing out there?
    2. How dare John say that to the leaders?
  2. Jesus vs. the Fig Tree (Matt 21:17-19)
    1. What good is a fig tree without figs?
    2. What are our leaves?
    3. Why didn’t the disciples ask about the tree?
  3. Tasty Fruit (Gal 5:22-23)
    1. The Fruit of the Spirit is not the works of the flesh.
    2. Does there have to be fruit? What if there isn’t? (Mat 3:10)
    3. The parable of the barren fig-tree (Luk 13:6-9)