Tomorrow God has given me the opportunity to minister in the funeral of a dear lady I helped bring to Christ.  I have officiated at many funerals since being in the ministry but thankfully none like this or even one like this.

The funeral will be a grave side meeting where many of her friends (and she had many) will gather to celebrate her memory.  I pray the Lord will use it to speak to many hearts regarding their need for a Savior.

Proverbs 12:1 states that, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.”  Throughout the years of my ministry it has become increasingly obvious that so many parents have spiritually shipwrecked children due to their failure to follow through on this passage.  Parents stare at me with eyes wide open and ask why this is happening to their family.  After all, they have brought their children to church, made them participate in Sunday School, enrolled them in VBS–they may have even attended Christian schools and yet the child is callous to instruction, undisciplined in his living, and self-centered in his thinking.  Spiritual realities are so foreign and rebellion oozes out of them at every opportunity.  They scoff at leadership and make excuses for failures by attributing their personal failure to everyone but themselves.

This is to be sure a characteristic of our society as a whole.  Many children today are just products of rebellion of their parents.  In my experience, the root of so much rebellion in children can be directly traced to the subtle rebelliousness of parents who dismiss their personal character failures as just “the way I am,” or slight idiosyncracies attributable to genetics.  In short, a lack of submission to authority demonstrated in persistent attempts to thwart instruction and live life on their terms is the method of parents who breed rebels.  When your children (who are more observant than you think) see the side-stepping techniques of parents to thumb their noses at authority they will immediately begin to develop a cynical, suspicious, jaundiced view of God-given leadership. 

The fool sticks to his own ways because they are his.  A parent who rejects godly instruction believes himself too intelligent to need the advice of others.  Things will turn out better if he does it his own way because everything he does is right (12:15).  Scripturally, wise people listen to authority and advice.  As a matter of fact verse one says he loves it!  Is it not interesting that love of wisdom and knowledge is intimately connected with fearing the Lord (1:7; 2:1-5).  My question to many parents is who is loved most–themselves or God?  Everyone is a work in progress but there are some basics that godly parents can do to instill a respect for authority in the lives of their children.  Surely consistency in devotions and prayer, faithfulness to God’s house, punctuality and dependability at work, conscientiousness about phone calls during work hours, being meticulous about expense receipts, refraining from gossip and slander, and the list goes on.

It IS God’s will that His people be submissive to authority.  We need to give our children a fighting chance at being what they should for God by modeling an attitude of sweet humility toward those whom God has set over us.

Our week of VBS has begun and it is exciting to see what God is doing in the life of our church as well as the lives of the children.  It ocurred to me today when sitting by as an observer, that the VBS week has additional benefit other than the ministry of Christ to the children who attend.  I had one of those rare opportunities in a calm moment to give thought to the bustle of activity and note how this huge effort brings those individual members of the body into a cohesive unit for a common purpose.  It actually caused me to well up with gratitude to God for the privilege of seeing His people set aside other very legitimate activities in life (some having taken their vacation time to work) for the labors of VBS week.  Many children present this week will remember the time and will–God -willing–make right decisions concerning Christ.  When we had five people in our whole church this week would have been impossible.  But the Lord has assembled some of His choice servants to increase the influence of the gospel.  Every one participating would acknowledge they have not arrived spiritually but they have set aside self and exalted Christ by putting feet and hands to their faith.  What can I say?  It is God’s doing and it is wonderous in our sight.  Solia gloria Dei.

Inconsistent devotions have plagued God’s people for ages.  The greatest benefit to one’s spiritual maturity is regular time of Bible reading and prayer.  The biggest hurdle is finding direction which is where this book will help.  Alone With God: A Practical Guide to Dynamic Devotions by Jason Janz will help you get on the right track in your walk with God.

Many families are not as deliberate about filling their homes with Christ honoring music as they should be.  It should be no surprise when they find their children plugging in to music that is damaging and destructive to their walk with God.  It never ceases to amaze me that parents miss out on this crucial aspect of their children’s spiritual growth (not to mention their own) by not cultivating a desire for the right type of music in their hearts.  Personally, I have found one of the greatest sources of blessing here.  I have a pair of external speakers I plug into the headphones jack of my computer and play their non-commercial radio music.  Please give it a try.  Having this music playing during the day really adjusts the spirit of those in your home.

It has been an ongoing dilemma for Bible-believing churches as to the proper administration of the Lord’s Supper particularly as it relates to children.  In our church, where there is a large number of children, many parents have struggled with how to direct their children.  Having done a great deal of studying and reading from other men of God, it seems to me that there are definite biblical principles that should impact the practical realities of introducing our young people to the Lord’s table.  One of the most reasonable approaches I have read recently would be found here.  Not everyone will agree with his conclusions but they should at least consider them as worthy of practice.

Someone emailed me a youtube link today.  It’s one I’ve seen before but is a blessing to hear.  I don’t know who the young man is but he sure has a tender heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCdZwitrNoY&feature=related

Enjoy!

I found myself at Concord hospital this morning praying with a man and his wife as he was being prepared for surgery.  They really seemed to be appreciative of the consolation there was in bringing him before the Lord.  While they do not attend my church in Laconia, they have sat under my preaching many times and heard the gospel.  My ministry responsibilities are so varied that I feel like superman constantly changing clothes to suit the occasion (only without the superhuman strength)!

Tonight, there is a work time planned for the new church.  While we cannot do much as far as new construction due to financial constraints, we still do some painting and cosmetic work inside the building.  I am really learning the lessons of Mary and Martha on the four day delay dilemma.  God has seen fit to draw me out to my extremity of trust in Him.  Prayer time at church was precious to me on the last Lord’s Day evening. 

Here is my adventure into blogging.  It has always been of interest to me to provide an outlet for my thoughts that may be of help to someone.  Not that my thoughts are particularly any better than anyone else’s–but perhaps of some interest to the people to whom I minister.  To God be the glory.