It has been a regular occurrence in my life for almost four years now. If we are out in public with our entire family, inevitably some stranger will stop us to ask how many kids we have.
I get it...we are a walking spectacle as a family of eight. Sometimes I wonder if they have trouble counting and they need me to confirm it?
Sometimes I enjoy saying that my wife has been forgiving of my past transgressions.
Sometimes I say that these are only the ones we take out in public.
I figure if they are going to interrupt my plans it entitles me to a bit of fun at their expense.
Such a moment occurred on my day off this week. We were going to build some raised garden beds and needed to go to a home improvement store. As we were discussing what we needed in one of the aisles, an employee stopped, stared in disbelief, and asked the inevitable question.
He has four daughters and so we laughed about "girl dad life". After a few minutes, we were back to picking up supplies and he was helping someone else.
Everyone left in one vehicle while Eve and I stayed to have some lumber cut so that it would fit in the Purple Toaster.
Then it happened...we both got sucked into a time blackhole. The girl dad employee saw us and came over to the employee cutting the boards to inform him of our obscene family size. "Hey Jerry, guess how many kids this guy has?!"
So the talk began...he saw another employee and called him over, "Hey Jim, come here and hear this!"
The talk recycled...time just disappeared...like a church member when it is time to sign up for the nursery.
I did all I could to wrap it up. I was trying to "land that plane" as fast as a pastor who needs to get to the conclusion of his message because he forgot to go to the bathroom before service...no luck.
The chat eventually ended and we went towards the front to pay. I saw him around one of the registers and there were employees there who did NOT know I was that guy with half a country's population in my household, so we quickly diverted ourselves down an aisle to get to a different register and not stay overnight in the store talking.
Eve and I laughed about the whole thing the rest of the day. While it was funny and somewhat frustrating to lose that much time, we connected with the employees and got to speak about God's blessings in our lives.
What also struck me was how enthusiastic this dude was over something as simple as meeting another girl dad.
I confess, the Spirit convicted me about how complicated I make telling others about Christ (Who is way better in comparison to the "girl dad" subject).
I complicate it.
I am "too busy" for it.
I am wrapped up in my own schedule.
I let failure to do so previously stop me in the present.
While I get that is an abrasive and more intrusive message than talking fatherhood with another person, it is easier than I make it out to be and of far greater significance.
Is it daunting because we are confronting someone's worldview with their need of repentance? Yes.
Is it worth any amount of spectacle or embarrassment that may occur? Yes.
May God help the fruit of our lives to be so "unusual" that others take notice and are compelled to ask.
May God also help us create the opportunity and have the enthusiasm to direct others to Christ in a manner greater than a random, talkative stranger gawking in a hardware store.
Serving together,
Pastor Paul
The Crisis and the Collapse
Yesterday was Good Friday. We recognize Good Friday to remember the day that Christ was crucified. Tomorrow, we will celebrate Easter Sunday, remembering Christ’s resurrection and victory over sin and death. Saturday, the day in the middle of Jesus' death and resurrection, is where we sit today. Today, we look back and are excited about tomorrow. However, today, as I reflect, I want to place myself in the shoes of the apostles and the rest of Jesus’ followers. What has happened to them? Where did they go? What are they feeling? These men and women have followed Jesus. They have listened to His teachings and believed that He was the Savior and the Messiah of their people. They thought they were prepared to follow Him anywhere.
Now what?
Peter’s last memory of Jesus is denying Him. John watched Jesus suffer on the cross. In the chaos, each follower was reacting to the crazy circumstances, but now things have slowed down enough that they can process what has happened and think about what will happen next.
Think of the situation that the followers of Jesus are now in. They had followed Jesus, who was a threat to pharisaical power, and also a threat to the Roman Empire because of His preaching about the Kingdom of God. If they were willing to crucify Jesus, what would they do to His followers? Would they be hunted down? Would they be imprisoned, tortured, murdered?
Jesus’ followers likely also struggled with internal turmoil. We know the disciples struggled with this at some level. They did not believe the women when they gave them the message of the resurrection. Even when Jesus appears to the disciples, they are afraid and believe he is a spirit. Thomas gets a new nickname (Doubting Thomas) because he refuses to believe, even after every other disciple had seen Jesus. The questions that would have been hammering on their minds: “Was He really the Messiah?” “Have I not only wasted my time, but ruined my life?” “What happens next?” “Do I believe anything that Jesus said?” When faced with crisis and collapse, do they begin to “deconstruct” their faith? The doubts and fears that would have swirled around in their heads and hearts are almost unimaginable.
But Sunday was still coming.
This period of their deepest darkness, deepest fear, deepest doubt would not last long. Jesus rose again on Sunday morning. Death couldn’t hold Him. Peter and John receive word that the tomb is empty. They ran to the tomb to see for themselves. It was at this moment that they finally understood what Jesus was teaching when He had said that He would die and be resurrected. John 20:8-10 describes the reaction of Peter and John when they find Jesus' tomb empty.
“Then went in also that other disciple which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their home.”
The walk home must have been wildly different from the run to the tomb. The swirling chaos in their hearts and minds is suddenly gone! Finally, they understand the full purpose of Jesus’ ministry and teaching. They can look back on the darkness and see that they did not endure Jesus’ greatest failure, but His greatest victory!
Today, as we reflect on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, let’s recognize the fear, chaos and darkness that surrounded the cross, and can surround our lives. Do not rush past the moments of fear and doubt. Why did the apostles and followers of Jesus have to experience this day of darkness? Why should we have to experience moments of darkness? I would give two reasons to spend time today working through the crisis and collapse that the followers of Jesus endured.
First, understanding the depths of darkness without Christ shows us just how necessary our faith is and how dependent upon Christ we are.
Second, feeling the pain and loss of our Savior in a very real way allows us to better understand and respond in worship to His resurrection and victory over sin and death.
The darkness of that day was overwhelming. The hopelessness, doubt and fear were consuming, but the story was not over. Sunday is still coming.
Serving Together,
Brother Tyler
What’s the Emphasis?
It was a great joy to have my sister Reagan spend a week with us here in Dayton. As part of the usual behavior when family is together again, the conversation shifted to fond memories and funny stories. Little Chris was often the subject of these memories as we watched videos and shared funny photos.
During this process, several things stood out to me. First, Chris was the biggest ham I have ever met. Second, it amazed me watching how much Chris had learned and soaked up about Jesus, God, and the Bible during the year he was with us. Two specific memories stood out to me within the last few months Chris was with us.
The first memory happened on our way home from one of the last trips we got to take with him. We drove through the night, hoping Chris would fall asleep. He did not...and seemed to grow stronger in energy by the hour. However, it was during this time that Chris began to sing…Amen, Amen, I’m Alive, I’m Alive because He lives. I am sure Chris didn’t fully understand the lines that he was singing, but those words resting in his head are foundational pieces of the Gospel story that the Spirit can use in bringing Chris to recognize his need for Christ.
The second memory happened at our house over family dinner a few weeks before Chris went back home. As we sat eating and talking, Chris interrupted the conversation with something important that he wanted to tell Momma Maddie. Chris then proceeded to tell us that "Jesus came and died on the cross and was buried and rose again and loves us.” I am not sure if it was prompted in his brain because of a lesson that he had in class, or in awanas, or in our evening devotions as a family, but the result was amazing. Biblical truth was being hidden in Chris’s heart.
There are a lot of fun memories we shared, but nothing that filled me with greater joy or thankfulness than those two. But, it reminded me. This is my goal as a parent in stewarding the life that God has placed in our care. As the Psalmist writes in Psalm 31:11, we ought to spend our time teaching the children to fear the Lord! Paul in Ephesians 6 reminds us that our goal as parents is to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord!
It does not matter if our young people excel to the highest levels of education, business, medicine, athletics, or any other sector of culture if they miss a heart developed to love and follow Christ. The first place trophies, gold stars, and medals are worthless and vanity in the grand scheme of eternity.
So, parent, what are you emphasizing in your home? Are you placing spiritual things at the forefront, and the focal point that everything is subservient to, or are spiritual things reserved to Sunday’s and the temporal things reign in every other area?
Young person, what is being developed in your heart? Are you responding to the spiritual teaching of your parents, or are you living in opposition to what they are trying to cultivate in your life? Our goal in life is to be shaped into the image of God and live not for ourselves, but for His glory.
So, what are you emphasizing?
Serving Together,
Pastor Derek