Then he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” -Matthew 4:19 NKJV
I’ve recently been given the opportunity to help my community through some difficult and personal conflicts. I have prayed for guidance and been humble in my approach. I can’t “fix” problems between my friends.
I can, however, minister better and share the wisdom that I have been blessed with through God’s Word. I haven’t been as vocal about my faith as our “official” group isn’t religious, but open to all beliefs. Sometimes I err on the side of being quiet about my relationship with Christ and I endeavor to become a more vocal follower.
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For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need some one to teach you again the first principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food; for every one who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil. -Hebrews 5:12-15 RSV
White belt mentality in all things. I’m better at listening and learning than teaching. I can model once I learn, but I am cautious to instruct.
Even more so when it comes to God’s Word. The stakes are high and I work hard to act and speak with humility. I might be getting it all wrong, I try to remind myself of that whenever I speak.
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Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. -Colossians 3:21 NKJV
Peaceful parenting is a long journey out of ancestral trauma. It’s multi-generational. My father broke a cycle of violence perpetuated by his father. It is my task to continue that exodus out of fear and into love.
It is imperfect and I do it wrong in all types of ways. My sons will be charged with carrying on better than I have.
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Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. -1 Corinthians 16:13-14 ESV
The Greek word used for “love” here is “agapē.” This the highest, most selfless, form of love. Without interjecting Ego, we can love each other as God loves us.
I pray to love others in this way.
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“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” -Isaiah 55:10-11 RSV
I believe God’s Word is directing the universe toward His purposes. I believe those purposes to be good and I want to align my life with them.
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Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: if you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” -Ephesians 6:1-3
I honor my parents by scrutinizing the fruits of my childhood with honesty. I embrace and passionately recreate the positive and lovingly release the negative.
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What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 8:31-39 RSV
An internet disagreement went well. That might be enough of a story to hit Publish right now and be done with it. However, it got more interesting as my conversation partner direct messaged me because his next thoughts might be construed as pagan or occult and he didn’t want the potential backlash.
There’s a narrowness to allowable Christian discourse that doesn’t help our messy search for truth. Certain precepts are not to be questioned and wisdom from non-Christian religious teachings is all but outlawed.
In this video, Jonathan Pageau addresses some of the knee-jerk reactions that Christians have to symbols they don’t understand.
My understanding is that God uses all things to His good. I also understand that symbols can be powerful and one shouldn’t be lackadaisical when engaging with them. The answer is to intentionally focus on God. If you stay in His love, you will receive wisdom and remain in a good place.
Learning is fun for me, I play with ideas and try to remain aware that I might be wrong about everything. That keeps Ego in check and prepares me to change course when truth is revealed.
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I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. -Acts 20:20 NLT
I don’t carry a megaphone, but I don’t shrink from bringing my faith into conversation. I’m open about my lack of study and understanding, but share the guidance and wisdom I’ve gained from the Word.
We’re each called to share our faith in our particular way. My place is here and in the many opportunities I have to meet and get to know people.
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“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” –Luke 11:11-13 RSV
They may not appreciate it in this moment, but this week I am giving my sons the gift of responsibility.
Since losing their mother I have often chosen peace over consequences. I have taken on extra work when I should have held them accountable. I have let things go when my energy waned and I didn’t want them to hate me.
My peaceful parenting has got to evolve. It’s time to quietly demand more respect and responsibility from my children. I’ve earned it and they will benefit greatly from claiming their stake in our lives.
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This is how God loved the world: He gave his own one and only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. -John 3:16 NLT
For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. -John 3:17 RSV
Jesus came to save, not condemn.
Condemnation is hot right now. Social sins are condemned and people are ostracized for the moral failings.
Maybe we can be more like Jesus and work to save rather than reproach.
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