IT ISN'T JUST THE PASSION OF CHRIST

I had a pastor friend tell me that if he wants to know what God is trying to help him see, he reflects on the words he is saying to those who come to him for help. I realize that could get you off track if you always followed that advice. I certainly know that, in my case, the words I speak aren't always spirit-led! Yet, my pastor friend had a point. 

I was talking with a young man some time ago and felt prompted to ask him, "How much do you think about God as your Father? Is that important to you?" He probably said something like, "Oh yeah. I know I'm born again." I kept drilling. "Yes. But how big of a deal is it that the Father is thinking about you right now?" I could tell he just didn't think about God like that. 

And a few hours later, I heard the same question in my own heart: "Shawn, how big of a deal is it that I'm thinking about you right now?" 

I find myself slowly drifting from this reality. Like an elementary kid that graduates from reciting the ABCs. "I don't need that anymore. It's time for higher learning." But is there anything higher or more important than this? The Father of Jesus Christ loves you and is thinking about you right now. This should stop us in our tracks. This should melt us and cause us to drop to our knees. But we get bored with it. Like the Gateway Arch in my city, St. Louis, I can drive by it and stop seeing what a massive structure it is. Or like that toddler in your house that exasperates you, although when he was born, you held him, examined the tiny fingers, and cried. We drive by the everlasting love of God and don't even see it anymore because "there are more important things to learn." 

But listen to a couple of guys who were captured by God's love: 

David, the warrior king, the man after God's own heart, penned these song lyrics: 

"How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand." (Psalm 139:17,18 ESV)

And in the words of John, the beloved friend of Jesus:

 

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1, NIV)

How much do you make of that? Is it boring to you? Think again. 

As we enter Passion Week, it's fitting that we reflect on the cross of Christ, Jesus' self-sacrificial love displayed through the torture of Roman crucifixion. But Jesus didn't do it by Himself. It wasn't like Jesus had to convince the Father that you and I were worth it. God the Father loved you. He wanted to be with you. He was thinking of you when He ordered the events leading to the birth of His Son in a stable. He thought of you when He handed His Son over to the torturers. How much is that on our minds during Passion Week? To paraphrase John the Beloved, "Listen up! Look again at the kind of love this is! The kind that causes the eternally self-existent, all-powerful One, who needs nothing, to go to extreme measures so that you might be called his beloved boy, his precious girl."  

In Knowing God, the late J.I. Packer writes, 

"If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all." 

Don't make the mistake this week of thinking that Jesus loves you, but the Father puts up with you. That the angels got the attention of that cranky God of the Old Testament and said, "You really need to do something to improve your image among human beings, to spice up your reputation. Jesus, can you talk to your Father?" And then God the Father agreed and came up with the idea of sending Jesus. No. It's not just the passion of Jesus Christ. It's the passion of God, the Father that motivated Him to give His only Son because He so loved you. 

How much will you make of that today? 

Six Simple Steps to Becoming a Better Parent

My parents are in their 80's and every now and then they talk about regrets in parenting: "We just didn't have the resources you have today. We would've done it differently." I'm sure they would. And there are plenty of "Top Ten Mistakes Parents Make." But my parents did a lot of things right. Here are some of those with a few I've picked up from other great parents. 

1. Read to your small children. The research proves it. Parents, especially Dads and Granddads, who read to their small children will nurture a lasting bond. Not only that, you will jump-start their love of reading.

2. Eat together and ask open-ended questions at the table.  A family who eats together more than twice a week will have fewer breakdowns in relationship. Stop asking "How was your day?" and say, "Everyone, let's hear about either the best thing or the hardest thing that happened today."

3. Have a "just you and me" night with each of your kids once a month. Take them where they want to eat or play. Put a limit on the budget so they learn to choose wisely. 

4. Pray together often enough that it's a habit. Pray about the hard stuff and thank God for the good stuff.

5. Have a family discussion about vacation and include everyone in the planning. Surprises are great but it's also helpful to learn about time constraints and how we can't do everything we want to do.  

6. Be diligent about a weekly Sabbath. No work. No homework. Instead, worship. Play. Prepare for Sabbath the night before and talk about it like it's something to look forward to.

How about you? What did your parents do right? Sound off. 

A True Man

I had a bittersweet day last week. I said so long to one of my godsons. He's entering the Marines with aspirations of being a pilot. I have a few scenes stuck in my head like one after church when he's about 5 and comes up on the platform to sit beside me after church. I can't remember what we talked about but we chatted while he swung his feet back and forth because they didn't touch the floor yet. I remember thinking even at 5 years old, he was talking like a little man. He's 24 now. On the day he left I wrote these words to him. Maybe they can be something you share with a young man in your life.

 

A TRUE MAN
(by Shawn Craig)

Some say a man is the sum of his strength,
The brawls he can win, the beasts he can beat
Some say a man is the width of his chest,
The size of his shoulders, the breadth of his neck

Some judge a man by his height and his weight,
The force of his arms, the length of his gait,
They look at the stats of his speed or his skill
And gage his true worth by his body and build

But what is a man ‘tho stronger than steel
Who fails to restrain his lust or his will
Who follows the crowd and bullies the weak
Who wastes all his days and squanders his strength

He might be a bully, a monster or brute,
A kid with tough skin, a thug in a suit,
He might be courageous, he might look the part,
But he’s not a man, although he has brawn

But if there’s a rock for those who are weak
If there’s a servant who honors his King
If there is one who will swallow his pride
And share every win with those by his side

If he is brave, but knows how to cry,
If he has heart and knows how to die,
If he is steel that knows when to bend,
Then there’s a true man…there’s a true prince!