Do You Have the Hearts of Your Children?

The very reason I began this blog was my concern over what is happening in the family–namely, the Christian family.  To say the institution of the family is under attack is an understatement.  Some Christians have even joined in that attack, either actively or passively.  Consequently, we are seeing greater intrusion upon the family than ever.  Some defend the notion that “we make too big a deal over the family”, claiming that Christ was mainly interested in the individual.  Some allow the very institutions that should be strengthening the family to segregate it.

I believe the Bible speaks volumes about the family and about parent/child relationships.  But this past weekend, at a conference taught by our dear friends, I encountered a point never considered before.

The very last chapter of the OT is an important message from God:

“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6

After that, God doesn’t speak for 400 years.  But when He does speak again, consider his first  message in the New Testament:

“And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous–to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”  Luke 1:17

Our friend summarized this fact by saying:  “God’s primary method for making ready “a people prepared for” Himself has a lot to do with the turning of father’s (parents’) hearts to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers (parents).”

What are we doing (or not doing) to facilitate this “turning of our children’s hearts” to us?  Ask this question seriously.  Who has the hearts of your children?  Where do they spend the most time?  To what are they the most devoted?  Who has their allegiance? (It may not be another person or group of people…it could be music, games, entertainment, etc.–all have a message they are eager to impart.)

It seems that every force around us seeks to turn children’s hearts away from their parents.  And as God has given us the paramount task of bringing up “His heritage”, vigilance to keep our children’s heart should be one of our greatest goals.  Keeping their hearts means passing on to the next generation the gospel…it is the height of the Great Commission.  Unless we are diligent to pass on our godly heritage to our children, we have no opportunity to even think about passing it to others.

Do you have their hearts?  It is the means by which we are given to turn them to His.

“Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Psalm 86:11

What Makes Jesus Indignant?

“And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.  But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.  Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.  And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.”   Mark 10:13-16

John MacArthur expounded on this passage and his points stirred some of my own thoughts.  If you’ve read my blog at all, you know I feel like Christians, generally speaking, have adopted a jaded view of children.  The comments made about larger than normal families reveal that we really do view children more as commodities–and therefore, too many are a burden.  My ongoing prayer is that those who proclaim Christ (myself included!) will imitate Him.

And as it concerns children, this passage is one that gives us particular insight about Jesus’ heart toward children.  MacArthur pointed out that the phrase “he was much displeased” is from the word translated “indignant” and is used only a few times in the Bible.  Jesus was often disappointed and/or frustrated with His disciples, but only a few times was he “indignant”.

Indignant.

Oh we don’t like to see this side of Jesus.  Not the always-kind, never harsh one that we’ve conjured up.  He was livid. And really, it seems like such a small thing, doesn’t it?  The disciples simply told the parents to stop bringing their children to Jesus because they were interrupting His teaching.  They were seeing the children as a burden.  (By the way, MacArthur also points out that these children were infants–according to the translation.)

I think this passage has two implications.  First, is the general attitude we are to have toward children.  If Jesus was indignant at those He loved for speaking of these children as burdens, does He not become indignant with us as well when we do it?  I’m just pointing out a very plain observation.

And how about children “coming to Jesus” in church services?  Isn’t that where we meet the Lord?  Where we worship?  How many of you have ever been told you need to remove your children from the service because they might disrupt or interfere?

I think we are not afraid enough of our Lord’s indignation.  What does he get angry about?  Maybe we should take notice.  Maybe it should make us angry too.

Who is Defining Your “Important”?

This doesn’t specifically apply to courtship, as we’ve been discussing, but really it is at the heart of everything–including preparing our children for marriage.

A friend of mine relayed the message in a sermon she recently heard that encouraged me.

The pastor challenged the parents of his huge congregation to consider what they were investing in their children.

“Many of you pour your time, your money and your energy into teaching your sons how to play baseball or, fill in the blank.   You do everything you can to make sure he’s the best–but he doesn’t know Christ or a thing about what the Scriptures say about his life.”

How many parents are guilty of trying to meet the pressures of what culture says is important, giving very little thought to discipling their children?

Who is defining *successful* for us?  So many call themselves Christians, but do not regard God’s Word as the instruction manual for daily life.  What does the Bible  say about what’s important?  About parenting?  About what makes a person successful?

A true Christ-follower will take the words of Scripture and apply them to all areas of life.  Following Christ changes everything we do.  Our perspective, our goals, our methods, our decisions.

And as it applies to parenting, nothing we do even competes with our responsibility to disciple, teach the fear of the Lord, and impart Scriptural truth to our children. If we’re not doing that, we’re not being obedient to the Word of God.

I don’t want to get into theology here, but one of the most dangerous ideologies, in my opinion, in the church is the “raise your hand if you prayed the prayer” message.  “Whew, I’m glad that’s over, now I can relax”.  This is the thinking of many Christian parents.

Salvation is not a singular event that we are responsible for ensuring in our children.  Salvation belongs to the Lord.  We are only given the command to disciple them intensely.   They must be grown up in the Word with a vigilant pursuit of righteousness.   Real men and women of God don’t just appear after a prayer.  They are made through the day in, day out, hearing, seeing, breathing, living and seeking God’s Word in every area of life.  Just as Jesus daily walked beside his disciples pointing all of life back to Scripture, so must we with those He has given us to disciple.  This is our only job that matters.

So he’s good at baseball–there is nothing wrong with that.  But does he have a heart that follows hard after the things of God?  Do whatever it takes to get him there.

Take My Life

Copied from the archives

How do we reach the lost? Is evangelism more of the way we live instead of which programs we’re implementing in the church?

If so, “How should we then live”?

That is a prevailing question these days. And there are folks all over the spectrum with their answers.

“We must be culturally relevant.”

“We must be set apart.”

The liberal Christians blame the conservatives for being too “narrow” to reach the lost. The conservatives blame the liberals for being, well, too liberal.

What’s the answer?

I have been thinking of some fundamental truths to the Christian life. Truths that are being squelched. Truths that need to be resurrected and relived among believers. Truths that would turn this world upside down for Jesus if we could get it. At least that’s my opinion

To draw people to God, we must be like Him. We must look like Him, talk like Him, act like Him and think like Him. Jesus did. He was “about His Father’s business” in every part of his life. So in order to accomplish that, we must know what God is like.

God is a God of order, beauty, grace, humility, faithfulness and creativity. How do those traits affect our living? Have we grossly underestimated the power of being “image-bearers” in our daily lives?

Marriage.

Our marriages are supposed to be the living, breathing example of Christ and the church. Ephesians goes into great detail about how this looks. God is faithful, our marriages should be faithful. Jesus doesn’t leave the church; we shouldn’t leave our spouse. Jesus is the head of the church, our husbands are to be head of the family. The church reveres Christ, the wife should revere her husband. Christ washes his bride with the Word, and so our husbands should wash us with the Word.

It is one of the most tragic, sickening, downright inexcusable blunders that pastors are not standing in their pulpits preaching this picture of marriage. Yes, he will offend those who have had divorces. But that’s not really his problem. How can we say to the world “Come look at us! We are the picture of Christ and his Bride.” And then have to explain why our divorce rate is just as high.

Children.

God loves children. I’m not going into a birth-control debate here, there’s plenty of that elsewhere on this blog. But the fundamental thing is that if God loves children, His people ought also to love them. I’m sick of hearing believers say things to me that is not compatible with what God says about children. If God is God, and He is sovereign, and He ordains life, and He calls children a blessing,  then I shouldn’t be required to explain my birth control practices to you if you are a Christian. I’m sorry, I’ve just had enough.

Dress.

Here’s the thing…God is a God of order, beauty, grace, creativity, humility and design. Does my dress reflect that? If I am a woman, do I delight in exuding grace and beauty and modesty? That is really the call of the believer, and there is a lot of room for diversity there. Those characteristics transcend the latest trends, and are “culturally relevant” all the time.

Work.

“Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men.” Whatever you do. John Piper said, “If you’re a Christian who digs ditches, dig straight ditches.” There should be an excellence about our work! We should work better, harder, more loyally, more cheerfully than anyone else.

Gifts/Talents.

Same as above. God has given us all unique abilities and gifts. How tragic if we do not use them for His glory! By the way, people often think “That means for those people who sing, they need to be singing solos in church”. Maybe, or maybe not. Let’s be careful to not confuse “performance” with “use” of our gifts. God isn’t interested in how well we perform for applause. Would I be just as content to let Him use my voice as I sing softly in the night to a sick baby? What are your gifts? Share them with others. With hurting others. With lost others. With your family. With your neighbors.

Relationships.

Start in your own family and work out. Forgiveness, kindness, courtesy, deference, humility and respect. If we are to show a world about God, we must live out these things in our private lives. For parents, it means raising obedient, respectful children who honor their parents. For spouses it means a loving, submissive, caring regard for each other. For siblings, it means cultivating relationships built on mutual respect.

Hospitality.

Be given to hospitality. Invite folks into your home and feed them, and love them. Take a meal to someone who needs it. That’s it. And if you’re family bears the image of God, your home becomes a mission field. When they see order and beauty and grace and love, it looks different than the chaos of the world! And it’s enticing! And they crave to know about it!

I could keep going, but this post is already too long.

We don’t need to become like the culture to win them. We need only to be true image-bearers of the living God and the thirsty will throng around to have some of our Living Water.

“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.”

True Grace Includes Brokenness: Voddie Baucham

I have loved this message by Voddie Baucham that our family listened to together again this morning (we are battling the stomach virus–I know, perfect timing, huh?)

I’m posting one of 6 clips…I highly recommend listening to the whole message–so very powerful.

I’ll preface this clip with the gist of Dr. Baucham’s message, so in need of hearing today…warning, it’s counter-”Christian”-culture:

He says in the first clip:

“There is a great tragedy afoot in our culture, and the great tragedy is this: we believe that all discomfort is problematic; that there is no room for it in our culture….we avoid brokenness, but it’s not just out there, it’s also in the church…there’s a new movement that says ‘When you come to Christ, there is no need for brokenness…in fact, there’s no need for brokenness before you come to Christ’.”

He reveals that the “new brand” of Christianity tells people that God doesn’t want them to feel bad (after all, “there is therefore now no condemnation to him who is in Christ Jesus”) over their sin. However, the Bible speaks volumes about the “appropriateness” of brokenness over our sin.  It is both needful and right for us to recognize how depraved we are without Christ (and no, we are now no longer condemned eternally), and to remember the stain that sin leaves.  God allows the scars of our sins to remain to cause us to continue to hate it and strive to avoid it.

David cried out, a whole year after his affair with Bathsheba,

“Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.”

“God breaks us in order to remake us“, Baucham said.  And when we buy this gospel of “God doesn’t want me to feel bad about my sin” we buy a word that is not of God.

Jesus Christ came to forgive sins; but He leaves their memory with us so that we never want to go back.

“We Despise Children”…Closing the Generation Gap–Dr. Voddie Baucham

Several years ago,  Amy from Humble Musings posted about a sermon Voddie Baucham preached to the Southern Baptist Convention.  (The link she had to the message didn’t take me to it–go HERE and click on “March–Voddie Baucham)

“All I can think to say is, I can’t believe he got away with it. If you are pressed for time, at least listen from 25 minutes until the end. He speaks on the state of the Church and how to close the generation gap.”  -Amy Scott

Of course you know how much I respect and admire the boldness and truth-speaking of Dr. Baucham, so I take any opportunity I find to point to him.  I’ve heard part of this message before and it just makes me want to shout.  Oh that more godly men would just speak the truth and not worry about its popularity…just as our Savior did.

“We despise children in the Southern Baptist Convention.” -Voddie Baucham

Oh dear sisters, call your husbands and children around and listen to this message.