My Reward Under the Sun

I officiated my second wedding this past weekend for my friends Justin & Vicky. Congrats guys!

Weddings are great because the bride and groom look as innocent as little kids, but more mature than they've ever been before. Weddings are great because you never know whom you're going to meet (i.e., Darth Vader and his posse of moonwalking stormtroopers). Weddings are great because they display Christ's love for his church (Eph 5:25). Weddings are great because they remind me of my own wedding that kicked off the best five years of my life.

Ecclesiastes 9:9 Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which God has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.

The Hardest Job in the World

If it was going to be easy to raise kids, it never would have started with something called labor.

It is labor which weakens the knees of most women and some men, but it is raising kids which weakens the knees of most men and some women. A sad fact in today’s society: many men have checked out physically, mentally, or emotionally before their offspring is out of diapers.

Raising kids is a terrifying responsibility—a task to stymie Hercules. But God has provided simple wisdom in the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Train up a child? Think about it. We do potty training and training wheels. We train them to tie their shoes and to eat healthy and not to burp at the dinner table. We spend the first twelve months training our children how to walk and talk and the next twenty years how to sit down and be quiet. Why not also train them spiritually in the way they should go?

And how do we do that? The verse literally says, “Train up a child according to His [meaning God’s] way.” Teach a child biblical principles when you lie down and when you get up and as you’re picking up Happy Meals at the drive-thru. Model for them a godly lifestyle.

2 More Days

“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” These were the words of John the Apostle as he finished recording the Revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev 22:20).

Imagine his longing, for Jesus had earlier said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” (Matt 16:28). There was even a rumor circulating that John would still be alive when Jesus returned again (cf. John 21:22-23).

But was all this untrue? Was Jesus really coming back? Perhaps the doubts had piled up in the mind of John as he watched his companions one-by-one persecuted and put to death. He had ample time to wonder as he languished on the deserted Isle of Patmos. Yet John remained in a state of excited anticipation for his Lord’s promised return. He was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10) when Christ appeared to him in a glorious vision that bowed his face in worship (1:17).

As Christians, we also pray for Christ to come quickly, for we know his return is imminent. I was reminded of this truth as our first child is due two days from now. As expectant parents, we are anxious, not knowing what the future might bring. We are excited, anticipating the certain joy. We are impatient, wanting the day to come soon. We are prayerful, finding ever more reliance on God.

But we are not doubtful. We know he’s in there and his coming is imminent. Our bags are packed, the crib set up, the clothes and diapers waiting in the closet. We are ready . . . or so we think. Neither are we loitering on the hospital grounds. We are living life, enjoying the time together and savoring whatever sleep we can store up for the next 18 or so years.

There is no due date for Christ’s return, but his promises remove all doubt, while his imminence spurs us to keep our lives in order. Let us live prayerfully with every breath, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

A word from our pastor during the recession

Dear CCAC friends,

I find that our Ripples of Grace capital campaign and the worsening
recession have both served to focus and deepen my prayer life. This
morning I gained an insight from my Bible reading that I thought might
be worth passing on.

In Exodus 17 the Israelites are in the desert and they are thirsty.
So they grumble against Moses, saying, "Why did you bring us up out of
Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"
The complaint is rather amazing, considering that they had just seen
God work a great miracle in bringing them through the Red Sea! I've
always seen this as a sad reminder of how quickly we forget God's
blessings to us.

This morning, though, what struck me about this text was how sad it is
that the Israelites missed a wonderful opportunity to glorify God.
Feeling thirsty and tired, they should have known that God understood
their needs and would provide for them. Instead of grumbling and
complaining, they should have lifted their voices in song and praised
God in advance for his coming answer to their prayers.

In this recession, when so many are losing jobs or worried about
losing jobs, and when all of us with investments have seen their value
plummet, it would be easy for us to forget God's gracious care for us
during innumerable problems and crises of the past. It would be easy
to grumble, complain, and give vent to our fears. "Why did you bring
us into this wretched economy to ruin us financially?" But how much
better it would be if we would instead devote ourselves afresh to
praising God and expressing our complete trust in him! The economic
downturn is an invitation to us to glorify God. So let's be of good
cheer. Our God is on the throne. He has his own good purposes for
this recession, one of which might just be that he wants to turn our
hearts back to him--and then use us to lead others to Christ.

Prayer Evangelism Works

Evangelism 2K is a prayer evangelism effort our church is undertaking that has already begun to yield fruit. For those that want to share the gospel, but just don't know how, this is a great way to get started.

What is our goal?

1. Reach 2,000 people through the power of prayer.
2. Activate Christians to intentionally share our faith with others.

How can you get involved?

1.      Begin praying for 10 unchurched people you know.

2.      Ask each of those 10 people, “How can I pray for you?” Possible prayer topics include: pursuit of God, family, health, financial concerns, relationships, or need for wisdom. Ask for specific requests so that God’s answer will be clearly seen.

3.      Commit to pray for one month. Be ready for evangelism to occur naturally through the spiritual conversations you start and the testimony of answered prayer.

5.      Pray together in families, small groups, and discipleship relationships.

6.      Follow up periodically until you witness God’s answer to prayer.

Here is an example:

Lydia, my church is making an effort to pray more for others. We believe in prayer and God’s power to work in people’s lives. Is there anything specific that I could pray for you about? (Optional: Would you mind if I prayed for you right now?)