The Principles of Fatherhood

A friend of ours, Chris Craig, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Plainview wrote this....and I wanted to share it with you. It is really good!!!

God's love & mine,
Lauren
aka Nonnie

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The Principles of Fatherhood

Parents are instructed to "train up a child in the way that they should go." Unfortunately, for the most part I see parents, especially fathers telling their children the way they should not go. At first this seems like symantics; but, it is important for a father to do the following 5 things for their children.

1. Establish their Identity - A lot of people struggle with understanding the "will of God" for their life; but, scripture is full of examples where God spoke clearly with people about their destiny. God does have a plan for the lives of our children. We need to spend time with Him and with them so that we can help them to understand who God made them to be. 2 great examples of this are Gideon (Judges 6:11-13) and Peter (Matthew 16:17-19).

2. Establish their Authority - Children will frequently find themselves in situations where other people try to tell them what to do. Our children must know that we will defend them in situations like this. Our children should know that we trust them and that we will back them up if they ever find themselves in a position where they feel like they have to take a stand. Sometimes, like God, we need to tell people to shut up and listen to our children since they know what they are talking about. (Luke 9:32-36)

3. Develop thier Giftings - Children need a father to teach them how to do the things God is calling them to do. We see a picture of this in the Old Testament story of Aaron and his sons. When Aaron's sons were going to start doing what God wanted to do they had to wear their fathers clothes for the first seven days of the job. Aaron's sons had to learn to fill their father's shoes before they could be trusted. Likewise, as fathers, we must make sure that we are good examples for our children to follow.(Exodus 29:29-30)

4. Develop their Character - Most people try to understand the will of God in terms of location and vocation. They want to know where does God want me to live and what does God want me to do. I do not think that the will of God is primaraly concerned with either of these two issues. I think God is more concerned about who we are than what we do. If we are men/women of character then we can be trusted in any situation. As fathers we must make sure that our children develop a servants heart before they are allowed to assume high levels of responsibility. If we do not help them do this then their lack of character can destroy anything their gifting can build. We see a great example of this in the life training of Joseph in the book of Genesis.

5. Teach them to Fight - One of the most discusting things I encounter is passivity. (especially in men) Some how Christians have bought into some strange turn the other cheek mentality; but, there is a time for all things under the sun. Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a a time to gather stones and a time to throw stones. The marines say it kind of like this, "A lot of sweat in times of peace prevents a lot of blood in times of war." As fathers we must teach our children how to stand up for what they know is right. The truth is worth fighting for, women and children should be defended, and evil should be resisted. Like Aaron Tipton says, we must teach our kids to "stand for something" or they will "fall for anything." (Genesis 14:14-16)

Coffee Filters (who knew?)

COFFEE FILTERS Coffee filters ...who knew! And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing.

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. They make excellent covers.
2. Clean windows and mirrors. Coffee filters are lint-free so they leave windows sparkling.
3. Protect China. Separate your good dishes by putting a coffee filter between each dish.
4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture & prevent rust.
6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a filter on a kitchen scale.
9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a filter to prevent soil from going through the drainage holes.
11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.
12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters.
13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. Soaks out all the grease.
14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."

OH YEAH THEY ARE GREAT TO USE IN YOUR COFFEE MAKERS.

11 Things You Won't Learn in High School

Here are :
11 things you won't learn in High School
(has been attributed to being written by Bill Gates......)

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

The Movement (RE-BLOG)

Here is the SECOND Re-blog from Amber's pastor, Mark Batterson of National Community Church in Washington DC. Enjoy!!!

I was part of an interesting gathering yesterday called The Movement. Not even sure how I got invited. But it was quite an eclectic group. I sat at a table with Hank Hanegraffe, the Bible Answer Man. And I was in a discussion group with Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales. Talk about left-brain and right-brain ends of the thought spectrum. Lots of different theological and methodological persuasions represented.
Just thought I'd share some personal reflections. The gathering really revolved around this question: what's wrong with the church? That isn't the way it was phrased. And it wasn't meant in a negative way. I think everyone gathered deeply loves and believes in the church. But the church-at-large has issues. And we need to be humble enough, honest enough, and courageous enough to admit it.
Here's my take.
I think the modern church has fixated on sins of commission. Don't do this and don't do that and you're alright. But that's not alright. Why? Because goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. That is why we're more known for what we're against than what we're for. Christianity was never intended to be a noun. It was meant to be a verb. It is sins of omission, those things we could have, would have, or should have done for the cause of Christ, that grieve our Heavenly Father. We've got to quit playing defense and start playing offense. We need to quit fighting amongst ourselves and start loving our enemies. We need to quit pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Discipleship is so much more than the accumulation of rote knowledge. It's a sanctified imagination that dreams God-sized dreams. It is a heart that breaks for the things that break the heart of God. It's not enough to create our own sub-culture. We desperately need to raise up a generation that feels called to culture-shaping professions as God-ordained vocations. We cannot reduce the gospel to the forgiveness of sins. It's about glorifying God by maximizing our God-given potential and serving our God-ordained purpose. It can't just be about creeds. It's got to be about deeds. It can't just be about us. It's got to be about others. We need the courage to stand up for what's right in a culture where nothing is wrong. But we need to do it in a spirit of humility. We need the courage to incarnate the gospel in creative ways. But we need to do it in a spirit of authenticity. And we need the courage to preach the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. But we need to do it in a spirit of grace.
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Can I get an Amen???? AMEN!!!!! Go GOD!!!

God's love & mine,
Lauren
aka Nonnie

If you knock long enough..... (RE-BLOG)

I came across several AWESOME blog posts from Amber (our daughter)'s pastor, Mark Batterson of National Community Church in Washington DC. Here is the first one.....

The theme of the Nebraska Pastor's Retreat was building a ministry that endures. Talked about Luke 11. One phrase from the New Living Translation really got in my spirit: if you knock long enough.
I think most of us never see our dreams become reality simply because we give up too soon. What if the Israelites had stopped marching around Jericho on the sixth day? What if Naaman had only dipped in the Jordan river six times? What if Elijah had stopped praying for rain on the sixth attempt? They would have forfeited the miracle. I love the underlying message of those stories: the miracle is only one lap, one dip, or one prayer away. We need to live with that kind of holy anticipation.
As I look back on my own life, the blessings of God are really the byproduct of asking, seeking, and knocking. If you knock long enough...
NCC broke all the church planting rules. We weren't 100 by the end of our first year. We weren't 200 by the end of our second year. According to the experts, we should have never broken those barriers. But if you knock long enough...
It took eight years to purchase 201 F Street, rezone the property, and construct the coffeehouse. Felt like forever. But if you knock long enough...
I tried to write a book for ten years. I have half a dozen half-finished manuscripts on my computer. I was frustrated beyond words. But if you knock long enough...
Try harder.
Try longer.
Don't give up.
Don't give in.
if you knock long enough...

Happy 2009, everybody!!!

To my wonderful friends and family I pray:
“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.” (Num. 6:24) “Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.” (Is. 60:1).
This will be a year of great changes, challenges and turmoil. Do not keep your eyes and spirit focused on the world, and especially not the world news, but rather, upon the LORD. I plead with you to stay in His Word, and stay near Him. You need the counsel of not only the Lord, but other Christian brothers and sisters, so do not forsake the assembling of yourselves with others, for just as an ember (or coal) will quickly grow cold and dies out on it’s own, but together, in the presence of others, quickly becomes a raging flame, you need the encouragement and accountability of others, as well as further equipping in His Kingdom. Don’t be a lone ranger this year……you need the LORD and you need others (and they need you). This is VERY important! I pray the prayer of Jabez over each one of you: “Oh, that You, God, would bless each of them, indeed and enlarge their borders and that Your hand might be with each of them, and that You would keep them from harm that it may not pain them!” (1 Chronicles 4:10) And I know that God will grant me as I have requested, for I request it in the name of the Lord. “I do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might. (Eph. 1:15-19) Remember who you are in the Lord, and staying in His Word and in right-fellowship with Him, will keep you “connected” with the revelations He will show you in the days ahead. “You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; and light will shine on your ways.” (Job 22:28).
You must remember how important and powerful are the words that come out of your mouth….they are actually life (and death). Just as God spoke the earth and everything into existence, because His Spirit dwells and empowers us, we have that same power…..in the spirit. “Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.” (2 Chronicles 20:09). There will be plenty of opportunities in the days, weeks and months ahead, when trouble lurks all around, to worry and stress, but cry out to GOD and He will hear and deliver you. Psalm 20:09 says, “Save, O LORD, may the King answer us in the day we call.” And God will do just that! There is a warning to heed in Jeremiah 20:09 “But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name, ‘ then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it.” He has placed His word in your homes (Bibles) and in your hearts, and spirits. Heed His Word, and turn to Him, instead of the nightly news to know what to do in the days ahead. This year, 2009 to us, and 5769 in the Hebraic calendar, is a year of God’s goodness in the midst of suffering. In God’s Word, the number “9” represents the womb and also the wineskin. There will be much travail and “stretching” this year, but if we stay strong in Him and in fellowship with Him, there will be a birthing of such new and great things that we cannot, even in our greatest dreams, begin to perceive what will be…..in us, around us and through us. GO GOD!!! Do not allow satan to abort or burst the wineskin of God's plans and purposes. Stay fresh and new in Him, so you can stretch as things begin to change and eventually birth his plans and purposes. Remember Hannah in the Bible. She travailed to birth the future of Israel in the midstt of a tumultuous season in history. “I hold the year in My hands in trust for you. But I shall guide you one day at a time. Each day I supply the wisdom and the strength.” ~~~ Two Listeners. Just as in the Old Testament, God supplies us with daily manna…..get in His Word daily and eat……it is life to you. Also, I pray that none of us arrive in heaven to find storehouses of miracles, gifts, encounters and opportunities that we missed while here on earth, because we were too timid, lazy or unknowledgeable to access them.
I pray that each of us live our lives BOLDLY and to the full this year. I encourage you to read the story of William Borden by following the link attached to his name, and that when we come to the end of this life, we too can say.....
NO RESERVES......NO RETREATS.......NO REGRETS!!!
Go God!!!!