A special note to all the Christian Mom's out there

At roughly 8:30pm on June 5th 2019 my oldest "baby" graduated from High School.  Talk about being proud.  It was almost a surreal moment for me personally.  Obviously I know that this day was coming and had been slowly and steadily approaching over the last 18 years but here it was finally appearing in all of it's glory.

 As I watched my son smile and wave to those that were there to support him and then walk across the stage it reminded me of a very, Very VERY important biblical truth and that is of a moms vital role in the lives of her children.

One of the most overlooked people in all of scripture is found briefly in Acts 16:1 and 2 Timothy 3:14-15.  If you read these passages you won't even find her name but you will find a description of this amazing woman.  We don't know much about her but what we do know about this woman's identity is that she was Timothy's mom.  We also know that she was married to a non-believer who did not raise his son in the Lord (Acts 16:1).  We also know that from childhood mom taught Timothy "the sacred writings which were able to give him the wisdom that lead to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:14-15).  This mom taught her son the scriptures that eventually lead to his salvation.

Over the last few months, I've had several folks tell me what a great young man Ryan is and how much he stands out from his peers.  They tell me that Stef and I did a great job raising him and that we should be proud of him and ourselves. While I appreciate their comments I give all glory to God alone.  Especially when I think about all the things we did wrong or that we would do over if we could.  I think that one of the most misunderstood passages in all of scripture is from 1 Timothy 2 where Paul talks about God's design for leadership in the church and in the home.  There is NO question that God ALWAYS pours out His grace when situations are less than ideal but there is no doubt that the relationship between a mother and her son is unique.  It just is.  The relationship that my wife has with my sons is different than mine and always will be just because she's mom.

Timothy's mom taught her son the scriptures from childhood since dad did not and she raised up a Christ-like young man that God used to literally change the world and write part of the New Testament.  He graduated from mom's high school and then he left for "college" to hang out with Paul and the rest is history.  I think that a lot of times we, as passionate Jesus followers, desperately want to change the world around us and that is GREAT THING!  However, sometimes we overlook the fact that as parents and in this case specifically as a mom, there are seasons in life where the most important contribution we can make to the Kingdom of God is not WHAT WE DO for the kingdom but WHO WE RAISE as It's citizens.  For all the moms out there DO NOT under value your service to the Kingdom by thinking that you are "JUST raising your kids" in Christ.  You don't have to preach  to the masses or lead a bible study or evangelize the world to be effective or useful to the Kingdom of God and the cause of the Gospel.  If you want to change the world, start by loving and discipling your family first.  Your primary and most important job is to "teach the sacred writings" to your children so that they will grow in knowledge that may lead them to salvation.  When this is a priority for you, you never know what could happen.  Years from now after all the long nights filled with crying and changing diapers are gone and the weekend sports games are over and the music lessons and family dinners and math homework are no more.  When your midnight visits to the ER disappear as your little one finally graduates from your family home and moves out to start the next chapter of their life...  you might not have ever noticed it before, but looking back I pray that God show you glimpses that you have be raising your own little Timothy the entire time.  What's more I pray for your son or daughter as well as mine that one day the Spirit of Jesus Christ will send them out to change the world in their own way and in their own time for the honor and glory and praise of the name of Jesus Christ.

"I have no greater joy than this, 

to hear of my children walking in the truth" 

3 John 4   

God Story: The Weighty Role of a Father

The last few days have been very interesting for our house.  Last Wednesday, Ryan "signed" with Roanoke College and will be running track and cross country as an NCAA athlete in the fall.  Thursday our boy's van died.  We had "the blue beast" for almost 14 years.  I loved that van but now it's gone and will never be back.  Friday my back pain returned after several months of working out and being pain free.  Saturday my three oldest all competed in a track meet and all did well.  My baby Will will be done with elementary school in a few short weeks.  Yesterday my 4th "boy" officially become a teenager.  Stef and I are now raising not one or two or three but FOUR teenagers in our home.  This truly is a new chapter of life for us...

  

I recently finished re-reading through the letter to the Ephesians.  In this amazing part of scripture, the Holy Spirit through Paul records something very interesting... after instructing all children to obey their parents (Ephesians 6:1-3) Paul then instructs all FATHERS with the following:

"Fathers do not provoke your children to anger BUT bring them up in 

the discipline and instruction of the Lord"  Ephesians 6:4

Although Paul could have easily commanded that both of the parents that he just mentioned bring up their kids in Christ, Paul specifically commands Fathers to do so and why is that?  At work anything that goes wrong is my fault.  Even if I'm not there even if I had nothing to do with it, it's my fault.  And why is that?  Because that's my job and I'm accountable to my employers for everything.  This rule applies to Fathers as well without question.  Although both the husband and wife should be working together to raise their children in the fear of the Lord and the love of Christ scripture is clear that just like I am at work...ultimately the father is the one who will be held accountable for this weighty responsibility that has been entrusted to him.  Can and should moms train up their kids also?  Absolutely!  Should a mom step up when dad is not a believer or when the believing dad like Adam sits by passively and does not engage in his God given task of making disciples of those within his own home? Absolutely!  BUT... regardless of what mom's role is in all this, as a father of five young men I KNOW that God will hold ME accountable to raise up our boys "in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."  For this impossible and weighty task I ask the Spirit of Christ to fill me with His love, patience, power, disciple and self-control daily so that I can accomplish this task in HIS POWER not in my own because the more I rely on myself the more I realize how impossible this task is.  

Do I do it perfectly... absolutely not.  Have I and do I continue to make mistakes?  Absolutely. All the time. Do I have countless regrets about the past about this?  Absolutely.  BUT this is my task and I do not take it lightly.  I pray that more and more men will step into their God'given roles as FATHERS instead of  just being boys that shave, work hard and show up at church once a week if at all.  And why is this so important?  Because the survival of our society hangs in the balance.  Because human souls hang in the balance.  Because this is a role that God has entrusted to us... as Fathers... to bring up our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord...  especially... when they're teenagers!!! 

Lord help me raise Your boys.  I ask this for the sake and glory of Jesus name.  Amen.    

Message: The Promises of Prayer

CLICK HERE TO WATCH