Family
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Healthy Boundaries
The last few weeks have been exhausting to say the least. Events and decisions in America have been so polarizing lately. Sometimes it is hard to even want to hear another word about all of the controversy. But we must remember that important subjects are going to cause opinionated discussions. We are not just talking about freedoms and rights in America. We are dealing with issues that are going to determine where people are going to spend eternity. I don’t know about you, but lately I have been considering the level of my association with some people who in the past I have considered friends. Many people I am acquainted…
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4 Ways to Make Every Weekend Memorable for Your Family
[NOTE: This week’s guest post comes to us from David Dixon. To learn more about David, check out his bio after today’s post.] In 1981, the band Loverboy released a song entitled “Working for the Weekend.” It’s a catchy little ditty, but the sentiment of the song is a worldly concept that should not apply to Christians. In reference to early Christians who had given certain days of the year greater significance of holiness than other days, Paul gave the instruction that every individual should be “fully persuaded in his own mind” (Rom. 14:5 KJV). That is, we are permitted to assign a holiness value to individual days, but we…
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A Biblical Legacy of Faith
Since yesterday was Fathers Day, I decided to preach on what I consider to be a biblical legacy of faith. I thought I’d share some (but not all) of the things I talked about here. I chose Abraham as my example of such a legacy. I thought that was a good choice since Abraham is included in “Faith’s Hall of Fame” in Hebrews 11. Specifically, I chose the events recorded in Genesis 22 as an example of his “legacy of faith.” In the interest of full disclosure, I need to point out that some of the thoughts that served as the basis for this lesson came from brother Neal Pollard and a…
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For Generations to Come
[NOTE: This week’s guest post is from Suzy Dodd. To learn more about Suzy, check out her bio after today’s article.] We have all heard the phrase “for generations to come” as it relates to the length something lasts. Think of things like a car, grandmother’s roasting pan, a recipe, or a story passed down from one generation to the next. However, do we really think of the actual meaning of the words “for generations to come?” This we know: there will, in all likelihood, be generations coming after us. Depending on one’s age we may think about having children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and possibly great-great-grandchildren. We daydream and ponder…
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Praying for Zach
School was almost out for the summer. Just those last few days remained and eleven-year-old boys wanted to play in the yard when they got home from school. The day had begun just like any other day. The bus picked Zach up for school, he spent the day there, and the bus delivered him back in front of his house that afternoon. He started for his house, but as is often the case, some friends were playing across the road from his house, so he did a u-turn and started running across the road, as he had done many times before. A car topped the hill and Zach was in the road. Many lives…
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Being Imperfect in a Pinterest World
The picture above is the garden I had in my mind all winter. I thought about it, marked it out, planned what we would plant, and dreamed about harvesting loads of perfect veggies all summer long from a garden plot that would make HGTV want to have a special program dedicated to how perfect my garden was. That’s what I just knew was going to happen. Then, I took this picture early last Saturday morning. Yep, that was the way my garden looked. Admittedly, I worked in it quite a lot on Saturday and it looks some better, but it is still pretty embarrassing. It just is not what I…
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How Stateside Families Can Support Missionary Families
[Editors Note: This week’s guest post is from Daniel Gaines. Find out more about Daniel, his family, and their work in Tanzania at the end of today’s article.] When a family packs up their household, says goodbye to their friends and family, and moves to serve the Lord in another part of the world they go through tons of adjustments. You might think that the biggest challenge is adapting to their new culture. While that can be a huge challenge, it is likely one that your missionary anticipated. A challenge that he may not have expected is the feeling of isolation that often comes from life in a foreign mission…
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Checkout Lines and Teaching Values
I stood in the checkout line at Walmart while the clerk finished scanning all of my items. All of the sudden I had a tremendous sinking feeling down in my stomach. For once, it wasn’t caused by watching the grocery bill get larger and larger. The feeling was caused by watching the people behind me in the line. I watched as an old woman rolled up to the line in an electronic riding carts. With her, there were two young women who appeared to be in their twenties, or possibly younger. There were one or two kids with them. Just as they walked up to the counter, a worker brought…
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5 Things Every Congregation CAN Do to Encourage Families
[Editor’s note: Today’s post comes to us from Dan Jenkins. Dan is a great gospel preacher, and we appreciate him taking the time to write for us. To find out more about Dan, read his information following today’s article.] It is obvious that the strength of the church is found in the homes of those who make up the local congregation. However, we tend to often limit our consideration to those homes and families where there are Christian parents and young children. The reality is this: because of our changing world this is only one kind of family. Remember that there are families in the church where there are single…
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5 Service Projects for Your Kids This Summer
“Yeah, school’s out!” …wait three days… “I’m bored!” First of all, I do not have a problem with kids being bored. It forces them to stretch themselves and use their imaginations to find ways to fill in the time. Not every moment of every day should be go-go-go for any of us. That said, summertime does afford good opportunities for children to give back to others. Because they have a little extra time, it is good for them to use some of that time to serve other people in ways that may take a little time. While there are countless ways kids can do this, today we share 5 that…
