Parenting
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The Night Pronouns Mattered
Teens in the Word has become a real highlight for Central’s Youth Group. Each year, the group studies something different and the atmosphere is like nothing else this group does. For awhile, I was the “main” teacher (thankfully, Noah has taken that over and is doing a great job!) and came up with the theme for each year. So, for one year, we decided to handle some very tough subjects, but ones that these young people are facing from day-to-day. Among those subjects was transgenderism. We looked at it from a Biblical perspective as well as a practical, how-do-we-deal-with-it, perspective. At the end of the study, we built a list…
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Add This to “If It Bleeds, It Leads”
For many years, the phrase “If it bleeds, it leads” has been used to describe what gets the main coverage in the news. The idea is that disasters garner the most attention, so the main headline or “tonight’s top story” is nearly always tragic. Murders, natural disasters, and fires are quite often what lead the news. However, with the proliferation of news outlets and the length of time they are available, there might need to be another statement to add to that one. It started with 24-hour news channels that had to fill, well, 24 hours. But with the growth of podcasts, YouTube channels, and more all sharing news, there…
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And Their Voices Prevailed
If you have a copy of God’s Word handy, you may want to read the twenty-third chapter of Luke before you read the rest of this post. In that chapter, we can read Luke’s inspired account of some of the events concerning the arrest, interrogation, condemnation, and crucifixion of Jesus. Other details are in the other gospels, but we will focus our comments to those recorded by Luke – along with a few details gleaned from the other gospel accounts. I find the words that are used as the title of this post to be extremely interesting and informative. They play a major role in the narrative that follows. A…
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Taking Away Their Humanity
It is one of the most haunting things I have read in a long time. It is also the polar opposite of what our culture tells us is the truth. I’ll share what it is in a minute. As we come to the end of so-called “Pride Month,” we are exhausted by the unceasing messaging of all the sins that are being promoted. We are tired of seeing rainbows (with an ever-expanding array of colors) everywhere and we are ready for something else to dominate the news. But we cannot ever leave this issue until it is shown to be what it is: sin. Today, though, I want to share…
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Dads, Step Up…and Get Help
Last Sunday was Father’s Day. It was a joy to have more people in worship at Central than we had had in several weeks (including Mother’s Day) and to see so many who were present to encourage their dads. This post may have just been written down recently, but it was in my mind from the time I wrote my sermon for Father’s Day, which was completed a long time ago. It comes from something that I said in the sermon, but only very quickly. I thought it might be good to expand on it here and maybe give a little further encouragement to dads. The New Testament gives the…
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A Few Thoughts before the (Kind of) Big Day
The calendar informs us that Father’s Day is a few days away. Somebody has suggested that Father’s Day is just like Mother’s Day – except for the fact that fathers get fewer gifts. I’m not going to speculate on whether or not this observation is true. I’m also not going to enter the discussion about whether or not greeting card companies (and other interested parties) may be behind reminders to remember our fathers with a special day. Instead, what I hope to do in this space is to ask those who read this to learn from one incident on one day of my life. It is a day that can…
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Motherhood Never Stops
A lot of times, you will hear phrases like that–“motherhood never stops”–to describe the 24/7 nature of the work. There are unceasing demands on your physical and mental energy. The tasks never truly get “done.” There’s no vacation from it and there’s no way to ever feel as if the job is complete. But I mean that phrase today in a different way. Let me explain. Our children are 17 and 16. They aren’t the same as they were at 12 or 6 or 3. That’s obvious, but, sometimes, a mom might wish they were. Still, in just a year or two, we will be empty-nesters. Then what? My wife…
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A Reminder for Parents
Parents… …do you ever get frustrated because your children do something wrong after you’ve told them what was right? …have you ever been hurt because your “good child” did something truly rebellious? …do you ever wonder how this kid could be so foolish? …do you ever feel pain because you want to spend time with your child, only to see them choose something else? …have you ever talked and talked to your child about right and wrong and felt as if you were talking to a brick wall? …do you ever dream of a better future for your children, but wonder if they actually want to do better? …have you…
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Jesus vs. Family
One of the teachings of Jesus that is often just quickly passed over has to do with family. In Matthew 10:34-37, Jesus stated: Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Often, when we…
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A Case for the Paper Bible
First things first: I am not anti-electronic Bible. In fact, I know people who basically must use one if they are going to be able to read the text. A lot of older people with failing eyesight have been blessed by being able to blow up the font size on a tablet to very large sizes so they can continue to read God’s wonderful Word. I use an electronic Bible from time-to-time in special situations. So this is not an article meant to say “don’t ever use one of those techy things.” However… I do want to encourage the vast majority of us–especially parents–to use old-fashioned paper Bibles far more…