Effective Parenting in a Defective World

Hope you are pumped to learn more this week about how to raise your children God's way in these difficult times. Last week we looked at our focus and where it should be, on Jesus alone and conforming to His image. Forget what the world wants for your kids, our primary target is helping them to become more and more like Jesus in every aspect. It's making God's dream the priority rather than the world's dream for your children.

We also looked at the importance of us as parents becoming what we should be in Christ as role models for our children. The best thing you can give your kids is who you are. They will do what you do, more is caught than taught. You must be what you want your kids to become. Let them see your Christian growth and be real with them (Luke 6:40).

This week we focus on building relationships that bond. Difficult times will come and we need the cement of Christ-centered relationships in the context of our family to weather the storms. We will be looking at eight keys for building relationships that bond. You won't want to miss it!

Life Principles Study Series "Practicing Basic Spiritual Disciplines" Lesson 3

Lesson 3 from:

Life Principles Study Series “Practicing Basic Spiritual Disciplines” by Charles F. Stanley. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson), 2009.

This lesson is on conformity to Christ and setting some spiritual goals for our advancement in the faith. Dr. Stanley uses Romans 8:28-30 as a spring board for understanding the conformity process in our Christian lives. First, we are destined and chosen to be conformed as the Lord changes us and transforms us into His image as His work from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18). None of us are perfect; we all have scars and need healing in some area from Him. Secondly, being conformed in Christ’s image means a process of learning to think, speak, and act just as Jesus would in any life situation. This is a continual progression that will not be complete until with are glorified with Him in Heaven as we “put off” the old and “put on” the new spiritual man. Thirdly, it is the Holy Spirit who radically changes us and not we ourselves outside of the human volition of faith and obedience. For this section please read the later part of Romans 7:14-25, which is a flesh driven existence, compared to the Spirit’s work in believers in Romans 8:14-30.

We will look at our ultimate purpose in life as we pursue Christ and conform to Him, not the world (Rom. 12:2). Be sure to come up with specific examples of how we sometimes conform ourselves to this world. Understand what the mind of Christ entails, even the aspects of suffering that Dr. Stanley shares with us. “…he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin…” (1 Pet. 4:1). The most fertile time of spiritual growth for a majority of Christians comes during a time of crisis, illness, persecution, loss, pain, or rejection. Don’t shy away from life’s difficulties; embrace them as opportunities to grow in Christ.

We will start our class with a time of testimony from any of you who feel led to share. This week should have seen us making a conscious effort to be more and more obedient to the Lord’s leading in our lives. Give our class some examples of how that played out in your world this past week.

Blessings in Jesus Christ!

The World We Live In

I was reading the news on the internet this morning when I came across a story that caught my attention. A government minister in Pakistan, Shahbaz Bhatti, had been gunned down and killed in a car outside his parent’s house in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital city, by al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists. This was the only Christian in Pakistan’s federal Cabinet, so the loss is devastating it would seem to the minority Christians in Pakistan looking for a voice in government policy and direction.

Of course this news is bleak and saddens our hearts to grief for our Christian brothers and sisters in this persecuted portion of our world, but it is a reminder of what is required of good soldiers of the cross. By every indication Bhatti expected this assassination and prepared for it. He is a modern example of laying down one’s life for his friends (John 15:13, 1 John 3:16). As early church father Tertullian said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” He in fact was right. The Bible gives us the picture of “the seed” in reference to our resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, a great chapter I hope you will dig into for strength, comfort, and hope.

It is my prayer that the Lord will move in this horrific situation to bring Himself glory and for the saving of many souls in Pakistan and the regions that surround this maligned country. We need to band together in prayer and support for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. Love will conquer all and this situation has the potential to give more people freedom of expression and faith. Let’s pray that it does.

For further information regarding this story check out:

 http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/02/gunmen-kill-christian-pakistani-government-minister-shahbaz-bhat/. There is a video on the right hand side of the page.

Have a blessed day in Christ Jesus! He is our only Hope!