We tend to spend a lot of time, effort, money, and energy on our outer life. We fret about our physical appearance – how much we weigh, what flaws we have, and what the best angle is for a selfie that makes us look our best online. Our lifetime is spent further fretting over the … Read more
If you’ve ever looked down into a well, you know how difficult it is to see what lies below. In fact, the only way to know what lies at the bottom of a well is to drop a bucket to the bottom, scoop up whatever’s below, and pull it back to the top so that … Read more
How to have a soul-saving and life-changing relationship with God and help your child to tend to their own soul so that they spiritually mature.
Have you ever known someone who received a heart transplant? It’s truly amazing to consider that a skilled surgeon can open someone’s chest cavity, take out an old heart that is broken, put in a new heart that functions, and the person is able to get a new lease on life. In a spiritual sense, … Read more
When people want to get to the bottom of something, they speak of getting to the heart of a matter. When someone is suffering, we say that our heart goes out to them. When someone is generous and kind, we say they are big hearted and that their actions are heart warming. When someone is … Read more
On one particular day, we were shopping at the grocery store together. As we walked down an aisle, we saw a parent walk up and swat a young child on the behind then walk away. Bewildered, the child stood there with a confused look on his or her face. The parent had said nothing in … Read more
If you’ve ever sat through a church service with a bunch of screaming kids, you might say they should go out to kids’ ministry or Sunday school.
On the other hand, if you – like me – have been kicked out of church for trying to keep your kids in the main service, you might say they should stay in church.
So who’s right? Watch my video above for my take!
Got a question for Pastor Mark? Send it to him at [email protected] today!
The most wonderful and awful parts of life can be the relationships we have. Real, mutually authentic relationships are really hard. It seems like everyone wants to be loved and to love, but no one seems to know how to make it happen. The root problem, according to the Bible, starts with our family. Not … Read more
We live and minister in Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s a beautiful dry desert that is, for most of the year, barren with red clay dirt and green cactus as far as the eye can see. But, everything changes during monsoon season. When the monsoons hit, the sky opens up and rain comes down in a flood … Read more
Loving Emotionally with All Your Heart – How to have your right heart as a parent, and get to your child’s heart so that they live from an emotionally healthy heart.
When you are a kid in school, teachers tell you that you need food, water, air, and shelter to live. But, you also need love. Without love, we literally die.
Some years ago, there were beautiful medical facilities built to house newborn orphan children who did not have parents. The children were given a clean environment, sunlight, healthy food, fresh water, a comfortable bed, and fun toys. Yet, the children grew sick and died in staggering numbers. The doctors did research and could not figure out why the healthy children were dying. An outside group was brought in to research the crisis.
Can you guess what they concluded?
The children needed to be loved. The children needed to be held, cuddled, and spoken to multiple times every day. Without love, children literally die. God made us for loving relationship and human connection. Knowing this, God who made us and knows what we need says over and over in the Bible, in places like 1 John 4:21, “whoever loves God must also love.”
Love.
It’s a little word with big implications.
When you tell someone you love them, and mean it from the heart, it reveals that something profound and priceless has happened in your relationship. When Grace and I decided that we not only loved one another, but that we would say “I love you.” then our relationship would never be the same.
Christianity is about many things, but one of the most important things is love. This is why Jesus says in Mark 12:28–31 that it is “most important” to “love.” In 1 Corinthians 13:13 we are told that the “greatest” thing in all the world “is love.” Love is sometimes what you feel, sometimes what you say, but always what you do. Love is ultimately shown in action. True love is unselfish and does what is in the best interest of the beloved. This results in acts of service and sacrifice, much like Jesus Christ who served us by sacrificing His own life as the greatest act of love the world will ever know.
How are you doing at loving your child in word and deed? How can you love your child better? How can you help your child to love God and others?
At some point, all kids play a game called “follow the leader.”
Do you remember playing this game?
In this game, someone is designated as the leader, and everyone else is a follower. The follower is supposed to follow the leader – go where they go, say what they say, and do what they do.
Parenting is basically a game of follow the leader.
First, the parents are to follow God their Father. Thankfully, much of what we need to learn about parenting comes by being God’s child. We learn how to be parents to our own children as we seek to treat our kids the way our perfect Dad has treated us, His kids.
Second, the parents are to help their children follow them as they follow God. This is the point of parenting : our ultimate goal must be that our children would grow to love and follow God. This simple refrain is repeated on a multitude of occasions throughout Scripture, where it says that a particular generation worshiped the God of their fathers, because God intends for children to worship the same God as their parent(s).
For example, Christians worship the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those are three generations of family members. As a Christian parent, we should labor to see our children (and grandchildren) worship the same God we do. To pursue that goal, we must worship that God first.
Proverbs 20:7 says it this way, “The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him!” The big idea is that a parent is a leader, and if they want their kids to walk toward the Lord then they need to lead the way.
Practically, this means such things as:
Your children will learn a lot about about praying by hearing you pray.
Your children will learn a lot about repentance by seeing you repent.
Your children will learn a lot about forgiveness by witnessing you forgive.
Your children will learn about trusting God by watching you trust God.
Your children will learn a lot about church by going to church with you.
Your children will learn a lot about right and wrong through your instruction.
Your children will learn a lot about the Bible by hearing you read it to them before they are old enough to read it for themselves.
How are you doing at following God? How are you doing at leading your child? How is your child doing at following you and God?