New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year! Finally, I have found resolutions that I am commited to keeping. These may sound a bit familiar to some of you...

Adapted from "I Am Resolved" by Palmer Hartsough

"I resolve to no longer to linger, to be charmed by the world's delight.
Things that are higher, things that are nobler... these allure my sight

I will hasten to Him, where I am glad and free.
Jesus, greatest, highest, He is the One to whom I will run.

I resolve to go to the Savior to leave my sin and strife.
Because He is the true one, the just one, and He has the words of life

I resolve to follow this Savior who is faithful and true each day.
I will endeavor to heed what He says, to do what He wills because He is the living way.

I resolve to enter the kingdom and leave the paths of sin. My friends and family, they may oppose me, and my foes may beset me, but still will I enter in.

I am so resolved! So, who will go with me? Come friends don't delay.

Those who follow Him are taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit, and will walk the heavenly way."

What'd you resolve for this year?

Religious Multiplicity

One of the most highly debated social issues recently is that of cloning. News began running when Dolly the sheep came on the scene. The more I think about this, the more I think I am in favor of this, and as a matter of fact that the Bible speaks favorably of this. Now, before you begin to inundate me with ethical arguments, hear me out. Paul is the first to speak of cloning sheep.

Listen to his words, "For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church." (1 Corinthians 4:15-17)

On numerous occasions, our Lord Jesus refers to us affectionately as sheep. If you know anything about sheep is this no great complement. Sheep tend to be pretty think-headed and in need of a watchful eye lest they get themselves into trouble. We as sheep are called to be like our Shepherd. In essence, we are to imitate or "clone" Him, and then "clone" ourselves. If you have ever seen the hilarious movie "Multiplicity," you will know that the farther you get from the original, the less like the original. There are a couple of spiritual lessons here of which to take note. First, if we call ourselves Christians, then literally we are calling ourselves little "Christs." So, the closer we stay to the original, the more like the original we will be. Second, we are called to make disciples, so we must reproduce ourselves in others. We are all being cloned. This beckons the question, what are we being cloned into? What we are being cloned into, will be reproduced. So, what are you cloning and who is cloning you? How close are you to the original?

You Feed Them!

One of the most familiar stories of Jesus is found in Matthew 14:13-21. Jesus, having heard the news of John the Baptist's death, withdraws to an isolated place to pray. However, He is followed by a huge crowd of people on whom He has compassion. He then heals their sick and ministers to them. Afterward, the disciples have the following response, "15As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."

They were tired, had a busy day, they were probably hungry, so their response was reasonable, right? Note Christ's instruction to them, "16Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." If you have been to Sunday School, you know that in the following verses, Jesus works a miracle with a little boy's sack lunch and feeds the estimated 10,000+ people there.

OK, cool story, so what, I can't turn 5 loaves and 2 fish into a convention buffet. The Holy Spirit taught me a different application of the above mentioned verses. As parents, especially in the busy lives we lead, we too often tend to want to send our kids away to church, school (or Christian school), or wherever to learn about life and faith. But I think that Jesus' words to the disciples are apropos to us, "you feed them."

Much to the surprise of parishioners, it is not the church's responsibility to disciple our kids, but rather, according to Deuteronomy 6:4-9, WE are given that mantle. Too often we fuss and complain about what our schools are teaching or what the TV is allowing into our kids heads, but we abdicate our God given task to raise up our kids in the way they should go. We must be the primary source of information that our children receive, not the V-chip or the school board.

This is not a treatise on home school or Christian verses public school. The truth is I have seen both godly and pagan kids come out of both. By far the ones that the kids really rose above the culture were ones that Mom AND Dad actively pursued discipling their OWN children.

Our church is seeking a new youth pastor, and my pastor shared with me that one of the youths' parents had made the comment that if we didn't replace the youth pastor soon, we would lose our youth, since we didn't have, "anyone to disciple them." I think Christ would say the same thing to them and He did the disciples... "YOU FEED THEM!"