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Around the Web (5/31)

May 31, 2013 — Leave a comment

CHEAP eBook Deals of the Day - Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, Philip Nation) – $4.99 (67% off); Essential Church (Thom S. Rainer & Sam Rainer III) – $4.99 (75% off); Built by the Lord: A Study of the Family (Edwin Crozier) – $2.99 (79% off).
One Stone has just released The Story of the Bible by Hal Hammons, a 12-lesson study designed for students who are willing and eager to dig deep and determine how to maximize their efforts to understand the Bible. Options include paperback, single user PDF, congregational user PDF, and PowerPoint slides.
Daniel Howell suggests 4 ways to encourage your kids to leave the church.
A record 40% of all households with children under the age of 18 include mothers who are either the sole or primary source of income for the family, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The share was just 11% in 1960.
Inspired by 1 Kings 18:21, Gary Henry writes, “When it comes to God, we won’t make much progress if we falter between two opinions.”

Around the Web (4/23)

April 23, 2013 — Leave a comment

CHEAP eBook Deal of the Day: Journey to Joy: The Psalms of Ascent (Josh Moody) – $0.99 (93% off).
Ken Weliever issues a simple challenge: be kind. “In a world that is often insensitive, cold and calloused, Christians are called upon to be different. As we interact with our brethren, friends and family, let’s learn to be nice. Be considerate. Be caring. Be loving. Be patient. Be kind.”
Andy Sochor provides a great survey of the wise warnings in Proverbs about alcohol.
Gary Henry encourages us not to mistake the means for the end. “We can’t grow strong without using the means God has provided to that end, but we mustn’t forget what the end is. The ‘trees’ are sometimes so interesting, we lose sight of the ‘forest.’ We can become so caught up in the activities of spiritual growth that we begin enjoying them alone, just for their own sake. As strange as it may seem, we can lose touch with God while busying ourselves with the deeds of the devotional life.”
Rickie Jenkins addresses parents who are concerned about training their children in the best way possible. “We search for fundamental keys that will help us to be successful. May I suggest a few of those fundamental keys are found in the Ten Commandments, especially the command to ‘honor thy father and mother’ (Ex. 20:12)?”

The Hubble Space Telescope has been in orbit for 23 years and, to celebrate this milestone, the space telescope revisited the famous Horsehead Nebula in the constellation of Orion.

In Around the Web alcohol, Amazon, Andy Sochor, ascent, cheap, child, deal, devotion, eBook, end, family, Gary Henry, Home, Horsehead, Hubble, Josh Moody, Ken Weliever, kind, Kindle, means, mistake, Nebula, parent, Proverbs, Psalm, Rickie Jenkins, space, telescope, Ten Commandments, wine, Wisdom

God Notices the Little Things. Do We?

April 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

And [Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)

God notices and appreciates the little things. Little things are powerful. They can accumulate to have positive and negative impacts on our homes.

Little things affect our marriages. Most husband-wife relationships that have grown to be strained are not so because of one-time, massive, easily-identifiable “meteors” that suddenly and unexplainably fell out of the marital sky. Most of the significant problems we experience in our marriages can be attributed to the multiplication of the little things—a selfish choice here, rude disregard there. Attitudes produce actions. Actions evolve into habits. Habits undeniably impact life at home. Given enough time, the little things can snowball and cause serious damage at the very foundation of a marriage.

Children who are not taught to appreciate and participate in the little things are set by their parents on a trajectory of ingratitude and self-centeredness. Mom is not the maid. Dad is not the ATM. Children are not entitled to everything their hearts desire, nor should they be treated as immune to sacrifice or free from accountability. When the little things are taken for granted, erosion of the heart is experienced that can eventually lead to devastating consequences.

In Building Blocks, Marriage, Parenting action, attitude, behavior, block, building, character, child, family, habit, Home, husband, little, Marriage, parent, teen, thing, wife

The Great Commandments Apply at Home

April 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

“Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31)

If no commandment is greater than these, no environment needs them more than our homes. When God first commanded the children of Israel to love him with all their heart, soul, and might, he directly attached his expectations to everyday life at home.

“These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deut 6:6-9)

By God’s design, home is “where the children are led to know Christ in his beauty who loves them so.” Home, as God envisioned, is “where the altar fires burn and glow” (B. B. McKinney). Home may be “where the heart is,” but nothing matters more in Christian homes than the heart of God.

In Building Blocks, Marriage, Parenting ambition, child, Christ, commandment, conceit, example, family, first, God, Home, humility, Jesus, Life, LORD, love, lowliness, Marriage, neighbor, parent, rivalry, second, self, teach

The Weight of Anxiety

April 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. (Prov 12:25)

The weight of anxiety can affect life at home. This weight comes to settle on big and little shoulders for a variety of reasons: an upcoming test at school, problems on the playground, a job-performance review, an impending business trip, an unpleasant confrontation, sickness, financial strain—these weights are real and carrying them can be difficult.

When our hearts are weighed down, it’s easy to “take it out” on the people we love the most. Throughout the day, at school or at work, we may do a pretty good job of balancing the weight and keeping our spirits under control… until we get home. Then, we find it all too easy to be grumpy, mean, and hurtful with our families.

Anxiety in a man’s heart may weigh him down, but “a good work makes him glad.”

Dads: it was a long day. What about deliberately reflecting on “a good word” before you open the front door?
Moms: it was a long day. What about intentionally taking a moment to pray for patience before the chaos of the evening has the opportunity to hit critical mass?
Teenagers: it was a long day. What about carefully checking your attitude before your interaction with Mom and Dad takes a negative turn?
Kids: it was a long day. What about looking for little ways you could help out and pick up after yourself before things get crazy around the house?

In Building Blocks anxiety, Bible, Christian, Dad, family, good, heart, Home, husband, kid, Life, mom, parent, Scripture, stress, teen, wife, word

Could Your Home Use a Good Spring Cleaning?

March 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

The home was God’s idea, but life at home isn’t always perfect. Or easy. Or pleasant. Or like we expected it to be.

On this first day of Spring, might the Bible provide some help? Many of us know it’s time for a good “Spring cleaning” around our physical houses. But what about our homes? Our marriages? Our parent-child relationships? Our individual lives of integrity?

Here’s a Spring Cleaning Checklist to get us thinking about the issues that matter most:

What sort of clutter has built up? (Luke 8:14)
Is your garbage disposal working? (James 1:21)
Are your mirrors clean? (James 1:22-25)
Are you keeping an eye on your filter? (Phil 4:8)
Is your alarm system functional? (Prov 22:3)
What needs to be thrown away for good? (Gal 5:19-21)
How’s the laundry coming? (Col 3:5-14)
Are you getting the fresh air you need? (1 Cor 13:4-8)
Have all the necessary locks been installed? (Eph 5:3-4)
Are things as secure as they need to be? (Prov 4:23)
How’s the foundation? (Matt 7:24-27)

In Marriage, Men, Parenting, Women, Youth air, alarm, Audio, Bible, child, choke, Christ, clean, clutter, disciple, disposal, door, family, filter, filth, foundation, garbage, garment, guard, heart, Home, house, integrity, Jason Hardin, Jesus, laundry, Life, lock, love, Marriage, mirror, mp3, outline, parent, pdf, perspective, purge, Scripture, secure, sermon, sin, spiritual, Spring, system, teen, trash, unrighteousness, vision, window

Band-Aids of Deceit

March 12, 2013 — Leave a comment

Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. (Prov 12:19)

Lying about something can get us out of trouble… for a moment.

Lying about someone can make us look better… for a moment.

Lying is a temporary fix, a quick band-aid we scramble to attach to a situation when we’re scared or frustrated or insecure. In the moment, lies seem like they will make us feel better, sound better, or make the mess we’ve made go away. What we don’t always realize is this: these band-aids of deceit will stick longer than we intended, cover more than we expected, and be more painful to rip off than we ever imagined.

In Building Blocks Bible, blocks, building, consequences, family, Home, lie, lying, Proverbs, truth

The Blame Game

March 11, 2013 — Leave a comment

In Genesis 3:1-13, when Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, they tried to hide from God.

But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

In that moment, Adam had a choice: accept responsibility for his actions or blame someone else. Adam chose to blame.

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?”

In that moment, Eve had a choice: accept responsibility for her actions or blame someone else. Eve chose to blame.