God gives and gives and gives. Out of gratitude and from a heart of justice, we give.
Giving is an act of defiance against depravity. It rises up and says, “I will not tolerate disgrace. I will restore with grace-filled goodness.”
Photo credit: http://www.lifeofpix.com
For me, I get overwhelmed sometimes when there are too many choices. We have a phrase in our culture when we have a question: “Just Google it.”
For wise and discerning people, that can be somewhat helpful. But I need more than a quick tip or a rabbit trail of opinions, I want a guiding principle for my family.
As a husband and a father, I want to have a single pursuit. I want to keep it simple. When there are too many good targets it can be hard to choose which one to shoot for. Let alone all the unhelpful targets that distract.
But when I know there is one great target, then I can train and focus on it and get better and better at hitting it.
That’s what Family Rhythm is: the strong, regular, repeated focus on one target or one story, really.
Here’s the story: Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son.”
All of Scripture, really tells one story and that’s the story of God’s ongoing sacrifice to bring us into a restored relationship with himself through Jesus Christ.
How will you tell this story at many times and in many ways with your family?
The “Peace Process”: Teaching Reconciliation in Your Home – Connected Families.
This is a fantastic blog on working through conflict with your children. Check it out!
What to Do When We Blow Up – Connected Families.
The goal and hope of Christianity is restoration. Jesus Christ sacrificed his life so that we could be restored in our relationship with God. One day, He will restore all things and make all things new and right and good. For the mean time we have families that are broken. We can demonstrate this hope for a better future when we model humility after a blowout. Great article here. Click the link!
I’m attaching here a project I worked on for my seminary class: Ministering to Families. It is essentially a walk through of a system for mentoring families that promotes relational restoration. The principles are based on the story of the Gospel as the best plan not only for a restored relationship with God, but also restored relationships with each other. It is inspired by my previous post entitled: The Life Rhythm You MUST Groove To.
Click here for the pdf: Gospel Saturated Families Project
Rationale and Biblical Foundation
God loves people. In the beginning God created a universe to display his greatness. Then he created people to share and revel in it. When those people sinned, the intimacy they shared with God was forever broken. But God had an even bigger plan to show off even more greatness so people could share and revel in even more of it…if they would trust him.
When God created people, he said, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28). This imperative instituted families and stirred in them the desire to go into all the world exploring, creating and delighting in the Creator together. However, because of sin, families were also broken and children would grow up not having known of the original intimacy their parents had with the Creator. Parents would then have to pass on this firsthand knowledge which would become second hand and so on.
Even though the relationship people had with God was broken, God was still working and present and very active. His aim was and is to mend what was broken, to heal what was wounded and to restore what was ruined. He chose throughout history to speak and to share promises of redemption. Whenever he spoke or demonstrated his power it was intended to be shared. In fact, how could such powerful demonstrations not be made known? Inevitably, stories would be written and told in community and within families. Significant rituals and marker events would be instituted as powerful reminders of God’s faithfulness. People would hear portions of God’s greatness and glory again and again even though it could no longer be seen in all its fullness here on Earth.
Guess how that happened!
At church in our kids service, we’re focusing on the theme Epic Adventures for the month. It’s all about joining God in the adventure He’s designed for us. Last Sunday we talked about the most epic fail of all time: the original sin. This sin is what prevents us from living in God’s epic adventure. I posed the challenge that holiness is the epic adventure. On the surface, it doesn’t seem very epic or very adventurous. But when we break it down into the great themes of Scripture we find that it truly is.
Consider this: God, this uncreated, all-powerful, all-knowing, everlasting and holy being, speaks and the perfect universe comes into existence. Part of this perfect universe is a teeny little man and a teeny little woman. Both created perfect and with great value. Both designed to live in amazing relationship with their Creator and for thrilling adventures exploring the world He made.
Now consider this: Man, the created, weak and limited little being, takes things into his own hands and rebels against His Maker. Not smart. We could call that an unholy decision. He has now brought death, destruction and pain into his world. Time is running out. He will die and the Earth will be destroyed. All is lost…unless there is a rescue plan.
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