From Ben Fronczek... Father’s Day Toolbox

Father’s Day Toolbox

Father’s Day 2012   My Father’s Tools

It is said that “God has ordained 3 great institutions here on this earth: The home, the government, the church. The oldest, and greatest of these institutions is the home. The church is a great institution, but is only as great as its homes. Our nation is great, though it has been far greater, but it is only as great as its churches.   “As the home goes, so goes the church, as the church goes, so goes the nation.”

Through the years, much of the burden of having the right kind of home has been placed on “mother.” But the Bible places most of the burden squarely in the lap of “Dad.”

Dad should be the one to set the moral & spiritual example in the home, and make sure that the Word of God is honored and revered. He should be the one to take lead in spiritual matters, and make sure his children are raised in nurtured to understand the Lord and His ways. They should also impress the importance of faith and church, and charity. Thank God for Christian mothers, some of which have many of these responsibilities fall to them because too many dads have not. But remember, dad will answer to God for it!

It was Joshua who said, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” He was the leader of the band.  Eve may have taken that first bite–but God came looking for Adam!

We live in a day in which it is very difficult to be a good man. It is even more difficult to be a good husband. But it is most difficult to be a good Christian dad.

The world has a warped concept of what it means to be a good dad. Just turn on the TV and you’ll know it’s true. Have you noticed that the dad of most TV households is made out to be a buffoon and an idiot? (Like Homer Simpson, or Ray Romano?)

Well, our standard should not be the television but rather the Word of God…

Jesus tells us that everyone builds on some kind of foundation, but not every foundation is a good one. For example, He tells the parable of 2 men who built on different foundations:
 

• A wise man built upon a foundation of rock (God and His Word) and his house stood in the storm
 

• But the foolish man built his house on a foundation of sand and the rain washed it away.

How many times have we gone to our fathers with a problem or project and he had just the right solution? Today I’ve brought a tool box with me full of tools that just may help you to be a better dad, or just a better person. Now this tools are just object lessons for what is really important.

1. The Instruction manual: The first thing we should do is refer to the instruction manual. Following them truly does make life simpler.  And concerning life matter God has provided the greatest instructional manual of all – the Bible. There is no other book like it in all the world. God has given it to us so that we can learn the best way to live. When you come right down to it, when you know how to do something the right way it gives you confidence and faith to take a project on. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

2. Level or Plumb:  These tools are meant to help a carpenter get things on the level or get them true. If you start building something off level or tipped cock-eyed and before you know it you are going to have some big problems. We likewise should do our best to speak the truth and learn the truth in situations. You may have heard it said that there are 3 sides to every story; your side, their side and then, the truth. Years ago I remember the advice of a Christian counselor who told me just like Jesus did, ‘that the truth will set me free,’ (John 8:31) Find out the real truth in any situation and that will be the first step in fixing your problem.    You must also realize that sometimes the truth hurts.

3. Light: It doesn’t matter what you are trying to do, if you don’t have enough light it’s hard to do anything properly. Light dispels darkness. Likewise spiritual light illuminates and helps an individual to know which path to take. Your light can also guide others. 

In Matt. 5:14 Jesus said,

 “¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”

4. Knee Pads: As you know there is no better ways to get things done than to get down on your knees and pray. Paul encourages us to pray without ceasing. It is our spiritual link to our heavenly father.  It’s a lot like this (show them an extension cord.)

As long as we stay plugged in to our heavenly Father we will have the energy to do what we have to do. (Pray for wisdom, understanding, patience, not to fall into temptation…)

5. Wrench or screwdriver : Sometimes you just need to turn things around. (that’s what repentance is all about – turning around!)   Many times we need to turn or convince others to turn their life around

6. Knife, chisel, or saw:  Or sometime you need to cut things away or cut things out.  We all have those defects that we need to get rid of. (Lying, cheating, foul mouth, all kinds of evil.  Sand Paper is good to smooth off the rough edges. (Where harsh words only exasperate or upset another)

7. Funnel: Sometimes you need a funnel to help you pour good things into others like God’s wisdom and instruction, encouragement,  sometime even a concerned rebuke.

8. There are times when you feel like to need a torch to melt some hearts. How do we do this? By having courage to be honest and confront sometimes with tough love)

9. Rubber mallet; and then there are other times.. well you get the idea. (discipline)  It always should be a Godly discipline.

10. This something you will use a lot, a putty knife to smooth things over. (forgiving)

11. Jumper Cables:  You might need these to jump start someone. Love and encouragement work better than any set wires. (We may even be talking about tuff love)

12. Clamps or duct tape are good for holding two close together, but arms are meant for hugging. And there is nothing like a hug to give comfort to another.

13. Glue is meant to bond things permanently together; but so does love, dedication and commitment. ‘

14. Hand Cleaner and rags; we all make messes that we need to clean up. Learning to be humble and learning to say I’m sorry works even better when dealing with relationships.  We also need to show others how Jesus can really clean up our life.

Even though today is Father’s Day, and dads are the ones that usually use these kind of tools, they are something we should all be using in a spiritual way.

All these implements require the individual getting personally involved. And getting involve in others lives in a positive way is about the most important thing you can do with your own life.

Over and over we read how Our Heavenly Father expressed His own love for us. No He did not use hand tools such as these, but He showed us His love,  - He showed us the way the truth and the life.

- He does His best to melt our heart and turn us around for our own good.

- He is willing to cut away the imperfections in our life and smooth off the ruff edges.

- He wants to pour His wisdom and good instruction into us.

- And rather than taking a rubber mallet to the side of our head, He would rather jump start us with encouragement, love and the hug of someone who really cares for you.

- He did not clean us with a detergent or hand cleaner, rather out of love He cleansed us by the blood of His Son.

When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples He finished up by telling them this in John 13:12-17,  

“¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Learn from our Father’s example, learn to use these tools, and take time to Love one another.

For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

From Jim McGuiggan... DEATH OF A TYRANT

DEATH OF A TYRANT

The ancient Greeks told stories of Sisyphus, the cunning founder of Corinth. For making fools of the gods of the underworld he was punished to labor at a hopeless task. He was to roll a huge block of granite up a high, very steep hill and roll it down the other side. Each time he got the huge stone to the pinnacle his strength was gone and it rolled back down to the bottom. It wasn't just the effort that bathed him in sweat and exhausted him completely that made the punishment intolerable, it was the 'almost but never' aspect of it. Had he believed, without doubt, that it was beyond him, the torment wouldn't have been so exquisite but coupled with the endless failure was the conviction that this time he could manage it.

Exodus 14 tells of Israel trapped between the Red Sea and the most powerful army in the world, between an insurmountable obstacle to freedom and pitiless tyranny. In response to their despairing protests Moses assures them God will deliver them. “You see these Egyptians?” asked God (14:13), “you will see them again no more, for ever!” The waters opened up for Israel and closed to bury forever the army of their bitter oppressor. The text tells us that Israel looked at the dead bodies of their once feared tormentors and believed in God and Moses. Finally! Those who picked their bones clean, those who bled them white were dead! 'You will never see them again' said God. Whatever they had to face in years ahead-this battle was won and it would remain as a prophecy, a promise that nothing was beyond their hope!

Years of torture and generations of humiliation—ended. How many rebellions had been planned and come to nothing? How often had they turned their eyes heavenward in despair? The hope born in youth would often die in old age. Optimism and cheerfulness would have been replaced in a nation's heart by grim submission and a sullen endurance. Then with such speed and finality the tyranny was obliterated and the years of bondage were forgotten in the joy of liberty as they gaped on the corpses of their oppressors on the shores of the Sea (Exodus 14:30).

And has "the Exodus" no message for the world at large? Is there any aspect of biblical teaching more eagerly sought than the message that the God of all the earth hates oppression, punishes oppressors, takes note of the weeping of the poor and exploited? That the Lord of all the earth will right all wrongs? Israel wasn't just lucky that their God happened to hate cruelty and felt the pain of the defenseless. No, Israel's God is the God of all humans and they all need to hear that he is as opposed to their tormentors as he was to Israel's! This is the one true God we must take to the nations of the world who (often in desperation) have turned their eyes to lifeless idols or dark and savage deities.

Well bred and well fed secularists sneer at a message which has become too familiar to them but which has laid the foundations of their freedom and prosperity. Theologian Clark Pinnock protests that we in the West allow the bored and argumentative secularists to set the agenda for our proclamation while multiplied millions of bewildered people are eager and need to hear about the true God who delivers the oppressed from the clutches of their enemies (see Psalm 10). Since secularists thrust the message from them, we turn to the rest of the world and (maybe) they will hear.

But the message of the Exodus is not only for brutalized nations and communities; it has a word of assurance and hope for all who suffer under tyranny of any sort. Too many of us have lived under a tyranny of a personal nature. Uncleanness, bitterness, drunkenness, greed, gossip, arrogance, immorality, self righteousness. To be endlessly assured that we were forgiven was grand but not nearly enough. Years ago we became captives. So long ago, perhaps, that we can't remember when we knew what freedom was. There was never a doubt in our minds that it was slavery and there never was a time when we didn't long to be free but endless rebellions, countless uprisings against the dictator came to nothing, hope died and we were left with gloomy views of the future; a future in which we saw ourselves as old men and old women still in the clutches of a cruel parasite. When we came to see it as that, life became grim submission, a joyless patience; better than nothing, of course, but so far beneath the life in which the soul dares to  believe that the tyrant can and will die.

Then one day it happened. For some of us the calendar could be marked because on that day our Redeemer arrived, not silently and in secret but as though with a mighty rush of water and we saw the enemy dead and lying all around us. For many of us the passage from death to life, from slavery to liberty, from shame and humiliation to honour, happened without our noticing it and the tyrants we saw in former days passed away. We saw them again no more. Whatever the future was to hold, whatever tyrant we were to face-we'd see that slave-lord never again for ever. (I don't believe every person is enslaved to a particular besetting sin that is of life-destroying proportions but I believe that every person—no exceptions—is in dire need of saving and keeping grace. I believe that every person—no exceptions—can be humbled by a tyrant and I believe that there are those who haven't yet seen their bondage. Comparing themselves with themselves they're blinded by their own glory. I believe that God is anxious to deliver hosts of us not from particular and grievous wickedness but from pathetic lives, shallow views and trivial pursuits. But it's mainly for those who struggle with evils that single them out, evils that make others doubt the genuineness of their discipleship, evils that cause even themselves to doubt their longing for a holy freedom—it's for those these words are especially aimed.)

The healing of others must not be viewed as one more nail in your coffin but as another prophecy, another assurance that tyranny will die. That God will not allow his child to vanish without rescue. Your day is coming. Your name is not Sisyphus. Those who have never known a deep, enduring and awful struggle can still sympathize and are praying you on. Those who have finally found God's redeemer in a friend, a husband, a wife, a child, a parent, a doctor and now know the joy of liberation, they are urging you on. One day God looking out of heaven will hear you, out of the darkness of your own crucifixion, taking on your lips the words his own Son had on his: 'It is finished!'

Finished the power and lure of the evil, finished the shame and humiliation of it, the bird has escaped the snare and the tyrant is dead!

[I borrowed most of this from my HEADING HOME WITH GOD [Weaver Publications, check home page on books and how to order.]

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland... Paul's Concern For His Brethren (1 Thessalonians 3:1-10)

               "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS"

               Paul's Concern For His Brethren (3:1-10)

INTRODUCTION

1. It is evident from this epistle that Paul loved his brethren...
   a. In their presence, he treated them like a nursing mother and
      exhorted them like a caring father - 1Th 2:7,11
   b. When absent from them, he longed to see them time and again 
      - 1Th 2:17-18

2. His concern for them is also evident as we continue our study of
   this epistle...
   a. As we notice his anxiety over their faith - 1Th 3:1-5
   b. As we read of his joy in hearing of their steadfastness - 1Th 3:6-10

3. What of our concern for one another?  Are we troubled at all over
   the spiritual welfare of our  brethren?

[As we take a closer look at "Paul's Concern For His Brethren", perhaps
there are things to be learned that will ensure we have a proper
concern for one another as well...]

I. PAUL'S CONCERN FOR HIS BRETHREN

   A. IMPLIED BY HIS ANXIETY...
      1. Paul was concerned about how they were holding up under
         tribulation - 1Th 3:1-4
         a. He did not want them to be shaken by them
         b. He had even warned them when he was still with them
      2. Paul was concerned about their faith - 1Th 3:5
         a. He was afraid that the tempter (Satan) might have tempted 
            them
         b. He was fearful that his labor might have been in vain
            1) A concern expressed for churches in Galatia - Ga 4:11
            2) A concern expressed for brethren at Philippi - Php 2:16
      -- Note:  if the doctrine "once saved, always saved" were true, 
         why did Paul worry?

   B. INSINUATED BY HIS HELP...
      1. He sent Timothy, at expense to himself - 1Th 3:1-2
         a. It meant being left in Athens alone
         b. It meant being without the aid of a brother, a minister of 
            God and fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ
      2. He sent Timothy for two reasons - 1Th 3:2,5
         a. To establish and encourage them in their faith
         b. To learn of the condition of their faith
      -- Note again:  if the doctrine "once saved, always saved" were 
         true, why the need to hinder the work at Athens by sending 
         Timothy back to Thessalonica?

   C. INDICATED BY HIS JOY...
      1. Timothy had now returned with good news - 1Th 3:6
         a. About their faith and love
         b. About their good remembrance of Paul
         c. About their great desire to see Paul
      2. Paul's reaction to this news - 1Th 3:7-9
         a. Comforted in his own affliction and distress by their faith
         b. Made to really live by their steadfastness
         c. Rejoicing with thankfulness for their condition before God

   D. ILLUSTRATED BY HIS PRAYERS...
      1. Note the frequency of his prayers for them - 1Th 3:10
         a. Praying night and day
         b. Praying exceedingly
      2. Note the content of his prayers for them - 1Th 3:10
         a. To see their face once again
         b. To perfect what is lacking in their faith

[Paul's concern for his brethren is certainly evidenced by his anxiety,
his help, his joy, and his prayers.  To provoke our thinking, let us
now examine whether there is evidence of...]

II. OUR CONCERN FOR OUR BRETHREN

   A. DO WE HAVE ANY ANXIETY...?
      1. Are we concerned about the welfare of our brethren, especially 
         the weak?
      2. Have we noticed their absence, does it not trouble us?
      -- Do we act as though we believed in the doctrine "once saved,
         always saved"?

   B. DO WE EXTEND ANY HELP...?
      1. Have we made an effort to call, write, or in some way contact
         them?
      2. Are we helping by setting a good example with our own service 
         and attendance?
      3. Are we doing what we can to establish and encourage them in 
         the faith?
      -- Paul was willing to make personal sacrifices to provide help 
         for his brethren, are we?

   C. DO WE EXPERIENCE ANY JOY...?  
      1. Are we moved at all when we see a brother or sister restored 
         to the Lord?
      2. Do we have any joy when we see them returned to our midst?
      3. Can we say with Paul, "For now we live, if you stand fast in 
         the Lord"?
      -- Our reaction to seeing brethren who are weak make an effort
         reveals much about our level of concern for them

   D. DO WE OFFER ANY PRAYERS...?
      1. Prayers of thanks when we hear or see evidence of their
         faithfulness?
      2. Prayers to see them and perfect what is lacking in their 
         faith?
      -- Paul prayed exceedingly, night and day...how often do we pray 
         for those who are weak or experiencing trials?

CONCLUSION

1. Much joy comes from seeing the faithfulness and steadfastness of
   other Christians...
   a. Paul was comforted in his own afflictions by their faith - 1Th 3:7
   b. He was "alive" because of their steadfastness - 1Th 3:8
   c. He was filled with thanksgiving for the joy that came from seeing
      their faith - 1Th 3:9
   -- The apostle John could relate to this joy of which Paul wrote 
      - cf. 3Jn 3-4

2. To experience such joy, we need to have concern for our brethren...
   a. Enough concern to be anxious over their condition
   b. Enough concern to do something about it
   -- Perhaps "Paul's Concern For His Brethren" might spark our own
      concern!

Without concern for our brethren, there is the very real danger of our
labor being in vain.  May our concern for our brethren be such that
when we hear of their faithfulness we too can say:

     "For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord." (1Th 3:8)

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

From Gary... You can tell a lot from a sign...

This little picture begs the question: what is worship, anyway?  Well, in this context, it seems to be public worship, although this could be just some sort of meeting to discuss the topic.  From the original, "worship" means to "submit" or "to bend the knee" which tells me that all these people are just plain WRONG!!!  It is NOT ABOUT US- IT IS ABOUT GOD, AND WHAT HE WANTS!!!  If one of these placards applies to you, then its time to re-think what you are doing.  One of my favorite passages from the book of John seems very appropriate to read at this point...

John, Chapter 4

  1 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John  2 (although Jesus himself didn’t baptize, but his disciples),  3 he left Judea, and departed into Galilee.  4 He needed to pass through Samaria.  5 So he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph.  6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”   8 For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 

  9  The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 

  10  Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 

  11  The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From where then have you that living water?  12 Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, as did his children, and his livestock?” 

  13  Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,   14  but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” 

  15  The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.” 

  16  Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 

  17  The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’   18  for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.” 

  19  The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.  20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”   21  Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father.   22  You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews.   23  But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers.  24  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman at the well; interesting, quite interesting indeed!!!  She wasn't a somebody- if fact, the Jews would look down on her for being a Samaritan.  She lived a life-style that was directly against God's laws of marriage (she just co-habited with men- I would call it a shack up). But, she was straightforward and honest about her life and later on, led many people to Jesus.  If I would paraphrase the highlighted verses above, it would be something like....  God wants people who have the right attitude and honesty about their worship; people who come to God on HIS terms and honestly want to do HIS WILL!!!  Frankly, this is still a somewhat free country and you have the ability to do what you want to in regards to worship.  But, that doesn't mean it pleases God.  I wonder, if you were to make your own sign about why you are at the worship service- WHAT WOULD IT BE???  Would it be about what you want, or what God wants?