Do You Teach Your Children to Fear The Lord?

Click on the link to read a great article on the importance of this fundamental biblical teaching.

http://www.disciplelikejesus.com/blog/?p=399

Lead Me

Here is a great song by Sanctus Real. It's about a husband and father leading his family and looking to God for the strength to see it through. After you listen to the song, listen to the story behind the song.

As men we can get so wrapped up in our jobs, activities and even our ministries that we neglect leading our wife and our children. Men, don't lose sight that the main ministry that God has entrusted you with is first your wife and then your children.

Drudgery Vs. Christianity

Drudgery Vs. Christianity: "Drudgery Vs. Christianity from the Desiring God blog."

Parental Mythbusting

Here is a great article from John MacArthur's website discussing 10 common myths or misconceptions that parents face. What I love about this article is every myth is addressed specifically with scripture and it explains what God's truth is regarding each myth. Please click on the link below to access the article.

Parental Mythbusting

Are You Using The Family Dashboard?

Really good article about gauging where your family is and how it is doing.

http://theresurgence.com/2010/09/19/using_the_family_dashboard

What Did You Expect? Redeeming The Realities of Marriage.

The Vertical Parenting Ministry at High Point Baptist Church will begin a 10 week series on marriage starting September 22, 2010. The start time of the class has changed to 6:30pm and it will end at 8:00pm. This will  better mirror the J.A.M. Youth Ministry that occurs at the same time.

If you have signed up or would like to sign up please email Carl and Sherry Majeski at verticalparenting@gmail.com to confirm or re-confirm your attendance. Also, please let us know if you have a need for childcare, how many children you have and their ages.

For information on Vertical Parenting please go to www.verticalparenting.com.

Marriage Class Starts September 22nd

On Wednesday's beginning September 22nd, Vertical Parenting Ministries will begin a 10 week Marriage Class entitled What Did You Expect?? Redeeming The Realities of Marriage by Paul David Tripp.The class will be held at High Point Church from 6:00pm until 7:45pm. To register or for more information please email Carl or Sherry at verticalparenting@gmail.com.







From www.paultrippministries.org.

It won't take long for you to realize that your marriage hasn't escaped the reality of sin or the brokenness of the world. It's what you do next that will make all the difference in the world in the character and quality of your marriage.  A marriage of unity, understanding and love is not rooted in romance but in worship. It is only when I worship God as Creator, Sovereign, and Savior that I will ever love as I should. Have you ever wondered why some couples reach a place of unity, love, and understanding in their marriages while other couples seem trapped in the same struggles year, after year, after year? The surrounding culture would lead us to believe that a marriage of unity, love, and understanding is rooted in romance. Scripture would rather say that a good marriage is the result of worship. Does this confuse you? Then, this marriage conference is for you. Learn how practical these insights are for the everyday issues and situations of a real marriage; and, learn the practical steps that will help couples know how to get from where they are, to where God wants them to be.

Are You Willing?

Jesus was not merely with His disciples in his spare time. Mark 3:14 says, "Then He appointed the twelve that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach." The idea of "Quality Time" is one of the great lies of our times; our "microwave" approach to discipleship is not working. Like our Lord, parents who disciple like Jesus will sacrifice time, careers, hobbies, prestige, money, entertainment and possessions in order to be with their children. "Quantity Time" is what it takes to build deep relationships. Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 16:24-25). Are you willing to lose your life in order to follow Jesus and disciple your children?

---from the book Disciple Like Jesus For Parents

Have Dinner with Your Children.

Nothing says "I truly care about you" more than spending dinnertime with your children at least five nights a week. More than any other day-to-day behavior, parents who dine with their children produce healthier adults because it sends a clear signal that their children are a high priority. Parents who miss dinner--no matter what the excuse--are sending the wrong message, and that message is unfortunately being heard loud and clear.   --From Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson

Busyness: The Thief of Family Memories

The following article examines our busy lifestyles and how we may make better choices.

Busyness: The Thief of Family Memories

Quality vs. Quantity

Hey Dads! Happy Fathers Day!


If you are looking for ways to spend time with your kids check out the link below. 


Remember, you can't have QUALITY time without QUANTITY time! When you spend QUANTITY time with your children chances are you will be there for those QUALITY moments. Are you doing that? Is your family your number one ministry? It needs to be! It is the first ministry that God has entrusted you with. That is where you need to be spending the bulk of your time. Building a relationship with your children. I recently heard Josh McDowell say in a sermon, RULES without RELATIONSHIP equals REBELLION. Wow!


Do you want to be a good Dad? The best thing that you can do as a Dad is love God, love your wife and love your children. Make your relationship with all 3 your top priority!

http://www.listen.family.org/images/60_fun_things_dad_can_do_with_his_kids.pdf

Family Man's Creed

I was cleaning out my garage today and came across this card with the Family Man's Creed on it. Definitely a good find!  It's a good check up for us all. 

The Family Man's Creed

With God's help I will do my best to:

PRAISE AND HONOR GOD DAILY

in my thoughts, my words, and my deeds, thus establishing the foundation for my success as a family man.

HONOR AND RESPECT MY WIFE

by loving her as Christ loves His church, and faithfully demonstrating my lifelong commitment to providing for her needs.

SPIRITUALLY PROTECT MY FAMILY

by constantly interceding in prayer for their needs, establishing the word of God as our home's final authority, and boldly declaring that "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

EMOTIONALLY PROTECT MY FAMILY

by speaking words of blessings and encouragement, spending lots of quality time together, and remembering to be slow to anger and quick to extend mercy.

PHYSICALLY PROTECT MY FAMILY

through hard work, preparedness and diligence, understanding that my call as a family man requires daily sacrifices.

BE FAITHFUL TO MY FAMILY

by ensuring regular weekly church attendance and faithful giving of my time and resources, in addition to maintaining relationships with other Christian men for edification and accountability.

ASK THE LORD FOR WISDOM

and His empowerment that I may walk in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.

Don't Waste the Sound of Sirens

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. NIV

I was happy to see the article below on the Desiring God Blog. What a great way to get your children to be more aware of the world around them! As a family we try to always pray for the sick person as well as the Emergency Workers. It has now become instinctive whenever we hear a siren and by God's grace our children usually initiate the call to pray.

So how can our families expand upon this? How can we make prayer more instinctive in other areas of our lives? What about those medical helicopters that we see fly by so often?  Or when we see a homeless person? When we hear of someone that has lost their job? When we see a tragic story on the news? What about those kids on the street corner? How about when a famous athlete or celebrity makes a bad decision that effects their entire family? Do our children hear us criticize them and their actions or do we pray with our families for the people involved? There is power in prayer and there are so many ways that we can demonstrate this to our children. There are countless opportunities to demonstrate our love for others that can easily be overlooked.

There is a lost world around us that we need to train ourselves and our children to be aware of. Just because we cannot personally touch everyone that we see we can ask our Father in heaven to step in and make a difference in their lives. Wouldn't it be great to one day get to heaven and meet people that you never knew on this earth who are there because you or your children prayed for them? Do you believe that your prayers can have that kind of impact? They can! If you struggle in this area, ask God to expand your faith and to show Himself to you in this way. This decision can effect multiple generations in your family.  It can mean one day, possibly many years from now, you are driving down the road and you hear a siren and it is your grandchild who prays for the people in the ambulance!

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2429_dont_waste_the_sound_of_sirens/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+DGBlog+(DG+Blog)&utm_content=My+Yahoo

A Thriving Family makes time to.......

How much time are you spending with your spouse? Your kids? How many times a week do you eat dinner together? What are you doing to have fun together? How much mindless time do you and /or your kids spend in front of the television, computer or video games? Below is a good checklist. How are you doing?

Even the most loving, well meaning parents can fall into a rut of busyness. There is no better day than today to make some changes. Click on the link below and see how you are doing. If you have some good ideas on how your family thrives please share them in the comment section.


http://www.focusonthefamily.com/nsc/simple_tips.aspx

PLEASE READ AND REPLY IF INTERESTED

Hello Everyone,

I am posting this to see what kind of interest there is in offering an evangelism training course at High Point.

• Do you want to share your faith but don’t know how?
• Are you worried what people will think?
• Does fear keep you from sharing your faith even with the people you love the most?
• Do you wish you had a desire to share your faith but quite honestly you just don’t?

Please take 3 minutes to watch the attached video from The Way of the Master Basic Training Course. Our church owns this material and in my opinion it is some of the best instruction available. If after watching you feel that you would be interested in something like this please send me an email at carlmaj33@gmail.com.

The course is 8 weeks long. I don’t know when the class would take place or where we would have it. The only thing I want to find out now is who is interested.

Yours in Christ,

Carl

A New Years Message for Dads

Click HERE to read online.

Dads, the Old Testament ends with a message for you. God wants your kids. So, God wants you.

by JARED KENNEDY on DECEMBER 31, 2009

Here are the famous final words of the Old Testament:

“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.“  Malachi 4:5-6

One pastor, Steve Wright, observes, “Of all the ways that the Old Testament could have closed, notice how with laser accuracy it zeros in on one particular group–fathers” (ApParent Privelege, 135).  The passage promises a messenger like Elijah who would bring reconciliation of family conflicts within the Jewish community.  And it warns that the land will be cursed if the fathers do not respond to this messenger.  But how will they be cursed?  What is at stake if the fathers disobey?

Throughout the book of Malachi, the prophet has called fathers to turn in repentance toward Him and turn back to their community, their wives, and their families.  The consequences are clear.  By their actions, the fathers will either become a curse and source of warning for their children, or their repentance will be a source of blessing for their children.  And their children will be claimed by God as godly offspring:

“If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.  “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants” (Malachi 2:2-3a)

“The LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.  Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one?Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth” (Malachi 2:14b-15)

God wants dads to reconcile with Him and with their families, because he has a claim on their children.  He desires godly offspring.  He wants the next generation to know Him and  treasure Him, keep his commandments, and not forget him.   And family conflict is an obstacle that gets in the way of kids knowing Christ.  Conflict with your spouse can be an obstacle to your kids growing in godliness.

Often dads use a heavy work load as an excuse for neglecting their families.  Steve Wright responds this way.  His words are ones to live by:

God has given a job description to us, and there is no escape clause, even for dads who work a certain number of hours.  You see, our career isn’t really our job.  Our career puts food on the table and keeps the lights on so that we can do our real job.  Our real job is laid out clearly in the Word…

Love your Lord with everything you’ve got. Matthew 23:37-38 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.”  If Jesus said this is the most important thing we can do, then it is also the most important thing a dad can do.

Love the Lord and lead your bride. Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”  The message is to serve your bride just as Christ served His Bride, the church, to the point that he laid down his life for her.

Love and teach your children. Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”  This verse sums up the biblical mandate for dads.  Dads must lead the effort to give their children an eternal perspective, show them their need for Christ, and continually point them to the Savior (from ApParent Privelege, 146-147).

Don’t neglect your primary responsibilities.  Don’t let family conflict be an obstacle to your kids knowing Jesus in 2010.  Heed the final words of the Old Tesament.