Favorite Christmas Songs

On the way to church yesterday our family was sharing what our favorite Christmas songs were. The song "How Many Kings" by Downhere is one of my favorites. Take a listen and make sure you follow the lyrics. The lyric that grabs me the most is "How many Fathers gave up their Son for me? Only One did that for me!" The reality of that overwhelms me!

May this Christmas season remind us all of the peace that we only can have from trusting Jesus as our Savior. Merry Christmas!


John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

Before You Speak

Working hard on this as a family.

Dad Taught Us

I know it's not fathers day but this clip from the Skit Guys is worth sharing.

Ministry Idolatry

When Ministry Becomes a Mistress - How often do we see men (and women) neglecting their families because they are married to their jobs? If we are "doing it for the Lord" that doesn't make it OK. David Kraft writes about this all-too-common problem.

New Parenting Class Starts September 9th (video)

Please take 2 minutes to watch this video from Rob Rienow and Visionary Parenting. Our Vertical Parenting class that starts on September 9th at 9:30am will be teaching from this book and DVD series. If you are interested in attending the class please email me at verticalparenting@gmail.com or sign up at the Welcome Center by September 2nd.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Winning Like a Christian

Here is a good article from Desiring God. 

If you are a parent who has a child involved in sports are you teaching them to win and lose with humility? Are you yourself remaining humble in their success? I have been coaching my daughters for some time now and it saddens me to see so many parents obsessed with the success of their own children. More times than not it becomes more about the parent than about the child. I am all about encouraging our children and my players to do their best and congratulating them on having a good game. However, I know I need to always check my motives to see if I am looking to draw attention to my child or to myself for that matter. When that happens it is nothing short of pride which is the complete opposite of humility. Pride says, "Look at me and what I have accomplished under MY own strength." Humility says, "It is only by HIS strength that I can even play this game and any ability that I may have has been given to me by God and win or lose all the glory goes to Him." 

Athletics can be a good thing and used properly can have the potential to become a ministry to unsaved people. Unfortunately, athletic success has been elevated to a level of importance that is nothing short of idol worship for not only the athlete but also for the parents of the athlete. 

By God's grace, let's teach our kids and ourselves the proper perspective. 

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/winning-like-a-christian-hedonist

New Parenting Class Starting September 9th

On September 9th we will be starting a new parenting class during the 9:30am Sunday School Hour at High Point Baptist Church. We will be using a book and DVD Series called Visionary Parenting by Rob Rienow. 

As parents it is our job to make disciples of our children. During our time together we will talk about what God's Word has to say about why this is primarily our job as parents. We will then help train and teach each other some practical ways that we can do this. Finally we will discuss how we can make the time to make discipling our children a priority.

We hope can join us for what could be the first step in radically transforming your home and your family. If you are interested in attending please let us know on our Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/verticalparenting or sign up on Sunday morning. We look forward to seeing you.

Carl and Sherry

http://www.amazon.com/Visionary-Parenting-Capture-God-Sized-Vision/dp/0892655763/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344914423&sr=8-1&keywords=visionary+parenting

Dear stay-at-home mom,

Trevin Wax has a letter to stay-at-home moms. “Dear Stay-at-Home Mom, You are a gift of God to your husband and your kids. But you don’t always feel that way, do you?”

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/2012/08/06/dear-stay-at-home-mom/

Family Worship

Good article on Family Worship. I agree with the author that it is one of the hardest disciplines for me to be consistent with but it is a worthwhile endeavor.

http://www.raisinggodlychildren.org/2012/05/how-to-lead-family-worship.html

The Little Moments

As a father of 3 daughters it is not uncommon that one of my girls needs a little pick me up every now and then. Well, today was one of those days where one of my gals needed a little something special done for her. I knew she was craving one of her favorite dishes and tonight we just so happened to have all of the ingredients on hand so I was able to do a little something special by preparing an unexpected treat for her.

After we enjoyed our little impromptu meal together we settled in as a family for our Sunday evening ritual of watching The Next Food Network Star. It was only a few minutes into the show when one of the finalists looks into the camera and says, "What better way to show someone you love them than by cooking for them." We just glanced at each other and smiled.

We all want our kids to understand the depth of the love that we have for them and we go to great lengths to demonstrate that love. We try to do big things for our children to show them how much we love them but sometimes it's little moments like this that have the greatest impact.

I am thanking God for the little moments tonight.

Bad Parenting Impersonation

We teach our children one way or another. It takes effort as a parent to break bad habits such as these. I know personally I am still working on it and I am sure I will be for a long time!

Are You a Yeller?

Is your default reaction to yell at your children or do you respond with the gospel?

You Can't Change Your Child.

This is soooooo good. The man in the glasses is Paul David Tripp and is one of the best teachers I have heard on parenting. 

Once again, humbled for the third night in a row! 

King You

Really. Really good stuff! Convicting!

The Gospel Saves Kids

Posted this a few years ago. I came across it again tonight. It is worth watching again.

1 John Challenge

Hey Dads and Moms. 

I don't know about you but sometimes it gets really hard leading your family in times of devotion. I know I sometimes struggle with not knowing what to do. If you were in church this morning you heard Pastor Joe mention that next week he will be doing a survey of 1 John. Why not take one chapter per night this week and read it together as a family? There are 5 chapters so you get one skip day. (Two if you start tonight.)

Husband’s read it together with your wives. Dads and Moms read it with your children. Read it yourself this week as you spend time with the Lord. If you really want to challenge yourself in your private devotions why not read the entire 5 chapters every day until next Sunday? That should take about 20-30 minutes per day. Take note throughout the book of what the evidence of a true believer in Christ is. As Pastor Joe said today, it has nothing to do with a decision you have made in the past but what you actually believe and have you been changed as a result of that belief.

I would love to see some discussion either on the Vertical Parenting blog or on Facebook as to how God is using this time in the Word and what God is teaching them as a result of this time with Him. Who’s with me? Let’s encourage each other this week to stick with it. I don’t doubt that it will make the message this Sunday even more meaningful as a result of our preparation. My prayer is that God makes His Word clear to us all as we spend time with Him this week.

Yours in Christ,

Carl

Love This! Nice job Google!

Here is a video for you Dad's. Try not to cry!