Category Archives: Family

Resurrected

Posted on by under Easter, Family, Father, Jesus

“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” – Luke 15:7

I was looking back at some pictures of when my son, Judah was first born this morning.

I have this picture where I am holding him in my hands literally minutes after he was born. It was so heartwarming to look and see his little hands and tiny eyes. I also noticed his hairy back & shoulders. I will always remember how incredibly hairy he was!

I remember that first moment when they put him on Kelsey’s chest. To see this little human and this beautiful, amazing woman and know that the Creator of the universe has entrusted them to you as an earthly protector and provider for them, the penny drops and these crazy emotions overwhelm you.

More than ever, now as a father, I think I more clearly understand what that scripture from Luke 15 really means. I understand how precious one child is, and that his worth is immeasurable in the eyes of Jesus. We know this thanks to the cross he willfully bore on our behalf. But the idea that one life is a symbol of a new beginning, innocence and a clean canvas that has all the potential in the world is something that stuck me again as I looked through those pictures.

The craziest part about all this to me is, the pure joy and the unadulterated celebration of life I felt in that moment when I held Judah in my hands pales in comparison to what God feels when one of His children are born again and are given a new beginning. Every part of Heaven joins in with God the celebration of that re-born life, that clean slate that has all the potential in the world ahead of them.

And it is that innocence, that freedom, that freshness and newness, was made possible only because Jesus did not stay dead. He rose to new life.

This new life in Christ is what caused the Apostle Paul to write in Corinthians “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

When Jesus was crucified, the Creator took the fall for the created. The Innocent One bore the punishment for the convicted. The Saviour of all mankind spread open His arms in love for you and I, when he died on that cross – lifting the heavy weight of our sins onto himself.

But the story doesn’t end there. Three days later, Jesus was re-born into eternal life and from that day on, the opportunity for those who place their faith in him to experience the same is real. And that power, that raised him from the grave, lives in us.

So today as I hunt for eggs and eat chocolate bunny’s with my precious Judah, my passion to see more people being born into a new life in my Heavenly Father’s family is strengthened and deepened.

Because of our resurrected Jesus, someone raised to new life in him is just as precious as a newborn baby, with all the potential in the world.

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Comforted

Posted on by under Children, Family, God, Jesus

Something broke my heart the other day.

My son Judah is 17 months old. His personality is growing by the day, and we are finding he is a very happy, smiley, and generally good natured little dude. He runs around the house as much as his little legs will let him run and he plays with the dog, throws balls, and bounces on the couch.

He also loves to watch movies. He loves watching Brave and Bolt. He has watched each of those movies at least 100 times, and surprisingly, these movies hold his attention more than almost anything else.

The part that breaks my heart is what happens every time my wife or I forget to skip the previews on Bolt.

There is a preview for the new Monsters University movie coming out on there. In the preview, the scene is in what seems to be a little boys room at night. The camera zooms in on a closet door that creaks open and something swoops out over towards a bed with what looks like a little boy. The monster stands up and reveals dark red, pretty scary looking eyes, but we soon see that the monster is Scully and Mike is in the bed, and Scully has glued his eye shut, and Scully starts laughing. It is actually pretty funny.

Judah is terrified of this.

Happy-go-lucky Judah, who is always smiling and laughing with that cute baby belly laugh, is afraid of Monsters in his closet. At 17 months!

He is so terrified that he screams at the top of his lungs and cries his eyes out at even the slightest glance of that closet door at the beginning of the preview. Its no fun if we forget to skip the previews.

It takes a while to console him if he sees that closet door. We have to hold him tight and rock him back and forth and repeatedly whisper “It’s ok buddy, Dada and Mama are here” in his ear. He eventually calms down and we tell him we love him and he is ready to watch Bolt.

Judah’s sheer terror of this scene breaks my heart. It ticks me off a little bit actually. It ticks me off because, the fallen world we live in that is teeming with fear and sin, is what my sweet, innocent Judah was born into.

It makes me want to rescue him from it. It makes me want to do whatever it takes to save Judah from ever having to be afraid.

I bring all this up because it’s a perfect picture of how I think God feels about us. I think he feels ticked off that his people that he loves are born into a world apart from him.

The awesome part about God is, he did exactly what it took to save us, his children.

He sent us Jesus.

Jesus is the opposite of fear. Jesus is love. Jesus does not force us to face our fears, nor does he ridicule us because our fears are unfounded. Instead, he is simply with us. He sits by us. He comforts us. He provides for us. He loves us.

Does God take away fear? No. Otherwise he wouldn’t tell us repeatedly in the Bible not to fear, he’d just take the fear away.

No, God does not take fear away. Otherwise I wouldn’t fear people will not like me. I wouldn’t fear failure. I wouldn’t fear isolation and rejection. I wouldn’t fear the future and I wouldn’t fear for my security.

What God does instead is not unlike what Kelsey and I do with Judah. He holds us close. He loves us. He speaks gently to us for a while, letting us know everything is going to be okay. He comforts us.

It is in our times of greatest fear that the true measure of our faith is tested.

And the best part is, that faith can be placed in a Jesus who tells us he will never leave us or forsake us, that he is always with us. That faith can be placed in a Jesus who sends us truth, encouragement, provision and protection. That faith can be placed in a Jesus who is holding us, rocking with us, reminding us we don’t need to fear.

Called

Posted on by under Calling, Family, God

But you, Lord , are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord , and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. (Psalm 3:3-5 NIV)

It was just over a year ago, that I felt called by God to plant a church one day.

Being called by God to do something, whether that is planting a church, or starting a company, or donating a lot of money, or simply to get your butt out of bed and go to church on Sunday, is pretty heavy stuff, no doubt.

It’s heavy because, being called by God doesn’t mean your life gets easier.

I look at David in the Bible, after he was called and anointed by God to be king over Israel. His tenure gets off to a pretty bumpy start. He is caught sleeping with another man’s wife and as a result, it is prophesied over him that “the sword will not depart from his house.” This happy little prediction comes true in David’s life as he goes on to see much violence and struggle amongst and with his children.

His own son Amnon, ends up raping his half-sister Tamar. David’s third oldest son Absalom and Tamar’s brother hears about this and he is furious. He knows David isn’t going to do anything about it – David at this point has become a very passive father.

Perhaps being a king was more important than being a dad to him.

So Absalom, seeing his dad’s unwillingness to take action decides he is going to do something about it himself. He kills Amnon, and he declares to all of Israel that he clearly could do the job of being king better than his dad could. Absalom, then forces David out of his throne and David is on the run from the armies of his own son.

Whew. Pretty heavy stuff.

And it was at this point that David penned those verses from Psalms 3.

How can someone in such a dire situation still find it in him to trust the Lord? He should have been at the end of his rope, cursing God, not praising him. Right?

No, I think what David must have learned through this whole experience is his calling was not about him. It was about God.

I think David had allowed his calling and “doing something for God” become what defined him and this blinded him to what was most important. And it is here in Psalms 3 that he is resetting his focus.

See, I think David’s calling was not about even being a king.

Being called by God sometimes leads us to be consumed by the title, or the things we think we have to do to fulfill that calling. Even if you don’t call it a “calling” – is there something you do that you have allowed to define you?

Sure we can feel our calling from God is to plant a church or be a boss or be a mom; in David’s case, be a king. These things are overt and very visible, and necessary.

But being called by God, it seems, is about doing small things, small things no one else really sees.

When we choose to follow God, we cannot let the following him get in the way. The things that we think we have to do or get done that bring us the praise of men will not bring us God’s favor. He doesn’t care how much money we have, how witty we are or how much praise people are willing to give us for what we do in the name of our calling. I think he cares more about the position of our heart. I think he cares more about how many people we love along the way.

David missed that. What if David stopped for a minute and took Amnon to lunch one day and just asked him how he was doing?

So instead of staying late at work today, hurry home to your wife. Instead of sending one more email, spend 3 more minutes with your kids. Call your mom. Look up from your phone and get the door for someone. Buy someones lunch behind you in the drive thru. Call your friend you have not called in a while and ask them how they are doing. Stop and love people.

It is when each of us wake up in the morning and love other people more than we love what we do that we will finally step into our calling.
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