Category Archives: Dad’s Corner

The Heart Holds the Keys

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Young or old, whatever reigns in the heart rules the life. Often it is a man’s job that consumes him. Sports is common, pleasure, whether entertainment, food (difficult to hides the affects of that one) or hmm, call it physical pleasure/lust so easily can enslave a man. 

“Just one – smile- of my favorite verses is that Jesus saw the multitude with compassion. “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:36-38).

I define compassion to the children as “pity to act.” It’s not just feeling sorry for them but able and willing to do something. It is all about seeing the lost as on their way to hell and wanting and actually sharing the gospel. See the world. There are only two groups before the Judge —those who are pardoned and those who are condemned. Pardoned by the blood of Jesus —or headed to hell. 

I do love witnessing and passing out tracts in this country —anywhere really. Any rejection is not of me; who cares what you think of me anyway? Pray for souls to be saved —there lies the power; God wants to use our mouths, our feet, our hands, everything.” 

In His grip, 

Joan Cuthbertson

(That quote was an email from a fantastic soul-winning, homeschooling mother of 12, missionary in the Ivory Coast)

Jesus had compassion and then did something. The first question is are we concerned (compassion) for other’s souls? How concerned are we even for our children’s souls? Frankly, that may be the main problem. In a “me first” society, the need to be concerned and broken for other’s impending eternal suffering is likely the first step. 

Then, to motivate to action. 

Wide Path to Destruction

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I have a tract called “The Bridge” that has a well done graphic (by William Ressler) on the front. It shows a wide path of people walking toward destruction and falling into a flaming canyon. There is also a narrow path with few people heading for a cross-like bridge over the flames. How I wish that every professing believer had that image burned into his mind and heart so that when he sees people, he sees them likely on that wide path toward the flames. 

Thankfullyour God is a God of love Who desires that none would perish. “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:14).

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

If God so loved the people of the world that He would give His Son as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, shouldn’t our hearts be broken for others on the path to destruction? 

A  Deep Ugly Root

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A  Deep Ugly Root

I absolutely love how the Lord works to His glory and our good through His indwelling Spirit and the Word by sharpening and equipping to make us more useable. Recently, He has been revealing to me my pride. It started in my daily time in the Word. How the Spirit will use that time as an investment in our walk with Him. Better to not eat a bite of food all day than miss a quality time in the Word in the morning.

That morning through my Scripture reading, pride was clearly highlighted as a problem in my life. Since then it has become the daily focus in thought, the Word, and prayer. This verse is instrumental in that: “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate” (Proverbs 8:13). In that one verse, hate is used twice! This is no sugar coating it, but a clear picture of what God thinks of pride. It is EVIL, and I’m to hate it! 

Notice, pride is the first thing mentioned in this list that God hates. Pride will keep you from fear of the Lord.  Pride lifts up, when humility is the example of Christ Himself. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).

I want the mind of Christ. I want to live for Him. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29). 

Neither Ditch

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Aren’t you happy when driving down the highway and you are able to keep the car out of either ditch? Sort of makes your day, doesn’t it? Might you reply, “Actually, if that was my only goal, I’m still at great risk from oncoming traffic if I’m weaving back and forth across the whole road.” Oh, I get it, but then why do so many believers seem to steer their walk with Christ with the goal of “staying out of either ditch, spiritually?” Meaning, they want to avoid being seen as making horrible sinful choices and yet not be viewed as too holy? 

That isn’t consistent with “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). 

However, holiness is not a bunch of checkboxes, if I don’t do this I’m holy. Yes, it does involve what I do and don’t do, but what am I bringing into my mind? What delights my soul? “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

Victim or Owner

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It amazes me that the cry of today seems to be: not my fault, he did it, that wasn’t fair, injustice, no one taught me, no one warned me, the government should have, and the list goes on. How freeing of responsibility when the problem isn’t my fault.

If you are a parent you have heard it all, but it doesn’t seem to solve any problems, does it? Somehow it does make the proclaimer feel better. If it is someone else’s fault than the child can’t be held responsible for his actions, right? The mantra of today is as old as creation. “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Genesis 3:12).

What’s the answer? First, we examine ourselves. Do we make excuses? Is that the example we set for the family? If that is your problem, you, with the Lord’s help, resolve it starting now.

Then work with your children. Define the problem to your children. Explain why it isn’t good and why it is important that we take personal responsibility for our actions and words. This is critical because we read, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). 

Clear ownership for our actions is the standard. Help your children understand what that looks like in daily life. Then be sure you affirm them when they follow the standard rather than dishing out the consequences that come with ownership of the problem for a set period of time. 

His or Mine

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I observe some believers often mention Satan doing this or doing that. You might have noticed that Seriously primarily focuses on the all-powerful, sovereign source of all good, King of the universe, compared to the the wicked, evil foe of our Lord and His children. However, one area worth consideration is Satan as the deceiver.  “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9).

There is one area of deception that Satan has been highly successful in. That is believers’ attitudes about ownership— how they value and use their time. This subject could even be offensive to most. To imply that something a person thinks he owns is actually not his after all could be troubling. However, truth is often disturbing to those of a contrary opinion. 

“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20). We (including our time), are totally owned by God. Is God getting a good return on His payment of Christ’s blood to purchase us? He purchased us to use for His glory. He did NOT do it so that we have our best, most fun and pleasurable life now. 

“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5). We give God a good return on His ownership of our time when we walk in wisdom. 

Paul said, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:31 – 11:1).

The Surprise

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You were so excited for your son’s graduation. You had been saving for several years to surprise him. After graduation you took him car shopping and bought a fantastic car for him. It had come off of a lease and was in amazing condition. Your son was thrilled beyond your wildest hope. Life settled into a new pattern and time passed.

A year later, your son gave you a ride home after you dropped the family car off at the shop for some maintenance. Getting in, you had to clear the convenience store snack packaging from the ketchup-stained seat to make room for yourself. Your heart sank. The car looked clean and smelled nice when you gave it to him. Now it  looked horrible. Well, actually, it was much like his bedroom. Hmm, could there be a connection? The reality of his irresponsibility suddenly became clear.

It might be argued that personal responsibility is the most important character quality for a person. A responsible person accepts ownership of outcomes and the necessity of right decisions. Otherwise they have a myriad of excuses, all of which translates to, “It’s not my fault.”

“Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

Oh, my brothers, irresponsible children will be a lifelong grief to your heart. They will most likely blame you for their struggles.

“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

Oh my brothers, irresponsible children will be a lifelong grieving of your heart, and they will blame you for most of it.

Stoking the Wrong Fire

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Deep down in your heart of hearts, do you have a heart after God’s Word? Do you desire a closer walk with Him as you serve Him and live out His Word? If not, I believe it is often because we are stoking the wrong fire/passions. Let’s look briefly at a few verses from Psalms and the wisdom contained therein. 

“Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way” (Psalms 119:35-37).

Do you see how the Psalmist desires God’s Word? He says he delights in it. He asks the Lord to direct his heart more into it and away from covetousness. Coveting is a passion contrary to the love of God, His ways, and His Word. Did you notice a key ingredient in not coveting? It is that our eyes aren’t beholding vanity. What does vanity mean? It is those things that are false, worthless, empty, and yield nothing godly. 

Many men I know delight in watching sports, movies, and news. That shows where the heart really is, and it continues to fire up coveting passions. The Psalmist wanted to turn his eyes from looking at empty, worthless things because they WOULDN’T draw him closer to his God. 

What about you? I encourage you to take inventory of your time, what you delight in, and what you covet. Is the Word your delight? Would you rather sit and feast on the Word or watch a game on TV or maybe your vanity is something else? If it isn’t the Word, are you asking the Lord to help you set aside the vanities that are delighting you and to incline your heart to Him? You can make lifestyle choices that eliminate the vanities. Feed on the Word. Invest in your family and serve Christ wholeheartedly.

Disconnect

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I was talking to a couple of Christian brothers the other night. One was sharing how he loves fishing and then chuckled when saying at times he will fish places where it isn’t allowed. I was amazed how it didn’t seem to occur to him there was a huge disconnect as a believer. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1).

We are so quick to spot this sort of thing in our children as they grow up, but what about our lives? Are our lives pleasing to our God Who owns us? Do we obey the government as we are commanded to?

Our example is gigantic to our children. As they grow up and become more aware of what Scripture teaches about how we are to live, we teach them to follow Christ wholeheartedly or be hypocrites. No wonder the word Christian is often spoken with a bit of a sneer and curled lip these days.

Decks, Dogs, and Marriage

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Do you have a deck? It can be a blessing and a curse, depending on how old it is. The best day of it’s life was when it was new. From then on, it has been deteriorating. If you maintain it, it will last much longer. 

Is there a parallel to marriage? They look wonderful when they are first created. The  wedding photos are of a happy couple. Often, as the years go by, wear and tear on the marriage becomes obvious. If not maintained, the marriage deteriorates. Then the desire is there to tear it down (divorce) and build a better one. The thought is the next one will be  be better than the first (sure). 

Recently, on my way into a gas station, I noticed a couple of old guys in the front seat of a car. What caught my eye was they were both turned toward the middle where a German Shepherd’s head was protruding from the back seat. The driver was holding a large cup of water with ice, so the dog could drink out of it. Seeking to engage them a bit, I stopped and mentioned that it was pretty amazing to see the dog get to share that way. The driver said seriously, “I share ice cream with him, too.” Based on what I was observing, he meant a lick for lick. I wonder how many men treat their dogs better than their wives? 

Brothers, I plead with you. Invest in your marriage. Treat your wife as the treasure that she is. Love her, bless her, and build her up. Be the spiritual leader of your home. Be in the Word everyday and help her so she has time to be in the Word as well. Have family Bible time everyday. Communicate with her. Spend time with her. Help her. Support her. You won’t regret it! 

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself” (Ephesians 5:25-28).