Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Baby Boom Continues...

In case you haven't noticed, everybody is having babies! There are 7 expecting couples in Crossroads, and I couldn't be prouder of this group. Strong marriages, strong commitment to Christ and to each other is going to lead to some above-average kids! The latest...
Matt Kessler holds Brooke Kessler! Brooke arrived to Matt & Cessiah Kessler on Monday.
Shane Birr holds Serena Renee Birr! Serena was born to Shane & Anitra Birr on January 6!
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1 comment:

Mr. Ed said...

THE GREATEST CALLING
I think the greatest ministry that God has entrusted to parents is raising children that fear the Lord. It certainly can be the most challenging.

Parents, do not provoke your children to wrath, but raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
-Eph 6:4

Spreading the Gospel to the lost is surely our noble calling as individuals, but as parents, I think it's valuable to keep this perspective: a strong Godly family is even more effective in spreading the Gospel than each of us on our own could be.

RESIST MEDIOCRITY
But it doesn't take "average" kids. It takes those that have been raised in that Godly home.

"You shall carefully teach them [God's precepts] to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up."
-Deut 6:7

The world is suffering primarily from a sinful breakdown of the family, more yet, a Godly family. And the church primarily suffers not for the lack of families, but the lack of GREAT ones. Today, broken families represent the majority of all families; they are looking for an answer for that, a way to make it work. That's where WE come in! Are we willing to settle for a few mediocre kids that "stay out of trouble", or something beyond that?

C.S. Lewis once observed that God is not so much offended that we want too much as by the fact that we are satisfied with so little. I pray each day that I won't settle. I ask my wife regularly to not let me settle.

YOUR CALLING SHOOTS FURTHER
I'm looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for me and Windy after our baby's birth. I have known a few young parents to get discouraged thinking that their ministry-calling could be constrained or maybe delayed a bit with the birth of a family. But quite the opposite!

I hope to be even more proactive and effective as a minister of God setting an example with my family than I was on my own!

Raise up a child in the way he/she should go; and when he is old, they will not depart from it.
-Prov 22:6

Having children that are on fire for the Lord and wise in His ways (even when they are young) does not merely carry the potential for a great witness on their part, but even more so on yours, as parents. Your witness is exponentially greater to a lost world when you are a successful godly parent!

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose satchel is full of them..."
-Psalm 127:3-5

I hope to send my children as far and as accurate as possible. And Crossroads has a satchel FULL of history-makers now! :)

11:19 AM

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