Recently one of the other pastors at Central, Don Craig, led our staff through a values exercise. He gave us a bunch of cards that had values listed on them. First we had to group the values in "A" values and "B" values. Then we had to take or "A" values and pick our top six. Honestly, I do not really like these kinds of exercises. They are hard and challenging. But that challenge can be very good for us. One of the top six values I picked was legacy. As a pastor I am mindful that a number of places in the New Testament there is mention of church leaders being people who lives are to be imitated (see 1 Corinthians 4:16, 11:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 2 Thessalonians 3:7, Hebrews 13:7 and 1 Peter 5:3). But even more than being a pastor, I am also a parent. My life is impacting four precious gifts from God. God ha entrusted Kerri and I with the responsibility of raising these gifts. As we do that, we want them to know and love God and value the things of God. I suppose that is why this blog linked below grabbed me so tightly this morning.
5 Ways to Make Your Kids Hate Church
(Please note, the linked web site was having some issues this morning, it should be back working normally soon in case you try to go there and you do not go there.)
I believe that God values church. He calls it by names like the body of Christ, the bride of Christ and the family of God. Years ago, Kerri and I had the challenging privilege of starting a new church. To start the church, we were trying to find people in the are who might be interested in being part of a new church. We tried different things to make contacts and connections. The first sort of public meeting/event we had there were just ten people, that included the four of us (we only had two children at that point). Our oldest son Zach had just turned 3. As we started the service, he ran off. I went after him and I heard words from his mouth that broke my heart. He said "Daddy, I hate church." I know he was only 3 and I know he hated it because he wanted kids to play with and his brother Josh was only 7 months olds, and there were no other kids. But I also knew then and I still know today that God values church and I do not want my kids to hate something that God loves.
I want to leave a legacy that encourages my kids to love what God loves. Please click on the link above and think about the legacy of your life. It is not a small matter.
That is an eye opening perspective. Had the opportunity to attend the Ironman Conference with a few men from Central and a lot of the same was expressed. As parents we must be living our lives each day as if we are in the very presence of the Lord. We need to realize that our everyday actions directly impact our children and future generations... legacy.
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