Affirmation of Faith

In one of John Piper’s weekly sermons recently, he included a link to a document which their church put together for elders to sign as an affirmation of faith. It sums up the beliefs of Bethlehem Baptist church.

Here it is: http://www.desiringgod.org/media/pdf/affirmation_of_faith.pdf

Purpose Driven Life

Over the summer, as a family, we have read the Purpose Driven Iife, as a daily study. I know that some people have objections to it, but I read it years ago when it first came out, and I found it very helpful. I thought it would be good for us to discuss as a family day-by-day, and especially since it is a book that is clear and simple for my son (a teenager) to grasp, and to start to get to grips with the purpose which God has for his life. I hope it also prepared him for the outreach work he did during the summer, and showed him the need to share the purpose which being a Christian has given him in his life, with those around him who are still living without purpose, or with the wrong purpose.

One Foot In The Grave

I’m still going through my mid-life crisis.

It started when my company went bust, and I turned 40 – both at the same time.

I have no sense of purpose, I have no idea what, if anything, I am supposed to be doing for God.

So I’m not doing anything. I just keep my head down and get on with my work.

I read this a while ago – ” Death isn’t the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. If you’re not careful, you could end up like the man who’s tombstone read ‘died at 30, buried at 60′. Don’t let that happen to you.”

I can be a witness as a Christian husband, and father, and work-mate – but there must be something more. In the past I always knew if God wanted me to do something, because I got asked to do it – a Sunday School teacher, a Youth Fellowship Leader, A Boy’s Brigade leader, an Elder. Now I’m just an elder – and even that I’m not sure about – what’s an elder supposed to do. In our church it’s the minister who makes all the decisions and does everything. I just turn up for meetings and visit old people.

So I’m hoping God will ask me to do something else – but maybe I’m just not much use to Him any more. Maybe it’s just a case of getting on with my job, eat, sleep, and enjoy my family, and put in my time for however many years He’s got left for me. What if this is as good as it gets? What if it’s a case of “died at forty, buried at…”?

Legacy

I saw a program a couple of weeks ago about Patsy Kensit. It was one of the BBC series “Who Do You Think You Are” which takes a celebrity on an exploration of their ancestry. They get to trace their ancestors back 4 or 5 generations and piece together a picture of what sort of people they were. Patsy’s father was a gangster in the East end of London, an associate of the infamous Cray twins. When she traced back a couple of generations her family were poor tradesmen and petty criminals. Then she discovered when she went back one generation, a man whose life visibly moved her, and an ancestor of whom she could be proud. He was a minister, who ministered for most his life in the East end of London, amongst the poorest people, and was honoured by the king for his love and dedication to the community. He lived out his later years in a little market town in the south of England as a faithful minister until his death. After his death, his congregation placed a memorial to him in a place of honour in the church, and it was obvious that he was held in very high esteem by all who new him.

The story made me think. How is it that a family goes bad. This was a Godly man, whose decendents seem to have gone down a completely different path. He son fathered an illegitimate child, and later generations were petty criminals and gangsters.

It is so crucial for Christian parents to pass on the legacy of the faith, and a Godly lifestyle to their children. Our lives, and the way we bring up our children, will have a huge impact on generations to come.

Deuteronomy 4:9 says “Teach… your children and… ther children after them.”

My wife showed me something she read about this verse recently, which makes the connection with the role of grandparents as well. I will quote the article in full (taken from “Word For Today” published by UCB Radio).

This letter was written by a child: “A grandmother is a lady who has no children of her own. She likes other people’s girls and boys. A grandfather is a man grandmother. He goes for walks with boys; they talk about fishing and stuff like that. Gransmothers don’t have anything to do except to be there. They are so old that they shouldn’t play hard or run. It is enough if they drive us to the store where the pretend horse is, and have lots of money ready. Or if they take us for walks, they slow down for things like pretty leaves and caterpillars. They should never say ‘hurry up’. Usually gransmothers are fat, but not too fat to tie your shoes. They wear glasses and funny underwear. They can take their teeth and gums off. Grandmothers don’t have to be smart, only answer questions like, ’why isn’t God married?’ and ‘how come dogs chase cats?’. Grandmothers don’t talk baby-talk like visitors do  because it’s hard to understand. When they read to us, they don’t skip or mind if it’s the same story over again. Everybody should have a grandmother, especially if they don’t have a television, because they are the only grown-ups who have time.”

I guess the bottom line is – make time to make a legacy.