A Thought from Proverbs

When reading through the Proverbs, there is one thing that is clear throughout the book: It is written as a father, teaching either his son or his children. This is something that I had overlooked for years, but recently I started reading the Proverbs and it started jumping out to me. Many of the Proverbs are addressed to a son, or children. Since I am reading through a chapter each day, in this first week of November I have seen six of the first seven chapters begin with the address “My son” (1—3 and 5—7). Additionally the remaining chapter is addressed to “my children” (4:1). Many of the other chapters throughout has some sort of address of a father to a child.

Chapter four gives some insight into this. The sage (who many believe to be Solomon) tells his children that the teachings that he is passing down were given to him by his father. He also mentions his mother’s guidance  in verse three, but he makes it clear that his father instructed him. The World Biblical Commentary suggests that this verse implies that the mother taught him the basics in early life, but there came a time when his father stepped in and taught him wisdom.

This shows that the responsibility of teaching the real things about life—learning wisdom, which is to love, fear, and follow God and practical living—falls on the father of the child. This means I have quite a responsibility on my shoulders. This is a theme that is getting much attention lately. With the release of movies like Courageous and countless books that stress the importance of parents, and particularly fathers, there is a focus on being a father who teaches and loves his children.

At first, this doesn’t seem too bad. I love being a father. I love my kids, and I love spending time with them. But teaching them how to be God-fearing men and women may prove to be a harder task. This involves more of an investment. Parenting isn’t just about enjoying playing with my kids. It is a large part about that, but there must be more to it than that. So that leaves two big tasks on my to-do list: 1.) Spending fun leisurely time with my family where we have fun and make memories, and 2.) Spending time investing and teaching my children through teaching and by setting a good example of how to live.

Two Changes from Aging

 I’ve noticed that as I get older, two things have changed about me that seem like a paradox: I care less about what people think, but I also care more about how they feel.

As I get older, I care less about what people think. By this I mean that I am less self conscious. I like who I am, but I realize that not everyone else will. It’s part of being human that not everyone gels perfectly. I know that I may rub others the wrong way, or that I’m not going to be liked by everyone. This frees me to just be myself and not worry about making everyone like me.

At the same time, I care more about how others feel. As I get go through this life I think that my level of empathy and compassion grows. I want to live for others, make them feel valuable and encourage them to be the best they can be.

These two things seem like a paradox, but I think they can coexist inside of me, but there has to be a tension. If I truly live in a way that I disregard other’s thoughts about me, I have no way of affecting their lives. I also run the risk of isolating others if I am self serving. Not caring about what others think is not about selfishness, it’s about being free to be myself. And I hope that who I am is a compassionate and selfless person.  

A Phrase You Should Reconsider

A few weeks ago, Jon Acuff in his blog Stuff Christians Like had a post about the veiled snarkiness in the phrase “Just saying.” He proposed that using this phrase is what some people consider a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” that people use to say mean things. Recently, I’ve noticed another phrase that is older, that is used to convey both bitterness and condescension. It’s not really the complete phrase, but an introduction to a phrase. I hear it all the time, but whenever I hear “Some of us …” I dread what follows.

Why is this common phrase, so bad? Let’s go to an example to see. While it is used in many different forms the most common one that I have seen is the phrase “Some of us have to work.” Imagine making plans with a group of friends to go somewhere, but one friend has to cancel because they get called into work. Afterward, when the group is talking about how much fun the outing you hear, “I wish I could’ve gone, but some of us have to work.”

First, this shows bitterness because it shows that the person is not happy with their situation. Not that voicing displeasure is wrong, but the second characteristic of this phrase makes this method of vocal disapproval wrong. It implies condescension to the others hearing this. It implies, “I wish I had it as good as you,” It’s as if you are saying, “It must be nice.” Because he was called into work, does that mean that his job is more important than the others? Is he implying that the others' jobs are all easy and stress-free?

Next time you want to express your displeasure in your situation, consider how you talk about it. Think of ways to say things that don’t talk down to others. Instead of saying, “Some of us have to work.” Say, “I hate that I had to go to work.” Instead of saying, “Some of us can’t sleep till noon.” Say, “I wish my job had more flexible hours.” 

Try to be more intentional it what you say. Didn’t Jesus warn us, “On the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” (Matt. 12:36).

Storming the Gates

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

~Matthew 16:18 NKJV




In his sermon Sunday, our pastor made a profound insight about Matthew 16:18. He said that many times when we read Jesus’ statement to Peter that “the gates of Hades shall not prevail” when it goes up against the Gospel (and the Church), we interpret it as saying that we will be able to withstand difficulties.

While that is a theme throughout the Bible, this passage isn’t really saying this. A gate is a defensive structure (it’s also immovable). Whereas looking at it defensively would say that the forces of evil (Hades) is coming for us and bombarding us, the opposite is actually true. According to Jesus’ wording here, we are supposed to be on the offensive.

I thought about this for a while. We often look to passages such as the sixth chapter of Ephesians, and take note that the sword (word of God) is the only offensive weapon, but we fail to notice something about this armor: it is mobile. Even when an army storms the gates it makes sure it is thoroughly protected.

We should be on the move. In a way we should be looking for trouble, trying to fight battles with 

the forces of evil all of the time. This doesn’t mean we start going around as a super-saintly exorcist for hire, but it does mean we should radically live for God and do His will no matter what.

Christ didn’t call us to fortify the kingdom, but to advance the kingdom.