A Greater Commitment to Training Up Our Children

Hello My Sisters,

I've been thinking on the scandals of AIG and Bernie Madoff. I ask the question, how can these excutives wake up in the morning with a clear concious? I've concluded:

1. The don't recognize the existence and presence of God in their lives.
2. They have replaced their love for God with a love for money.
3. They are ignorant to, have forgotten, or right out turned a blind ear to Christ Commandment, that we love one another as he has loved us.

If my conclusions are the root causes of bad leadership, what then is the answer for producing better leaders for tomorrow.

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

I would like to encourage you my sisters to invest with greater fervor into the lives and characters of your children. The leaders of today are products of their own home training. Yes, some will go a stray and it will be expedient for us to keep them in prayer. But, If we believe in the infallible word of God, then we believe that if we do what it says, God will bring about the rewards that He promises.

Train them up to:
1. Recognize God and the significance he should have in their lives
2. Recognize that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. He rewards those that deligently seek him.
3. We are commanded to love one another. In doing so, we show forth our love for him.

Are You Able?

Matthew 8:23

After he had entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.

I recently preached a sermon, "Are You Able?" The sermon was meant to lead my listeners to consider how far they would go to follow Christ. If you read from Matthew chapter four up to this twenty-third verse, you will learn that there was a crowd of people following Jesus.

They came to see if he was really the Messiah that Isaiah Prophesied about and many came to be healed from their sickness. It goes on to inform us that he healed all that were sick fulfilling Esaias' prophecy, that "He took on our infirmities and bare all of our diseases".

After healing them, Jesus commanded them to follow him to the Country of the Gadarenes. Gadara was also referred to as the land of the Gentiles. The residents did not have the law of God and they did not live by God's commandments.

Unlike Capernaum where the climate was beautiful, had a booming fishing industry and tourism, Gadara was the country. The climate was unfavorable for a tourist destination and the people in Capernaum weren't likely to associate with people from Gadara. Capernaum was mainly a Jewish populated city. It went against their covenant to associate with persons outside of their faith. Traveling across the Sea of Galilee to Gadara was also a dangerous trip due to the storms that formed on the sea.

When Jesus makes this request he is asking them to put their life on the line. He is asking them to share the Good News in a place that was undesirable with a people they deemed unredeemable. Was this a huge request?

I don't think so. After all they traveled miles and miles, some deathly sick, to see Jesus and to be he healed by him. The difference is they were the ones that would receive the immediate benefit once they reached their destination. Many who were sick endured years of sickness and suffering. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain. The question before them now was, what will you endure to follow me all the way and fulfill my mission?

I pose the same question to you. What did you endure to get a prayer answered from Jesus? Now that he has answered it what are you will to give to bring the same blessing to someone else? Perhaps this will help you decide.

Christ died on the cross to save us from our sins and restore our relationship with God. By accepting him into our lives he promised us life everlasting. Christ didn't come to simply bless us with good health in this life or help us to pursue fortune and fame. He came so, that we might have life eternal with God the Father.

So the question really being asked is "Are you able to lay down this earthly life in order to have life eternal with God?" How do you lay it down? You lay it down by giving up your pursuits in exchange for will. What is his will? To take the gospel throughout the world and proclaim his truth. Are You Able?