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Pastor's Pen
Stay up to date on the life of our church with Pastor Gary Turk's blog, updated monthly. His blog features devotional reflections, reports, observations, and more!May 2010
Needed - Godly Fathers
26 May 2010 / 12:22 PM
The month of June brings with it the end of the school year, graduations, weddings, vacations, picnics and Father’s Day, among other things. Father’s Day sometimes takes a back seat to other days and activities, yet it is important in that it serves to remind us of a very significant element in our lives, fathers and fatherhood.
After charging children to obey and honor their parents, the Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians (6:4), “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” The NIV puts it this way, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” In Colossians 3:21 Paul sounds a similar note: “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” Eugene Peterson, in The Message, puts it this way, “Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.”
Father’s play a very significant part in a child’s life and upbringing. Unfortunately, too many father’s either give too little attention to molding and shaping the lives of their children or they mold and shape them in ways that are not Godly or God centered, or they abandon them altogether. There are two very important thoughts that Paul stresses here for those who would be Godly fathers.
1. Don’t exasperate, or provoke, your children. It is certainly the duty of a father to guide and direct his children, and that sometimes means correction and discipline. That correction and discipline should always be done with tenderness and love, not with cruelty or severity, or with impatience or an attitude of revenge.
The Biblical commentator, Matthew Henry, says, regarding this, “Be not impatient with them, use no unreasonable severities and lay no rigid injunctions upon them. When you caution them, when you counsel them, when you reprove them, do it in such a manner as not to provoke them to wrath. In all such cases deal prudently and wisely with them, endeavouring to convince their judgments and to work upon their reason.”
Another commentator, Adam Clarke, says, “Parents are called to correct; not to punish, their children. Those who punish them do it from a principle of revenge; those who correct them do it from a principle of affectionate concern.”
Father’s should not treat their children in ways that will crush their spirits and cause them to become discouraged or beaten down or filled with anger.
2. Bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. It is a primary responsibility of fathers to instruct and nurture and guide their children to love and serve the Lord. At the heart of this is being an example. Paul wrote to Timothy saying, “set an example.” Father’s are to set an example in loving and serving God. A father should go to church and Sunday School with his children, not just drop them off. His speech and actions should always reflect Christ-likeness. What he values is seen in what he does and not in what he says. A father is always being an example whether he realizes it or not.
The bottom line is that all the efforts and instruction and example of a father should be to bring his children into an experiential knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. The task is large and the responsibility is great, but the rewards are eternal.
Happy Father’s Day!
After charging children to obey and honor their parents, the Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians (6:4), “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” The NIV puts it this way, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” In Colossians 3:21 Paul sounds a similar note: “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” Eugene Peterson, in The Message, puts it this way, “Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.”
Father’s play a very significant part in a child’s life and upbringing. Unfortunately, too many father’s either give too little attention to molding and shaping the lives of their children or they mold and shape them in ways that are not Godly or God centered, or they abandon them altogether. There are two very important thoughts that Paul stresses here for those who would be Godly fathers.
1. Don’t exasperate, or provoke, your children. It is certainly the duty of a father to guide and direct his children, and that sometimes means correction and discipline. That correction and discipline should always be done with tenderness and love, not with cruelty or severity, or with impatience or an attitude of revenge.
The Biblical commentator, Matthew Henry, says, regarding this, “Be not impatient with them, use no unreasonable severities and lay no rigid injunctions upon them. When you caution them, when you counsel them, when you reprove them, do it in such a manner as not to provoke them to wrath. In all such cases deal prudently and wisely with them, endeavouring to convince their judgments and to work upon their reason.”
Another commentator, Adam Clarke, says, “Parents are called to correct; not to punish, their children. Those who punish them do it from a principle of revenge; those who correct them do it from a principle of affectionate concern.”
Father’s should not treat their children in ways that will crush their spirits and cause them to become discouraged or beaten down or filled with anger.
2. Bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. It is a primary responsibility of fathers to instruct and nurture and guide their children to love and serve the Lord. At the heart of this is being an example. Paul wrote to Timothy saying, “set an example.” Father’s are to set an example in loving and serving God. A father should go to church and Sunday School with his children, not just drop them off. His speech and actions should always reflect Christ-likeness. What he values is seen in what he does and not in what he says. A father is always being an example whether he realizes it or not.
The bottom line is that all the efforts and instruction and example of a father should be to bring his children into an experiential knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. The task is large and the responsibility is great, but the rewards are eternal.
Happy Father’s Day!
A Mother's Day Tribute To My Mother
21 May 2010 / 07:49 AM
As I approach Mother’s Day this year I am aware that for the first time in my life I will not be able to celebrate that day with my mother. It has always been a day to spend time with her, to share a meal and express my love to her. But, as the Lord has called her home, we will not be able to do that this year. Nevertheless, I do celebrate her life and the mother she has been to me.
As I reflect on her life I am reminded of the words the Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (II Timothy 1:5 NIV). Eugene Peterson, in The Message, put it this way, “what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you!”
My mother was a woman of great faith, a faith that she passed on to her children. From the time I was just a baby my mother would take us to SUnday School and worship every week. That included Sunday evening services and mid-week prayer meetings. Her life, and thus ours, was very much built around the church and her faith in God. She would read the Bible or Bible stories to us and pray with us. She would help us discern right from wrong and always instruct us to live our lives in a godly way. Life was always lived in the context of serving and pleasing Jesus Christ.
My mother loved to sing and often sang solos in church. But whether at church or at home she was always singing of the love of God and the grace of Jesus Christ. It was just one more way that she passed on her faith to her children, as well as a love for music, especially the deep heart-felt faith music of the church.
She was also a woman o prayer. Her prayer ministry included churches, missionaries, the sick and infirmed, and, of course, her family. She prayed daily for our dad and his ministry. She prayed for each of her children, and as the years went by that included her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Through the years I have known that the prayers of my mother were always being lifted up before the throne of grace for me and my ministry. My mother was always interceding on my behalf. That is an example I have always tried to emulate.
In more recent years I have had the privilege to give back in some small way as I became her pastor. I have been able to share with her the faith that first lived in her and she had passed on to me. If, in any way, I stand in the line of Timothy, it is because of the faith that first lived in her and that she has passed on to me.
Yes, this Mother’s Day will be different and I will miss being able to share it with her. Yet, the deep faith that she has handed down through the life she lived, her love, her words, her deeds, is as rich a memory that one can ever have to treasure. Thanks be to God!
As I reflect on her life I am reminded of the words the Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (II Timothy 1:5 NIV). Eugene Peterson, in The Message, put it this way, “what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you!”
My mother was a woman of great faith, a faith that she passed on to her children. From the time I was just a baby my mother would take us to SUnday School and worship every week. That included Sunday evening services and mid-week prayer meetings. Her life, and thus ours, was very much built around the church and her faith in God. She would read the Bible or Bible stories to us and pray with us. She would help us discern right from wrong and always instruct us to live our lives in a godly way. Life was always lived in the context of serving and pleasing Jesus Christ.
My mother loved to sing and often sang solos in church. But whether at church or at home she was always singing of the love of God and the grace of Jesus Christ. It was just one more way that she passed on her faith to her children, as well as a love for music, especially the deep heart-felt faith music of the church.
She was also a woman o prayer. Her prayer ministry included churches, missionaries, the sick and infirmed, and, of course, her family. She prayed daily for our dad and his ministry. She prayed for each of her children, and as the years went by that included her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Through the years I have known that the prayers of my mother were always being lifted up before the throne of grace for me and my ministry. My mother was always interceding on my behalf. That is an example I have always tried to emulate.
In more recent years I have had the privilege to give back in some small way as I became her pastor. I have been able to share with her the faith that first lived in her and she had passed on to me. If, in any way, I stand in the line of Timothy, it is because of the faith that first lived in her and that she has passed on to me.
Yes, this Mother’s Day will be different and I will miss being able to share it with her. Yet, the deep faith that she has handed down through the life she lived, her love, her words, her deeds, is as rich a memory that one can ever have to treasure. Thanks be to God!