“Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.” – Proverbs 17:6
God’s design from the beginning for the blessing and provision of man, is the family. That is why it is so sad that the devil has effectively undermined the family in our society today. Frankly, I am amazed that more people are not alarmed by the obvious correlation between the decline of traditional families and the increase of a dysfunctional society. Instead society seems to go out of its way to encourage that which challenges the home. As we see from the verse above, God meant for children and grandchildren to be the rewarding crown of old men. However, as families become more fragmented, old men today tend to take more pride in their achievements on the job, or in material things such as cars, houses, gardens, fishing boats or in hobbies rather than in their children. To be honest, many fathers see disappointment and frustration or just have a hard time understanding their children and perhaps even more the grandchildren. Perhaps it is because they put more of their life in their job or their hobby than they did in their child? It is not my intention for this to be a negative essay but I feel the need to remind us as fathers that investing in the lives of your children, grandchildren and in your family as a whole is infinitely wiser than devoting your energies in things that will disintegrate soon after you’re gone. Dad, your greatest legacy and the most lasting contribution you can make to this world is your children! The Apostle John wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” Children learn first and foremost from our example. You must be committed to walking in the truth of God if you hope to have the joy of seeing your child live consistent with God’s truth. Notice also the end of the verse, “the glory of children are their fathers”. If you are a father with children still in the home, let me remind you that if you want to rejoice in your grandchildren some day you need to be the type of dad your children can glory in today. Be a man they can look up to and find the leadership and example they need to guide them through this changing world. Be a man they can trust, who is loyal and faithful to the home. Be a man they can confide in and know that they’ll always find love and respect. Children want to glory in their father; his wisdom, his strength, his guiding example, his faithful dependability. Christian Dad, you can be that kind of father as you look to your Heavenly Father and glory in Him.
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Where We Came From Makes a Difference
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1 The Bible begins with a statement of great importance and meaning. Man has grappled with the question of his origin for centuries and has come up with some pretty outlandish theories. Egyptian myth postulated a primeval ocean upon which appeared an egg. From the egg was born the sun god, and the sun god had four children: Geb, Shu, Tefnut and Nut. From the rivalries of those god-born children of the sun the creation took place. The ancient Babylonians, Greeks and other cultures had scenarios that follow a similar mythical vein. The most recent of these myths is of course is evolution. The interesting thing is that none of this theorizing is necessary because we have a direct statement from the One who created the universe. We have begun a study of the book of Genesis on Thursdays at 7 pm. The first two chapters of Genesis give us many details about God’s creative process. When we understand that we are not just a product of a series of random accidents over billions of years, we can begin to understand the meaning and purpose of life. We are not just intelligent animals that live 80 or so years whose sole goal is to be as happy as we can be. Your creator has a great interest in and purpose for your life and desires a relationship with you. When life is lived in concert with the way God designed there is wonderful fulfillment and blessing. I know there are many who would argue with my classification of evolution as myth. We all have been told that evolution is a conclusion of sound science. Nevertheless it is at best unproven science. When I attended school it was referred to as a theory. Somewhere over the years it was promoted to fact without any more real proof. Furthermore, in a world bent on becoming more secular, evolution was crowned the absolute monarch of science silencing all nonconformists. There are many good scientists who see no contradiction between true science and the Biblical account of creation. However, they are never given a voice in secular academies or media. Logic alone raises serious doubt about the vast universe coming from nothing or that our highly complex, beautifully engineered world came about by random chance. It is absolutely impossible to get life from non-life. The truth of the matter is that man wants to reject any accountability or responsibility to God. If you knew the Creator and how He loves you, you would not want theories that deny Him. |
AuthorMost of these post are articles Pastor Kline publishes in our local News Paper. Archives
July 2016
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