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Living as Good Role Models “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”– 2 Corinthians 5:17 The third step to good parenting is living as good role models. This should be obvious. But as obvious as it may be, it is perhaps the most difficult to carry out. Children need parents who not only have time for them and let them know that they are loved. They also need parents they can look up to as role models. It won’t work if we as parents tell our kids,“Do as I say, not as I do.” Children…

Showing Afection “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”  2 Corinthians 5:17 The second step to good parenting is by showing affection. When the late Channing Pollock, the playwright, was a child, he was taken by his parents to a party. A little girl was present. The children played together until they ran out of ideas, when young Channing said to the girl, “Let’s hide behind this curtain and maybe no one will know we’re here.” “Maybe no one will care,” she replied. That’s about the saddest reply a child can make. “Maybe no one will care.” Even though…

Taking Time for Our Kids “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”  2 Corinthians 5:17 The first step to good parenting is taking the time to spend with our kids. Some time ago, a Cornell University study revealed that the average American father spends 37.7 seconds a day alone with his children. “Dad, can you give me a minute?” Thirty-seven and seven-tenths seconds don’t even make up a minute. Many of us need to reassess the amount of time we spend with our children, our spouses and even our own parents. We’re talking about the quality of our…

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 Because Sunday is Father’s Day, I want us this week to consider some features of good parenting. When it comes to father, dads just don’t get the respect they once received. There’s an old story about a ten-year-old boy who answered the doorbell at his home one day. When he opened the door, there stood a strange man on the porch. The man said, “Son, you don’t know me, do you?” The young man said, no, he did not. The man replied, “Well, I’m your uncle on…

So here it is, my final devotion as one of the pastors at Trinity. I am reminded of the moment when Jesus breathed his last upon the cross and said, “It is finished.” Except my work doesn’t feel finished.  Not really. There is so much left to do.  For me this is a real struggle as by nature I don’t like to leave things undone. When I start a project, I don’t stop until I have all the details worked out.  When I start a good book, I read it until the last page. Last year, I decided to run a half marathon and so I trained for months and kept at it…

I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that…

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her…

I have heard stories through the years of people who actually wake up early in the morning and sit in their comfy chair, while drinking their cup of coffee, and reading. I have pictured it so many times in my minds eye that I can see it quite clearly. What a beautiful thought.  In my house though, when all her people are present and accounted for, this never happens. Ever. In fact, I am not sure I have sat down for over five years within the walls of my house without someone asking me a question, or requesting something that requires me to get up, or crawling not just in my lap…

“My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love.” Galatians 5:13 Today, I hear a lot of people using the word “freedom” when it comes to their individual rights and choices. Many use this word to imply that there should be no limits, no restraints, no cost for freedom and liberty. We use the word “freedom” quite a bit in this country, but little understand its implications. What is freedom? What does this concept imply? Before we attempt to describe what freedom is perhaps it might be helpful to…

… as Christians, followers of Jesus we go beyond what the civil law stipulates. We live under the law of love expressed by Jesus’ Great Commandments, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your heart and all your strength.” And the second Great Commandment is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We are obligated by Jesus’s second Great Commandment to use our freedom for the benefit of others.