Proud Father!

I have been blessed with 3 wonderful children. This is a special month for two of them, because they are graduating from their respective schools. Jonathan, my oldest, is graduating from Oklahoma Baptist University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre. Stephen, my middle child, is graduating from Putnam City North High School. 

I am very proud of these two young men for several reasons. The most important being, they have both acknowledged and surrendered to God’s call on their lives. 

Jonathan is very committed to the talent that God has given him in the area of acting. He will be pursuing his career in acting this fall and really for the rest of his working life. He is very gifted and I know God will use him as he submits to God’s direction. 

Stephen is very committed to the call that God has given him to preach the Word of God. He will begin his theological and pastoral studies in the fall at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and College in Kansas City. He is very passionate about God’s Word and I know God will use him as he also submits to God’s direction. 

It is a special person who hears, acknowledges, and submits to God’s call on their life. I have two sons who, although very different, have both heard from God! A father couldn’t ask for anything more for his children. The best place for a person is right in the very center of God’s will!

I love you Jonathan and Stephen and I am very proud to call you my sons! Go with God!

True Love

There seems to be a great deal of confusion lately about what love is and what love isn't. This might be because people are fairly liberal with the use of the word, love. I say, "I love my wife.", "I love chocolate cake." and, "I love the OKC Thunder." While each of these statements are true, they should have a slightly different meaning for the word, love. So, it is important that we understand what true love really is. Here are some tests to help determine if love is true love or not.

5 Tests of True Love

1.  True love cannot be hidden, it will be displayed. Love will be on display for all the world to see and proud of it. When my wife and I got married, we held our ceremony in a public place and gladly invited our friends and family. To this day I proudly wear the same ring she gave me on that day. This is just an example of love on display.

2.  True love has only one standard, total sacrifice. The one standard for love is total sacrifice. This example and standard was set for the world to see when Jesus willingly gave himself on a cruel cross. This standard is still the expectation of those who follow Jesus and is the true standard for love to this day.

3.  True love can be confirmed, by actions. It is one thing to say, “I love you.” In fact, that is a pretty simple and basic thing to do. However, it is a completely different thing to show, “I love you.” From a very early age children in healthy homes learn to say, “I love you.” That doesn’t mean they know how to show love. It takes a mature and truly loving person to show love.

4. True love begins with the keeping of God’s commands. The place to start when you have a desire to truly love, is to show you love God by keeping His commands. Jesus even told us this when he said the two greatest commands were to love God and love people. The truth is, you can’t truly love people until you have first learned to love God.

5.  True love is only possible through a right relationship with God. People are not capable of loving unconditionally by their own power. We, by nature, are too selfish. When we learn to allow God to love through us, then we can display true love. The Bible said it best, “we are able to love because He first loved us.” God loved us by sending Jesus to die in our place. That is true love!

What's So Important about being a Child?

Why do sons want to be like their dads? Why do daughters want to be like their moms? There is a desire, hardwired in all of us, for connection and belonging. We are born with this desire and during the early stages of life this desire manifests itself in conformity to that which we know best, our parents. 

Being a child has special perks. When I reached preadolescence, I looked back with a longing for the days when I didn't have as many chores or didn't have to go to school. I was raised in a loving home and all of my needs and most of my wants were provided for. I was loved and taken care of.

Jesus said that if a person doesn't become like a child in relation to God, that person will never be able to enter a right relationship with God. So, being a child is important in God's kingdom as well. As in a healthy home for a child on earth, being a child of God has some great perks. Here are the benefits of becoming a child of God as well as the corresponding disadvantages of not being a child of God.

6 Benefits of Being a Child of God

1. God’s children are loved but God also loves people of the world. In God's greatness, love extends to all people but, as we will see, there is a very real difference between God loving you and being in a right relationship with God.
2. God’s children know who Jesus is. People of the world refuse to acknowledge Jesus. A vast majority of thinking people in the world today admit that Jesus of Nazareth was an actual person of history but, there is a very real difference between believing that Jesus was a person of history and believing that Jesus is the savior of the world. A child of God has acknowledged Jesus as their Savior. 
3. God’s children seek to stay clean. People of the world are stained. Just like children want to be like their parents, a child of God seeks to be like their heavenly Father. This side of heaven we do not attain perfection but children of God always reach for that goal. 
4. God’s children hate and avoid sin. People of the world love and regularly practice sin. As was just mentioned, children of God are not perfect and yes, they do sin, but they hate it! People of the world continue in sin and even try to get others to join with them. 
5. God’s children have their sins covered by Jesus. People of the world continue to display their sin. Again, all people sin but children of God have their sins covered by the payment of Jesus' death on the cross. People of the world are very open and proud about their sin. 
6. God’s children are in right standing with God. People of the world do what is wrong in God’s eyes. Children of God may and do make mistakes but they never cease to be God's child. Just as a rebellious child may disappoint their parents, they will always be their offspring. 

Some may read this list and say, "Those are things you do, not benefits." However, when you enter into a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ, your tasks and benefits become one in the same. 

Two important questions: are you a child of God? Would you like to become like a child and enter into a right relationship with God? If you answered, "yes" to the first question, wonderful. If you answered, "yes" to the second question, ask God to reveal Himself to you right now and submit a comment to this blog. I would love to encourage you.