Who are we? What is our purpose?

Notes from Parenting Night — Parenting and the Gospel

Last Wednesday many of the parents and singles of Grace Church met to discuss the content of our recent John Rosemond Conference. It was a great evening of discussion and applications. Kendrick asked me to share about 10-15 minutes on Parenting and the Gospel. Below are my notes:

Parenting for the Gospel
Jeremy Gwaltney
November 10, 2010

I. MY GREATEST FEAR…
a. as a parent is NOT that my child will become a drug addict, encounter teen pregnancy, or go to prison – while I’m not hoping for any of this.
b. My greatest fear is that I will give them just enough of Jesus, because they will constantly be in a Jesus-based environment, that they miss their desperate need for Him.
i. Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism – God makes me a good person, God makes me happy when I’m sad, God stays out of my way.
c. Much of Christian-based parenting advice and much of Church-based curriculum and ministries are geared toward good, moral people making and not Christ-loving disciple making.

II. GOSPEL-CENTERED PARENTING REQUIRES:
a. A recognition that I as husband/father and Tiff as wife/mother are the chief pastor’s of our children in training them in the ways of God and to God.

b. A recognition that my children, like me, are totally depraved in nature (have no ability to naturally see, love, and obey God), and therefore I must call sin – “sin” as a way of directing them to God.

c. A recognition that I am not responsible for their final destiny in God, they are. I am responsible to direct them to God and declare the consequences of a life with out God.

III. HOW DOES GOSPEL-CENTERED PARENTING WORK:
a. Remember the basic elements of the Gospel – God was perfectly loving and provided a pleasurable environment for mankind, man rebelled against God and received punishment for his rebellion, because of our inability to be reconciled with God, He entered our world in the person of Jesus, took our punishment, death, was raised from the dead, then gives his life to us to fulfill the fact that we can’t live in harmony with God. It is His life that enables us to be restored to God.

b. Six principles based on the Gospel for parenting:
1. First – capture their heart while establishing authority.
a. God does both. He woes us with His mercy, yet He is Holy and there is always an appropriate difference in status.

2. Second – Use God-centered not moral-centered language.
a. So bad behavior is not simply “not nice” it is “displeasing to Mommy and to God/Jesus.”
b. Or we no longer “share” because it’s the “right thing to do” but because “God was generous with us, so we share because God shares.”
c. Family customs/boundaries are more than family preferences and are ways in which God wants us to do things.

3. Third – Transfer their relationship with you to their relationship with God.
a. You do this because “Daddy says so” changes to “We do this because God commands it.”

4. Fourth – Emphasize their inability to be “good” along side your/God’s durability to love them.
a. You want your children to come to a healthy understanding that they can neither please you or God fully in terms of their morality, but neither can they ever divorce themselves from your love.
b. In other words, while sin creates separation in relationship, love always allows an open door for acceptance, approval and restoration.

5. Fifth – Always relate discipline to the issue of Sin and Salvation.
a. So we no longer are declaring “you just don’t behave that way” to “you behave that way because you are a sinner in need of a savior.”

6. Finally, remember that you are their pastor NOT their high priest.
a. You can’t save them from themselves.
b. Therefore, the older they become the more freedom we must give them to make their own mistakes and learn the hard way.
c. The moment we move from pastor to high priest is the moment we sow the seeds of bitterness in their hearts against us.

IV. BOOK RECOMMENDATION:
a. Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tripp and Don’t Make Me Count to Three, by Ginger Plowman.

Christmas Decorations?

“The Heart of the Matter” Sermon Notes

GraceQuest Fun Night

Last Sunday Night GraceQuest had a Fun Night. Teens came in costumes and enjoyed games like Apple Bobbing, Donuts Fishing, and Water Gun Draw. A Fun time was had by all. Pictures below.

Inception and Jonathan Edwards might share the same theology.

First, a warning: if you haven’t seen Inception and plan to, read this post at the peril of learning something important to the plot. For all who have seen the movie, I ran across an interesting article relating the concept in the movie, of someone from the outside putting something into our mind that we believe was ours all along, and Jonathan Edwards writing on the freedom of the will. Here’s a short quote and a link to read the full blog.

Following this notion then, “inception” is something that is planted in us at a deep level and radically adjusts our inclinations at a level we scarcely fathom. Similar to the inception in Nolan’s film, a Christian concept of regeneration… the effectual calling of God’s Holy Spirit on our will… does not force us to ‘think about elephants’” (as Cobb refers to in the film). It (the gospel) introduces a radical, transforming idea in the mind (and heart). Just like the character of Robert Fischer in the film, who would never DREAM of something so ludicrous as to “split up my entire inheritance”, we – as fallen, sinful humans – do not incline ourselves to God unless such an idea is given to us, (planted, like a seed from a Sower) and grows inside us, through every facet of our frame, even at the subconscious level.

via cinemagogue.com

Translation Continuum

Have you ever wondered how Bible translations are different from each other? One difference is in the philosophy of the translation team. Does the translation intend to be literal (word for word) or more free (thought for thought).

For example, the New American Standard Bible (NASB) intends to be very literal – “word for word” from the Greek or Hebrew into English. Their attempt is to be as true to the original language as possible – even if that means sacrificing fluidity or ease of reading. A word for word translation asks the question: What English word would be best translated for that Greek/Hebrew word? A word for word translation is excellent for Bible study. When I studied Greek in seminary and had to do many translations I was amazed at how accurate the NASB is in its attempt to be a word for word translation.

In the middle of the continuum are “thought for thought” translations. For example, the New International Version is an excellent thought for thought translation. The goal is to be as accurate as possible to the original manuscript in the thought or intention of the passage while making the language modern and flow well. A thought for thought translation asks the question: what phrase best translates the original intent of the author? The NIV is the most popular version of the Bible currently in print because it blends accuracy of translation and ease of reading.

On the right of the continuum are “paraphrase” translations. The Message and The Living Bible are two examples. The translators take the liberty to ask rephrase the meaning of Scripture in language that’s contemporary and connects. There’s another layer of interpretation between you and the original as the translator asks the question: what modern language would convey the same idea in this sentence? The strength of this type of translation is that God’s message becomes updated and fresh. Often a paraphrase translation will catch you off guard as the language is down to earth and straight forward.

The three translations that I use as I prepare to speak are the NASB, ESV, and NIV. I feel that those three give me a nice blend that leans toward the more literal translation slide of the continuum. Sometimes it’s really fun and refreshing to pick up the Message and read well known passages and hear it from a fresh perspective.

What translation do you read? Maybe it’d be fun to try a version that’s on a different part of the continuum. The main thing: reading, loving, and obeying the Scripture. Enjoy more!

Awakenings of Affection

How affections works is sort of a mystery to me. Last night I got another reminder of this in my daughter Kara. She’s been a little fussier than normal the last few days – a week of late nights, three shots on Friday, change in childcare, and she’s a bit clinging and fussy at home.

Last night I was holding her and leaned into her just a bit and gave her a kiss just above her eyes. She leaned back with an inquisitive look, seemed to ponder something for a bit, then she pressed her forehead onto my lips asking for another kiss. I kissed her and she repeated the pattern – pull back, think, push forward for another kiss. Its almost as if for the first time in her 13 month life she realized what a kiss was. She then pulled back, evaluated it, and decided “I like this” and then repeatedly asked for more. She did this for a solid 5-10 minutes until I finally gave her to her mother. It was a simple, precious and insightful moment.

I couldn’t help but think how this is a reminder of how simply the love of God is. He extends His affection to us, we experience it and decide “I like it” and ask to receive more. When we’ve experience the true affection of God, His pleasures evermore calm all storms, all arguments, all rebellion, and all fear and invites us into a deeper and deeper experience with Him. I pray you feel an increase in the affection of our Heavenly Father as you go through your week.

Blessings,
Jeremy

My Social Network

A little sneak peak… our upcoming sermon series will be on relationships. We are calling it “My Social Network.”

We all have a social network – our friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors with whom we connect/relate. Those relationships will have a huge impact upon your happiness and success in life. There’s a real desire in people to connect.  We want someone to be interested in our lives, and we’re interested in what’s happening in other people’s lives.

The recent movie release “The Social Network” tells the story of how Facebook got started. It’s a fascinating movie that follows the events that led to Mark Zuckerberg going live with “the facebook” on February 4, 2004. Obviously Zuckerberg met a need (or a desire) in the human psyche with his social networking website. It has quickly become the largest social network site on the internet.

For some interesting background reading, here’s a fun article (The Battle for Facebook) that was published 2 years ago in Rolling Stone magazine. I find the story and details quite fascinating.

So… invite a friend to our upcoming series. In fact, you could send them a facebook message. It’s going to be great.

The Lost Ask Us to Pray

“So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” – Jonah 1:6

This Fall I’ve been taking some time to study the book of Jonah in great detail. It is one of my favorite books of the Old Testament and a book that I will be teaching for an online Grace College of Divinity class next semester.

This morning I was reading the verse above. The context is Jonah sleeping in the bottom of a ship after fleeing the command of God to go to Nineveh. In an effort to stop his rebellion, God sends a powerful storm against the ship that Jonah is on. The sailors are above throwing cargo overboard and calling out to every god they can think of, hoping that the storm will abate. Meanwhile the one who is responsible for the storm and who is rebelling against the true God is asleep below. That is when the captain finds Jonah and, in amazement and with earnest, makes the statement above.

One of the commentaries I am reading made a very insightful and applicable observation about this verse. One that really challenged me this morning. He said,

“There is extreme irony here: a ‘heathen sea captain’ pleaded with a Hebrew prophet to pray to his God. It is sobering to see one who might be termed an ‘unbeliever’ pleading for spiritual action on the part of a ‘believer.’ The ‘unbeliever’ saw the gravity of the situation while the prophet slept. It is a sad commentary when those who are committed to the truth of God’s word have to be prodded by a lost world into spiritual activity.” – Frank Page, New American Commentary, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, p. 231.

It is a chilling reminder. Here is an unbeliever terrified for his life as he looks at his impending doom in the face of God’s action. There is the prophet of truth, asleep and oblivious to the situation and to the plight of the unbeliever. The prophet is awakened to the voice of an unbeliever begging him to pray to his God for their salvation.

It might not be loud, it might not be often, but I can’t help but think that there are unbelievers in our city begging the people of God to call out for their salvation – or even show them the way of salvation through Jesus Christ. I certainly hope I don’t prove to be a Jonah – asleep and oblivious.

Food for thought.

Blessings,
Jeremy

Notes from Sunday’s Sermon

Several of you asked for notes from the sermon Sunday on the Spirit-filled life. Here are the sections I think are most helpful for you to continue studying and meditating on. I’m praying we all engage with the Spirit of God every day. Greater is he who is in us!

A.   Old Testaments prophecies that Jesus would live by the Holy Spirit.

1.   Isa. 11:1-5 -

2.   Isa. 61:1-3

B.   New Testament on Jesus and the Holy Spirit

1.   He was conceived by the Holy Spirit – Luke 1:32-35

2.   He grew in wisdom as a child and teen by the Spirit on him – Luke 2:40,52

3.   He was filled with the Holy Spirit at his baptism – Luke 3:21-22, 4:1

4.   He was led, driven by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness to fast and resist sin and the devil. Luke 4:1-2, Mark 1:12

5.   He came out of that encounter in the power of the Holy Spirit – Luke 4:14

6.   He never used his deity to defeat sin and Satan, it was through the power of the Holy Spirit.

7.   He begins preaching and announces the Messianic Age has arrived in him quoting Isa 63. Luke 4:16-21

8.   Casts out demons by the Holy Spirit – Matt 12:28

9.   Acts 1:1-2- taught by the Holy Spirit

10.Acts 10:38 – anointed by the Holy Spirit to do good and heal the oppressed.

C.   The whole Christian life is designed by God to be lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Joel 2:28-29 – announces the age of the Spirit empowered church – Peter quotes this in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost.

1.   We are born again by the Spirit – John 3:5-6; Eph. 2:1

2.   We grow in wisdom by the Spirit – 1 Cor. 2:6-12

3.   We are baptized by the Holy Spirit – 1 Cor. 12:12-13

4.   We are led and directed by the Holy Spirit – Romans 8:14, Gal.5:25

5.   We overcome sin by the Holy Spirit – Romans 8:13

D.   What the Holy Spirit does for us –

1.    lives in us -John 14:17

2.   Teaches you all things, bring things to your remembrance. 14:26

3.   Bears witness to Christ – 15:26

4.   Guides us into all truth – 16:13

5.   Glorify Jesus through us -16:14

6.   Helps us experience God’s love- Romans 5:5

E.   We stay filled with the Holy Spirit intentionally fellowshipping with him.

1.   Reading His word- he is the author so he has something to say to you through it. -2 Tim 3:16-17

2.   Prayer – Jude 20, Rom. 8:28

3.   Praise and worship- Eph 5:18-19

4.   Gathering with the whole church- Eph 2:20-22

Tough Calls

Don’t watch this.