In case you missed it on Sunday:

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Hope you all are enjoying your Christmas as much as I am!

Merry Christmas!

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*DISCLAIMER: to all who use emoticons (the technical term for smileys or any other facial expressions made from punctuation marks), please don’t take this post seriously or personally. If you use emoticons, I don’t have you in mind; I’m just enjoying a little rant.

I’m not a big fan of emoticons. I don’t use them personally because I feel I have a responsibility as a communicative human being to get my point across clearly with, like, the English language. But enough of my self-righteousness. I’ll let Lynne Truss—the Punctilious Punctuator, the Guardian of Grammar, the Sultan of Syntax—say it for me:

“:-) Anyone interested in punctuation has a dual reason to feel aggrieved about smileys, because not only are they a paltry substitute for expressing oneself properly; they are also designed by people who evidently thought the punctuation marks on the standard keyboard cried out for an ornamental function.” Lynne Truss, Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Now you should all feel free to strike back with emoticon-laden comments.

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This morning, I ran a race with my neighbor called the Christmas Caper 5k. It was a lot of fun and my time was decent given that I haven’t run a race in more than a decade. I didn’t place high enough in my age group to take home a prize (though my neighbor finished 3rd and won a giant pumpkin spice candle!), but I did come away with some lessons from a road race for the Christian life:

1. The Christian life is like a race. There is a starting line, and a finish line, and a lot of hard work in between. And there is a prize: salvation! This is why Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
2. Initial excitement won’t get you across the finish line. I had forgotten how when the pack crosses the starting line, it is easy to take off on a totally unrealistic pace. I can’t sustain five-minute miles for long. What gets a normal person like me across the finish line is endurance. In the Christian life, conversion is sometimes accompanied with a bustle of joy and excitement. And rightly so! But the Christian life is lived out not in that initial excitement, but in the mundane, one-foot-in-front-of-the-other faithfulness over years, even decades. It is, as one author said, “a long obedience in the same direction.” Christians are marathoners, not sprinters.
3. Not everyone on the path is in the race. The race was on the Mt. Vernon trail, but the trail was open to anyone. The only way to tell the racers was to look for the race number pinned to the chest. In the Christian life, there are sometimes people who appear to be on the path, who look like they are in the race but aren’t really living the Christian life. They are just going through the motions. But there is no race number to distinguish the racers from the non-racers. Now, our job isn’t really to figure out if other people are in the race or not, but to make sure that we are in the race. Which is part of why 1 Corinthians 9:24 says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”  Or as Mark Dever says: “Are you following Christ, or are you just going the same direction for a while?”
4. Crossing the finish line is really sweet.  The pain is over.  Endurance is no more.  When I crossed the finish line today, I got a half-hearted congratulations from a race official, a high-five from my neighbor, a cup of water and half a banana.  Heaven is going to be a lot (A LOT!) better.  Not sure?  Check out Revelation 21-22.

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Four days until Christmas.  Because our kids are young, Nicole and I are creating Christmas traditions as we go, taking the best from our own childhoods and joining them to the best of what we’ve heard of from others.  Here are some of the things we’ve done and are planning:

• Decorating the tree.  The funny thing about doing this with a four year old is that you end up with 90% of your ornaments only three feet off the ground.
• We pile in the car and go to the Festival of Lights.  It rocked.
• Making a Christmas list with Jack of the stuff he wants to give others.  We’re trying to help him think more about giving gifts and less about getting gifts.  His list is pretty funny.
• Special Christmas Eve breakfast with A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Nicole is making her famous banana pancakes.  Then we’ll decorate Christmas cookies and help Jack wrap his presents for others.
• And of course: our Christmas Eve Service.  Always a highlight.  Followed by a Christmas Eve feast with family and friends.
  

  

What about you?  Favorite Christmas traditions we’re missing out on?

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Parents, I want to continue to provide you with some good questions for discussion, today with a Christmas flavor. Again, I’m doing this because we often hear parents say that they want to spend time having meaningful conversations with their kids, but don’t always know what to ask. Here are some questions to ask as you wrap presents together or search in vain for a parking place at the mall:

• What is Christmas about? (Yes, it’s about Jesus, but why is that important?)
• Why did God become man?
• What is the most meaningful part of the Christmas story to you?
• What is your fondest Christmas memory?
• What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
• What gift are you most hoping to get this year?
• What gift are you most excited about giving this year?
• Why do we give Christmas gifts, anyway?
• Name one person you know who doesn’t understand the true meaning of Christmas. How can you preach the gospel to that person this season?

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So how was it? Did you guys enjoy singing at the retirement homes? Is this something you would like to do again next year?

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1. Christmas serving party is tomorrow!  Please arrive promptly a few minutes before 12:30 so that we can get started right on time.  If you’ve been contacted about arriving at a different time, please do that.  In the event of inclement weather, check back here for updates.  If you don’t see anything, we are going.
2. Rocket 08!  Middle school students, Sunday is your last opportunity to sign up for Rocket, our first ever middle school retreat.  Don’t forget!

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In case you couldn’t write fast enough to catch that J.C. Ryle quotation that Mark read on Sunday:

“Parents, I beseech you, for your children’s sake, beware of over-indulgence. I call on you to remember, it is your first duty to consult their real interests, and not their fancies and likings;–to train them, not to humour them;–to profit, not merely to please.

“You must not give way to every wish and caprice of your child’s mind, however much you may love him. You must not let him suppose his will is to be everything, and that he has only to desire a thing and it will be done. Do not, I pray you, make your children idols, lest God should take them away, and break your idol, just to convince you of your folly.

“Learn to say “No” to your children. Show them that you are able to refuse whatever you think is not fit for them. Show them that you are ready to punish disobedience, and that when you speak of punishment, you are not only ready to threaten, but also to perform. Do no threaten too much. Threatened folks, and threatened faults, live long. Punish seldom, but really and in good earnest,–frequent and slight punishment is a wretched system indeed

“Reader, if there be any point which deserves your attention, believe me, it is this one. It is one that will give you trouble, I know. But if you do not take trouble with your children when they are young, they will give you trouble when they are old. Choose which you prefer.” J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents

Categories: Thursday Thoughts For Parents
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Parents, I want to continue with the discussion questions that I began posting a couple Thursdays ago. Mark’s message on Sunday about David and Absalom and the lessons we learn and can apply in parenting are a good starting point for a list of questions today.

These questions are adapted from a seminar by Steve Shank entitled “Fathers and Sons” from the 2005 Sovereign Grace Ministries Leaders Conference. You can download it for free if you like.

• Do you have a divine perspective of your own salvation?
• Do you have a divine perspective of your children?
• Are you more aware of the prior activity of God in your children’s lives than the present deficiencies?
• When you correct, are the kids first aware of your love and affection for them? Ask your children about this!
• Do you ever lost track of what God has done in your children – the amount of growth that has taken place?
• What are areas that you have seen real change? When was the last time you communicated it to your child?
• Have there been any big changes you have not acknowledged thanks to God for His grace or appreciation for your child’s response to the grace of God? Ask your children about these questions and see if they have any other perspective.
• Are you going after the sin in your own heart and allowing your children to see that you are on the same road? What was the last sin you confessed to your children? Are you consistent in confession and asking forgiveness from your children when you offend them? Are there any unresolved issues or sins?
• Have you ever seen a change take place and then begin to focus solely on the next thing that needs to change or an area of growth? How would you respond to similar treatment by a spouse or friend?
• Can you receive correction humbly from your children? Do they know your faults and sin?
• Do your children feel your gratitude to God for them? Ask them to evaluate you. How do you do at expressing thanksgiving (it is different than simply feeling grateful).
• Do they think you are “on their side” – you are trying to help them and can relate to the struggle with sin they experience as a fellow sinner? Are you more aware of evidences of grace or areas needing growth?
• Have you imposed a timetable for growth and change? Do any areas come to mind? Can you see change when it happens? Are you looking for it?

Categories: Discussion Questions, Thursday Thoughts For Parents
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