Out of Control: The unspoken cost of over-scheduled children

The most recent issue of Time magazine featured a cover story, "How Kid Sports Turned Pro" which highlights many of the financial dangers to families of the traveling sports teams for children, some younger than ten, which can cost a family tens of thousands of dollars a year in the pursuit of the dream of raising a professional athlete or simply netting a college scholarship.  In addition to this financial burden, the article emphasizes the serious potential for emotional and physical injury to these children (from the frantic schedules, high pressure performances, and too specialized exercise).

All of these things, and more, should be warning signs to parents of the danger of over-scheduling the lives of their children, and of raising a narcissist by teaching that child that the world revolves around him/her, and yet there was one area of danger that the article failed to address: the elevation of these athletic pursuits above devotion to God.   It should come as no surprise that the weekend tournaments that families travel, often half-way across the country to attend, necessitate that the family will not be attending church on Sunday.  As a pastor, I've seen this trend increase over the years, as families feel pressured to choose the hobby/sport that their child loves (or at least the parent thinks they love it) over spending time as a family in the house of God at worship.

Going to church isn't the priority it once was and our society (and countless individuals and families) have lost an intangible asset as a result.  In a world where human connections are more tenuous and rare, our spiritual connection to God and each other looms ever more crucial.  Will my child someday participate in a sport that holds games/tournaments on Sunday morning?  No, she will not, and not just because I'm a pastor and my absence would be noticed; because my wife and I recognize that our time spent as a family in the house of the Lord is an invest in our family and an example to our daughter of how highly we value God.



** This is not an indictment of parents who must work on Sunday to provide for their family, such things are unavoidable for some, nor does it concern those who miss church to take a family vacation or attend a family event.  My concern is with those for whom church is such a low priority that attendance a "we're not doing anything else" option instead of being the high priority that our devotion to God ought to demand of us.**

Sermon Video: The Lord's Will Be Done - Acts 21:1-14

As Paul finally approaches his destination of Jerusalem, both those traveling with him and those fellow disciples of Christ whom he meets at each stop, urge Paul to abort his trip and not go to Jerusalem.  Despite these significant warnings, one from a known prophet of the Lord, Paul insists that he must continue onward.  Paul had already accepted that his life was in danger, and that the cost of his discipleship might be imprisonment, or even death.  It was not that Paul didn't care about the risks, he simply considered his mission for the Kingdom of God to be of surpassing importance, even surpassing his own life.  And what was that mission?  To meld together the Jewish and Gentile Christians into one Church by bringing the famine relief offering from the Gentile churches to Jerusalem in person.  In the end, Paul's hope was a forlorn one, the Jewish revolt was only a few years away and Jerusalem itself would soon be destroyed by the Romans, but to Paul it was a cause worth dying for, if need be, for like his Savior, Paul lived by the rule, "the Lord's will be done."

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Help the Weak - Acts 20:32-38

In the conclusion to his farewell address to the elders of the church of Ephesus, Paul speaks of his own hard work and diligence on behalf of the Gospel, using it as inspiration for his call to "help the weak".  In support of this charge, Paul utilizes a quote of Jesus that is reminiscent of the Beatitudes, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Helping those in need: the poor, the disabled, the addicts and prisoners, the persecuted and lost, is a Christian imperative for it is in this that we truly show the love of Christ to a world in need of the Gospel.  As individual Christians, and as a Church, we cannot solve every ill, but we can certainly make a difference somewhere, somehow, and we must, for our Savior, the Suffering Servant, demands it of us.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

An Opportunity to Learn.

Do all religions worship the same God?

Do the religions of the world worship the same God?  This fundamental question begs an answer to this question: What is Truth?

Christianity is built upon several presuppositions about knowledge and Truth which must be understood which will then answer the first question.

Truth exists and is knowable by mankind.  Not simply truth from my perspective, but Truth that exists apart from my belief or disbelief in it.  If Truth doesn’t exist, or if it is unknowable, humanity’s quest for it has been doomed from the start and the meaning of life cannot be determined.

Truth claims that are mutually exclusive cannot both be true.  In other words, either God exists or God doesn’t exist, both can’t be true; either humanity is fallen/corrupt or humanity is inherently good, both can’t be true, etc.

The religions of the world make mutually exclusive Truth claims, not complimentary ones.  If reincarnation is real, then the Eastern religions are correct and the Western ones are wrong.  If there is only one God, then the monotheists are right and the polytheists are incorrect, etc.

The Truth claims of Christianity are exclusive.  Christianity requires the belief in the divine/human nature of Jesus Christ, in his virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death and resurrection.  If this is True, it negates the Truth claims of all the other world religions, for none of them afford Jesus Christ his exclusive role as Savior and Lord.

          The basis of Christian Truth claims is the revealed Word of God.  Christians don’t claim to have discovered the Truth, they are only recipients of Truth that has been given by God.  The Word of God forms the basis for all Christian theology and morality.

Do the religions of the world worship the same God?  No, no they don’t, for their claims regarding who that God is, what that God has done, and what that God requires of humanity are mutually exclusive.  It is on this basis that Christians have, since the founding of the Church, sought to share the Gospel with those who do not believe, it is not an act of arrogance, nor does it derive from a sense of superiority; Christian evangelism is driven by compassion, for just as God desires that none should perish by failing to believe in his Son, so too do his people want their fellow man to find God’s grace and mercy through Jesus Christ.