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Compassionate Fatherhood

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By Bill Naron

“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” – Psalm 103:13 (ESV)

Fatherhood is rough; parenting in general is rough. Children try our patience, they test our resolve, and they melt our hearts. We can go from disciplining or chastening a child to laughing and playing in a mere matter of hours. Often, we hear the expression, “Life is a roller coaster.” However, with children it is a roller coaster that twists, has turns, goes upside down, and travels at the speed of sound. Needless to say, being a dad is a tough task.

In Psalm 103:13, David compares the compassion that God shows to those who fear Him with that of a father toward his children. I was struck by this statement! How often do I show compassion to my children? Does my compassion look like God’s? Who am I reflecting? So many thoughts came rushing to the forefront of my mind. As a father who follows Jesus, I always make it my goal to show my children the way that God has changed my heart. It is my desire that I would give my children a small picture of my heavenly Father’s heart.

Earlier in this same Psalm, in verses 8-10, David lists attributes that signal the Lord’s compassion. He is merciful and gracious, is slow to anger, does not keep that anger forever, and does not repay our iniquities. In this Psalm, we see the example of how God shows His compassion to those who fear Him. This is what God’s compassion looks like. He sent his Son to pay our debt, to live perfectly the way that we never were able to live, and to make a way for us to become His children. All this was done for us when we were at our lowest point (Romans 5:8).

In the midst of COVID-19 and the usual busyness that comes with life in general, it is easy for me to lose sight of the important things. I can become so wrapped up in the things that I have going on that I neglect to consider the ways that I am engaging with my children. David tells us that God is full of mercy and grace and that He is slow to anger. However, many times I am quick to anger and lack much mercy and grace. In other words, there are times that I am a horrible reflection of the Lord to my children and wife. 

I think that one of the greatest responsibilities that is bestowed upon men is spiritual leadership. We are called to love our wives the way that Christ loves His church (Eph. 5:25), and we are to raise our children to serve the Lord (Eph. 6:4). Our job is to reflect our heavenly Father to our families. Leading our families, serving them like Christ, and showing them the same compassion that the Lord shows us—this is our greatest responsibility.

My challenge to you this week is to join me in starting fresh! Apologize, pray, seek forgiveness, and start doing fatherhood differently. Show your children, your wife, and the world around you compassion. Spend time in the Word with your Father in heaven. Spend time in the Word as a family. Ask questions about what your children and wife need physically, emotionally, and spiritually. By doing these things, we can reflect Jesus to our families and the world around us. 

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Embracing Diversity: Are We Missing Out on God’s Blessing?

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By Larry Short

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9-10

As a conservative Christian, I’m often made nervous when I hear words such as inclusiveness and diversity bandied around. The devil is always in how you define your phrases.

But recently I’ve come to realize that we as Christians are missing out on a huge part of the blessing that God desires to bestow upon us if we are unwilling to embrace or even seek true diversity in our lives and within the Body of Christ.

Let me start with three experiences that have shaped me. The first happened about the time I started college at Biola, circa 1975. The youth pastor at our church was a young man named John I had a huge respect for, as he made an enormous impact in my life.

John invited me during one summer break to live with him in the parsonage of a small church in downtown Los Angeles where he was interning, in a suburb called Cudahy, which at the time was the most densely populated square mile on the planet. This church was indeed culturally unique. It was actually seven churches that met in a single small building, a different church each day of the week.

And each church was based in a different racial and cultural tradition: Hispanic, Black, Samoan, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. The style of worship of each was correspondingly diverse.

One of my most powerful memories is of lying in bed at night and drifting off to sleep while listening to the singing next door, which was taking place in a manner I had never experienced growing up in my white conservative Baptist church. Not better, not worse, just different.

And I remember thinking, “This must be what Heaven is like!” Hearing God praised in different tongues, in different styles, with different types of artistry and music, while foreign to my inexperienced ears, still raised me up into the presence of God. Amazing.

My second awakening came when traveling for World Vision. I spent time in Romania, worshipping with Eastern Orthodox Christians; in Honduras, worshipping with Latin American charismatics; and in South Africa, worshipping with Anglicans. Previously, I hadn’t even been aware that these groups were what I would call Christians. But in each of those diverse experiences, I discovered that worshipping God in different ways brought new and previously unknown experiences and revelations. They weren’t better Christians or worse Christians than I was used to—they were simply brothers and sisters in Christ who opened my eyes to new ways to see God.

The third experience came in my last few years with World Vision. When I worked in Media Relations, I got to know a colleague named Cynthia whom I deeply respected for her love for Christ and others, her professionalism, and her commitment to service. Cynthia is Black and lives with her family, including two boys at the time in their late teens, in Washington, DC.

As we got to know each other, we began to share family experiences, joys and frustrations and fears. And I was stunned to learn that Cynthia’s greatest fears were very different from mine.

“I weep and pray every time my boys leave the house,” she confessed. “What if they were to be stopped by the police? I’ve taught them how to carefully and respectfully comply. But there are so many of their peers for whom these confrontations go desperately sideways. How can I protect my children?”

I had hopes, dreams, and fears for my own two white children. But I have never once shed tears of worry that they might be abused by the authority figures they depend on to keep them safe.

The events of these past few weeks have renewed in me a commitment to do what I began to do when I worked for World Vision: to listen! Do I truly understand (and do I want to understand) where the pain that we are seeing manifested in the culture around us is coming from? Am I willing to actively oppose the personal and systemic racism that is at its heart?

Revelation 7 tells us of a “great multitude” that we will be standing shoulder to shoulder with, before the throne of the Lamb. (No social distancing there, and no masks required!) We will be interspersed with every diverse nation, tribe, people, and language. And we will all be praising God together!

How are we preparing for that day NOW? Are we embracing the diversity that God has built into all of His wonderful creation, on this planet and beyond? God doesn’t make junk, and He doesn’t make things for no reason. He has created people very different from us and expects us to embrace those differences and figure out how we all fit together in this diverse organism we call the Body of Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

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How Do We Resolve Disputes?

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By Pastor Steve McCoy

Have you sensed we’re divided regarding post-virus church reopening issues?

Over my pastoral career, I’ve experienced divisiveness regarding church music, rock music, Halloween activities, educational choices, tattoos, cannabis, and others. Divisiveness seems to be part of our DNA!

Moral issues from God’s Word are incredibly clear: lying, stealing, sexual immorality, murder, drunkenness, not paying taxes owed, resisting governmental authority, etc. These are issues of right and wrong.

But, other issues in life are debatable or disputable.

This is where Romans 14 helps us navigate. But, first, let me give some background.

When the church was birthed (Acts 2) it was totally Jewish. When the gospel hopped the fence into the Gentile world (Acts 10-11) a number of disputes developed. Jewish believers had scruples; the Gentiles seemingly had none. Squabbling erupted when these two groups united in worship or in community.

Diet and days are two big issues critical to Jewish believers.

Jewish people were used to food regulations based on Levitical laws. A familiar one was no pork, but it also included many other items. In addition, Jews didn’t want to consume any food that was associated with idol worship.

Gentile believers, on the other hand, bought meat from pagan temples where sacrifices were offered. The idols didn’t eat the meat, so it was sold at the temple meat market at a good price.

This deeply disturbed Jewish believers, because to them, this was participating in idol worship. But Gentile believers regarded idols as nothing but wood, stone, or metal. “Why not take advantage of a good deal?” they thought. “After all, Jesus pronounced all things clean (Mark 7:19).”

If dietary regulations were not enough, the celebration of certain days compounded the problem. Sabbath days, feast days, and holidays were revered by Jews. Gentiles considered all days alike.

This is where Paul presents three guidelines regarding disputable things (Romans 14).

First, each believer is free to have their own individual perspective on non-critical, non-moral, disputable matters (14:2, 5-7). This allows for personal freedom.

Second, each believer is ultimately answerable to God (14:8-12, 22). This affirms individual accountability before God.

Third, each believer is to love one another.

But what does it mean to love a fellow believer? Three concepts describe love when it comes to disputable things.

First, love means I accept you with your individual peculiarities (14:1).

Second, love means I don’t judge you for your personal choices (14:3-4, 13-18). In this context “judge” means accusing you of a moral wrong when you have freedom of choice.

Third, love means I don’t want to offend you overtly with my actions (14:19-21).

We are not going to agree about the reopening process related to COVID-19. But we all need to agree to operate according to biblical guidelines with regard to disputable things.

Oh yes, by the way, you’re free to disagree with me!

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Discipling Kingdom-Hearted Children

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By Rochele Griffin

A few weeks ago, my children and I were feeling like we just needed to get out of the house. So we did just about the only thing we could do on a rainy quarantine day, and went for a drive. 

Just a few minutes down the road, one of my children asked, “Mom, do you think this could be the end of the world?” His question was not said in a joking manner, and it kind of caught me off guard. I hadn’t realized how much my children had been processing what was happening around us. They didn’t just see a change of schedule or plans; they were keenly aware that everything feels different. 

We have a choice in these moments with our kids to give a quick and comforting answer: “No buddy, it’s not, and we don’t need to worry about that.” Or we can stop for a moment and ask the Lord to meet us with wisdom as we speak to the souls of our little ones.  

2 Timothy 3:14-17 says:

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom[a]you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b]may be complete, equipped for every good work.

It’s our job to teach the word of God to our children. We are the ones “from whom they will learn it.” And we do so knowing that all of it is profitable and can and should be used for training in righteousness. 

During this season filled with hard questions from the searching souls of our children, we are given a special opportunity to address parts of their discipleship that may normally be overlooked. Coronavirus gives us the opportunity to step outside of the normal day-to-day training and teach our children that not only do we keep our eyes on Jesus, but we do so with strides toward heaven. 

So how do we point them to the joy of eternity in everyday coronavirus-impacted conversations? 

As our children deal with disappointment over canceled events, plans, and birthday parties, we draw their attention to the ever-certain, never-ending celebration that Heaven will be. (Revelation 19:6-9)

As we grapple over our rights and freedoms, we teach them (and remind ourselves) that eternity holds perfect fellowship with God and one another. It will never be interrupted—nothing and no one will ever strip it away. (Revelation 21:3)

As their tears of loneliness, frustration, and pain surface, we teach them that soon every tear will be wiped from their eyes. (Revelation 21:4)

As these days seem to get long, we tend to become irritable, and things aren’t as peaceful in our homes as we’d like them to be, as we take the steps to repent and make amends, we can teach our children that in heaven, every relationship will be made perfect. We will no longer have to seek peace, but will live in it, completely. 

It isn’t easy, but this is also a great time for us to open the eyes of our children to the sufferings of the world, to show them what it is to have a heart that cries “Lord Jesus, come quickly!” When our children have an opportunity to see pain in the world, we give them the opportunity to desire true healing. When our children are exposed to the results of widespread sin and the realities of depravity, when they glimpse the pain of life lived without Jesus, they can begin to understand not only their need for Him, but also the need to share Him with others. 

In this season, we ought to be expressing the joy of eternity come, so that our children can’t help but want to share it too.

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