As I start the new year and consider the many things that I would like to see improved in my spiritual walk as a husband, father, and leader in our home, I first wanted to step back and remind myself of some powerful spiritual truths.  Where do I stand before God?  What expectations does He have for me in 2011?

To answer these questions, we go to the infallible, inerrant, authoritative Word of God.  Did you know that the Bible itself proclaims that every one of us who know Him is perfect in the eyes of God?  Even while we continue to sin against God in our fallen state, He sees each of us as perfect and blameless, without spot or blemish!

Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that reads: “Christians are not perfect, just forgiven?”  While that is true in our daily lives, the Bible says that if we die in Jesus Christ, we will immediately stand before God perfect and undefiled, covered with Jesus’ righteousness.

How is that possible?

When Jesus died for us on the cross, God poured out all of his anger towards your sin on Him.  God the Father sent His Son Jesus to pay the penalty for your sin.  You all know this if you are Christians, right?  Then why do we go on acting as though God is about to drop a hammer on us for getting angry at our kids?  Why do you cease praying to God because you are ashamed of your attitude on a given day?  Why have you discontinued your Bible studies because of your guilt?

When we do this, we are forgetting a very basic tenant of our faith:

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.              -Rom. 8:1

NO CONDEMNATION!  God has freed you from the penalty and slavery of your sin.  Stop dwelling in it.

Our lives should not be characterized by sinful behavior, but we will continue to sin.  As long as the Holy Spirit is convicting you of that sin, making you more like Jesus each year, then take that conviction as encouragement that you are His.  If He is exhibiting discipline in your life, He loves you!

Now, lets run together into 2011 with freedom in Jesus Christ to do good works.  Pray, hide His Word in your heart, praise God with your life, and keep taking up your cross to follow Him.  When you fall into sin, ask Him to forgive you.  Repent by making changes in your life to avoid that sin, and move on. YOU ARE FORGIVEN!

Let’s not dishonor the sacrifice Jesus made for us.  Believe Him who has already paid the price for you!

Have a great New Years in the grace of Jesus Christ.

Brad

I have four little boys who really don’t know anything about Christmas.  They have no clue that Americans spend over 200 Billion dollars per year on Christmas gifts.  They don’t know that most of their peers families will spend $800-$1000 on gifts, whether they can afford it or not.  They would not complain if we gave them one 99 cent hotwheels car, and that’s it.  Its a beautiful thing.  It’s not going to last.

Christmas is about our God sending us a Savior in the form of a baby boy 2000+ years ago.  They do know that.  They do know the words and hand motions for “Away in a Manger”.  They also know that it’s not just about His birth, it’s because he came to die.  Even at 3, they knows these essential truths.

The battle for Christmas will begin to intensify this year to keep the focus of Christmas where it ought to be.  We are blessed to have a wonderful extended family who love and are loved by our children.  Naturally, they will all purchase the boys toys, and I don’t fault them for doing so, we will too.  However, my boys are sinful, they were born that way.  (Eph. 2:3, Psalm 51:5)  They won’t need to be taught to love material things, that will come naturally.

So what do we do?  There are a number of things that can be done to help curb the materialism that is Christmas in the United States.  We could quit buying things for them at Christmas all together.  We could demand that our extended families also exclude our children from the gift tradition.  I personally know a christian family who has opted out of Christmas gifts.  It’s a legitament consideration.

What are we going to do?  Personally, we are choosing to address the sin in their hearts instead of trying to shield them from the temptation.  Why?  Because I don’t think it’s realistic to think that we will successfully shield their hearts from the temptation of materialism by opting out of gifts.  The issue will not be avoided in our culture, it must be dealt with.

How do we address this difficult sin?

Once all the gifts are opened and the wrapping paper is in the trash, we are going to teach our boys about moths and rust.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” Matt. 6:19

I plan to pile all of their new gifts in the center of the room and sit them down for a lesson.  I am going to pick up that new dump truck they are drooling over and ask them where it will be when “they get big like daddy”.  I will go get a broken toy from last years Christmas, one they no longer play with much, and show them that this old toy is now trash.  I am going to use any tool I can think of to drill an essential idea into their little heads:  “Do NOT store up treasures on earth…”

I want them to enjoy their new toys, and I will encourage them to thank God for the wonderful gifts they receive.  But moms, our boys have got to realize that the things of this world are temporary.  We don’t get to take any of it with us, not even the clothes on our backs. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there.”

What will you do to teach this lesson?  Please give me any other ideas that you have!

We live in a very confused culture when it comes to male/female roles in the church, family, and society.  Our perceptions of how a man should conduct himself are influenced by many things.  We need to be intentional about which influences we allow to form our little men, and which ones we ought to be weeding out.

The most obvious influence that most of us had in our lives to form this view of masculinity comes from our own fathers.  God has designed it this way and it works really well.  We often repeat the mistakes of our fathers without even reflecting first on whether that influence is entirely biblical and good.  I am not saying that we instantly chuck the (Photo by Dominic Morel) influence our fathers had on our view of masculinity, but only that we look carefully at each issue relating to the way men “ought” to act, and make sure that they are biblical.

Was your father hard and mean, unable to show any affection toward you?  That is certainly going to mess up your view of what a man ought to be.  Was your father feminine or was he lacking the bold leadership that Christ calls men to have in the family?  This too, can skew our understanding of what a man should look like.

Our culture is another heavy influence on our boys when it comes to masculinity.  The media blasts us with images of men taking advantage of women, men acting like women, men with no integrity, and men acting like apes to prove their manliness.  We have to do our best to shield our boys from the worst of it, and then continually be reminding them of what God has called them to be.

The truth is that all men are built differently.  There is no single way a man should be.  Just because a man can’t swing a hammer or tame a bull does not make him any less manly.  The main issue is to point our boys toward all of the responsibilities that men are given by God Himself.

A truly masculine man strives for all of these qualities:

• Honest
• Self-controlled
• Above Reproach
• Hospitable
• Disciplined
• Loving
• Patient
• Kind
• Understanding
• Courageous
• Bold
• Humble

You could add more attributes to this list, but Biblical masculinity is about following God’s plan for our role in the family, church, and society.  It has nothing to do with beating your chest, eating spicy food, driving big trucks, hanging inappropriate body parts from your back bumper, or just acting tough.

It is important that our boys understand their roles properly, so we once again want to make sure that our boys are saturated in God’s Word!