Home

A few weeks ago I received a pamphlet advertising Christian Youth Camps and Events across North America.  This particular organization puts on various camps with various emphases, such as a missions camp or an urban camp.  But one of the options really got stuck in my craw sideways and has been lodged there ever since.

The promo for this camp, called "The Original" says:

REMOVE the DISTRACTIONS of HOME to focus teens on JESUS.  

Friends, is this what it has come to in the Church?  Now in order to focus teens on Jesus we must remove them from their homes, and by implication out from under their parents?!  

Well, maybe our homes are so distracted that our young men and women simply cannot fill their eyes with Christ and their hearts with His Word.  Maybe this youth ministry organization is on to something?  Distractions, hmmm, let's see, there's:

• 8 hours per day of public schooling for 90% of Christian families.
• 2 hours per day of extra-curricular activities at school or associated with school.
• TV, movies, Netflix
• Internet, Twitter, Facebook
• I-phones, I-pods, I-pads
• An hour of homework per night or more depending upon the school and teachers and courses taken
• Parents working 60-80 hours per week outside the home

Yep - we're distracted alright!  Our homes are little kingdoms of distraction, instead of being outposts of the kingdom of God and His Christ where the Gospel is front and center.

Has it ever occurred to us that Deuteronomy 6:1-10 demands far more than just a few minutes of Bible reading or family worship each evening?  The standard set forth by God for His people in this text is 24/7, 365 teaching, training and equipping of children in the Law of God.  Our schedules today all but prevent us from obeying God in this matter at all.  We're never home and when we are we are engaging in mindless distractions galore!

God help us rise to the occasion and fight this very uphill battle to recover the heavenly vision of the home.  May our houses be houses of prayer.  May our homes be gospel-saturation zones where kids are prepared to stand against the wiles of the devil in the power of the Spirit and the Word.  This will not happen by accident.  It happens only when Dads and Moms decide to burn hot for Jesus and forsake the trash heap of the world, the flesh and the devil.

I have so far to go in my own home.  God change me.  God help me.  Renew my zeal for pointing my children to Jesus, for turning every conversation towards His Word, and for fanning the flames of a new reformation right there in my living room each night.

God, by Your grace and for Your glory may my teens never feel as if they need to get away from my home in order to focus on Jesus.  Make it so, Lord.  Amen.      

Time is a funny thing. It moves all the time. It moves quietly so you're not even aware of it leaving. Life happens and things are busy and it just keeps moving while its busy. Today my daughter, my youngest daughter Rebecca, got engaged. What a joyful lovely day for Becca and all those who love her!  And while I sit here on my couch (that my precious beautiful friends bought me) I think about all the time I've had to love Becca. I can see her so clearly down through the years. I see her running around with a basketball in her shirt because she thought it was funny. I see her hiding from her sisters behind the tree while she was yelling I'm here I'm here. I see her crying because she lost Jewel Parkhill whom she loved so dearly .....asking all kinds of questions about God and death and why. I see her face lit up when daddy comes in the door... so excited to see him. I see her wrestling with her sisters in the living room floor laughing hysterically because she could finally take them.  But the thing I'm thinking most right now is the ending of this season. Did I treasure it enough? Did I love it? Sometimes when our kids are little we think things like ....its always going to be this way ...what good am i doing?  It's because we can't see the long-term picture. It's because we get caught up in the small everyday things and we forget we are raising adults who someday will leave. I thank God today that I treasured every minute. I think God that  even the hard days were treasures to me and her dad. While I sit and remember I pray this... I pray that I will love this new season. I pray that I will love this new joy. I pray that I will only mourn for a short time and then I will rejoice in what God is doing with her.. to her.. through her ...and for her. Seasons come and go. Time does not stop. You can choose how to spend your time. You can choose how to enjoy your seasons. You can gripe about the snow... you can gripe about the cold.. you can gripe about the heat...but you cannot change the seasons of your life. They will pass and they cannot be retrieved. I beg you live them with screaming joy....live them with passion...live them unto the glory of God who made them. Live them with tears and laughter. Live them in real genuine truth. Live them so that you wont regret when they are gone.

Praise God for our seasons.  Thank God that He controls time.

I remember the very first Pinewood Derby I ever saw.

I returned from that event excited about the prospects of becoming a Cub Scout, and eventually a Boy Scout.  When I asked Dad if I could be in the Boy Scouts, he said, "They won't teach you anything that I can't teach you."  And he was right, mostly!

Dad taught me to shoot rifles and shotguns, and he taught me to do it well and safely.

Dad taught me how to raise a garden, including how to use an old-school push plow.

Dad taught me how to build a fire, even when it had been or was raining (knowing how to identify "jack" pine in the woods is the key).

Dad taught me how to load and handle and shoot old fashioned, patch and ball muzzle-loading rifles, with my saliva providing the lube for the patch!

Dad taught me how to skin, dress and cook just about every legal game animal in the Southeast.  We would even take combination camping and hunting trips where we would wash whatever we killed in the mountain creeks and cook them over an open fire and a hand-made "spit."  I've still never tasted meat as good as a fresh-killed squirrel cooked whole over a smokey campfire.

Dad taught me how to use all shapes and sizes of knives.

Dad taught me how to throw a tomahawk and use an ax.

Dad taught me how to hunt (and his Dad, my Granddaddy, taught me how to fish).

Dad taught me how to identify certain trees and plants in the woods, especially those animals use for food sources.

Dad taught me how to shoot a basketball, how to throw and catch a baseball, and how to swing a bat.

Dad taught me it was more than manly and OK to give a hug and kiss on the cheek and say "I love you" to those closest to you in life.

Dad taught me what a man looked like, walked like, spoke like, and thought like.

Dad taught me integrity, respect and dignity, and how to treat others.

Dad taught me pride in our family name, and the value of family loyalty.

Dad taught me the habit of gathering with the church several times a week, every week, without fail.

I'm sure Dad taught me far more than this short list.  But of all the things Dad taught me, without a doubt the most valuable lesson was the constant reminder Dad gave me of my absolute need as a sinner of Jesus, the One and Only Savior.

Thanks, Dad.  You were right . . . I didn't need the Boy Scouts!

Well, maybe I needed them to learn how to build a pinewood derby car, but in the overall scope of things, that seems so insignificant now.

I love you, Dad.  I praise God for choosing you to be my Dad.  Thanks for being my teacher, and for pointing me to the Master Teacher and Lord.

My wife, Michele and I were talking some years back about just how long we have known each other (since she was 9 and I was 7), and how I was one of the only boys in her hometown that she could have married that had any interactions with her mother, Linda.  Coincidence?  Phooey!

By the time I had any knowledge of Linda, she was lying on her death bed, dying of cancer.  My Dad was a new Pastor in town, and Michele's family was one of the first to join the church he pastored in Richmond, KY.  They had moved from the West Coast, and we had moved from Western North Carolina.  I remember a few visits made to the Lucas household.  Linda was always very obviously sick during our visits, and feeble, but I do distinctly remember her always finding a little strength to at least give me a greeting and a nice word or two.  My memory of her is foggy.  That was so long ago (32 + years).  But as a boy I have enough recollection to know that whatever was happening to Linda, she was not bitter.

Sick?  Yes.  Frail?  Yes.  Dying at the age of 39?  Yes.  But bitter?  No.

That in itself was quite a legacy to leave her then 10 year old daughter, who would become my wife some 14 years later.

Several years into our marriage, Michele's step-mom told us there were some boxes in the attic that had some of her parents' stuff in it (by then her Dad had also died of cancer).  We took down the box and discovered numerous Bible studies and Christian books that Linda had done.  They were all marked up with notes and thoughts.  There were studies through several books of the Bible, and Corrie Ten Boom books and notebooks of scribbles from sermons and lessons she had heard.  It was a pleasant surprise.  Michele knew that her mom had been saved late in life (especially considering the 39 short years God ordained for her on this earth).  And she had an inkling of the spiritual hunger in her mom, but this box of dusty books brought it to life.  Her mom in the few short years of her walk with Christ had obviously devoured everything she could get her hands on concerning her Messiah Jesus and His precious written Word.

I am not sure how Linda would have characterized her years prior to being saved by grace through faith in Jesus.  Maybe she would have seen them as mostly wasted?  After all, every second lived without the Lordship of King Jesus is a waste.  But, I know one thing for certain - her years of life with Christ were anything but wasted!  

Though Linda was not given much opportunity to impact her youngest daughter - my wife, Michele - in a "flesh-on-flesh" kind of way, her impact is definitely still lingering in my household.   Her hunger for the Word made flesh and the Word written down has blossomed in her daughter, and is now budding in her granddaughters (my precious Meaghan and Keileigh).

I thank God for the mother-in-law that I really never knew very well.  I yearn to visit with her one day at the feet of the Savior Jesus we both love.  

Legacy.

It isn't always passed on in the ways we think or dream or prefer.  But God is faithful.  His ways are infinitely higher than ours and past finding out!

Legacy.

What does it mean to you?  You are leaving one.  The only question is, "What kind are you leaving?" 

One of my greatest excuses for not praying more for my husband, for my kids, my church, my pastor is time.  I don't have the time.  I am doing all I can in a day.  I am covered up already.  Really!  Really?  I challenge you to challenge that thinking.  Keep a journal of a couple of different things for the next two weeks.  Journal your Facebook time, phone time talking and texting, and TV time.  It may shock you to realize how much time we waste in a day.  Spend just one fourth of that time praying. Pray about the things you are facebooking and texting.  Pray about the news you see on the TV.  Pray and talk to God about your husband instead of that person on the other end of the phone.  Pray pray pray...it is so life changing.  How do I know?

There once was a lady named Lori who loved her husband more than the water in the ocean. He is Captain America....The Hulk...and Faithful from Pilgrims Progess all rolled into one. He has steadfastly loved and protected his family with great joy. Lori has counted on his strength and faithfulness for 28 years....he has never failed her.....but tonight Captain America has become human. Cliff has an infection that is doing all it can to weaken his giant body and destroy his strength. I have found myself shaking on the inside this weekend and really really angry...how in my world could my rock...my strong....fully capable husband be this sick? I spent some time raging at God...then doing some bargaining....then feeling great despair and then finally acknowledging God's full authority to do what he wishes...when he wishes...to who he wishes...and by faith believing his plan is good and perfect. So...we have 72 hours to wait...we can choose to spend that 72 hours wondering or worrying...or We can choose to wait in worship....to wait in humble service to others....to wait in expectation of God's amazing plan. I am reminded of Matthew 6....do not worry about tomorrow....his grace is sufficient for today. So..We choose to wait in worship..in service and in expectation of God's perfect plan. So....Lori is enjoying an evening of peace with her husband...and looking forward to many more adventures with her very own Hulk.

25 years ago today....the heavens shook....the wind swirled...and Amy Elizabeth Beard was born. She was awesome cute....fat cheeks...her cheeks were so fat they caused her eyes to squish all up. She was happy all the time...and she was the most mischievious child I had ever met. I am sure this is because I did not know her dad as a child. Amy was the middle of three girls...Ashley first...Amy...and then my Becca. We have lived more life since the entrance of our daughters than I can post in a blog...we have laughed our heads off at their antics..cried with them over hurts...and waited at bedsides for doctors reports. We have played...worked and worshipped together...we have crashed...burned and shared amazing victory together. Together has been our motto...if we had a family crest it would contain 4 Beard women grinning and 1 Beard man looking harrassed as he keeps watch..always together. But recently that has changed. My beautiful Amy will hear her first happy birthday this year in her own home from her new husband. She married in July...wonderful man who loves Jesus and is crazy bout my Amy...all good. Well I have just recently decided that I am going to survive this great betrayal of my sweet daughter...leaving her momma after years of devotion..my word...where would she get a notion like that. She has insisted on leaving and cleaving too..what in tarnation? But with a kick in the seat from my precious Savior and some very pointed looks from my husband...I have graciously allowed my new son to live...and to love my daughter with minimal interference from me....whew...survived that...checking my armor...all in place...still believing...still receiving from Jesus... What a great giver of daughters I am...moving on...then just recently here comes my Becca....Becca is our baby...not yet 21...she is amazing...stubborn...fiercely loyal (in fact she is fierce period) ...a sold out radical Jesus freak....and she is fairly certain that her daddy wears a super hero costume under his clothes. So...here she comes to me...her devoted momma of 20 years and she is talking about the possibility of overseas missions. We spoke with a missionary tonight and her dad about her experience. As I hung the phone up...I heard my head screaming in eight different directions...joy...pride...sorrow...grief...fear...how to process it all...so I called her daddy...he can fix it...after all he's been fixing her broken stuff for years...I waited for him to say she is not going ...it is not safe...she is not ready...what he said was..."momma...we have to trust God...he will get her through and us too."  What good advice...very Biblical...ARE YOU KIDDING ME CLIFF....THIS IS MY DAUGHTER AND I WILL NOT GIVE HER UP!  Well, I have been reminded again tonight that they are not mine....Amy has followed God's path...it led her from us...Becca is praying about a direction that will lead her from us.

*Let me introduce Lori Beard.  I have invited her to be a guest blogger on this site from time to time.  Lori serves the church I pastor as a Biblical Counselor and Women's Ministry Leader.  I know God will bless and challenge you through her blog entries.  So, enjoy this first "entry" from my Sister in Christ. 

Ecclesiastes 3: To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and ; a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to gain and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace.

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heavens. I have always lived my life believing this passage in the Bible and thinking that I truly understood it; recently that faith has been tested. If we believe the Bible then we must believe that every single thing in life is God-given; God ordained; he gives life and death; joy and sorrow; rich and poor; everything comes from him and it all serves his eternal purpose.

I can look back and see the seasons in my life so clearly.  I see my childhood as a season that was full of joy, sorrow, dancing, mourning, laughter, and tears. I see my marriage as a season that is still continuing; early marriage that was rocky and stupid, many times, to middle marriage that has emulated God somewhat closer, for sure, while still being so far from what the Bible has called me to in the area of marriage.  The situation that has made me most aware of seasons in my life is that of being a momma. I see my daughters from the very beginning; tiny, helpless, lost without me and daddy; and then I see them grow and the season of full helplessness begins to change. They become a little more independent and sure of themselves. They begin to notice the world and people around them and to ask questions apart from me and daddy. That season continues until they become grown women who love the Lord and begin to live their lives apart from daddy and I.

This season came full circle for us this past weekend when our precious Amy married the man God had made just for her. Over the last few months, there has been a rending,a tearing away from her dad and I that we have been aware of  with tears and joy. How hard it has been to see Amy begin to turn to her precious David in place of daddy for advice and comfort; to ask him first as opposed to speaking with us first; and we are just in the beginning stages of this new season. We are praying peace and joy as we walk through this new time in our lives and the life of our daughter. We need wisdom and guidance, grace and patience as we learn how to let go. But, I was so reminded of this passage in Ecclesiastes 3 during this time, God clearly tells us that nothing lasts forever; everything comes to an end but him and his reign.

Ecc. 3:14 says, "I know whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it." So, I am looking back to the seasons in my girls' lives. Did I live them in the moment or worry about the future and miss out on the moment? Did I live them with passion and joy, understanding what a gift and privilege it is to parent them? Did I spend time with them; real time, talking and listening and caring about what they said, thought, wondered, desired? Did I laugh and cry with them? Did I grow with them? Did I apologize to them? Did I seek their forgiveness when I needed to? Did I cherish them in words and deeds so that they knew they were cherished?

Cliff and I are starting a new season with Amy; we are mourning the loss of the old but only for a short time because we do not want to miss one minute of this new one. Life is about seasons; they come and they go; they do not last forever. If you are hating the wintertime and just waiting for spring; spring will come but all that God intended you to enjoy and learn and love in the winter has passed. You cannot get it back; you cannot ever regain that particular season. Matthew 6 says not to worry about tomorrow...live today. His grace is sufficient for today. God give me grace to live today; this new day; this new season in my life with joy and passion and in such a way that it bring great glory to you.

Parents; do not spend time wondering about when you will get time for yourself or when you will have a moment to do just what you wanted. Do not fret about what is coming when you have to kiss your children goodbye as they walk down the aisle to start their own family; do not think about anything but this particular season. Live it with joy, commitment, passion and dedication. Whatever season you are in at this particular time in your life will come to an end: ask yourself these questions:

1. What is God teaching me during this season of my life?
2. What have I gained during this time; what do I know today that I did not know when it started?
3. Am I living this season or longing for the next?

Seasons come and seasons go; love them because they are a precious gift from God. They are not our "right"; they are our privilege. God bless you as you live out your seasons with Jesus as your pilot. I pray you do so with joy and abundant life.

In Christ,

Lori Beard

This is a continuation of the previous post.  Let's briefly look at the final 5 big issues facing families today per the Lifeway Research article http://www.lifeway.com/article/164120.

6.  Financial Pressures - "The chronic misuse of debt and/or mismanagement of financial resources."  This one nearly always tops the list of reasons for divorce.  We parents need to ask ourselves, "If I died today and my children were forced to pick up all my debt-load and pay it off, how would they fare?"  And why are so many of us in so much debt?  "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Tim 6:10).

7.  Lack of Communication - "The increasing abbreviation or near elimination of meaningful family member interaction."  Is texting and facebooking and video-gaming and TVing helping or hurting us?  Why do young men and women (teens) in churches feel more comfortable talking about deep struggles or issues with a Youth Pastor or friend than they do their own parents?  We had better re-learn the art and value of life-on-life, face-to-face discussions about all of life with our families!

8.  Negative Media Influence - "The growing influx of destructive images and messages into the home."  I am not sure more commentary is needed on this one - we're all living it daily!  But, maybe I should ask, "If you are not with your children most of every day, then how can you possibly know what they are being exposed to?"

9.  Balance of Work and Family - "The rising pressure to invest more of one's energy in work at the expense of family."  Priorities.  Priorities.  Excuse it all you want, but we all essentially do what we want to do.  Is a change of heart needed?  Seek the heart changer Himself, Jesus Christ!

10.  Materialism - "The placing in high regard of ownership and consumption as a family priority."  Are you a user or a giver?  A consumer or an invester?  What are you teaching your children in this area of life?  They learn by watching!  Are you giving them everything they want and more?  Do you expect them to give away their time, talents, clothes, toys, as they see people in need?  Are they learning hard work?  Are we training them to recognize God's absolute ownership of all things?  Are we holding all things with open palms?  1 Chron 29:10-20 is a great place to start!

Do you see how intertwined all 10 of these issues really are?  Our lives are so complicated, why not start simplifying and biblifying?

We at Corydon Baptist Church have just finished a two month sermon series aimed at the family.  While in my mind "Family Ministry" is never-ending and all-encompassing (because the church itself is a family regardless of our various life situations), I have been pondering how to use this blog to wrap up the last two months of sermons and emphases.  While digging through some files this week, I came across a study done by Lifeway Research titled "The Top 10 Issues Facing Today's Family."  (You can view the article here: http://www.lifeway.com/article/164120/ )  Here are the Top 5 (with some brief comments by me) per this particular study:

1.  Anti-Christian Culture.  The article defined this as "the stripping away of Christian heritage and traditional values."  I affirm that our culture is definitely growing more and more anti-Christian.  Nearly every view point is tolerated in the name of "tolerance" except the biblical one!  And if you think our local public schools are somehow immune to doggedly promoting the Darwinian secular humanistic worldview just because they say a prayer every morning over the loud speaker, then you are obviously not reading your children's textbooks or listening to the few conservative Christian teachers who are fighting the darkness of this system daily.  Our children and adults are being overwhelmed by a tsunami of godless thinking and man-centered ideology.  Guard those TV sets, or maybe sell them.  Be careful about putting iphones in your pre-teens' hands.  Computer access is so widespread you can hardly keep your kids off them.  Why not send your teens to a Christian Worldview camp this summer like the one run by Summit Ministries?

2.  Divorce - defined as "the ongoing wave of broken marriages and families both within the church and without."  Perhaps nothing has so fractured families in our nation and churches as rampant divorce.  It is time for Christian couples to take divorce off the table, to not even consider it an option.  If divorce is not an option in our marriages, then this forces us to make some changes and pursue holiness, forgiveness, repentance, and Christ-likeness.  And these are the things that make marriage great and glorious!

3.  Busyness - "the participation in numerous activities crowding out quality family fellowship."  Friends, I could write a novel on this one!  Men working 60-70 hours per week is devastating families.  We make excuses that "we have to work" or "have to keep my job" but how many of us have ever had a heart-to-heart with our bosses explaining the importance we place on time with our families and worshipping with our eternal family?  How many have asked for reduced hours, less overtime?  How many will aggressively seek another job, even if it means less of that precious idol (money) but more time to pursue holiness in our homes and churches?  And then there's sports.  I like sports, but I must tell you Christian parents that riding a hard bench for hours and hours to "support" your child at the expense of true family time and more time spent doing life together with your family of God in Christ is NOT time well spent.  For many Christians, sports literally drive their whole home for months and months out of every year.  How much gas money is spent on sports in your family?  How much do you give to missionaries?  Is sports idolatry hurting your ability to do life deeply in small groups or small Bible study groups?  Do you spend more time doing sports than you do reading the Bible with your kids, or serving in your church's ministries?  What eternal value are your kids really deriving from involvement in sports?  And what other hobbies are you doing that also harm and do not help your biological or spiritual family?  Busyness is the real American Idol!!!  May we repent for God's glory and the eternal sake of our children who may be champs on the fields but chumps in their love and loyalty to King Jesus and His bride.

4.  Lack of a Father Figure - "The absence of a father in the home or lack of strong participation in the family."  Can I just say that even the way this point is worded shows how far we have fallen in our nation and churches.  "Lack of a Father Figure."  Why not just say "lack of a father"?  We are told 4 of 10 children in our country now grow up fatherless.  If God is serious about caring for orphans (and He is), then we American believers need not look far to find them!  We are now living in a Feminist Utopia in America.  How do you like it?  Sadly, even fathers who are in the home and involved in their children's lives are NOT leading spiritually, are not reading and teaching the Bible to their wives and children, and are not ensuring their children drink deeply of gospel life together in the local church as God intends.  They are physically present but spiritually absent.  Dads be warned - you leave all that "spiritual stuff" up to your wives at the eternal peril of your own soul, not to mention that of your precious children.

5.  Lack of Discipline - "the death of respectful behavior as a norm in our schools, churches, and families."  The recent outrage at the bullying of an elderly school bus monitor serves our point here.  Why do these kids treat anyone, much less a grandma, that way?  Well, let's see, they are not even with parents 80% of every week, so they are raising themselves.  Or, they are being raised in a system that extols the virtues of philosophies like relativism (no absolute right and wrong).  Boys do not have strong fathers, and girls have to learn to fight for survival in a sea of these over-sexed boys.  Parents are told never to physically discipline a child.  Teachers cannot even think about it!  Parents blame teachers for their child's misbehavior.  Hard work is missing from a child's upbringing.  It's all fun and video games in the a/c all the time.  Ask our military drill instructors what kind of young men and women our nation is producing.  They see it first hand and are given the impossible task of converting the competely undisciplined into the most disciplined fighting force in the world (though I think that status is crumbling before our eyes as our spineless generals cave to demands of liberal politicians and themselves promote sinfulness in the `rank`s).  Where is this all heading?

Well, next post we'll deal with the last 5 issues listed in this survey.  These top five have given me a headache!  I am so glad God is in control and I rest in His promise to one day make all things new in Christ the King.  Until then, however, my heart aches for families at CBC to grow into a committed body of believers who are training up the next generation to live as those who truly grasp the significance of calling one another "brothers and sisters in Christ."  That bond meant so much to the early church because in their society, the blood family was the strongest possible of human relations and links.  But today we don't "get it" because our blood families are in disarray, and because our ties to so many other social groups supercede our ties to our church family.

God help us make sacrifices to reclaim His vision and truly grow into the "household of God" (Gal 6:10).  For His glory in the gospel of Christ, and for the eternal good of the generations to come!