God, Our Example of a Father

A commercial interrupts my YouTube marathon and I quickly skip over it at the five second mark. Ads are all over the websites I visit but I quickly skim over them. The signs are everywhere, yet they are so nonchalant I don’t really notice. If it were May no one could escape the impending holiday. But it’s June, which means Mother’s Day has passed and Father’s Day is here.

If you are reading this blog and reaching for your cell phone to check the date, don’t feel alone. Father’s Day sneaks up on you and before you know it you’re sitting at the dinner table with your dad awkwardly looking at you waiting for his present. Awkward…

It’s not hard to notice that Mother’s Day gets so much hype and Father’s Day just doesn’t. Most Mother’s Day church services praise mothers for sticking with their kids and encourage them to keep doing so. The service for Father’s Day, though, typically urges fathers to step up and stop ignoring their kids and stop slacking.

It seems logical that we should make a big deal out of Mother’s Day; after all we have a commandment to honor our parents. … But parents are plural. We have to honor both of them. So Father’s day should be just as big as Mother’s Day. God definitely believes fathers are important.

God calls Himself our Father:

Psalm 68:5(ESV) Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

Isaiah 63:16(ESV) For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name

Romans 8:15(ESV) For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

The word “Abba” in Romans 8 most nearly equivocates to “daddy”. If God wants us to associate Him with our dads we know there must be something cool about the relationship of father and child.

Due to sin that relationship is broken like all other relationships. The only way anyone can experience a perfect father is from the one true Father who sent His Son down to earth to make us His children. On earth, however, we don’t always experience this sacrificial love from our fathers. But despite that, we are called to honor them, just like we do with our mothers. So let’s take a look at what the Biblical dad is. In the Bible a lot of times God explains His characters with the character of a father so we can learn something from those verses.

Fathers should:

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

Help Us: Deuteronomy 1:29-31(ESV) Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.

Teach in a loving way: Ephesians 6:4(ESV) Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Even if our fathers do not do any of those things we are called to honor and love them. This Father’s Day we shouldn’t drag our dads in a guilt trip, we should uplift them. Yes, they will never beat GOD, but through God, our fathers can be compassionate, help us, and raise us up to love God!
Just like for Mother's day I am posting a video to watch about Father's Day!

When We Act Like Doctor Manette: The Armor of God

As a child superheroes were the things to be. There was the classic Superman (who is honestly not one of my favorites) and the super lame Bibleman. I don’t know what your childhood consist of, but mine had Bibleman. If you are not familiar with him, I’ll give you a sneak peek:

The world had Superman, Batman, and the Avengers and the only “superhero” the Christian community had was Bibleman (who may be as bad as Captain Planet). But as I’ve gotten older and learned more about God’s word, I’ve realized that Bibleman had something going. Christians don’t fight physical wars, we have a great spiritual war raging on against principles (not the school kind), powers, rulers of the darkness of the world, and spiritual host of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12).

In this battle against sin, against this evil, and against this temptation that tries to rule us, we need armor. And no, this armor doesn’t include tights (the armor of God is more classy).

Item	Verse	Regular Function	Spiritual Function	Defense or Offense
Belt	Ephesians 6:14- Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth…	Holds everything together so nothing falls	The "Belt of Truth" holds the rest of the armor together. It’s the "Belt of Truth" because if you have lies holding you together, you crumble.	Defense
Breastplate	Ephesians 6:14- …and having put on the breastplate of righteousness…	Protects the chest and heart	The "Breastplate of Righteousness" protects our hearts so they are not destroyed. When our hearts are injured, we are ineffective for God.	Defense
Shoes	Ephesians 6:15-… and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.	Used to run and go places quickly	The shoes ready to give the gospel of peace are used so we can quickly share the gospel to people who need to hear about Jesus.	Defense
Shield	Ephesians 6:16- In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;	Protects the whole body	When you have a "Shield of Faith", nothing can get through.  The shield stops doubt from getting to you and you will not be affected when people try to question your faith.	Defense
Helmet	Ephesians 6:17- …and take the helmet of salvation…	Protects your head and mind	The “Helmet of Salvation" protects your mind from doubts of your salvation. When you have the Helmet, you have the Word sanctified in your head so you will know that salvation is not based on how you preform, but solely on what Jesus did on the cross.	Defense
Sword	Ephesians 6:17- …and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.	Used to fight the enemy	The “Sword of the Spirit” is the Word of God which is the sword you use to fight the enemy and fight temptation. When Jesus was tempted, He even used the Old Testament to resist temptation (Matthew 4:40).	Offense The only offense part in the whole armor of God

 Every part of this armor includes knowing the Word of God. It is our Defense and our Offense. When temptation rises and we want to go back to our old addictions we have to eradicate it.

Example: If you are tempted to steal a 3 Musketeers Bar (the best candy ever) you put God's word up to it: Exodus 20:15- You shall not steal.

 Doctor Manette's shoe maker bench had to be destroyed just like our addictions, and the only way to do that is through God with the help of His Armor. And the only way Christians can use the Armor is if we have God's word marinated in our hearts.

When We Act Like Doctor Manette

[If I have gotten any info wrong on the wonderful novel mentioned below, bear with me, I have only read it once and you need to read it more to grasp the whole concept.]


In the novel A Tale of Two Cities there is a character named Doctor Manette and he is thrown in jail for eighteen years, however he was thought to be dead. In Book the First of a Tale of Two Cities, Doctor Manette is “Recalled to Life” because as it turns out, he’s not dead! … Well, he's not physically dead. Mr. Lorry and Doctor Manette’s teenage daughter, Lucie, go to get him from where he is being kept.

Doctor Manette has lost it. When Mr. Lorry and Lucie find him, he doesn’t even call himself Doctor Manette, but the name of the tower he was previously residing in. And to add to all that, all he does day and night is make shoes. Fast forward five years and Dr. M is a normal person living with his daughter safely in another city. However he still keeps his old shoe making bench and tools and he isn’t exactly sure what happened to him the years before. Besides all that, though, he is happy with his daughter.

This is Dickens though, and the book is three hundred something pages long so that’s not the happy ending of Dr. Manette. One night after Charles Darnay marries Dr. Manette ’s daughter, Dr. Manette  relapse or “backslides” as Christians call it. He returns to making shoes for nine whole days. Eventually his friends, Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross have to destroy his shoe maker bench and bury his tools.

You may be wondering why I’ve just summarized a snipped of a Charles Dickens book. Well I’m reading it in English class so this is just like a study guide for me. Just kidding. I am writing about it because in some way I feel like the story of Doctor Manette can be an allegory for Christians. You may be wondering “how?” Or you may already have an idea of what I’m about to say.

Before we were saved and became Christians, we were dead in our trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1) just like how Doctor Manette was dead (not physically but mentally, similar to how we’re not physically dead, just spiritually). However, someone came to get us: Jesus. So we are saved from our condition of being dead not because of anything we did, but only because of Jesus.

Jesus brought us from being a crazy dead person and into a family (similar to how Doctor Manette was in a family with his daughter). We no longer need to go back to shoe making or our sinful addictions. Over time we learn that Jesus saves us from our addictions because we are a new creation.

I love how Colossians 3:1-17 talks about us being a new person in Him.

Colossians 3:12-14 (NKJV)

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

We are called God’s “holy and beloved” so we become something more now that we are made alive in Him. As Christians we are to put on all of the attributes of God. Ephesians 5:1 says we are to be "imitators of God". That doesn’t mean we don’t sin, because we are not God, but we are new creations.

But… something happens… at least it happens to me. I am free from this sin, this thing that’s been a hold over my life for years and suddenly… suddenly I don’t know what to do and I find myself sliding back into the swamp of sin and shame and guilt, wondering what just happened???

The Bible calls this “Backsliding” and it happened to the Israelites time and time again. Just like how Doctor Manette went back to his shoemaking, I go back to my old addiction. So what’s the answer? Lucky for us the beginning of Colossians 3 explains it. Just like Doctor Manette’s shoemaker’s bench had to be destroyed, we have to put sin to death.

Colossians 3:1-7 (NKJV)
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. (Bold added)

But easier said than done right? How do you kill your “members which are on the earth”? Well I have something hopefully encouraging to say: YOU can’t! Encouraged? Let me finish that: YOU can’t, but God will.

And how does He put your sin to death? With a little thing we call the armor of God.

[Stay tuned for the end of "When We Act Like Doctor Manette" which is coming out next week and will feature the Armor of God!]

What To Do For The Woman Who Does Everything For You

We are at what I feel to be one of the most commercialized holidays of the year and for some reason I am fine with that. When Christmas rolls around I hate how it’s all about Santa Clause and gifts. And Easter isn’t much better with it’s bunny that leaves eggs (think about it: a bunny leaves eggs. That’s wrong.) However with Mother’s day it’s all about mom. And we should thank Mom because she carried us in her belly for nine months then takes care of us until we're 30 (OK, maybe 25). And although I believe “Mother’s Day” should be everyday I also believe we should honor our mothers.

Why? Well I’ll give you two reasons:

1.      God commanded us to

·        Exodus 20:12 (NKJV) “Honor your father and your mother.”

2.      You will be blessed because of it

·        Ephesians 6:1-4 (NKJV) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

·        So as you see we should honor our parents and God also blesses us when we do that. It’s a win win.

That first commandment wasn’t just saying to honor them on one day a year; this is your whole life. However I still think Mother’s Day is important. After all its one of the three days most people go to church no matter what (the others is Christmas and Easter). So what exactly should you do for your mother on Mother’s Day? I will give some ideas of things you can do without reaching into your pocket but still digging into your heart.

1.      Tell your wonderful mom you love them and mean it

·        I know every mother isn’t super cool like mine (love ya, mom!) and isn’t as easy to get along with but I honestly think that the overall performance of the world would improve if daughters and sons would tell their mother they love them. 

2.      Make them breakfast in bed

·        For some strange reason Mother’s Day is on a Sunday and if your church starts at 9:30 like mine, giving your mom breakfast in bed isn’t always easy. It may be better to do this the Saturday before. However it's Sunday (when this post is going out)…so… well… do with this idea what you will

3.      Clean up

·        I know, I know, that’s mom’s job right? Wrong! We could at least clean the house our parents are graciously allowing us to live in.

4.      Give her a card

·        Some people say that hallmark cards are the best but I know from experience that handmade cards feel the best to get because they’re more personal. I'm not downing store bought cards though because this year that's what my siblings and I are doing. 

5.      Do what she wants to do

·        I don’t know about your family but for mine we always go out to eat on birthdays or holidays. Sometimes this is works out great for me like when we get Mexican food. Other times the person wants to go somewhere I think is gross. But you know what? If my mom doesn’t want to go to that new barbecue place I’ve been longing to try, it’s all good. This is her day!

6.      Don’t be selfish

·        This is an everyday thing but especially Mother’s Day. Today is her day. Listen to what she says and don’t get mad if all she wants to do is sleep and not read the aweteous (awesome + righteous= aweteous, my friend thought of that) card you made her right when she gets out of bed.

7.      Say “I love you” again

·        You can never say that enough (and I didn’t want to leave this list on six).

I absolutely love Mother’s Day and I hope these ideas helped you. If you have any more ideas or thoughts on Mother’s day, comment below. In addition to this post I am going to put two great Mothers Day videos below for you to watch with your mom.

[Note: My wonderful Proverbs 31 mother, Mrs. Hope, edits my blog post most of the time but for today it’s in the hands of Grace and Ally. It would be weird if she edited this, then she would expect me to do all of the stuff I listed. JK, I wont be a hypocrite. Maybe I should take off number 3… Never mind. Hopefully there are not too many typos.]