7 Spiritual Commitments for 

Parents to Make in 2012

By: Charles Steiner

1. Commit to living a Christ like example, at all times, before your child. 

Begin with the end in mind. Think about how your words and actions will effect your child(ren)’s decision to be a follower of Christ after high school graduation. Seeing genuine faith in parents is the #1 determining factor for faithfulness after high school graduation.

2. Provide the right environment for your child(ren).

Give the house, their room, and their other surroundings a makeover. Remove all bad things from their environment and fill it with good things.

3. Commit to consistently bringing your child(ren) to the meetings of the church. 

This includes Bible class on Sunday morning, worship on Sundays (morning and night), and the Bible study/devotional on Wednesday nights.

4. Commit to ensuring your child(ren) are involved in worship.

If they are to young to sing, pray, and follow the lesson, why not have them do something Bible related like look at a Bible story book or color a picture that is Bible related?

5. Commit to have your child(ren) involved in the activities of the church's youth ministry. 

By doing so, you supplement the learning and spiritual growth they are getting at home from you. It also provides opportunities for them to be of service to others. It also helps your child(ren) become connected socially with other Christians their own age.

6. Commit to teaching your child(ren) the Bible at home.

The new Bible school curriculum at Cottondale provides family devotionals to do together each night based on what your child(ren) are learning in class. There is also a memory verse for them to learn each week. If for some reason you would like something different to do at home, I will gladly suggest books and/or materials that will be conducive for your child(ren)’s learning.

7. Pray with and for your child.

Show your child that you know and believe that God is active and working in your lives, and will do what is best for your family as you seek his help. Ask for God’s blessings upon your child and your efforts as parents.

May God bless you, as you seek to make these commitments in 2012!

What An Amazing Opportunity!

   It surely is aggravating when Christmas and New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday. As I reflect on the history of my life, I am reminded that having these holidays on Sunday puts a type of “wrench” into your normal, traditional actions on these days, especially Christmas Day. Christmas Day is about ripping open packages and eating and being with your family and eating again. It is about decorations and traveling and memories and sweet smiles on the faces of our children. It is a special “once a year” time that allows families and friends to be together, sometimes when they do not see each other any other time of the year. Christmas is a special time and I love it. That “Christmas on Sunday” really only happens about once every 5-7 years. It can be a “burden” to my plans and a “wrench” to my traditional activities, but it is not every year.

            But…wait…

   Perhaps I’ve been looking at this wrong all along. Perhaps I have failed to appreciate the “amazing opportunity” that has been presented.  On Sunday, December 25, and January 1 for that matter, we have a very special opportunity to “practice what we preach.” Can you think of a better circumstance to make clear to your family what really matters most? You have an opportunity to make a statement to your children that can last a lifetime. While their friends in the neighborhood are riding their new bikes and playing with their toys, you are showing your children that nothing, and you mean absolutely nothing, takes precedent over your commitment to God, and the church. I do not know if our children and teen agers will remember one thing from their Bible class and worship service on that day. In fact, it is very likely there will be some “disappointed” children having to put their toys down as they get in the car and head to the church building. But, you are providing them a memory of what mama and daddy put first. That is absolutely “priceless.” By the way, in the “bringing up” of your children, this roll of the calendar to a Sunday Christmas will only happen a handful of times. Please do not waste the “amazing opportunity” that is there for you this year. I said earlier in this article you will have an opportunity to make a statement to your children that will last a lifetime. The truth is, you are going to make that statement, one way or the other.

May God bless you and yours in all you do.

~Clark

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteusness”

Matthew 6:33

Striving for Perfection

By: Charles Steiner

  Are you a perfectionist? Do you feel like you have to be perfect all the time, or your never happy? The protestant preacher Martin Luther (1483-1546) started his life out at a young age in much the same way. As a young man he had the goal of living without sinning. He became a Catholic monk. At the monastery he worked all day and then prayed and studied at night. His idea was that if he could isolate himself in this way, it would keep him from sinning. At the end of his first year as a monk, he vowed to live as a monk forever and was part of a big ceremony. At the ceremony he put on a distinguished looking robe. He thought the robe would make him feel holy, but it didn’t. In an effort to feel holy he began to do radical things, which even most monks wouldn’t do. He fasted frequently. He put in extra work. Eventually, Martin came to the realization after reading Romans 1:17 “So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” that no amount of work on his part to be sinless could ever make him justified in the eyes of God.

  The truth is, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24) You see, it is only through Jesus’ gift of redeeming us of our sins, that we can ever be made right with God.

  Some of us take it to the opposite extreme as Luther. We think that because we can’t be perfect, we might as well do whatever we want with no care or concern for what is right and wrong. In this case, may we remember the words of Paul in Romans 6:1-4, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” So what is the answer for the Christian who struggles with being a perfectionist? Do your best to always obey God, but never forget that it is only through Jesus that we are made right with God. 

You Better Check Yourself

By: Randy Latner

Sometimes in our lives we have to take a step back and look at where our priorities truly are from time to time.  Let’s take a look at what are busy summers are like and I think you will see the point I’m driving at. We drive hundreds of miles just to see a desolate terrain of sand with non-drinking water crashing against it.  We spend a huge amount of hours on the roads of America visiting sites that we’ve already seen before in magazines, the internet or on the travel channel.  We run ourselves ragged to make sure that we don’t miss a birthday party, cookout, family reunion, date night, softball game, pool party, movie premier, or clothing sale at our local shopping center.  

So what happens to us on Sunday morning at 9am?  What about 6pm that very same day?  We get so wrapped up in our social lives at times that our spiritual lives tend to be placed on the backburner.  I’ve visited many congregations of the Lord’s Church in my lifetime and while I’m there, I like to take notice of the board that they post their attendance numbers on.  If you’re like me, you’ve always wondered where those 75 or more members are between 9 and 10 am.  Or even wondered why people seem to be so punctual on Facebook in their statuses but can’t even make it to worship on Sunday or to one night of Vacation Bible School.  

What’s the answer? What’s the solution?  In Luke Chapter 14 starting in verse 25, Christ talks about the cost of being His disciple.  He says that we will have to hate our families including ourselves if we truly want to be a follower of Him.  He then goes on to discuss in two separate examples where a builder isn’t able to finish building a tower because he didn’t count the cost and also where a king needs to figure out how many men it will take to win a war so he doesn’t have to send for help once the battle begins.  While there’s nothing wrong with any of the above mentioned events in our lives, I feel that so many of us fill our time with these things that we don’t have room for the Lord’s church and its’ activities. We aren’t willing to give up our social lives for the Cause of Christ and in turn if we are not careful we will place our own families and lives above His. I challenge you to look over your schedules this week and see where you can make adjustments to fit in time with your Christian family.  As the old saying goes, we better check ourselves, before we wreck ourselves. 

About the Author: Randy Latner is married to the love of his wife Mandy. He is a fireman for the city of Tuscaloosa. He is also a campus minister for the Cottondale church of Christ.

The Other Side of the Phone

       

I have been running crazy since the storms hit on Wednesday, April 27. We, as a congregation, have worked hard to do what we could to help. We’ve worked with chainsaws and we’ve worked in kitchens. We’ve gone to those in need and the needy have come to us. We’ve tried to support our members and support our community. We’ve tried to address physical needs and spiritual needs, encouraging brethren and reaching out to those outside the church. We’ve seen hard work from our very young and from our older members. For what we’ve been able to do and for what we can do, I am thankful.

A fixture in my life since that day in late April has been a cell phone stuck to my right ear. For a short period of time that first weekend, my cell phone was lost. While I felt very lost without it, I must admit there was a type of “relief” not hearing it ring. But, in a box that was being delivered, my phone was found, and the “chaotic” pace continued. I wish I had kept up from the beginning with every state that made a call to me. It has been quite an experience. The common denominator has been they call wanting to help. What can we do? What do you need? The amounts have not been the same but the genuine interest from brethren has been of such unity that I’m reminded of the words of the song, “Blessed Be the Tie that Binds.”

I really cannot give you a number of people I do not know that I’ve spoken with in the last month. It should have hit me long before now, but I really had my “aha” moment as I sat at my desk on Monday, Nay 23. I had just gotten off the phone with a man named Jack Wall. Jack is an elder of the church in Evant, Texas. He is a county commissioner in that area and seems to be a very personable man. After we spoke, it really hit me. What kind of people have I been talking to? What kind of Christian people have been on the “other side of the phone?” These are people that I do not know, could not pick out of a police line-up and, in many cases, have never been to the places they call home. Yet, somehow, I have a very special bond with them. I anticipate being with them in that place called Heaven. I understand the beautiful description of the first century church. They had “all things common.” It does not mean they all liked Andy Griffith, okra and lemonade. It does mean in that deep part of your life and soul that means absolutely the most, they shared. It is a bond that is not limited to this life. It is a shared relationship that will go with us into eternity.

To my brethren that have been on the “other side of the phone,” I am thankful that with you, I have “all things common” and I do look forward to meeting you some day!

~ Clark Sims