How God has used my children

When I look at that smile, I can't help but wonder about what kind of man that my boy will turn out to be. Will he be like me? Is that even something that I want? Will he follow in the same mistakes that I made, or will he have different struggles?

All I know is that God has used my children in the past to convict me of my sin. This has driven me closer to God. I would even say that God used the conviction that I felt when Landen was born to save me. By looking at my son and then looking at myself, I realized what type of person I was. I realized that I needed true forgiveness of my sins and that I could not do it myself. I had been trying to be religious for 10 years on my own, but it wasn't working. God used my son to show me a reflection of my sin. I pictured Landen doing the things that I was doing, and I knew that I was in trouble. Only God could make me the father and husband that I needed to be so that Landen would not turn out like me.

the Harvest is ready

John 4:35-36 Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.

Why Love??

The question came up between me and my six year old, "Why do we obey.....?" It could be Mommy, Daddy, God, or anybody, but what is the reason we obey. My sons immediate answer was, "So I don't get in trouble." Which is a good answer for a six year old. I guess this means that he understands the point of discipline, but I wanted to show him how the concept of obedience goes deeper than just trying to avoid a spanking.
If we look at it from a Biblical perspective, why do we (Christians) obey God. We love God becuase He first loved us, and becuase He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins. "This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10 We obey God becuase we love Him. "If you love Me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15 It is so easy to get caught up in different reasons for doing things for God.

Why do I spend time in God's word? because I love God.

Why do I spend time in prayer? because I love God

Why do I go to church and worship God with other believers? because I love God
Why do I witness and share my faith? because I love God
Why do I work hard and try to be a good employee? because I love God

You see that we could just go on and on and on. This is the point that I was trying to get accross to my son. We may think that there are other reasons for what we do, but if you are a born again Christian, there should ultimately be one main reason motivating you to ________________.(you fill in the blank)

Translations

Since I “apparently have an issue” with paraphrase (at least according to my wife), here are some of my thoughts about paraphrases. Paraphrases are a sign of the laziness that has overflown from society into our chruches. As stated in Grasping God’s Word, “In a paraphrase the ‘translator’ makes far too many of the interpretive decisions for your.” And “The result is that paraphrases add many things that are simply not in the Bible.” Instead of studying the text to find out what the author originally intended, the reader lets someone else do the thinking for them. Now I know what you are thinking, “What is the difference between that and any other translation?” I know this because it has been asked before. The difference is that instead of trying to take the Greek and Hebrew and translate it into the appropriate language, the paraphrase leaps to the conclusion that they can tell you the thoughts and meaning behind the author’s original words. Interpretation is tough enough. Look at how many different commentaries there have been throughout the centuries. Who is right? The text book goes into this in the next chapter by asking “Who controls the meaning?” Do we let someone do it for us, like the paraphrase "Bibles" do, or should we study to make sure that we try to interpret correctly the meaning that the author was trying to get across? I guess my big problem with the paraphrase Bibles is that they are presented as Bibles, and therefore confuse weaker or newer Christians. I agree completely with the textbook that you should “treat paraphrases like commentaries and use them as such.” I would even go farther and suggest that they be taken out of the Bible section in all of the Christian book stores and moved to the commentary/reference sections. This way you do not give the impression that a paraphrase is the same as the other real translations.

I like to study the Bible, and really dig into the language, so I prefer a more formal approach to choosing a translation. I prefer the ESV, NASB, and more recently the HCSB. The farthest that I have gone toward the more functional side is the NIV. That is only because that is the translation that all the classes at Liberty use. I am glad that I have though. I understand the need to have a more functional, easier to read version that might help you to understand a verse or section of Scripture that you are reading. I found that it is also really good for devotional reading.

One attribute of the KJV that has recently come to my attention is that it preserves the distinction between the singular and plural pronouns by using the “thee, thou’s,, thy and thine.” In our English language today, all of our singular and plural pronouns are “you and yours.” How do you tell the difference between the singular and plural? I’m definitely not a KJV only person, I just thought that was an interesting fact that I would share. Think link explains it a little better than I did.
http://www.baptistbecause.com/Tracts/theethou.htm