One of the most basic things to know about the Christian faith is that the Bible is all about Jesus (Luke 24: 27; 44-48; John 5:39-40).
God reveals himself through his Word: The Bible and Jesus.
While grabbing a cup of coffee at my neighborhood Starbucks last week I ended up in a conversation with my barista. (I’ll keep her name out of this post just in case…er…well, just in case.) For some reason she thought I was from Turkey and we began a conversation about culture and living in Nebraska.
This week I stopped in and she immediately began telling me about her family in Turkey and how she has family that are missing after the recent earthquake.
After listening for some time I offered to pray for her and her family. She thanked me and the conversation moved to Libya. She was concerned with the circumstances in which Moammar Gadhafi killed by a mob shouting that “praise allah.”
It was clear that she was a muslim woman who was offended at the idea of muslims committing violent acts in the name of her god.
My point is that I am convinced that she never would have expressed her feelings on the whole “praise allah” issue had I not offered to pray for her.
The next time I go into that particular Starbucks I look forward to taking the next step in our conversation, letting her know that I prayed for her family and friends still in Turkey. The ones recovering from the earthquake.
I will let her know that I prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus. Who knows, maybe it’ll spark a conversation that will allow me to tell of how I “praise Jesus.”
Acts 17:26 says
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us…
It is no mistake that I happen to frequent that particular Starbucks and that this particular Turkish barista happens to work there. Perhaps God is allowing her to “feel” her way toward him. I’m praying for her. Praying she finds someone worthy of real praise. Namely, Jesus.
get everything ready for yourself in the field,
and after that build your house.
Proverbs 24:27
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
Luke 14:28
Most of us get so caught up working in our lives we don’t take the necessary time to work on our lives. Thus, we get distracted, sidetracked, and frustrated when the unexpected creeps up on us. Sure, you take the time to write out your “to-do list” and have a general idea of what your work week looks like, but have you synced it with your home schedule? Have you taken the time to look at what the next quarter, 6 months or year looks like both at home and work? Here is something that Becky and I started doing that is helping us stay on track, focused, on mission and hopefully helping us be more fruitful in ministry, as parents, as neighbors, and be better friends (read: considerate) to each other.
Sync Up:
Becky and I recently took out our Fall Calendars for both work and home and went to work on getting in sync with each other. This proved to be very fruitful as I am a big picture thinker and Becky gets lost in the details. Here is what we did:
Necessary Tools:
Get in sync! By being specific about working on your life you will be better prepared for the unexpected and establish a rhythm for your family.
Step 1:
Establish your time frame. (will you work on a month, a quarter, a year?)
Step 2:
Ask Questions:
Write it all down on both calendars (if you have digital calendars or use mobile or google you can simply synchronize them.)
Step 3
Make decisions
Things to remember:
Hope this blesses you.
By His Grace. For His Glory,
Elvin
Hebrews 13:7 says:
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
I was recently asked for some advice on how to do a family devotion. I am no expert, but I thought I would post my response in hopes that it can be helpful to more than one person.
The options for doing family devotions are virtually limitless, but the point is not what you do or how deep you go, but rather that you do something – ANYTHING that consistently points them to Jesus. Just do something.
My kids are 12, 9, 6, and 2. Every morning we simply get together before school and read a chapter in the bible. We pick a book in the bible and do a chapter a day until we finish it.
The older kids read more than the younger ones but its that’s ok. Our 2 year old usually just makes a bunch of noise.
Before we read I pray and ask God to show us himself in his word today. After we read I ask, “what sticks out guys?” and sometimes it starts a conversation and sometimes it doesn’t.
You’d be surprised what the kids get out of it. Just be sure its a readable bible: Like the ESV or NLT or Message. We use the ESV.
Here are some other options:
The Jesus Story Book Bible is awesome and we use it for our younger kids, but our older kids like reading it too. Short stories that show how Jesus is the main character of the entire bible. I’d go with this one if you’re new to the bible or unfamiliar with getting your kids started. Actually, this is a great option for anyone at any level.
My son and I read a book called Big Truths for Young Hearts on most nights before bed (when he doesn’t want to read his Percy Jackson books). Its made for 9-18 year olds. He’s 9 and he follows along and has tons of questions, but I probably wouldn’t have him read it on his own just yet and it hasn’t seemed to work for us as a family. Its been more of a one on one thing.
If anything else, its a great book for adults to learn some deep truths about God while teaching their kids at the same time.
Or go really simple. Start at the beginning of a book in the bible. Take one verse a day and read it at dinner and start your dinner conversation with the verse. Ask, what do you notice about this verse? what sticks out to you? What does it tell you about God? What does it say about us? How should we respond to this verse? etc.
Then you keep going with dinner. No biggie. If it sparks a conversation great. If not, you still have 364 more days in the year.
The point is to just do something. Your kids will remember that you did something with them and pointed them to Jesus. Don’t worry about getting too deep or too shallow. Just do something. Remember that God’s word won’t return void (Isaiah 55:11) and his word is powerful. So let him speak for himself.
One Last Pointer:
Ask your older kids to weigh in. I recently learned that our bible times were a frustrating time for my 12 year old. She told me why and it turned out she always feels rushed because her sibs were not ready on time. So, I asked her advice and she said starting 15 minutes earlier would be much better. So, I listened and adjusted my morning routine. The other kids didn’t even notice the difference and my oldest is no longer frustrated with devotions – well, until something new comes up.
Let me know how it turns out.
Hello Christ Community Church! My name is Elvin Torres. I am the new campus pastor at our Sarpy Campus and I thought I would take a moment and introduce myself.
I grew up in New York City and moved to Omaha in the mid 1990′s when I had the opportunity to live at Boys Town until I graduated high school. It was during my years at BT that Jesus saved me, gave me a new life and changed me forever.
After high school I attended UNK in Kearney where I met my beautiful wife, Becky. We were married during our sophomore year and had our first daughter, Trinity, in our Junior year. Yeah, I know….crazy!
Since that time we have been married nearly 13 years and have had 3 more kids. Trinity is turning 12 on Thursday, Keenan is 9, Lydia is 6 going on 16, and little Chloe is 2 1/2.
I would love to have a long list of hobbies listed here but after loving Jesus, loving Becky, loving the kids, loving my neighbors and loving my church there doesn’t seem to be tons of room for video games.
God has taken us through a whirlwind adventure the past dozen years which included starting new ministries in Kearney, moving to Chicago and back again, and now being the campus pastor Christ Community Church – Sarpy.
I am excited about what God has in store for us and look forward to sharing what God is doing in me as I seek to gain more of him and lead CCC-sarpy in Making Disciples for Kingdom Impact.
I realize this is an anemic introduction, but I don’t want give it allow away in one blog post. Until next time!
By His Grace. For His Glory,
Elvin
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