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Created on Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:08

Written by Pastor Casey

Dear Parents,

This month I am considering our children’s identity in Christ.  Do they really know who Jesus is and what He desires to do in their lives?  I have an enduring image in my mind of the first day in the hospital that MaryBeth and I had with our first child Anthony.  I was thinking as I was wheeling his basinet from the nursery to my wife’s room.  Looking at this young life that was now my responsibility.  Will He know Jesus? Will he walk with Him?  Will my wife and I be able to translate our relationship with Christ to our child and any others that we will have?  For a young couple it can be scary especially today with so many mixed messages.  What do we tell our children when they hear about same-sex marriage, when they see the sexual images in TV’s commercials or even advertisements for upcoming movies and TV shows that can be racy or even very scary?  What do we tell them when they hear of evolution in school or they hear kids using foul language on the bus?  As Christian parents we have a huge responsibility that we raise our children in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord.  In doing that we pray that they would find their identity in Christ and surrender their lives to Him.

When we had our son dedicated at church my wife’s sister sang a special song for him.  This song by Stephen Curtis Chapman really impacted me and I wanted to dedicate it to my son.  The song is called, “When You Are a Soldier”.   I don’t have the space to include all of the lyrics, but here are a few lines that stand out to me.

“When you are a soldier I will be your shield
I will go with you into the battlefield

And when the arrows start to fly
Take my hand and hold on tight…
When you're tired from running
I will cheer you on

Look beside you and you'll see you're not alone

And when your strength is all but gone
I'll carry you until you're strong

And I will be your shield 'cause I know how it feels
When you're a soldier.”

Our kids need to know the love of the Lord as they see us walking with the Lord. and as they sense our support for them in their life.  Someone once told me that God doesn’t have any grandchildren.  Our kids can’t get to heaven because of our faith; they need to identify with Christ on their own. Very often the journey they take will be much different than we expect.  But as we live out our relationship with Christ and draw our kids into it we need to pray and trust that God will bring them through to the other side.  I know the Lord isn’t finished with my wife, my kids or me; we’re all a work in progress.  As we work out our faith with fear and trembling, may we find identity in the Lord and may they find a true relationship with the Lord Jesus as well.

God bless you and your family.

Pastor Casey
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Created on Friday, 30 March 2012 16:43

Written by Pastor Casey

Parents and Kids,

The other day I was sitting around the table and I noted that I was on my laptop, my wife had her iPad and each of our kids had another technical gadget of some sort.  We were communicating somewhat but for the most part each of us was looking at a screen that we had in front of us.  As I consider that time I was thinking it would be great to have a good old-fashioned power outage, just for a few hours and not in the winter of course.  It is so easy to be consumed by today’s technology.  We have games to play, videos to watch, music to listen to, Facebook to browse.  There is so much out there and most of it is not inherently bad.  But it seems that we can easily lose the important family time that previous generations have had.  I know I’m aging myself but I was thinking about the TV show The Waltons.  If you have no clue what I’m talking about, it was a show that was on in the 1970s about a family who lived on a farm in the mountains in the 1930s.  In the evenings they sat around and listened to the radio together and discussed what they were hearing.  Sometimes they would just sit around and talk and one of the adults would tell stories.  Have we lost the art of storytelling?  Our generation is so image oriented I wonder if we are losing this valuable part of life.  Storytelling is what the bible is based on.  So many of the passages of the Word are stories that explain a very deep truth.  When I talk with the kids it amazes me how much they enjoy a good story.  It might be something from the scriptures or from my childhood but it is amazing how it can engage them. 

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Created on Wednesday, 01 February 2012 00:00

Written by Pastor Casey

Dear Kids!

I am working on writing some thank yous for some Christmas presents that I received.  You know is it so nice to receive gifts isn’t it? Especially when you don’t expect it.  Wow!  So it is always important to tell the giver of the gift that you are thankful. 

We have many different ways today to say, “Thank You!”  You could use a post card, a letter, or a folded card.  You could buy the card at the store or print it up yourself.  You could even design one with crayon and marker, if you’re artistic, but I am not.  If you wanted to be really fancy you could make a video and post it on YouTube.  Fancy or not saying, “Thank you.” is very important.  1 Thessalonians 1:2 says, “We give thanks to God for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. “  That is a nice way to say thanks include it as a prayer.  Ephesians 5:20 says, “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”