Uniting Church and Home

I have done a lot of reading and searching of trying to identify what is the right mix of home and church. Fathers are ultimately responsible for leading their families spiritually, but the church has a role as well. Most would agree that the typical church model of ministering to families is not working. So what is the answer. Some say that the Family Integrated (FI) approach is best. This usually means no age segregated ministries for children or youth. Another is called a Family Equipping approach which is more of a middle-ground approach where age segregation is limited but still exists. Both say that the parents are responsible for discipling their children. Below is a post to a string on FaceBook with a friend and others about it.

"Misty told me about your discussion and thought that I would chime in for what it is worth. I love the hearts of FI and FE folks because I feel they are trying to reverse the machine of programmic discipleship which is a great thing. I do feel that the "blame" for the current state of families in the church is evenly spread to both parents and church leaders. Parents are ultimately responsible because God makes them responsible for the spiritual well being of their families regardless of the state of their local church body. Church leaders are responsible because when they saw that families were failing in home discipleship, rather than equip the parents, they simply usurped their authority and told parents (in Voddie Baucham's words) "we are trained professionals, don't try this at home."

I do think that parents, mainly fathers (if present), need to get their priorities straight. This means turn off the tv, computer, telephone, etc. and spend time with your family, spend time in the word together, pray together, share your faith together, study the Bible together. This takes sacrifice. This takes commitment. You do not need another program to teach parents how to do this. If parents do not have the gumption to do it themselves, then it is the duty of church leaders to step in with loving church council and if necessary church discipline.

I am at a point where I am fed up with hearing everybody's excuses for parents and churches. It starts at the top, in families with fathers and mothers, in churches with elders, pastors, etc. Church leaders must be modeling home discipleship and make it the culture of the church. Fathers must do it and make it the culture of the family. If this happens, then within a couple of generations, it can start to be the culture of our nation.

Sorry, but I had to get that off of my chest. I am not perfect yet in it, but I am desperately trying. I have seen the impact of us having family Bible time together EVERY night. Even when it is late and when we are tired. That is something that I want to continue building on.

Take it for what it is worth."

And Six Makes a Hockey Team

That's right come May 2010 we will have enough in the Heitman household to have our own hockey team. Although, being that I am the only male so far (still don't know what the baby is yet) I doubt that we will be strapping on blades anytime soon. The girls are SO excited about the new baby, it was so sweet to tell them. What a blessing to have another little one in our family. Blessings are oftentimes hard work, but very rewarding. Please pray for a healthy baby and a healthy momma!

The Failed Pilgrim Socialist Experiment

David Fowler over at FACT wrote an interesting article about the Pilgrims and their failed attempt at making micro-socialism work. I had no idea that the Pilgrims, in their desperation, tried growing their food and "collecting" all of the harvest and distributing the food equally to everyone. Well take a guess....it did not work. Read the article to see why it did not. It has something to do with our basic God-given instincts. A good history lesson from our funny-hat forefathers.

Is Twilight Just Emotional Pornography for Women?

I found this to be an interesting take on the Twilight Phenomenon that seems to have captivated grown women. The Twilight series itself is a whole other discussion. The idea in this article about the effects of fantasy on our "real" lives is truly captivating. All of us want to "escape" from time to time because life is hard. However, it can become very dangerous when we escape because our reality usually does not match up to our dreamworld. I think it is clear that we have to be so very careful about what we ingest through any media. It all has an impact on us and we do not "filter" nearly as well as we think that we do. Fantasy can be detrimental when it distracts us from the reality that we live in. We live in a real world with real consequences and Americans seem to forget it or at least want to forget it. This fantasy vacation has distracted us long enough that the foundations of our nation have been usurped by people in power with a ruthless appetite for control. (Ok, I must admit that this post went a different direction than I originally intended, by oh well.)

A Strong Statement

I signed it. I signed the Manhattan Declaration today which makes a strong statement about three key areas in our culture today which must be addressed and defended by all Christians: the sanctity of life, the preservation of marriage between one man and one woman, and religious liberty. These are the three areas addressed by this statement. It is not some "feel good" common-ground theological statement, rather it is a clear and decisive salvo to the leaders of our nation that we will not "render to Caesar what is God's." I encourage you to read the declaration and as God leads you to sign it. My signature means little except in increasing the support for this long-needed initiative that Christians cannot just sit by and watch the three areas of our common life eroded away by legislators and judges.

Blessings

Below is the text of a devotional that I had the privilege of sharing with our department last week. I hope it can be a small blessing to you.

Blessings – James 1:2-18

As Thanksgiving approaches we get thankful. We start being thankful for our family and friends, our jobs, our homes, our food, our health, our well-being. However, have you ever heard anyone around the Thanksgiving table say, “I want to thank God for my cancer”or“I thank God so much I lost my job.”? Not likely. We tend to view our blessings on a much smaller scale than God does and we miss out on many blessings because we do not see them. Let’s see what James has to share with us about blessings.

The Dreaded Schedule

I hate schedules. I love schedules. I don't know if something confounds me more than schedules. I don't like them because I want to flexibility and freedom to "fly by the seat of my pants" if I want to. I don't like to be dictated to which reveals the "control freak" nature that I tend to have. I love schedules because I know what is going on and what is to come. If I go to a conference I want a detailed schedule. In other words, I want my cake and eat it too!!!

I have come to realize that I need a schedule, a detailed schedule. My ADD brain goes bonkers without one. If I can harness that with a schedule, then I can be so very productive. This is also important for my family. My dear sweet wife has her hands full with three little ones and homeschooling one of those. We a need a schedule for all of this to schedule in the work, school, chore and play time that we all need. Pray for us!

The Myth of Adolescence

I stumbled across this video from mark Driscoll on the myth of adolescence. I actually agree with Driscoll on this! Adolescence is the product of industrialized consumerism. Boys never had the opportunity to have a time of "transition" from childhood to adulthood. It was a shift that usually was abrupt and necessary. Young men were needed to work and protect. There was no time for fun and games until after responsibilities had been done.