Family Driven Faith, Chapter Two

A God with No Rivals.

Totally dug this quote from Krista's blog and it compliments this chapter so well.

"Think of it this way: Worship is our response to what we value most. That's why worship is that thing we all do. It's what we're all about on any given day. Worship is about saying, 'This person, this thing, this experience (this whatever) is what matters most to me...it's the thing of highest value in my life.' That "thing" might be a relationship. A dream. A position. Status. Something you own. A name. A job. Some kind of pleasure. Whatever name you put on it, this "thing" is what you've concluded in your heart is worth most to you. And whatever is worth most to you is - you guessed it - what you worship." The Air I Breathe by: Louie Giglio

Now, on to Voddie. A lot of punches here. A good spiritual whuppin' I call it. I don't think it's any coincidence that the Lord says he chastises those He loves. Bring it on.

1. While we can all understand the serious nature of an extramarital affair, we often fail to realize that allegiance to God's spiritual rivals is no different.

2. A family without a commitment to the God of the Bible has no hope of stemming the tide of cultural onslaught. If we mix a little biblical truth, a little secular psychology, a little romance novel ideology, and a little eastern mysticism, we will get a deadly mixture of lies... (many christian families) do marriage according to Dr. Phil, raise our children according to Dr. Spock, govern our sex lives according to Dr. Ruth and only run to Dr. Jesus when things have gotten so bad we can't find another doctor to help us.

3. What they didn't realize is that they were teaching Thomas to prioritize baseball over the fourth commandment. They were teaching Thomas that he should honor the Sabbath and keep it holy unless it's baseball season.

4. Christianity was never the center of Thomas's universe. It was always something on the periphery. Church, and more importantly Jesus Christ, always orbited around baseball, the bright, shining star at the center of his universe. Does this mean that every young ballplayer will experience moral compromise? Certainly not; nor am I going to argue that we should abolish all sports. I am simply arguing that anything that causes us to compromise our beliefs can (and probably will) become an idol. Some people will only worship that idol halfheartedly, but some will sacrifice all on it's altar.

5. Thomas's father had never missed one of his son's games. Moreover it was his father who taught him how to throw a curve ball, how to..... (etc), In fact, Thomas's father was the coach of his first T-ball team. However when I asked whether or not he led his son and family in worship his only response was, "I never even thought about it."

6. In other words, this man had spent countless hours and immeasurable amounts of energy teaching his son how to be a ballplayer but hadn't don't a thing to teach him how to be a Christian. When I pressed him on this issue, he said, "I thought the youth pastor was doing a good job of that."

7. When it came to game time, he was not willing to miss (and wore that fact as a badge of honor, but when it came to church, they thought nothing of being absent for weeks and at one point months at a time.

8. It may sound simplistic to say we should acknowledge God as a family during special occasions, but we all need to be reminded of this. How many times have we allowed a (milestone, special day) go by without huddling our family together for a special moment of prayer. WE must take advantage of every opportunity we have to mark special occasions... by acknowledging God.

9. Get your family together and decide how you are going to crush the idols in your life. There may be things you need to get out of your house. More than likely, there are also things you need to get off your schedule.

Feel free to comment....