Today, I’d like to share a writing from James Gilliland. James is the Pastor of Worship Arts at Sheboygan eFree Church in Sheboygan, WI. He is the father of two little girls, Abby (19 months) and Kaylee (5 months). James, his wife Christina, and his daughters live in Sheboygan Falls, WI. You can follow his new blog at http://psalmistandcolumnist.blogspot.com.
As a child, I was particularly jealous of every mother on each Mother’s Day and every father on each Father’s Day. They seemed to get the royal treatment: breakfast in bed, special recognition in the morning sermon, lots of nods and applause on the TV, big time discounts in retail stores and local restaurants, and, of course, generous gifts and affirmations from friends and family. Certainly not that they were undeserving, but perhaps I envied that different style of celebration. In response, I invented my own holiday, Brother’s Day, held on the second Sunday of each August, where myself and my two little brothers would buy gifts for each other. (As for getting the rest of the aforementioned royal treatment, I was working on that.) It started out well, as my little brothers were too young at the time to have gainful employment, so the task of buying gifts for me was naturally given to my parents.
Here I am, fifteen years later. I’m a father, already slowly turning into the hard-to-buy-for dad I tried not to be. If one of my little girls followed in my footsteps and proposed the existence of a Sister’s Day, I’m not sure what my reaction would be. (Sadly, Brother’s Day never got off the ground, and I never heard back from Hallmark on it, either.)
I would think that the biggest thing that fatherhood contributes to your relationship with God the Father is perspective. Now, you might think that my purporting such an analogy in which I represent God is nothing short of prideful. On the contrary.
It’s very humbling.
Once I knew that I was, in part, responsible for the upbringing of a clean-slate human being, all my flaws, hypocrisies and my potential future mistakes surfaced in my mind. How can I be a dad? I wouldn’t wish my mistakes and some of my experiences on anyone, and now it could happen to the very people I’m called, both by God and by state law, to nurture, through my bad example and influence. Though I felt ill-equipped and even hazardous, I was a role model to a human being.
As my first daughter learned to crawl, I could at least comfort myself in what I knew I could teach her: the basics of not to touch the stove, knives, electrical sockets, etc. Beyond the normal desire to explore, our daughter is like her parents in her self-driven independence, for better or for worse. And it’s amounted to a few daughter-parent conflicts and episodes of tough love where we have to remove her from reaching a potentially harmful toy or leave her in her crib to “cry it out.” She really doesn’t understand that we know better than she does what’s better for her.
Photo by Kevin Shorter
And then there’s rebellion. Last night, in fact, she refused to go to bed. She stood up at the end of her crib for almost an hour, shouting, almost waking up her younger sister. Our occasional scolding visits seemed futile, as she just smiled and giggled after we forcibly laid her back down. It can be hard to keep your love for a child unchanging when they’re defying, inconveniencing or even hurting you, but your obligation to them is unchanging as well.
But, oh, do I love to brag about her. My oldest is only nineteen months old, but she can already sing songs, dance and count to ten. You will never (aside from her younger sister) find a more intelligent, artistic or beautiful little girl. You can’t ever persuade me otherwise. Maybe I’m biased, but she’s my little girl.
God the Father, on the other hand, given His holiness and purity, is quite the sufficient role model. God the Father, given His knowledge, experience and perspective, knows a lot better than we do what’s better for us (I tend to have trouble with that one). God better tolerates and unconditionally loves us despite our most disrespectful rebellion. And, oh, does He love to brag about us.
Excerpt from A Time for Prayer, the 2010 book for the National Day of Prayer:
Taking Back Our Communities by Lance Wubbels
One of the greatest “layperson revivals” in American history occurred in 1857. At that time there were 30,000 men idle on the streets of New York. Drunkenness was rampant, and the nation was divided by slavery. On September 23, 1857, Jeremiah Lanphier, a praying businessman, began a noontime prayer meeting on Fulton Street in the Financial District of Manhattan. Out of a city of one million people, six people showed up. However, the crowds grew, and within three months there were prayer meetings all over the city. More than 50,000 people in New York City alone paused each Wednesday at noon to pray. The prayer revival soon spread across the nation, and in about 18 months, a million people were converted to Jesus Christ.
Ongoing since 2002, prayer warriors rallied against a prolific drug problem in Manchester, Kentucky. Located in Clay County, the second poorest county in Kentucky and the sixth poorest in the nation, Manchester had approximately the same number in the county jail and federal prison as residents – 2,200. As reported on the 700 Club, almost immediately they began to see change. Drug arrests went way up! Drug dealers and users started coming to church and getting saved and the story of Manchester was carried in papers through the country. Little did they know their march against drugs would ignite a fire of hope that continues to spread across the country. Dozens of towns, from Georgia to Texas, after seeing the stories on the 700 Club, held their own marches and are taking back their communities for Christ.
Prayer for the Nation by Max Lucado
Dear God,
Not to us, O Lord, but to You goes all the glory.
We depend on You. You give birth and breath and determine our days. You make every nation and set every boundary. We exist by Your power.
We exist for Your glory. Showcase Your power through this land. Display Your justice in our courts, wisdom in our governments, guidance in our schools, and love in our homes.
Have mercy upon our sins. We have disrespected Your Word, disregarded Your gifts, and discarded Your children. We are sorry. Forgive us, dear Father.
Grant strength to all our leaders. May they serve You first and honor You most. Remind us of the brevity of this life and the beauty of the next. Prepare our souls for the day we meet You in eternity.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Day! Today is set aside in the United States as a day to honor and thank our teachers. Today, as you remember influential teachers in your life or the lives of your children, take a moment to pray for our nation’s teachers.
...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
It has been estimated that there are well over 500,000 Christian teachers in public schools. Many of them have felt intimidated by court rulings against religious expression and at times have been silenced by our culture’s ambivalence toward moral absolutes. However, limitations don’t change the fact that the Spirit of God resides within them and is working through them – through caring interactions with students and living out their faith day by day; through effective teaching that enables students to develop their unique, God-given gifts; through teaching commonly accepted values, such as honesty, respect, and caring for others; and through teaching about religion within the curriculum. Pray that Christian teachers will have a tremendous impact on the lives of their students and positively influence the cultures, values, and spiritual environments of their schools.
Lord, I ask You to inspire all Christians in education to be Your shining light in schools by being role models and mentors for the younger generations. I pray for teachers to have the wisdom, knowledge, and skills to teach students and make their classrooms places where students learn not only knowledge, but also morality and integrity. I pray that teachers and school administrative leaders would fear You and understand that they have a great responsibility as they train our nation’s future leaders. Holy Spirit, fill the lives of the teachers with Your presence, and by their shining examples, I ask You to draw young people to follow Jesus. Amen.
What kind of school did you attend? Did you have teachers who impacted you for the better? Share a story about your favorite teacher in a comment.
Early on Sunday morning,as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.
Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come, see where His body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and He is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there. Remember what I have told you.”
The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell My brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see Me there.”
As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole His body.’ If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.” So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today.
Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him—but some of them doubted!
Jesus came and told His disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28, NLT
