SoulPeace

As usual, the inverted date numbers (12/21) means it's my birthday. I got up late, so I am just now (4:27pm) having my quiet time. Quiet . . . I sit now in the living room by the decorated tree, looking out the window at the snow. I have apple cake and coffee. Quiet piano Christmas music is playing. I breath a sigh of relief. The kids out sleeping or outside in the snow . . . finally. I see again why moments of personal quiet are so important. Especially quiet moments with God. How my soul longs for quietness . . . peace . . . rest. As I grow older (36 now), I see how much time I spend without awareness. I am carried along by the madness . . . OK, maybe just busyness . . . of my circumstances. Amazingly and providentially, I open up my Bible to Ecclesiastes 4:6,

“Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.”

I believe that it is possible for us to live with internal peace, even when our circumstances are crazy or oppressive. I am learning that most of my circumstances that I would consider crazy or oppressive (only because I rarely experience anything truly oppressive) are results of my own decisions, or more often, my lack of decision. We so often feel like victims when things don’t go like we want. But most often, we are not victims of unalterable circumstances, just of our own failures. What is known as the Serenity Prayer is helpful here:

“God, grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change; The courage to change the things that I can; And the wisdom to know the difference.” - Reinhold Niebuhr

The first point here is to realize that when things are not right (in this case, a lack of peacefulness of life), then there are probably many things I can do to rectify it. I must choose a peaceful life. Prioritize, be disciplined, love, simplify.

But then there are things we cannot change. How can we still have inward peace? Because God is love. He is absolutely good and totally powerful. I can trust him. I can run to him and find protection. I can come to him and find rest for my soul.

The Purpose and Vision for Highland Christian Fellowship

On Sunday our church (Highland Christian Fellowship) affirmed our Constitution and Covenant for the first time! They describe who we are and who we hope to be. Included is our purpose and vision:

Our purpose as a local body is to

  1. Love God.
  2. Love people.
  3. Make disciples.

Our vision is to make disciples of all nations by leading people to faith in Jesus Christ and teaching them to walk with him by living in loving obedience to his commandments; to accomplish this

  • by strengthening families in godly marriages and discipleship of children,
  • by building a healthy body active  in individual and corporate prayer and ministry,
  • by serving the poor, sick, imprisoned, and unprotected,
  • by establishing new, reproducing church fellowships, and
  • by participating in and supporting the worldwide effort to make disciples of all nations.

The Risk Tradition

Playing Risk is somewhat of a holiday tradition in our family. I remember when I was too young to play and peeked over the edge of dining table in order to watch my big brothers play what appeared to me to be the coolest game ever. Here is a picture of our Thanksgiving game. Mark was already conquered. I was left with Stephen (Sarah's new husband- from left to right), Daniel, Michael, and Jonathan. Notice Micheal's pensive state. 100_2718

Last night we commenced the Risk family tradition at our house. Here is a picture of our first ever game. As you can see, even though I am playing with my little kids, I plan to conquer the world!

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Thanksgiving

We had a terrific time with my family at Mom and Dad's house in Wake Forest during Thanksgiving. It was especially meaningful because it was the first time in ten years that all three of my siblings and I have been together with my parents. In this picture from left to right: Michael (the eldest), Anna (youngest), Matthew (third), Mark (second), Dad and Mom. 100_2714

Since we have been home, we have been preparing for Christmas.

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The Perfect Number of Children

I had so many hits on my last post, "New Life at Our House," I was suspicious that people thought it was an announcement that we were having another baby. Well, it wasn't; but this is! The perfect number is seven, thus we now have "the perfect number of children." I'm sure you know I don't mean that seven is the perfect number of children to have. But that brings up a good question and provides an opportunity to explain why we have so many children. How many children should a couple have?

There are many cultural assumptions that cause people to answer this question very differently than we do. (You all can check back with us in about 20 years to see whether any of our children starved to death, were neglected, or received an inadequate education). The perfect number of children for each couple is the number that God blesses them with when they start with the principles of Scripture and allow God to lead them in discerning how those principles apply to their own lives. That is our confidence and conviction in the face of criticism. It is important that believers in our present culture dig deeply into their reasoning and assumptions and be sure they are openly following the teaching and leading of God and not drifting along with the masses.

New Life at Our House

I had two very important early morning meetings on Friday in my office. They were not planned meetings. Soon after he got up my son Caleb (9 yrs) came into my office with a picture he had drawn. It was a replica of a drawing I had done for him several weeks ago that depicted the Gospel. But on his picture he drawn himself crossing the "Cross" bridge to get to God. He proceeded to explain that a couple of weeks back he had given his life to Christ, just as I had explained to him, but he just hadn't told me yet. Moments later Josiah (7 yrs) came into my office. He preempted his discussion with me by explaining that he wasn't coming to talk to me just because Caleb had. He explained that he and Caleb had been talking about their decision to give their lives to Christ and had been praying for each other about it. Josiah's main concern was that he was not old enough or didn't really understand it. One of his reasons for this was seeing what had happened with our daughter Bethany (10 yrs). She was baptized when she was six. It was not long after this that I questioned that decision and concluded we had jumped the gun. Last month Bethany came to us believing that she did not really understand what she was doing when she was six and was ready to give her life to Christ. So, I talked with Josiah about this and we both had peace that he indeed understood what he was doing.

Three kids trusting the Lord as their savior in two months! Very exciting. Leading our children to Christ is the most important thing we can do for them. We will continue to disciple them and help them learn to walk in his ways. We are thankful to God for drawing them to himself and for the privilege and responsibility of guiding them in this journey.