Happy Independence Day

[Judy Harder]

 

Raising Kids

I'm Steve Arterburn with a New Life Moment.

Looking for an alternative approach to adult education? Try raising kids! You'll learn important like this:

·         A king size waterbed contains enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house about 4 inches deep.

·         When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh," it's already too late.

·         A ceiling fan isn't strong enough to rotate a 42-pound-boy clad in Batman underwear and Superman cape hanging by a dog leash. It is able, however, to spin a paint can quickly enough to splash paint on all four walls of a room.

·         Super glue is forever.

·         VCR's don't eject "Peanut butter and jelly" sandwiches, and.

·         Garbage bags don't make good parachutes.

If you're a parent, or have kids in your life, enjoy the daily adventures, even if it means time and energy you didn't budget for the moment.

[Judy Harder]

Who Is Jesus Christ?

Talking about Jesus elicits many responses from people. Some are outraged by Him. Others adore Him as the Son of God and Forgiver of sins. Some think he's a prophet or humanitarian—a great moral teacher. Others remain disinterested and indifferent. What others think isn't important. What do you think? Who do you think Jesus is?

Quite often people choose to not answer this question. But, no answer is an answer. It's the most serious question in life, and it deserves the most serious consideration.

As C. S. Lewis wisely observed, if Jesus Christ wasn't a self-deluded lunatic, and he wasn't a blatant liar, there's only one other possible alternative: Jesus Christ was God himself.

Who is Jesus Christ to you—lunatic, liar, or Lord?

[Judy Harder]

A Matter Of Style

Men, when I talk about becoming a servant to your wife, I'm not advocating a surrender of your God-ordained calling to provide leadership in your marriage. That would merely be trading one expression of unfaithfulness and one set of problems for another. Instead, I'm talking about giving up misguided and flawed styles of leadership for a more biblical pattern; a pattern that won't trample your wife's spirit, but will provide the context for your marriage to blossom.

Guys, the posture of your servant-leadership in marriage is two-fold. You're both servant and leader. The balance is delicate. Overemphasis or misunderstanding of either aspect creates imbalance and distortion. For instance, if you lead by being a king of the realm, and lording that role over your wife, resentment is sure to be a result. At the same time, if in serving you abdicate your role of male leadership you may force your wife to assume that role and that creates problems in the marriage dynamics.

Both extremes are damaging because they distort God's design for marriage—that is, marriage no longer parallels Christ's relationship to His bride, the Church.

Men, true, biblical, servant-leadership doesn't promote either of these extremes. True servant-leaders lead, but do so in a manner that creates oneness and radiance in their wives.

[Judy Harder]

 

Becoming Verbally Competent

It's been a popular but misguided trend in our society to view the differences between males and females as nothing more than anatomy. Advocates of this view argue that beyond physical differences, men and women are essentially the same.

But this simply isn't the case. Males and females are very different indeed. For instance, a Stanford University researcher gave young children twelve tasks and recorded their words and vocal sounds. What did the research show? The boys had the same amount of vocalization as the girls, but it was vastly different.

The girls spoke with each other, and 100% of the vocalization was in language and sentences. The boys, on the other hand, weren't verbally oriented at all. Only 60% of their vocalization was language, and the remaining 40% was nonverbal, one-syllable exclamations like, "Wow!" or "Boy!" or various noises such as that of a racing motor.

So research once again confirmed the obvious – women naturally talk more then men do. And it means, guys, that this doesn't help you relate with the women in your lives

It won't be easy, but guys, try to speak what's in your heart and on your minds to the women you love and who love us—your wives, daughters, mothers, and friends.

[Judy Harder]

From Slavery To Servanthood

Imagine the scene: A broken man awakens one morning with no options. Hopeless, owning nothing but an empty stomach, he stands starkly upon the auctioneer's block as a slave. Shoulders slumped, pride stripped away, gaunt eyes staring aimlessly into the distance, his ashen face conveys only shame.

Suddenly, a man with gentle eyes appears, and this man sees value and potential in this broken man. "Did I see a spark of something in that man's eyes?" the slave wonders. It couldn't be, but his hope rises as the gentle man pays the price, brings him home, clothes him, and feeds him richly. His master does love him!

Do you recognize this picture? I hope so. It's a picture of your life in Christ. You and I were once slaves on the auction block of sin. We stood broken by sin. Yet our loving and gentle Master—for reasons we may never know, and for reasons not found in us—saw value in us. And He paid for our freedom with His own blood, on a cross.

Through Jesus Christ, we've been freed from bondage. But that's not the end, only the beginning. We must move on and ask the question, "What have we been freed for?" The answer: for Jesus Christ!

We've been freed by Christ, for Christ. That is, so we might serve Him, praise Him, and give Him glory.

[Judy Harder]

The Meaning of Sacrifice

To make headway in your relationships, incorporate sacrificial acts of love; letting Jesus be your ultimate role model. Consider Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet. This act of submission wasn't about showing off His superior humility or sensitivity. Setting an example wasn't even Jesus' primary motive. Listen to what the Bible says in the 13th chapter in the book of John:

"It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love...So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet."

Why don't we do the same for those we love? The sacrifice of submission and service will speak to others, and it will do something inside you that you can't explain . . . you have to experience.

[Judy Harder]

Work In Progress

I don't know whether this is true in your part of the country, but here in Southern California almost any business will hire guys to stand on the sidewalk and hold a sign advertising their store. Most signs are painted brightly and are shaped like an arrow, pointing the way toward the supposedly "best deal" in town.

Now when it comes to the sidewalks of life, we should probably each be wearing a sandwich board that reads in bold letters, "Work in Progress Here." I know that's been the case for me. What season of life you find yourself in, being in Christ means you are a constant work in progress.

And, just like someone wearing a sandwich board would attest, being in Christ and therefore a work in progress can be tiring, frustrating, and even embarrassing. In short: it requires both endurance and humility. But as a follower of Christ, this is the job you signed on for.

Though the work may not be easy, the benefits are outstanding. For there are very few things in this world comparable to the daily thrill of learning to love and serve Christ by loving and serving others.

[Judy Harder]

A Perplexing Life

In his book, The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn tells the story of his family's trip to Egypt. While driving through the hot and dusty streets of Cairo, they passed a graveyard for American missionaries and decided to enter. One sun-scorched tombstone in particular caught their attention. At the top it read: William Borden, 1887-1913.

What makes Borden so interesting is that he was a Yale graduate, and the heir to great wealth. Yet he rejected a life of ease in order to help bring the gospel to Egypt. He gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to missions, and after only four months of ministry in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis and died at age twenty-five.

At the bottom of William Borden's tombstone is the powerful little statement: "Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life."

The gospel doesn't merely take the world's wisdom and "clean it up." It doesn't teach us to simply sing the world's song dressed up in a religious vocabulary. No, the gospel sets the wisdom of the world upon its head, and counts it as foolishness. The gospel introduces an entirely new set of values and concerns, and an entirely new way of looking at life.

[Judy Harder]

 

Leaving A Positive Legacy

Did you know the Nobel Peace Prize is named after Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist who invented dynamite? It's an interesting story. When Alfred's brother Ludvig died, a newspaper mistook Ludvig for Alfred. As a result, the newspaper printed Alfred's obituary, with a headline that read, "The Merchant of Death Is Dead." The obituary then proceeded to describe Alfred as a man who made his fortune helping people kill one another.

Alfred Nobel was cut to the heart. His legacy, as the obituary described it, was simply tragic. So he set himself to the task of changing it while he was still able. When Alfred really died eight years later, he left $9 million to fund awards for people whose work benefited humanity—thus, the birth of what we know as Nobel Peace Prizes.

Alfred Nobel was given a rare gift: the opportunity to read his own obituary, and make changes before it was too late. Image yourself in his shoes. If your life ended today, how would those around you assess your contribution to your fellow man?

Unlike Alfred Nobel, none of us will probably ever read our own obituaries. However, all of us have the opportunity to live examined lives, and to make changes where changes are due.

[Judy Harder]

Mobilize

Rudy Giuliani was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 2001, and the reason seemed quite clear. In the aftermath of the horrific attack on our country, he gave directions to save the city where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood. It seemed right to give him an award for clarity and compassion under pressure. He mobilized millions when the impact of his own personal losses would have immobilized many.

What do you do when you lose a job? a dream? hope? Do you freeze? Are you unable to move, think, or function? Maybe you spiral downward into destructive self-pity.

I recommend you take steps to make your disappointment and pain work for you. These emotions have energy behind them; so directl them into something positive in your life.

Over fifty times in the Bible people are told to "get up!" So do something, anything—clean the house, mow the lawn, gather friends together to pray, go help someone else, the possibilities are endless. Start with the easy tasks and work your way to those that are harder.

Get up! If you spiral down, you only compound your loss. If you move amidst and through your situation, you can turn your disappointment and pain inside out. It's the first step in the right direction.