Tag: family

January 31, 2026

January 31st, 2026

Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – Psalm 78:1-8

Highlight Verses:

“So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭78‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This weekend we are going through some of my wife’s parent’s belongings.

Her father passed away a little over a month ago. Her mom over two years earlier.

Her parents lived a simple life, expressing love to their family through words and actions.

Along the way, they taught their children about the Gospel and Jesus.

That legacy lives on through their daughters and grandchildren.

We each have a choice to follow the examples set for us by our parents.

In some cases, they are good examples, leading us along the path of faith.

In other cases, we need to find our own way to Christ.

Whichever way we find our way to a saving faith in Jesus,

it is our responsibility to do all we can to pass it on to the next generation.

It is then up to our children whether to accept it or not.

What are you doing to pass your faith on to the next generation?
Did your parents pass that faith to you? If not, how did you find faith?
January 14, 2026

January 14th, 2026

Wednesday – History

Reading – 1 Kings 15-16

Highlight Verse:

“He committed the same sins as his father before him, and he was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been.”
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭15‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It is a sad fact that sometimes sins are repeated in successive generations.

Children often follow similar paths as their parents.

Abijam followed his father Rehoboam’s example.

In contrast, his son Asa did not follow the bad example Abijam set for him.

He forged his own path in obedience to God.

My own father and stepfather were not exactly stellar examples of obedience to God. In fact, they should have gone to jail for some of the things they did.

But that does not mean that I am destined to follow in their footsteps.

Like Asa, we forge our own path.

If we can learn from the good examples of our parents, great.

When the examples are not so good, remember that we have a Father in heaven. We can take the lessons that He taught us and follow the path of righteousness regardless of our past.

What good things did you learn from your parents?
What things have you had to learn from your Heavenly Father?
December 26, 2025

December 26th, 2025

Friday – Prophets

Reading – Ezekiel 19-21

Highlight Verse:

““Then I warned their children not to follow in their parents’ footsteps, defiling themselves with their idols.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭20‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I hope I am providing a good example for my children to follow.

Not everyone has a good example to follow.

While my father had some good qualities, his life gave us bad examples to follow.

I wouldn’t mind emulating his intelligence and penmanship, but I dare not follow his hedonistic side that lead him far away from redemption.

My stepfather’s life may have been even worse. He was a man who feigned faith on the outside but live a self-centered life that left no room for God or others.

I cannot thank God enough that other godly men stepped up to lead me in following the path of faith and wisdom.

I certainly cannot claim to be perfect; but I have found the path that leads to life thanks to those people in my life who walked that path before me.

The idols may be different today, but this world is full of them.

The temptation to chase what is popular, fun, and pleasureful leads many astray in the same way as those Ezekiel prophesied against.

Those around us desperately need us to lead them along the path of life, redemption, and true joy.

What are you doing today to lead those around you to faith in Jesus?
Have you found that faith yourself?
December 4, 2025

December 4th, 2025

Thursday – Letters

Reading – 1 Timothy 5

Highlight Verses:

“Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers. Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.”
‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Essentially, Paul tells Timothy to treat everyone like family.

Sometimes that might not be great advice. Some families can be a little disfunctional.

But in Timothy’s case, we know that his faith was passed to him through his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 2:5) so something was happening right in that family.

My family is scattered across the country and diverse in politics, faith, and lifestyle.

Despite that, if one of us asks for help, everyone steps up. And when we get together,

we put our differences aside and love each other like, well, like family!

May each of us show the same love and respect to all.

How can you practically bring the respect you have for family to those you come into contact with everyday?
How would you hope to be treated, especially by church leaders like Timothy?
November 2, 2025

November 2nd, 2025

Sunday – Poetry

Reading – Psalms 134-136

Highlight Verses:

“Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord! Praise him, you who serve the Lord, you who serve in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭135‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Today, I thank God for all those who make church happen, from the Pastor to the set-up crew and everyone in between.

I’ve served in and around churches long enough to know that it can be tough to serve and it can be tough to lead those who serve.

It can be very difficult to balance the demands of family responsibility and ministry.

I’ve seen families torn apart by overwhelming ministry responsibilities.

And I’ve seen other families thrive by working together with one purpose in ministry.

I cannot claim to have all the secrets to thriving as a family, but I know one thing from today’s passage.

God must be praised by what we sing and say and do.

Praise sung to God is precious and awesome.

Bringing God glory by what we say is equally as important.

What we do to bring God glory is what will be remembered by those who witness our lives.

And no one sees what we do more than our families.

Therefore, ignoring our families to spend all our time serving ministry is not bringing God praise.

That’s a tough lesson to learn and I pray we all learn it the easy way.

How have you found a good balance between ministry and family time?
How have you worked together as a family to do ministry?
October 16, 2025

October 16th, 2025

Thursday – Letters

Reading – 1 Thessalonians 1-2

Highlight Verse:

“This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give you grace and peace.”
‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I usually credit Paul with evangelizing the greater Mediterranean region and writing the vast majority of letters to the early Gentile churches.

That’s not exactly how it happened.

From the first day on the road to Damascus, Paul had help.

While he was the main speaker, he never could have fulfilled God’s call for him without many helping him.

Silas was a frequent companion sharing the teaching duties and suffering.

Timothy was his best-known trainee, helping establish the churches that Paul started.

Luke travelled with and helped support Paul, especially toward the end.

Various scribes, disciples, and helpers accompanied him, helping support the work in different ways.

They were a team.

Paul himself taught about the importance of believers working together to do the work of the Church.

While it is possible to be a Christian in isolation, it is far from ideal.

God’s calling for each of us is best accomplished as a body working together.

Paul showed this throughout his letters including the very first line of today’s letter to the Thessalonians.

Have you ever been an isolated Christian? How did that work for you?
What success have you experienced as part of a team?
September 5, 2025

September 5th, 2025

Friday – Prophets

Reading – Jeremiah 40-41

Highlight Verse:

“So Jeremiah returned to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and he lived in Judah with the few who were still left in the land.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭40‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

At the end of Denver’s primary downtown commercial street, 17th Street, is the grand Union Station Building.

From 1908 until 1931, an ornate archway welcomed visitors in front of Union Station.

On their way out of town visitors received a blessing of Biblical proportions.

“Mizpah” was printed on the outbound side of the arch.

Photo: DPL-WHG

The Hebrew word, Mizpah, is a departing blessing meaning something like,

“May God keep us connected even while we are apart.”

That’s an appropriate name for the town that Jeremiah chose to settle during the exile.

While Jeremiah consistently predicted the exile, he also knew it would end, and the people of God would return.

Until that time he settled in a town that, by its very name, pronounced a blessing of unity for God’s people.

My family is scattered from coast to coast, almost literally (I have one sister 150 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and a brother 13 miles from the Pacific Ocean).

But we are still a family.

We love and support each other despite the distance and differences between us.

While we differ in the expressions of our faiths, I believe we would each accept the blessing of Mizpah.

How do you express blessings on your family and/or friends upon parting?
How do you stay connected with your family and friends?
August 28, 2025

August 28th, 2025

Thursday – Letters

Reading – Ephesians 1-2

Highlight Verse:

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Did you know that you bring God pleasure?

I’ve written before about how I understood God’s love when my first child was born.

To sum it up, there is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect my children and there is nothing my children could do that would make me love them less.

There is one shortfall in that comparison to God’s love.

He chose us!

He made a great sacrifice, literally, to adopt us.

Our middle daughter was adopted by my wife and her late first husband.

They experienced great joy when they brought her home and a second wave of joy when the adoption was finalized.

Of course, we love all our children equally.

God loves the billions of His children equally.

But you and I have the power to bring pleasure to the God who created the universe.

All we have to do is accept adoption into God’s family.

I believe that continues beyond the day of adoption.

Every time with do what He has called us to do, we bring Him pleasure.

What has God called you to do while you are here on Earth?
What do you think of the fact that you give God pleasure?
August 23, 2025

August 23rd, 2025

Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – Proverbs 22

Highlight Verse:

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

While I cannot claim to have been a perfect parent, I can say that my parenting style was positively influenced by the work of a man who also influence hundreds of millions of people around the world.

That man, Dr. James C Dobson passed from this world 2 days ago at the age of 89.

His advice through Focus on the Family and other ministries has helped me to improve my abilities to lead my children and keep my values based on the Bible.

While he has been vilified by the woke movement, he was a man who loved God and his family deeply and strived to bring as many as possible into the freedom that the Gospel offers.

His efforts have resulted countless salvations, very high adoption rates in the states he influenced, and hundreds of thousands of children being born who otherwise would have been aborted.

Like me, many millions of parents have been positively influenced by his advice.

While I know that my influence will never reach those levels,

I pray that I leave this world a little better for having occupied it.

And when I move on to heaven, I’ll be sure to thank Dr. Dobson for the positive influence that he has had on my life.

Who has influenced you to be a better person?
What are you doing to influence others?
August 5, 2025

August 5th, 2025

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Genesis 49-50

Highlight Verse:

“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭49‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Judah was the 4th son.

Normally, the firstborn became the leader of the clan on the patriarch’s passing.

In the clan of Israel, that role fell on Judah.

Why?

I wanted to say that it was because Judah looked out for others and had more integrity than his brothers.

But a quick look at Judah’s life disproved that idea. In most ways he was just as bad as his brothers.

As far as I can tell, this blessing of Judah was mainly prophetic.

The people of Judah produced David.

They remained faithful to God longer than the other tribes.

And most importantly, Jesus came from Judah.

The clan I came from has had its share of questionable characters.

It’s also been home to those with more noble personalities.

My hope is to lead my little part of our clan with such integrity that we may be seen as faithful.

How do you use your influence to bring more faithfulness and integrity to your clan?
Who in your clan has influenced you to be more faithful?

Tag: family

Along the way, they taught their children about the Gospel and Jesus.

We each have a choice to follow the examples set for us by our parents.

it is our responsibility to do all we can to pass it on to the next generation.

It is a sad fact that sometimes sins are repeated in successive generations.

In contrast, his son Asa did not follow the bad example Abijam set for him.

Like Asa, we forge our own path.

Not everyone has a good example to follow.

The idols may be different today, but this world is full of them.

Those around us desperately need us to lead them along the path of life, redemption, and true joy.

Essentially, Paul tells Timothy to treat everyone like family.

we put our differences aside and love each other like, well, like family!

May each of us show the same love and respect to all.

Today, I thank God for all those who make church happen, from the Pastor to the set-up crew and everyone in between.

It can be very difficult to balance the demands of family responsibility and ministry.

Therefore, ignoring our families to spend all our time serving ministry is not bringing God praise.

From the first day on the road to Damascus, Paul had help.

They were a team.

God’s calling for each of us is best accomplished as a body working together.

“May God keep us connected even while we are apart.”

Until that time he settled in a town that, by its very name, pronounced a blessing of unity for God’s people.

We love and support each other despite the distance and differences between us.

Did you know that you bring God pleasure?

He chose us!

All we have to do is accept adoption into God’s family.

Every time with do what He has called us to do, we bring Him pleasure.

That man, Dr. James C Dobson passed from this world 2 days ago at the age of 89.

Like me, many millions of parents have been positively influenced by his advice.

I pray that I leave this world a little better for having occupied it.

In the clan of Israel, that role fell on Judah.

They remained faithful to God longer than the other tribes.

My hope is to lead my little part of our clan with such integrity that we may be seen as faithful.