Chet Bandy

Now and Forever

Today’s reading is Psalm 41.

This chapter begins with verses discussing caring for the poor and having enemies against you. But in reading this last week and now beginning to write this on Sunday, June 22, day after the US struck Iran’s nuclear sites, one verse jumps of the page to me and that is the last one.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion as to whether the US made the right decision at the right time to bomb Iran’s nuclear site. But as Christians who believe the Bible to be the true Word of God, we cannot question that God is the God of Israel now and forever.

Does that mean Israel is perfect? No. Does that mean Israel does not make mistakes? No. In fact, my 12-year-old and I were just discussing how many times Israel messes up and turns their back on God in the Old Testament and ultimately the Jewish leaders crucified Jesus. But the Bible, including the book of Revelation, makes it clear He is still their God. He will never leave or forsake them. And we see throughout the Bible that God keeps His promises and covenants.

While I remember my Mom emphasizing growing up “the Gospel in a nutshell” John 3:16, I also remember her emphasizing Hebrews 13:8.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

The Holy Trinity which is three in one does not change. He keeps his covenants and His Word does not change, He is “the God of Israel.”

Please join me in praying for Israel and the United States and for wisdom for the leaders of both. And above all, please pray for peace in the Middle East, the US, and the world and that hearts and minds will turn to God who will be victorious now and forever. Amen.

Spiritual Gifts

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 14.

Our reading today continues Paul’s writings on spiritual gifts which he began discussing and listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. In this chapter he primarily focuses on speaking in tongues and prophesy. These spiritual gifts have become a controversial topic in the Church today with some taking a cessationist view that these gifts have stopped due to interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:10 saying they pass away when “perfect comes.” They interpret “perfect” being the completion of the Bible and that those spiritual gifts were only given to the first apostles so the Bible could be completed. They believe now that the Bible has been written Scripture teaches they have stopped because they aren’t necessary anymore. Continualists do not believe these spiritual gifts have stopped. They believe the “perfect” referenced in 1 Corinthians 13:10 to be the coming of Jesus again which has not yet happened, so thus these spiritual gifts are still alive and active today.

Let me just say this discrepancy in beliefs among the Church and Christians on this topic is not a salvation issue. Those believing both views will go to Heaven if they confess their sins and believe Jesus died on the cross for their forgiveness and was raised on Easter. Let me also say that although this is a controversial topic, I am writing on it because I believe http://biblejournal.net is just that..a journal of everyday Christians to share their thoughts and what they feel God may be laying on their hearts related to Scripture. So..here we go.

In my observation (and I’ve probably heard others say this before), one interprets Scripture by a combination of the following….

What you feel the Holy Spirit is teaching you and laying on your heart through reading it
Other Scriptures on the same or similar topic
What pastors and spiritual leaders who you respect for consistently following God’s Word say on the Scriptures and topic
Your personal experiences related to the topic and how you’ve seen God move or work related to it in your life

Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, VA preached on this topic back in December of 2024 which you can find here using this link https://cornerstonechapel.net/teaching/20241208/ . Pastor Gary interprets Scripture in a way that makes him a continualist. He references Pastor John MacArthur who is a cessaitonist and even had a 3-day conference on the topic. Pastor MacArthur is someone who I have also listened to sermons as a resource for my past Bible Journal writings. From my experiences, both follow God’s Word in their teaching..they just have a different interpretation on the Scripture for this topic.

If you are a fellow Christ follower who holds a cessationist view, meaning you believe these gifts are no longer active, please don’t hold it against me that after using some of the above methods, I would call myself a continualist. If we both believe in Jesus, that’s all that really matters. And yet again, http://biblejornal.net is just a way our writers to share what’s on their heart.

My interpretation after reading these Scriptures and listening to Pastor Gary are that things are not yet “perfect” as 1 Corinthians 13:10 says they will be when these spiritual gifts pass away. I can look around and see that things are far from perfect and although the Bible teaches us a lot about God’s heart, will, and plan..there is still a lot we don’t know that only God does. I don’t know it all or how understand all that is going on in the world around us. Do you? My interpretation of perfect is when Jesus comes again, not with completion of God’s Word in the Bible.

The other reason my interpretation of these verses is that these spiritual gifts are alive and have not yet ended are my personal experience. About 6 years ago I made a decision to step away from one half of a dual role I served in my company. This was a big decision. That one half of the dual role was the reason we moved from the Springfield area to the Bloomington area in 2011, and for many years I thought that role was the role God was calling me into to impact many others throughout the rest of my career. For various reasons which I won’t go into here and through prayer and experiences, I began to believe that may not be the case. While I felt it was the right decision to step down from this role, there was still uncertainty and fear of if this was the right decision and what was next.

When I went to tell my Managing Partner in Champaign I was stepping down from this role one early morning in late 2019, my wife was the only person who knew. I had told no one else. As I drove back to Bloomington-Normal to meet with a newer financial representative I was mentoring in the role I was stepping down from, my mind was elsewhere still wondering what was next for my family and me and our future. Had I made the best decision? When he sat down he said he wanted to tell me something before his coaching session started. He said he doesn’t tell many, but he has the spiritual gift of prophesy which was not for him and his life experiences, but to share with others. He said for many years he has observed these prophetic visions come true. He told me God had laid it on his heart during his prayers time that morning that he didn’t know exactly what, but that I was going to have a major change or promotion in my career and what I did with my company. He said whatever that change was, it was going to be a really good thing and that I would be able to bless others and blessings would come to my family in this new role. It was all I could do to keep it together. When he left that coaching session which was supposed to be for him, I broke down into tears. I was so humbled God gave him that message to deliver to me to give me peace and affirmation that my decision was the right one.

While there are always challenges that come with change, it has been clear he was correct and the change in roles has not only been good for me professionally but given me more bandwidth to coach my kids’ teams and get involved in other charitable and church and mission type work for His glory that I may or may not have thought had the time for previously.

The purpose of my writing today is not to convince you to be a continualist when it comes to spiritual gifts, but just to share with you my personal interpretation through some methods you also might find helpful to interpret Scripture and my experiences. Most importantly, my prayer is that we listen to God’s voice and the ways he may be speaking to us through His Word and through others.

The Upside Down Kingdom of God

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 4 where Paul writes about the ministry of the apostles.

Merriam-Webster defines the word apostle as “one sent on a mission: such as one of an authoritative New Testament group sent out to preach the gospel and made up especially of Christ’s 12 original disciples and Paul.”

These are God’s chosen people to deliver the truth of God and the gospel of Jesus to the world and what does Paul tell us about them. In 1 Corinthians 4:9 he says they are “last of all, like men sentenced to death.” He says in 1 Corinthians 4:10 they are “fools for Christ’s sake” and “weak,” as well as in “disrepute.” But it doesn’t stop there, he goes on in 1 Corinthians 4:11 to say they “hunger and thirst,” and they are “poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless.” Lastly, he says in 1 Corinthians 4:13 they are “like the scum of the worlds, the refuse of all things.”

Despite all of this in in 1 Corinthians 4:12-13, “When reviled, we bless: when persecuted, we endure, when slandered, we entreat.” Above all though he begins in 1 Corinthians 4:1 by saying..

“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.”

What an example these apostles, chosen by God, give us. One would typically think those chosen by God should be put on a pedestal and held in high regard, yet it is exactly the opposite. Remember, there was time where James and John ask Jesus in Mark 10:37 to sit on each side of Him in Heaven. But now, after seeing the pain, the agony, and the suffering that Jesus, the Son of God, did on their behalf on the cross to do what they could not do for themselves to make them right with God through the forgiveness of their sins, their priorities were different. Their perspective is different because they saw firsthand the sacrifice He made and now consider it an honor to suffer in a similar manner so long as they are being used by Him to spread the Gospel so others may be saved like them.

So, what does this mean for us and our everyday life here today? I’m not certain I know, but at a minimum we should respond by being more in tune with what God wants of us in our lives and in certain situations which may differ from what we want or what the world says we should want and get. And above all, we should strive to live in a way to be regarded like the apostles who are viewed as “servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” as he says in 1 Corinthians 4:1 which he also says in 1 Corinthians 4:2 is because “it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”

Let us start by being faithful….one moment and one day at a time.

No Fear

Today’s reading is Psalm 27.

I grew up in the Lutheran Church attending Confirmation classes in junior high which ends the Spring of your 8^th grade year with taking your first Communion. As a part of this we picked our own personal Confirmation verse. By the time the sheet with possible options and a sort of “greatest hits” of Bible verses reached me, the ones I mostly knew at the time were gone.

Psalm 27:1 is what I ultimately selected…

The Lord is my light and salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

Many of us in born in the early to mid-80s probably remember the many “No Fear” shirts and stickers. While I didn’t have any myself, they were very popular, and I think is the reason I picked this verse. I had a great Aunt Naomi who was very close to our family being that she had no children of her own. When my Confirmation day came, I remember her telling me this was also her Confirmation verse, so I always think of her when I hear it again.

I read in the past few days something which said to the effect of that God did not keep Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from being thrown into the fire, but it was the fact that He put Jesus in their with them to protect them that mattered. God doesn’t promise us in this chapter that trials and bad things won’t happen.

In Psalm 27:2, “When evildoers assail me,.…”

In Psalm 27:3, “Though an army encamp against me,..”

In Psalm 27:5 it discusses, “in the day of trouble..”

The chapter indicates bad things will happen, but the Psalmist has peace in who will be with him and where his focus will be.

In Psalm 27:4, he seeks after being able to “dwell in the house of the Lord” and to “gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.”

In Psalm 27:8, he says, “’Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

In Psalm 27:11 he asks God to “Teach me your way O Lord.”

Lastly, in Psalm 27:13, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!”

As we reflect on current troubles, let us ask ourselves where our focus is…is it on our problems or Him?

Maybe we don’t have many troubles at this very moment but let us pray for wisdom that when we do, because Psalm 27 and John 16:33 says we will have them, our focus will be on Jesus. Let us pray that we will seek Him and His face and presence in these times.

Psalm 27:3 tells us when we do so we can live with confidence.

Though an army encamp against me,

My hear shall not fear;

Though ware rise against me,

yet I can be confident.”

The Great Eight

Today’s reading is Romans 8 which is often referred to as “The Great Eight.” This chapter is so full of rich content which we can apply to our lives daily that I think one could preach or write on it for a year if they wanted. With that in mind, we will just focus on a few verses.

Romans 8:31 reads…

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

There may not be a more profound verse in the Bible which can change the way we live our lives and handle fears, worries, anxieties, and doubts about the future. We spend much of our lives stressed wondering about the future and what it holds. Will the medical test I just had (or my family member) come back positive? Will I get in the school I want or which one should I choose? Will I have enough money to pay for college? Will I have enough money to pay my bills and buy groceries? Will I have enough money to retire when I want and live the way I want? Is my job safe or could I lose it? Have I prepared my child for their future as an adult? Will they choose the best spouse for them? I could go on and on…

These worries, fears, and doubts we have about the future are natural and normal. Some of the things we spend time stressing over are very serious which could cause us or our family a lot of challenges and pain in the short or long-term… and other are “first world” problems we’ve often created for ourselves as my brother likes to say and keep in perspective. Either way, if we can trust that God is always, and I mean always, for us and in our corner…it changes everything. How do we know this? Romans 8:32 says because He gave us His own Son’s life on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins!

Most of us have probably heard the saying, “Father knows best.” As an earthly father myself, I can say there is no way I can be certain about that 100% of the time. But, we can be certain this is true with our Heavenly Father all the time. And not only does He know the best for us and our future, but He holds controls it!

If we believe this and know this, along with Romans 8:28 which says He’s working all things out for the good for those who love Him, it can and should change the way we live our lives. We still don’t have to like pain, problems, or challenges that will happen on this side of eternity, but knowing and trusting in these truths of His love and His best plan for our lives in Roman 8 should change the way we live to do so with a joy and peace that inspires others to trust and follow Him as well.

Psalm 22 – The Crucifixion

Today’s reading is Psalm 22.

Psalm 22 was written by David and is arguably the most known of the 15 Messianic Psalms which describe the coming Messiah in Jesus. This Psalm is one of the Old Testament writings many Jews who have become Christians attribute to part of their conversion because it is so convicting that it is describing Jesus’ Crucifixion. And it was written about 1,000 years before Jesus’ birth with this being translated from Hebrew to Greek in what is called the Septuagint nearly 300 years before Jesus was even born! I’m excited to dive in to this with you. The timing being fitting with Good Friday tomorrow. Please also note that I will likely only mention one cross reference (no pun intended) between Psalm 22 and actual events of the Crucifixion described in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John…yet many of the events matching Psalm 22 are in multiple, if not all, of the Gospels.

We know a lot about David’s life through the books of 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, and 2 Chronicles. And we know that he was not in the situation described in Psalm 22, even though he wrote it, showing it was a prophecy and not events he himself experienced. In Psalm 22:16-17 he says, “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet – I can count all my bones – they stare and gloat over me;” It is clear in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19 that this is what happened to Jesus and describes the events as a whole. As David describes what actually happened during crucifixion, it is important to note most scholars agree crucifixion was not even invented by the Romans until around 700 years after David wrote this. Stoning was the Jews choice of capital punishment. Psalm 22:14 says that his bones were out of joint which is what happens from the weight of the body hanging on the cross. It is clear this is prophetic description of the crucifixion of Jesus.

Let’s move on to some of other events as a part of the crucifixion David describes in detail. Psalm 22:18 says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” This is told in John 19:23-25 with John 19:24 quoting Psalm 22:18 and actually saying this fulfilled that Scripture.

Psalm 22:7-8 says, “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, for He delights in Him.'” The mocking of Jesus is described in all of the Gospels, whether it be the soldiers, the crowd, or the priests, scribes, and elders with Matthew 27:43 matching Psalm 22:8.

Psalm 22:15 says, “…and my tongue sticks to my jaws;” Jesus says in John 19:28, “I thirst,” with this again saying right in this verse this fulfills Psalm 22:15.

Lastly, Psalm 22 begins with Psalm 22:1 saying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:34 says, “At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

I realize my writing today provides more of a historical reference of the prophecy and actual events in the Gospels, rather than a reflection or perspective. But we know Hebrews 4:12 says the Word is living and active and pierces the soul and spirit, so my prayer is that as we go into this Easter weekend it does just that and meets and speaks to each one of us where we need it.

My encouragement is to reflect and meditate on it so God can speak to you.

The Point

Today’s reading is Acts 14.

This week March Madness and the NCAA Tournament has started. My family can attest that I might be heard going around the house singing…”It’s the most wonderful of the year!” If you happen to be one of the millions watching this weekend like our family…watch closely and see what happens when a player hits a three pointer or makes a great shot. There was a time when you would commonly see what Illinois State men’s basketball coach Ryan Pedon calls “the point.” This is where a player makes a shot and points to the person who passed it to them as to give them credit and as to say in a way my basket wouldn’t have happened without you and your great assist. Now when a player makes a shot, you most commonly see a player shooting a fake bow and arrow or pointing to their forearm as to say they have ice water in their veins. Essentially, they are saying…look at me…I’m really good. Most want all the credit and in a way to be treated like a god.

In Acts 14 we read that Paul and Barnabas healed a man so he could walk in the town of Lystra. Here’s what happened next.

“And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!””

Acts 14:11

Paul and Barnabas got what Coach Norman Dale, played by the late Gene Hackman, in the movie Hoosiers says most everybody wants..”to be treated like a god, just for a few moments.” The people wanted to bring them gifts and sacrifices, but here was the response of Paul and Barnabas.

“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”

Acts 14:15

What an example Paul and Barnabas set for us as to how we should react when we get praise. They responded by “the point” right to their Father in Heaven. They knew where to give the credit and didn’t have to think for a second about it. Paul was walking his talk in what he said in Romans.

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.”

Romans 11:36

Let us remember Paul’s example and the next time we get praise, give “the point” right to our Father above. We are told in the book of Isaiah that is why He created us.

Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

Isaiah 43:7

Be Bold

Today’s reading is Acts 4.

Maybe the marketing team at Doritos, with their tag line encouraging people to be bold by eating Doritos, are big fans of Acts 4. The theme of this chapter is about being bold and willing to share the Gospel despite the risks.

Acts 4:13 says people were “astonished’ in hearing the boldness of Peter and John. The disciples prayed for boldness to speak the Gospel in Acts 4:29, and we are told in Acts 4:31 that prayer was answered. They were “filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the Word of God in boldness.”

I’ve written on this before, but I’ll say it again. One of the most convicting factors for me personally in the truth of the Gospel is that the same guys who ran for their life, hid in locked rooms, and denied knowing Jesus right before, during, and after his crucifixion to protect their own lives now won’t be quiet about the Gospel. They saw the gruesome death of Jesus on the cross. They knew the same thing could be done to them. There is only one reason they would keep sharing the Gospel. They knew Jesus was dead, and then they saw and interacted with Him alive after His Resurrection. What is there to fear when you don’t fear death itself?

The Jewish Council of leaders, sometimes called the Sanhedrin, threatened them to not to speak about Jesus and their fearless and bold response in Acts 4:20 was, “for we cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard.” Their lives were on the line, yet they chose Jesus. How many of us fear our lives being taken for speaking the Gospel? Probably no one reading this unless you are in another country outside the US. So, what are we afraid of? Is it losing our job? Yes that’s bad, but it’s not losing our life. Are we afraid what someone will think of us? That is pretty childish and selfish when what others think of us is more important to us than where someone will spend eternity.

I don’t think one single person’s political view has been changed because of something one of their friends/connections posted on social media. Yet my social media is full of so many political posts I don’t want to get on it, and I’m tempted to drop it.

Think of the good that would happen in the world if Christians were just as passionate about posting about Jesus as they were about politics. Instead of making the blood boil of those who disagree with you, it would lead them closer to the One who can give them a peace that passes human understanding. There is a lot of talk about peace now, and rightly so, and yet Jesus is the only one who can give us eternal peace.

Don’t feel you are smart enough or know the Bible well enough to share the Gospel? Remember me saying people were “astonished” in Acts 4:13? It says right before that the reason is because Peter and John were “uneducated, common men.” This past week our pastor of Eastview Christian Church, Brandon Grant, shared the two original Greek words for these were agrammatos, meaning illiterate, and idiotes, meaning ordinary. Or as he said, you could say the translation says they were illiterate, idiots! Yet we are told in Acts 2:31 that three thousand believers were added and here in Acts 4:4 the number that came to believe was five thousand. Wow. The power of God and the Holy Spirit we as believers have living within us is incredible.

Let us be bold my friends despite our insecurities. The eternal resting place of others’ souls are relying on it.

Bad Day

Today’s readings are Psalms 5 and 6.

For whatever reason our 12-year-old has been listening to and likes the popular 2005 song by Daniel Powter, Bad Day. As I read today’s Psalms, it made me reflect on what we do when we have a bad day. Sometimes we may say “I need a drink..” and take refuge in that or mindless social media scrolling or binging on a Netflix series. While drinking alcohol can be a polarizing topic among some Christians, one could argue that Jesus drank wine and unless you have an addiction problem, having a drink isn’t necessarily inherently bad. I’m not trying to make any readers feel guilty in that. But even without an addiction problem, just like social media or binging on a series, it’s not good for us if that’s where we consistently take “refuge” when things don’t go well. They are not the solution. Those things sometimes may make us feel worse or even if it makes us feel better and forget our problems temporarily, they will not solve them or give us the greater and long-term peace and comfort we are looking for.

Psalm 5:17 reads, “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice.” If we read on Psalm 6:8-9 says,”….for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.”

Isn’t it amazing? The Lord of the entire Universe hears us. The Lord of the entire Universe accepts our prayer. And we are told it’s in Him that we will then be able to rejoice.

It is common to hear the verse Jeremiah 29:11 referenced…

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

This is a great verse and though I think the verses around it give us more context and tie closely with our Psalms reading today.

Let’s check out Jeremiah 29:12..

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.”

Then in the following verse Jeremiah 29:13…

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

We will find Him and He will hear us; we will be able to have comfort in Him and rejoice in His saving and loving grace when we seek Him with all our heart.

So, the next time we have a bad day (or a series of them), let us remember this and turn to Him in prayer and through reading His Word, rather than other vices. Those other vices are temporary. Only in Him will we truly be able to rejoice and find a peace that passes understanding.

You Have What It Takes

Today’s reading is John 14.

Chapter 14 in the book of John is probably most well known for verse 6 which is one of the most important verses in the Bible because it tells us there is only one way for forgiveness of our sins and salvation in Heaven which is through Jesus. It is foundational to our belief as a Christian.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

We are going to focus though on another part of chapter 14. In verse 8 Philip asks Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus’ response includes the following in John 14:9…

“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

Here is a question for those reading this who have children. Would your children be able to say they’ve seen their Father in Heaven based on the love they see you show and model as a father or mother?

In April I will head to Africa with 9 other dads in partnership with an organization called DadCamp (http://dadcamp.org). DadCamp is passionate about helping fathers become the dads the Bible teaches us we’re called to be because everything changes when a strong, loving father is involved in their child’s life. While there are no perfect dads and myself and the others going will admit we all have a lot of work to do, we are trying to do our best to be the dad God wants us to be and in this trip we will host a few camps in Malawi to hopefully allow God to work through us to inspire other dads to do the same.

One of my favorite books is The Resolution for Men by Stephen and Alex Kendrick with Randy Alcorn. I’ve said before it’s like an instruction manual for fathers and joked that it should be required reading for all dads. There is also a version for women. The book is filled with statements or resolutions to live in certain ways and hold ourselves to the standards God calls us to.
Jesus’ statement of, “Whoever has seen me has seen me has seen the Father,” is so profound because it’s true and our children should also be able to know God and see His love through our actions. We are called to be the best window our kids have into their Heavenly Father’s love. So many people who struggle to believe in God or believe that God loves them unconditionally and wants the best for them is because they have not experienced a loving earthly father (or mother).

The Resolution for Men talks about a few ways we can model our Heavenly Father and give our kids a window into His love and who He is.

One way is through attention. This is so hard nowadays with a workday that doesn’t seem to stop due to calls and texts and the distractions they bring with the constant buzzing of our phones or even the non-work related algorithms of social media which suck us into Facebook, Instagram, and X instead of focusing on our kids and being interested in them. I’ve said before some of my greatest memories were going to every high school basketball game of my hometown with my Dad (especially the day after Christmas spending all day at the holiday tournament which I may have looked forward to more than Christmas), as well as University of Illinois football and basketball games. I try to do my best to do the same with our kids, but know I have a lot of work to do…especially when it comes to putting my phone down!

Another the book mentions is through affection. This is not easy for many of us and especially men. But we need to hug and love on our kids and tell directly them we love them. Yes, kids need discipline but also our love. I know I can do better at showing that through playing and horsing around/wrestling with them. Unfortunately it’s go, go, go….or let’s just chill on the couch and watch a movie (which usually results in me falling asleep!).

The book also discusses affirmation. God the Father modeled this explicitly with Jesus after His baptism in Mark 1:11, “You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased.” Regardless of if our child is young or an adult, have we told them we are proud of them lately? I would like to think I do a decent job on this…especially when they have a good game or do well on a test. I can improve on just telling them I’m proud of them randomly just because of who they are and that they are my son or daughter which helps them know my love and adoration for them is not conditional on their accomplishments. They need to know this because they are going to fail and mess up a lot (like me), and I want them to know that doesn’t change how I feel about them just like it doesn’t change how their Heavenly Father feels about and loves them.

Lastly, The Resolution for Men asks if we are known for loving others? Do our kids see us loving and showing compassion to everyone regardless of their age, race, sex, or social class? Do our kids see us loving our neighbor as ourselves? Jesus modeled the Father’s love by showing mercy and loving the unlovable like the Samaritan women at the well, the adulterous women, touching and healing lepers, and even washing Judas’ feet, just to name a few.

In the end, He showed his unconditional love, mercy, and grace by suffering and dying on the cross for each and every one of us.

As we wrap up today, let us reflect on if we are a shadow of our Heavenly Father the way Jesus modeled.

Ask yourself like I am, what are the one or two things I can work to improve on starting today?

We can do this regardless of our kids’ age(s).

As we say at DadCamp, “You have what it takes!”