The Joys of Being A Dad
Just a quick note tonight. I’ve been trying to teach Ariel how to join with us in the spiritual things that we do. Christy lived with a woman named Ana who taught her four young girls that prayer, prophecy, and the supernatural were just part of every day Christianity and because of that her girls (including the four year old) would regularly participate with their mom in supernatural ministry. Getting my daughter in that same flow in prayer and worship remains a high priority for me. However, with my not-quite-two year old, I’ve also been working at her not being distracting to others during the prayer meeting.
So, before we started worship and prayer, I said to her in front of everyone: “Ariel, we’re going to start praying. We really want you to pray with us. Do you want to pray?” “Yeah!” was her reply. If you’ve ever met my daugther, you’ll understand the excitement and joy that came with that one word. But what came next was about two minutes of her jabbering on in her own little language while she imitated little hand motions and actions we sometimes use during prayer. For the first time I knew she really connected with the idea of being part of what we were doing, even if she only understood it a little bit. It was awesome.
Can I just say that there is no greater joy than to be a dad and see your daughter (or son) wanting to pursue God like you pursue God. I’m not perfect (actually I’m far from it) but I’m paving a way for my daughter that was never paved for me. I’ve said this before, but I have no idea what it looks like to grow up in a family truly centered on Christ, but I’m excited to see the kind of lives that my kids will lead when my race has been run. I know this will be more painful and less cute in the future, but the fruit will definitely be worth it. I love being a dad!
So much going on…
I know I need to post a personal blog here sometime soon, but there’s a lot going on. My hope is soon to talk about a question a friend asked me a week and a half ago (Why are house churches apostolic?), to talk a little about the deep fire of the Holy Spirit, and a little more about Brother Yun and Living Waters. Stay tuned.
Travis
More Thoughts On “Living Water”
I have to continue to say that Living Water by Bruther Yun is amazing. I’ve been stunned as I’ve been reading it what substance he has in the Lord. There have been several times that I have been reading the book and felt as if Brother Yun was quoting scripture and instead it turned out to be Brother Yun himself speaking with such authority that the words seemed apostolic in their very nature. Figure that one out, huh?
One of the things that has struck me as I’ve been reading the book has been the way the Chinese church encourages each other to remain faithful to Jesus. Brother Yun seems to be always talking about it from one perspective or another. It seems crucial to the life of their churches that they would gather and exhort and encourage one another to remain faithful to Jesus.
One story he told was about a pastor who was imprisoned for his faith. This pastor was miraculously delivered from jail, but as soon as he was freed, he felt remorse because he could no longer encourage his fellow cell-mate (also a believer) to stay true to Jesus. So what does he do? What ever any other healthy, faith filled believer would do-break back into jail by the power of the Holy Spirit to encourage the cell mate to stay true to Jesus. This pastor left the prison after encouraging the cell mate, but what a story!
Now here’s the tricky part. We need to be encouraged and exhorted to remain true to Jesus in the exact same way as the Chinese church, only we have to be encouraged to remain true to Jesus in our comforts. They have to encourage each other to remain true to Jesus in their pain. But the need is the same. If you’re reading this and you’re a believer in Jesus, make plans now to find another believer and encourage them. Don’t just tell them how cool they are, but admonish, exhort, and encourage them to remain true to Jesus despite the comforts or persecutions that are coming their way. Encourage them not to give into money or comfort or threats or persecution. Tell them to love Jesus for His sake regardless of the outcome. The results will have eternal consequenses.
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching,” Hebrews 10:23-25, ESV.
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 