Gathered by the River

Recent ponderous pondering to frame the book vanished this morning. The Father massaged my heart in family worship. In simple conclusion it was rediscovering that life in Christ wasn’t as much about how we march out the Christian conventions drawn from scripture but about how we walk in the heart of The Story; His heart, His story.

Where’d that come from? The kids, i.e., grandkids . We took a family Sunday at the wild water world of Lake Powell, the dammed up Colorado River in Utah. Five little ones, four big ones huddled in the air conditioned cool of the RV before boating. Sang some of those kids’ praise songs on the CD. “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord…I want to see You.” Then, “Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down…to say you are my God.”

My wife then un-TIVOed a Joyce Myers message she thought would fit. It did. Even the kids (5 to 12) “got” it, especially in family discussion. Life is a warfare against the enemy of our hearts. Setting aside our hearts for God and not spending it on ourselves, now that was something the kids understood.

Then came the reading. “Obscure” OT stuff, of all things. The kids took turns reading The Message rendering of Deuteronomy 30. And it’s very worth the read for Legacy Dads. It’s about the consequences of following the Lord…for generations. Verses 6 to 8 talk about freeing our heart to love God and live a full life. We all liked the part where verse nine assures us with “God will start enjoying you again.”

Popi, that’s me, offered another set verses God-breathed but not often read. Micah (yes, Micah) 6: 8 and 9, “He has showed you, O man, what is good, what He requires of you: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” Across the page in my dual version Peterson puts it nicely, “…And don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously.”

The kids, our legacy, got it…for the moment. But like all children they do what they see. Will they SEE us take God more seriously than we do ourselves and follow our model with their lives in to the next generationS?

PROVERBS, TUFF LOVE, MODELLING, PRAYING

I just have to toss something out to you from early morning reflections. It’s simple and has been prodding me all day. Caught an email reply from Don who I had saluted in an email for the powerful interview I had with his son, now 21 and a front line missionary in his second year of Arabic language learning.

His father is a poster dad for creating intentional legacy. He is one of today’s most effective business-as-missions leaders. Son, Pete, says that dad was there lots in the young years (they all lived overseas), less in dad's more vigorous world-changing years and as the father-shaping need grew less. But, he said, around age 17 just before he left for college in the States, the sit-down chat included a reference to The File. It was finished. Pete never saw The File but knew it existed. It was his mom and dad’s organized plan for principles, activities, and truths of living they wanted covered before releasing the two sons. The File had transformed the hearts and the flesh of two young lives. But now it was finished.

Here’s what’s for us dads and grand dads who recognize the legacy we hope for is not alone in sound doctrine or proper church manners, but in holy lives imparted intentionally with care, caution, love, and prayer.

Here is Don’s response back to my question about the secrets to his successful fathering. This was nearly his entire email reply, in true laconic form:

"Not sure what to write on fathering. I spent a lot of time in Proverbs with the boys, was tough on them, but always explained my actions. The rest was just modeling. And praying."

Gary
(site) www.generationalfathering.com , (blog) www.newseason.us

LIFE'S JOURNEY IS "HIS STORY"

Good morning, T,

This is our first true dialog. No more rule making and discussion Except to remind us, this is a DIALOG. I talk, you talk. Not complicated.
We can do this.

It’s about The Story. Taylor, just about everything I share with you will be framed by this one thing, The Story. When I say “The” Story, I mean HIS Story. I will always capitalize it as if it were something coming from God and deserves the honor of what I call “divine capitals.” It is, and it does; The Story.

Our life on earth is often called a “journey.” True enough. But that could mean wandering aimlessly and without a guide. I prefer to see our lives as one designed by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in what seminary people call the Counsel of the Godhead. Before the heavens and earth and even before time, They met to completely design all of life. Hard to get your mental arms around that one, eh? Thus, I like to say, "They wrote The Story of all of life, yours included." That's a "Wow" moment when it sinks in. It is not wandering, not aimless unless we make it that way ourselves. Unbelievable? Believe it! See Psalms 139 13-16 (below)

We could say all of history is His Story and the book would be a trillion pages with each life fully described with care and love. The front and back covers and the binding could be described as “The Story of Grace.” That would be the wonderful Grace of God that is beyond our comprehension.

But I want this to be personal for you as it is for me, for Dad, and for Mom and Nani. Yes, God the Trinity wrote your story as He wrote The Story. He selected when and where and what family you would be born in. Wow, what a wonderful opening chapter! Yes, the Lord God Almighty, Commander of Angel Armies (this is the correct translation of “The Lord” in the Old Testament) loves you as His own. You are, my son, even more precious in His eyes than even in Dad's and Mom's. That is another “Wow!” (Have Dad tell you what “Wow!” means to us. It came from our great horseback quest to the Continental Divide).

So, Taylor. You have the privilege of living out The Story He made for your life. There’s a sad reality, though. Most people, even Christians, write their own story. Not good; usually very bad endings. You’ve already discovered sin in your life. And you know about evil all around, and you have seen around people, even good people, living The Lie designed by God’s enemy, Satan. The Lie is the opposite of The Story. For the rest of your life, you will find yourself being tempted to write your own version, a sentence here and a paragraph there, maybe a page, even a chapter. Not good. It is very common that "good Christians" around you are living pretty good and decent lives...but they are stories they have written themselves without complete dependence on the Author of Life. Often story line come from The Lie.

So, here’s my simple start to our dialog journey for the year. You are beginning to live out His Wonderful Story. You will find times of disobedience, self-will, even secret sins. The sooner you get back to discovering the wonders of the life you see modeled in the Lord Jesus, the smoother life will be. How better to please God and live His full life than to Walk With Him in The Story. You will discover what He wants of you as a man made in His image. You’ll learn what “your glory is,” that is, just how He has designed you to shine for Him.

Yes, you need the disciplines of Scripture, the fellowship and counsel of family and godly friends (grandparents too, of course), you will want to serve God in your witness to friends, maybe even in career service in ministry. It will be part of The Story IF you are listening to and walking with The Author. (Which is like “following Christ” only better. It's side by side). So for all the clues I want to share with you about living the full potential of your life as a follower of Christ, we both will want to remember it’s His Story we are living out, not even the good one we invent for ourselves.

There, that’s a page worth on my laptop. The below is extra and is free. It’s worth meditating on:

Psalms 139: 13-16
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.

I like this one, too. You’re suppose to listen to the counsel of your grandfather from the generation who’s lived life and has the counsel of God to pass on:

"The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations" (Psalm 33:11).

GO WITH US ON THIS GRAND JOURNEY

The journey started today.  It's the one whereby grandfather Taylor, "Popi," joins Taylor, age 12, and his dad on the rough and wonderful trail to the manhood ceremony of age 13.  It's called various things around the world, "rite of passage" is a popular one and it is a ceremony embraced by cultures with ancient roots and possesed grand hopes of leaving a good legacy.

The event today was Taylor's first Journey Letter from Popi.  These are short life sermons delivered sometime on Thursday for a Friday read and think.  Taylor has the weekend to chat with Dad and Mom and, maybe, younger brother about the content and the application. 

I'll post the first one in the next couple of days.  Let's see how he responds.  I'll guide him to this blog for his response which is about to take on a new, wild, full, exciting generational whoopila.  Father, Father, son, three generations to bring to focus the lessons God had provided us through His World and thourgh the lives we can grateflully say He's guided.  The first title?  The Story.  All the lessons to follow come under The Story, His Story, the one He/They wrote in the Counsel of the Godhead just for Taylor before time began...for such a time as this.