March 28, 2012
As a 5-year old child I can vividly remember asking my parents if we had enough money to pay bills, and get food. Not because we ever lacked the ability to pay our bills or buy food, but because things were tight and I had enough sense to be concerned about our financial matters. Now, people who know me best often joke that I still have the first nickel I ever earned saved somewhere for a rainy day.
One thing is for certain; I don't want my kids to grow up without the ability to be savers and givers, and the responsibility of teaching kids proper stewardship falls squarely in the lap of parents. This is a responsibility that, sadly, many parents neglect and conclude their kids eventually learn.
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by: Nathan Cherry
| Categories: Generations Tags: money, kids, parents, generations, 1 Cor 13, Orange, wise, steward, biblical, principle
March 20, 2012
Generations Ministry: Parents & Family
by Nathan A. Cherry, 03/20/2012
We live in a society where the family structure has changed dramatically from what it was even just 50 years ago. There are far fewer homes with a father and mother and their biological children. There are many more homes with second marriages, step-children, and singles parents. We can sit and debate the pros and cons of this social paradigm shift all we want, but the fact remains that as the church we need to stand ready to love and support every family that walks through the doors.
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by: Nathan Cherry
| Categories: Generations Tags: Paul, Titus, older, younger, generation, parent, spouse, 1 Cor 13, invest, help, support, counsel, wise, Godly
March 13, 2012
As I heard the comments and thoughts from different people on the previous article I got to thinking about the specific things my wife and I do to discourage entitlement and encourage giving; both in our kids and in ourselves. So I thought I would share some of those things in an effort to pass on the tips and practices that have helped us. I hope these thoughts are helpful to you and something you can use to build on for your own family. ...Read More
by: Nathan Cherry
| Categories: Generations Tags: parents, generations, entitlement, Orange, peace, stewardship, 1 Cor 13, financial, family
March 7, 2012
Every parent holds their newborn child and speculates on what his first word will be. Perhaps she will say "dada" or "mamma," or even "pfluglhis." Either way we are excited about what they will say. In recent years though it seems that kids are far more "me" centered and before we know it words like "mine," "want," and "give me" are being thrown around.
And many of us want to give our kids every advantage, we want them to have everything we didn't have growing up, so we struggle with giving our kids the latest and greatest of everything. One by-product of our sincerely good intentions is a generation with an entitlement mentality believing they are owed anything and everything. Those items we would have described as "wants" and "privileges" when we were growing up are now called "needs" and "necessities" by our kids. Something went wrong.
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by: Nathan Cherry
| Categories: Generations Tags: family, parents, generations, training, entitlement, culture, society, I, me, want, mine
February 29, 2012
Earlier this week I wrote about how knowing God leads to self-control, self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to Godliness (2 Pet 1:5-6). One of the keys to the success of that formula has to be patient endurance. Endurance in general is a quality needed in the life of every parent if we hope to retain our sanity and raise our children to be God-honoring adults. ...Read More
by: Nathan Cherry
| Categories: Generations Tags: endurance, parents, generations, 1 Cor 13, quit, Kendra Fleming, orange parents, endure
February 28, 2012
Ever ask "why me?" at a time of suffering or trial? A better question to ask might be "why not me?" and then seek God for the answer to the question and the reason for the trial. ...Read More
by: Nathan Cherry
| Categories: Devotional Article Tags: God, suffering, endurance, patience, 1 Cor 13, Job, pain, trial, test, spiritual, mature
February 22, 2012
Generations Ministry: Parents & Family
by Nathan A. Cherry, 02/21/2012
Do you have integrity? Wait, don't answer that. Maybe we should let those who know us best answer the question. What would they say? Would they affirm us as a man or woman full of integrity or someone lacking basic ingredients of integrity?
For that matter, how would your kids answer the question? We would all be naïve to think our kids don't know us the best. We think we hide our shortcomings and weaknesses from them, but honestly, we know they are smart enough to notice the issues that we struggle with the most.
I can't think of a single parent that doesn't want to raise kids full of integrity. Sure, we want them to be healthy, happy, talented, successful and well-liked. But to see our kids grow into men and women full of character and integrity is surely at the top of the list for any parent.
Some people struggle to identify what integrity is. Is it simply being honest, faithful, loyal, a person whose word is their bond? Or is it something more? Legendary basketball coach John Wooden says that boiled down to its simplest form, integrity is "purity of intention." Yes, integrity contains other elements such as honesty and loyalty, but broken down to its most basic expression, integrity is having pure intentions.
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by: Nathan Cherry
| Categories: Generations Tags: kids, parents, generations, 1 Cor 13, integrity, five signs, lack, build, teach, model
February 22, 2012
There is much anticipation for what God is going to do in and through our church as we make the move to go portable on March 25 at Wright Denny Intermediate School. We expect that God will use our first two weeks there to get us ready physically for a lot of guests from the community on Easter Sunday. In light of this upcoming defining moment in the life of our church, we are calling all members and regular attenders to set aside the 40 days before Easter Sunday (February 22-April 7) as a time for focusing on God by praying and fasting for the gospel to spread through us. (You may have notices that there are actually 46 days during this time period. Since Sundays are always a "mini-Easter", a celebration of Jesus' victory over sin and death, there's no fasting on Sundays).
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by: Jason Smith
| Categories: Gathering Tags: prayer, Fasting, Easter
February 14, 2012
Have you ever noticed that it's easier to honor a perfect stranger, or someone you hardly know, than it is the people you love the most? I find this to be not only true in my own life, but very perplexing. How is it so much easier to patient, kind and understanding to people I don't really know that well than it is to be all those things with my wife and kids?
Do I love the people at the gas station more than my own family? Do I prefer the company of the grocery store clerk over my kids? Are my co-workers more deserving of my best than my wife? I doubt we would answer any of these questions in the affirmative and yet, practically speaking, we live life as if we answered "yes" to them all.
I am reminded of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13: 7 as he teaches on what love looks like in daily life. Paul, speaking of love, says that it:
"Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things."
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by: Nathan Cherry
| Categories: Generations Tags: family, love, parents, patience, generations, Paul, honor, stranger, 1 Cor 13, kindness, bears, hopes, Corinthians
February 9, 2012
We're approaching the time of the school year when we'll honor our young people: from high school graduates in their cap-and-gowns and life-will-change-forever speeches to kindergarteners earning ribbons for tying their shoes to "participation trophies" for you name the sport. It's pretty easy to get honored by somebody during this season of accomplishment.
Honor, though, is more than a shelf full of trophies or even a yearbook full of accolades.
True honor comes not because of what someone has done, but because of who someone is.
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by: Nathan Cherry
| Categories: Generations Tags: kids, parents, generations, Harvest Pointe, HPCC, honor, virtue, character,
