It's almost the end of another year.  Yet, for you, it may be about the beginning of a lifetime.  In fact, the Bible refers to coming "into" Christ as a birth - a new creation.  To go "into" something means you are first outside. 

Imagine a circle.  To go "into" a circle means that you first need to pass the barrier of the circle, thereby, coming inside of its perimeter.  This is basic gramatical structure/syntax of the English language.  Yet, it is no diferrent than the Kione Greek language the New Testament was written in.  All lanuage has structure. 

Look it up.  Don't be afraid.

A person comes "into" Christ when they are touched by the blood of Christ at baptism "into" Jesus.  This is how God has structured His being born again. (Check out all passages dealing with conversion.)

Be the Lord's humbled . . . John A. Reeves

Last night our family started to read the gospel of Mark.  Each of us took turns reading from Scripture.  Afterword, we talked a little, had a prayer, and hugged each other on the way to bed.

There are benefits to studying the word with your family.  (My oldest two children are 9 and 10 years old.)

Improve reading skills.
Improve study skills.
Improve family structure.
Improve dedication to God's word.
Improve relationship with God through an obedient faith in Jesus Christ.

We love our children.  Yet, we know that if God isn't first in their life, because of our lack of teaching, we have done a disservice to God as parents.

Remain humble before the Lord.

The Lord's humbled
John A. Reeves

It's a tough world for people - even children.  I talk about the tough world in a new article entitle "Plans A, B, C, or God's Plan".  If you let your kids read these articles, I suggest that you read this one with them and guide them through some of these tough concepts.

Remember, be the Lord's humbled when looking for a plan to live by.

The Lord's humbled . . . John A. Reeves

Zig Ziglar, in his work, 5 Keys to  Igniting Motivation and Success, talks briefly about why so few Jewish men are in prison.

He states that Jewish fathers do three things with their boys.  Everyday they tell them that they love them by:

            1.  telling them "bless you"
            2.  telling them "I love you"
            3.  give their boys a big hug (sometimes a big kiss)

The work of Jewish fathers is extremely dramatic.  Zig talks about a prison minister in Florida named Billy Glass.  Billy mentioned of the 40,000 men in prison only 13 were Jewish.  Not 13000 or 1300 but a real 13.

One of the things that Billy found out among prisoners is that they hate their fathers. 

The fact is, dad's you have a stong impact on the future of your children.  Please take your role seriously and be humble before God.

The Lord's humbled . . . John A. Reeves

I love my family and I've been enjoying the summer.  But yesterday was special.  It was a day of worship.

We worshiped at our in-laws house and talked about various scriptural passages; i.e., John 17:20-21; Matthew 28:18-20.  I like to use deductive reasoning when teaching and it is wonderful to see how young children are able to reach proper conclusions in Scripture. 

They realized that God has a relationship with Jesus.
They realized that God and Jesus want a relationship with people.
They realized that the teachings of the apostles are important.
They realized that to be ONE with God and Jesus then it is important to follow the word of God; i.e., the apostle't teachings.
They realized that being ONE with God is to be united with Him.
Wow, if children can see that - who are humble by nature - then all people should.  Sadly, not everyone is humble enough to give in to their personal selfishness and follow the teachings of Christ.

Are you humble before God?
The Lord's humbled . . . John A. Reeves

I hope all the mothers out there had a great mother's day.  I wrote a thank you to God for the mothers in my life.  It is called 'Many Mothers".  I hope you enjoy it.

The Lord's humbled . . . John A. Reeves

An extra-biblical writing states, "You 'know' one woman, you know them all.  You 'know' many women, you know none".

We live in the "hook-up" culture where sexual unbridaled behavior is the norm.  It is sad that many don't understand and may never know what true love is, what it means to biblical "know" a love of your life. 

I have known two loves.  My first wife of 15 years passed about 5 years ago.  And my wife now has been my love for 3 and 1/2 years.  How blessed I am to know what real love really is.

Thank you God for keeping me humble before You.

The Lord's humbled . . . John A. Reeves

Hello everyone

I wanted to share an e-mail my boss sent out to our work staff.  In it he, basically, shares how important it is to have Christ shared to others.  God has been a wonderful blessing to me and my family.  I am happy to glorify God through the kind words of another.  Thanks Nathan.

Yesterday at Greenlawn church there was an unusual event. The sermon was on testimony and witnessing.  After a brief introduction many Greenlawn elders came forward with prepared cardboard signs.  Each sign held by each elder [. . .] had their sins or struggles written on one side.  They presented this to the audience in silence one at a time from the center podium.  Then they flipped the sign over and written there was the change God had done in their lives.  For me, it was a powerful example.

The preacher then asked everyone in the pews to pull out a comment card and do what the elders had done.  We were to write struggles and what God had done on opposite sides of the card.  We were supposed to do it right then and the service paused for five minutes.

Some of the girls in cottage [. . .] and John and Crystal Reeves sat behind my family and I during the service.  I had kept on eye on the teen girls, as always, and noticed that, as always, they were drawing pictures and reading books and writing notes.  One was studying her softball playbook. They do this respectfully, but generally unaware of the sermon.  They are teenagers.

However . . . apparently the elders action got their attention.  I was able to read one of the girls notes afterward, offered freely.  On the "Struggles" side of the note it said 'don't live with parents'.  On the "What God has done" side it said 'God gave me two godly foster parents who love me'.
 
In case anyone forgot, what we do here matters greatly.  We do it in the shadows it seems, and get very few pats on the back or big awards or recognition.  Jesus tells us "Then your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."  I have a hunch that the secret rewards will be worth the wait.