Category: Family
5 Practical and Spiritual Benefits of Living with Less Junk
Posted on June 2, 2016 in Family, Theology by Nathan Cherry
Some people are going to freak out when they start reading this article. It’s going to send you into nervous twitches and make you want to run from the room screaming. That’s because you have so much stuff in your house the thought of getting rid of anything is one of abject horror.
I’m one of those people that really believe “less is more.” A number of years ago I started looking around our house and realized we had so much stuff we didn’t use. There was things in the kitchen, things in the living room, things on the walls, and things in our closets. From clothes to knick-knacks, utensils to tools, we had more than we needed. I began removing some of these unused items in order to “simplify” life. The more I removed the better I felt. That started a journey into minimalism.
I think it all started with a mission tip to Jamaica. I saw people living with so much less and they seemed to be very happy. They didn’t care that they didn’t have the latest iPhone, or that they only had 3 shirts in their closet instead of 30. The Jamaican people I encountered cared far more about the relationships in their life than the amount of stuff.
Why I’m Moving My Family to Maryland: A Discussion of Honoring Parents
Posted on June 1, 2016 in Family, Theology by Nathan Cherry
I came to West Virginia from the great state of Ohio. I’d spent most of my life in Ohio and considered Ohio my “home state.” I was not thrilled about moving to West Virginia in 2001 because all I knew about the Mountaineer state was redneck and hillbilly jokes. A “city boy” like me was bound to be out of place and have little in common with people that considered “giggin frogs” a viable weekend recreation. But I came here for family.
My dad is a pastor. He had just accepted a position with a church in West Virginia and moved when I was at a place of transition in my life. We talked about working together at this new church as a family; my brother, dad, mom, and myself. The thought of working with family was something that I would not fully appreciate until many years after it was over. But for now I was excited to be living and working around my family.
Fast-forward 15 years and I’m now pensive as I leave West Virginia.
VIDEO: This Animated Explanation of Heaven and Earth is Great for Kids – and Adults!
Posted on March 22, 2016 in Family, Home School, Theology by Nathan Cherry
I ran across this video explaining heaven and earth at a blog site I frequent. It’s simple in its composition but the depth of theological insight and teaching is definitely there.
Many people are confused by the difference between heaven and earth. Are they one and the same? Are they totally separate? How will God bring them together? Is God bringing them together now or will that happen in the future? There is a lot of questions and the average church attending Christian does not have many answers.
This fun video illustrates the difference and explains in simple terms what God did, is doing, and will do with respect to heaven and earth. Take a look and see if you don’t learn a few things. Watch it with your kids and start a conversation about how they can come directly into God’s presence each and every day.
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What is the Most Important Lesson My Kids Can Learn from Me?
Posted on March 9, 2016 in Family, Theology by Nathan Cherry
As parents we spend a lot of time teaching our kids. Over the years I have helped teach my kids to:
tie a shoe,
ride a bike,
dress,
brush their teeth,
vacuum the floor,
and eat with a fork.
These “lessons” were often informal, not something planned with a manual and graded when we were done.
I’m sure you can recall many “lessons” you taught your kids as they were growing up (or maybe you’re still teaching because your kids are young; or hard-headed.) We often teach our kids without even realizing that we are doing so; a truth that is both interesting and somewhat frightening.
We’ve all been told that kids watch our every move and will learn by watching; they will imitate us. So we do our best as parents to be polite, use our manners, and refrain from burping at the dinner table. We want our kids to learn good habits so we try each day to set an example for them. But what about the lessons that can’t be learned by simply watching and observing someone else?
Should Children Be Allowed or Encouraged to Pray?
Posted on February 11, 2016 in Family, Theology by Nathan Cherry
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
That was the first prayer I remember praying. I prayed it each night with one of my parents before going to sleep. Somewhere along the way I stopped praying that prayer and started praying my own prayers. But that prayer was said with the heart of a child that sincerely wanted to talk to God but didn’t necessarily know how.
I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about the idea of children praying and all the theological implications behind it. As a theology student I can say I have not. As a parent I can say it never occurred to me. That is, until I read an article by Tim Challies in which he answers a question about whether or not it is appropriate to let kids pray.
What If You Could Watch Movies “However the BLEEP You Want”?
Posted on January 12, 2016 in Family by Nathan Cherry
VidAngel is a movie streaming service that allows users to customize their movie-viewing experience. From editing out specific words to nudity, VidAngel is the ultimate movie-watching experience for the discerning watcher. Here’s how it works.
Movies on VidAngel are crowd-filtered with “tags” for potentially offensive content. You simply choose the filters you desire, editing out words and content you find offensive such as the f-word and nudity. Once your filters are chosen you can stream and watch any movie on the VidAngel site with those filters in place for a customized movie-watching experience.
According to their website, VidAngel has many movies not even on Netflix yet. Movies such as: Furious 7, Mad Max Fury Road, Insurgent, American Sniper, Gone Girl, and Parker. And perhaps one of the best features of the VidAngel service is that you can stream movies and then sell them back!
These 5 Tips for Christian Parents Will Help Teach Our Faith to Our Children
Posted on December 9, 2015 in Family, Theology by Nathan Cherry
Once upon a time people thought it was the church’s job to instill faith into their children. Now only the naïve and mistaken parent adheres to that misguided idea. The faith of my children is primarily my responsibility; the church is there to supplement what I am doing to grow my children in the “nurture and admonition” of the Lord. Knowing that I have such a great responsibility means placing a priority on their spiritual development. Before anything else, musical development, athletic development, or even vocational development, comes their spiritual development.
I’m not arrogant enough to think I can do it alone. I constantly search for resources to aid in my teaching and training. To that end I recently read an article at Monergism that stood out. It was a very simple reminder to Christian parents about what it takes to raise godly kids. One striking feature of the article is that it nowhere mentions the church. Now, this doesn’t mean the author is suggesting the church holds no importance in our children’s faith formation. To the contrary this article is merely giving some practical tips to parents with a deep burden to grow faith in their kids.
Another feature of the article is that every tip given was directly aimed at parents. This reiterates that the responsibility for my kids’ faith development is primarily my responsibility. At least for a while I must lead in instilling those seeds of faith that I want to see grow. It is a very dangerous thing to try and unload this responsibility on someone else; or even the church. Not only are we risking that those seeds won’t be planted at all; we are risking that the wrong seeds will be planted or that they won’t be properly watered and will die.
Take a look at some of the useful advice from the article that can help us instill a life-long faith in our children:
Theologian James White Explains How Christians Should Think About Islam and Muslims
Posted on December 8, 2015 in Family, Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
There is no doubt that Muslims, Islam, and ISIS are front and center in the news. All of us will – if we haven’t already – have a conversation about whether these people are one and the same or if they can be separated. The talking points are reaching a fever pitch as political candidates are calling for deportations and registries here in the US for Muslims that want to be in our country. With all the noise it can be hard for Christians to know what the proper, biblical attitude toward Muslims should be. I confess that I have struggled with knowing exactly how the situation should be handled. (I’m thankful I’m not in a position where my opinion matters.)
I found this short video featuring world-renowned scholar James White helpful. In the video, posted on YouTube, White discusses some basics about Islam and a starting point for Christians that want to think through the issue. On one hand we want to extend the love of Christ and be a visual example of the Gospel to people trapped in a dark and violent religion. On the other hand we want to protect our family, our friends, and our country from people that seemingly hate us and want to inflict unending violence against us. That is not an enviable position.
Take a few moments to listen to Dr. White explain a good starting point for us as Christians as we think through this difficult and highly controversial issue. We need to have more than raw emotions and political talking points when we discuss Islam and Muslims. Our theology must carry over to this issue. Dr. White’s thought will help with that. I hope you find this as helpful as I did. (If the video doesn’t appear automatically, please refresh your browser.)
THANKSGIVING:
Posted on November 26, 2015 in Family, Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
I never cared much for Thanksgiving. That’s a funny way to open a post about Thanksgiving but, the truth is this day never really had a lot of meaning to me. For whatever reason I never saw this day as more than a day off, a day to relax, eat, and play or watch football (or both). Then something happened.
The natural process of life: getting married, having kids, getting older began to change my attitude about Thanksgiving. I saw a desperate need to foster an attitude of thanks and gratitude in my own life. Instead of constantly pursuing more I wanted to be grateful for the many blessings God has given to me and my family. In fact, each night when our family prays we thank God for His “many blessings, like food, clothes, and a warm bed.” And why shouldn’t we?
Taking a quick glance around our world I see hungry people, men and women and kids with no homes, people being forced from their homeland for one reason or another, war, abuse, violence, and sin. The truth is, our world is not a very pleasant place. There is much to be discouraged and disheartened about. But, there is also much to be thankful for.
How Would You Respond If Your Pastor Was On the Ashley Madison List?
Posted on September 16, 2015 in Family, Marriage, Theology by Nathan Cherry
After posting an article related to the Ashley Madison hack last week, I had the opportunity to engage in conversation with a family member, a long-time friend, and a pastor-friend regarding, essentially, whether or not pastors caught in the scandal should be restored to pastoral ministry. It was an occasion for learning as it helped to clarify thoughts on forgiveness and consequences.
There is two sides that have voiced thoughts on how a pastor caught using Ashley Madison should be handled.
The first voice says that the pastor should resign or be fired. This side believes in forgiveness and encourages the church to forgive the pastor if he is repentant and seeks forgiveness. This side also emphasizes the critical need for the pastor to seek counseling to restore his marriage and family. But ultimately, this side does not believe the pastor should stay in his role at the church and should move on. Indeed, this voice isn’t sure the pastor is even qualified to be a pastor anymore.
The other side says the church should consider not just forgiving the pastor but becoming his biggest support in seeking reconciliation with his wife and healing for his family. This side says that since Christians have a bad reputation for shooting their wounded that perhaps allowing the pastor to continue at the church would be a powerful witness. This side does not believe the church should allow the pastor to be in leadership or even preach for a season; but that he can stay on staff through the healing process and, in due time, when the leaders believe it is appropriate, be restored to his position.