e-mail 10/7/6/(01)

Last night I watched a reality program called "Nanny 911. My emotions ran the full gamut form laughter to utter disgust to sadness.

When the program opened I saw kids running amuck, screaming and yelling. At first I found myself laughing because surely some of these kids must not be real. What parent in their right mind would allow this? But in this house there were no family rules. In this house it was "Kid Rule" and total chaos followed. Sweets before bed and Mama and Daddy did not have a clue about parenting or having a happy family. No one was disciplined and that made me very sad.

Each of us that are Believers in Jesus Christ have been adopted into the Family of God. He is our Heavenly Father, Jesus is our older brother and all Christians are our brothers and sisters. For the sake of understanding, lets assume that our old home place is the church we attend ... Daddy's house.

In our church/house, we have God the Father, Jesus the older brother who lives with our Father and each of us have chores or responsibilities around the house. Bro Gregg has the responsibility of being the spiritual leader. He is to coordinate everything going on in the house under the Father's instruction while leading us in missions and ministry. His time should be spent in prayer with the Father and giving Himself to study God's Word. He also has his family that he must take care of while taking care of his Father's house.

Just as Moses needed a helper, Bob has the responsibility of an elder brother helping with Bible study and prayer. A few other helpers in the family have teaching and other responsibilities. But everyone does not have a family chore.

In our 40+ years in the ministry we have seen churches behave like the "Nanny 911" family on television. Unfortunately we have seen churches where each go their own way and choose to do things only with special people while ignoring others. We have observed chaos in the house of the Lord and it is a sad thing that does not have to happen. We pray we are now in a home that will stay away from being a chaotic home and will love one another like a family instead.

When we call names in Prayer meeting do we follow up on the individual needs. When someone visits our "home" do we go out of the way to make sure they are comfortable and make them feel as special as if they came to our individual homes? How long before we call to tell them how much we enjoyed having them? If we know of those sick and hurting, do we do more than just say their name in conversation to another or do we find a way to minister. We have many children in our family and that makes us aunts and uncles. Do we help the children to know and love us? Do we give loving attention to each one? Are we free to stop one from running in the house before they get hurt without offending a parent? How much family are we really?

The Bible says our older women should instruct the younger women in how to love their husband and children (Titus 2:3-5). God has other family rules for our happy home/church. For older men (Titus 2:2) and younger men (Titus 2:6-8. The Scripture has God's rules written down throughout His Word. Rules for Godly living are found in Titus 3:1-11.

Our individual families are great for us to have for love and maturity but our church family should be just as precious to us. How wonderful it is to join our Father around the dinner table and share with Him and each other.

If you knew your brother was going through a hard or painful time, would you call him? If your sister was sick, would you visit or check on her by phone?. If you thought either family did not have food, would you do something about it? Do you communicate enough that they would even tell you?

Our church is more than a place for friends to gather on Sunday, worship together and not talk or visit in between. Just like I need to talk to our daughter and grandchildren each week, I need to hear from my church family. I need to know that somebody cares and I am sure that there are others who never get a card or a call except from Bro Gregg or Bob.

The blood of Jesus connects us to each other. Make a special effort to call members of the family to say whatever needs to be said. Sometime it is "please forgive me" and sometimes it is "I love you". Sometimes we just need to call to chat. Is there someone in the family that you have not yet connected to?

Let's love one another - not giving preferred treatment while ignoring others.Think about what you can do in the Father's House and how you can....

Share God's Love,

Peggy