Is family the foundation of relationships in God’s Kingdom?
Is family the foundation of relationships in God’s Kingdom?
Family is extremely important in the Bible, both in a physical sense and in a spiritual sense. The foundation of family was introduced in the very beginning, as we see in Genesis 1:28.
God’s plan for creation was for men and women to marry and have children. A man and a woman would form a “one-flesh” union through marriage (Genesis 2:24), and they with their children become a family, the essential building block of human society.
Am I a troublemaker in my family?
Here are six things God hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion:
eyes that are arrogant,
a tongue that lies,
hands that murder the innocent,
a heart that hatches evil plots,
feet that race down a wicked track,
a mouth that lies under oath,
a troublemaker in the family.
Source: Proverbs 6:16-19 (The Message)
What does God hate? We must watch out for our eyes, tongue, hands, heart, feet and mouth. These are issues of arrogance, lies, murder, evil, wickedness, and lying under oath. Got it. This is serious and we know it.
What does family fun look like at the Christian Training Center?
We have lots of family fun at our programs. Check out this dance!
God says we must stop the abuse.
There is right and there is wrong. We all know the difference. I must remember to stand up for the abused and keep up the good fight for justice.
“Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air [inherit the wind]; common sense tells you it’s a stupid way to live.” ~King Solomon
(Proverbs 11:29)
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” ~Jesus
Matthew 5:21-22
What is the covenant of marriage all about?
Train to Reign Day 1 Week 1 God’s Plan for Family | Learn about the Covenant of Marriage.
What does it mean to be a man?
Train to Reign Day 3 Larry Pons Men’s Talk
One evening, while in my latter 20’s, I was watching Johnny Carson on TV. For those of you who don’t know or remember him, he was (and forever will be, in my opinion) “the king” of late-night television. Burt Reynolds was one of his guests on this night, and they were talking about various topics, including what it means to be a man.
You Can Have a Healthy Family (Even If Yours Wasn’t)
Here is an encouraging message from Jim Daly. Jim is president of Focus on the Family and host of its daily radio broadcast, heard by more than 6.6 million listeners a week on more than 1,000 radio stations across the U.S. The show has been honored as Program of the Year by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). In March 2019, he celebrated his 30th anniversary with the ministry.
When you think of a family tree, you think of strong branches that represent generations of your family reaching to the sky.
Is it duty? Is it intimacy? What does God want?
Susan Pons – Train to Reign Family Program Day 2 Week 1
I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)
For this reason, a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. (Matthew 19:5)
…For the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. (Revelations 10:9)
Is there anything worth fighting for today? What about our families?
Is war ever justified? Is there anything worth fighting for? In part 4 of this series, Tim Roots uses Abram’s example in Genesis 14 and shows us the value and importance of getting ready, getting up and fighting for family.
Family Fun night during our Train to Reign program.
Family Fun night during our Train to Reign program (Summer 2019).
Families have fun together. This is a part of our experiential discipleship approach. We model it. We live it. We teach it.
Jesus kissed us by His grace and we forever fell in love. Family is relationships.
Join us for the opening night (2014) of the CTCI family program, Train to Reign.
Isaiah 45:3 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches from secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord. I am the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
What is duty in a marriage? What is intimacy?
What is duty in a marriage? What is intimacy?
I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)
For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. (Matthew 19:5)
…For the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. (Revelations 10:9)
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Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Our programs are like an immersion into a new language – the language of living in Jesus. The goal is fluency in the language of relationships. Programs share a sequential vision, building an understanding of relationships and family culture. The foundation is an encounter with Jesus. This encounter is the means for both insight and vision. Encountering Jesus leads a radical change in living and relationships.
Heroes Semester is a 10-week residential, “family style” living experience like no other! | — The 2020 date will be announced soon. | Participants ages 18-26 come with one purpose – to go deeper with the Lord. Learn more about our programs here.
Strengthening & Restoring Family Relationships — Train to Reign Program — Oct 20 – Nov 2 | Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. Learn more here.
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
How do you build a good foundation for a marriage?
Couples share about their experiences during the Train to Reign Family Program – a two-week course designed to teach practical skills in relationship building and parenting.
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Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Our programs are like an immersion into a new language – the language of living in Jesus. The goal is fluency in the language of relationships. Programs share a sequential vision, building an understanding of relationships and family culture. The foundation is an encounter with Jesus. This encounter is the means for both insight and vision. Encountering Jesus leads a radical change in living and relationships.
Heroes Semester is a 10-week residential, “family style” living experience like no other! | — The 2020 date will be announced soon. | Participants ages 18-26 come with one purpose – to go deeper with the Lord. Learn more about our programs here.
Strengthening & Restoring Family Relationships — Train to Reign Program — Oct 20 – Nov 2 | Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. Learn more here.
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Why give a week of your time to work in the kitchen? How does it make a difference?
Work is a vital part of family life. Working in the kitchen to prepare and clean up from 3 meals a day takes effort.
This is an amazing story of a family who gave up a week of their vacation to come to the Christian Training Center to work in the kitchen.
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Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Our programs are like an immersion into a new language – the language of living in Jesus. The goal is fluency in the language of relationships. Programs share a sequential vision, building an understanding of relationships and family culture. The foundation is an encounter with Jesus. This encounter is the means for both insight and vision. Encountering Jesus leads a radical change in living and relationships.
Heroes Semester is a 10-week residential, “family style” living experience like no other! | — The 2020 date will be announced soon. | Participants ages 18-26 come with one purpose – to go deeper with the Lord. Learn more about our programs here.
Strengthening & Restoring Family Relationships — Train to Reign Program — Oct 20 – Nov 2 | Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. Learn more here.
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
What is the best way to train children in the way of Jesus in families today?
Melissa Lee has been overseeing CTCI’s children’s ministry for 26 years. Find out how Jesus is working in children’s lives during our Train to Reign Program.
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Train to Reign
Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack.
Throughout the year, we welcome individuals, couples, and families from around the world who are seeking to strengthen their relationships – with God, within their own families, and with their fellow believers. Every session, individuals, couples, and families from around the world are transformed, healed, and renewed. Barriers to forgiveness, personal growth, and hope are overcome in a supportive and intimate environment. Join us in this safe and holy place where painful and complex situations can be worked through – a place of hope and healing.
Learn more here.
Teaching topics include:
- The Plan of God for Family
- Duty vs Intimacy
- Fatherhood
- Communication
- Covering
- Resolving Conflict
- Defeating Parenting Fears
- Discipline
- …and more!
A Biblical Command We Never Outgrow: “Honor Your Father and Mother”
Can we outgrow God’s commands? Here is some great insight on honoring our parents.
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).
Halfway through the Ten Commandments, God instructs His people to honor their fathers and mothers. Peter repeats in Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” God knows we are incapable of following His commands, and thus made a way for us to be forever forgiven by Jesus’ death on the cross.
Belief in Him saves us, not following rules.So, what then, is the purpose of commands such as “honor your father and mother,” in our New Testament lives? It’s out of God’s protective and provisional love for us that commands like this continue to act as guardrails to the full life Jesus died to give us.
Read More Here:
A Biblical Command We Never Outgrow: “Honor Your Father and Mother” – Topical Studies
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Cal’s Creative Corner
We are honored that Cal Huge is selling his photos to exclusively benefit the Christian Training Center International.
Take a visit to his Etsy store. A portion of the proceeds of each sale goes to the Christian Training Center International. The listings are only a small portion of the photos available and more will be added each week. If you have a specific request for scripture on any print or a particular subject that isn’t shown, email Cal through Etsy.
Learn more here.
Family is written in our bodies and brains
Here is a great summary on the importance of family!
While the loudest voices in our culture continue to insist that men and women are interchangeable, science is offering more evidence than ever that the two sexes are anything but interchangeable. Nowhere is this uniqueness more apparent than in the distinct and very real transformations that both men and women undergo on becoming parents.
Of course, having children changes a woman—both body and mind—but it turns out men experience changes, too. They may not be as outwardly obvious as those in women, but they are dramatic and life-altering.
Writing at The New York Times, Oxford anthropologist Anna Machin cites a decade of findings on how men are designed to respond physically, emotionally, and neurologically to the arrival of a baby. And those changes, she observes, aren’t the same as those seen in women.
For example, a five-year study of over 600 men in the Philippines found that those who became fathers experienced a significant drop in testosterone—the hormone associated with male aggression, strength, and sex drive.
Read more here: Family is written in our bodies and brains – The Christian Post
We are honored that Cal Huge is selling his photos to exclusively benefit the Christian Training Center International.
Take a visit to his Etsy store. A portion of the proceeds of each sale goes to the Christian Training Center International. The listings are only a small portion of the photos available and more will be added each week. If you have a specific request for scripture on any print or a particular subject that isn’t shown, email Cal through Etsy.
Learn more here.
Family night at the Christian Training Center with Country and Western line dancing to the Electric Slide.
Check out our family fun night! Family is the foundation of all relationships. At the Christian Training Center we teach the basic principles of family life.
What does the electric slide look like with Country and Western line dancing?
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If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Our programs are like an immersion into a new language – the language of living in Jesus. The goal is fluency in the language of relationships. Programs share a sequential vision, building an understanding of relationships and family culture. The foundation is an encounter with Jesus. This encounter is the means for both insight and vision. Encountering Jesus leads a radical change in living and relationships.
Heroes Semester is a 10-week residential, “family style” living experience like no other! | — Sept 2 – Nov 9, 2019 | Participants ages 18-26 come with one purpose – to go deeper with the Lord. ow.ly/Nhag30oRYRK
Strengthening & Restoring Family Relationships — Train to Reign Program — Oct 20 – Nov 2 | Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. http://ow.ly/l5SU30oS5pQ
The Entire Anti-Family Narrative Just Crumbled
Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences
This study, conducted by world renowned Johns Hopkins University scientists Dr. Lawrence S. Mayer and Dr. Paul R. McHugh, is a meta-analysis of data from over 200 peer-reviewed studies regarding “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” It was published in the fall 2016 edition of The New Atlantis journal and is, far and away, the most objective, exhaustive and comprehensive study on the topic to date.
The research established, among other things:
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- “The understanding of sexual orientation as an innate, biologically fixed property of human beings — the idea that people are ‘born that way’ — is not supported by scientific evidence.”
- “Sexual orientation” in adolescents is “fluid over the life course for some people, with one study estimating that as many as 80 percent of male adolescents who report same-sex attractions no longer do so as adults.”
- “Compared to heterosexuals, non-heterosexuals are about two to three times as likely to have experienced childhood sexual abuse.”
- “Gay”-identified people are “at an elevated risk for a variety of adverse health and mental health outcomes.”
- “Gay”-identified people experience “nearly 2.5 times the risk of suicide.”
- “The hypothesis that gender identity is an innate, fixed property of human beings that is independent of biological sex — that a person might be ‘a man trapped in a woman’s body’ or ‘a woman trapped in a man’s body’ — is not supported by scientific evidence.”
- “Studies comparing the brain structures of transgender and non-transgender individuals … do not provide any evidence for a neurobiological basis for cross-gender identification.”
- “[S]ex-reassigned individuals [are] about five times more likely to attempt suicide and about 19 times more likely to die by suicide.”
- “[T]he rate of lifetime suicide attempts across all ages of transgender individuals is estimated at 41 percent, compared to under 5 percent in the overall U.S. population.”
- “Only a minority of children who experience cross-gender identification will continue to do so into adolescence or adulthood.”
Lest you buy the left wing talking point that so-called “homophobia” leads to high rates of suicide and other devastating consequences of the “LGBT” lifestyle, a recent study from “gay”-affirming Sweden dispels this myth. The research, published in the May issue of the European Journal of Epidemiology, found that people entering into a “gay marriage” were, as mirrored above, nearly three times as likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual counterparts.
“Even in a country with a comparatively tolerant climate regarding homosexuality such as Sweden,” observed the researchers, “same-sex married individuals evidence a higher risk for suicide than other married individuals.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Meanwhile, the CDC, no bastion of conservatism, just released this month a report establishing and detailing the devastating effects of “LGBT” identity and behaviors on teens “grades 9-12.”
Writing at WND, child advocate Linda Harvey expressed frustration that, despite its solid conclusions, the CDC yet insists upon using such propagandist terms as “sexual minorities” to describe same-sex-attracted teens. She notes that “these adolescents no more qualify as ‘minorities’ than kids who eat junk food,” and cuts through the smokescreen to summarize the report’s findings:
“Self-labeled homosexual and bisexual teens were twice as likely as heterosexual teens to have been victims of sexual or physical dating violence, to be regular cigarette smokers, to have tried marijuana before age 13, to ever have used cocaine, hallucinogenic drugs, ecstasy, taken prescription drugs without a doctor’s prescription, or to have felt sad or hopeless.
“They were more likely to be current marijuana users than heterosexual students, more likely to drink alcohol, and over four times as likely to have used methamphetamines or heroin.
“They were four times as likely to actually attempt suicide.
“Homosexual and bisexual students were about 25 percent more likely to have had sexual intercourse, and more likely to be currently sexually active and to have had four or more partners.
“They are more than twice as likely to have had sexual intercourse before age 13.” Can we just have a heart and ask: with whom? Were these adult ‘partners’ (aka molesters)?
It’s notable here that, in past studies, researchers with the CDC have indeed discovered that “gay” men are “at least three times more likely to report CSA (childhood sexual abuse),” while the left-leaning Archives of Sexual Behavior similarly determined in a 2001 study that nearly half of all “gay”-identified men were, as children, molested by a homosexual predator: “46 percent of homosexual men and 22 percent of homosexual women reported having been molested by a person of the same gender. This contrasts to only 7 percent of heterosexual men and 1 percent of heterosexual women reporting having been molested by a person of the same gender.”
Considering the above non-biased, replicated scientific facts, it’s little wonder that an earlier study in the International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE) determined the “life expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 20 years less than for all men.”
You think me callous. You think I hate. I’m not and I do not. Truth is hate to those who hate truth. I love self-identified “LGBT” individuals with a love beyond my own power to summon. I love them because Christ first loved me. I love them because, like them, I am a sinner in need of a Savior. They are under deception. The enemy of man is the father of lies, and he prowls like a lion seeking to both deceive and devour us all.
I know what it’s like to have someone close to me struggle with same-sex attraction and adopt an aberrant sexual identity. I have a dear family member wasting away with AIDS at this very moment. While I love him, I also understand that if I were to affirm his lifestyle and offer well-intentioned yet dangerously misguided “compassion,” I would be hurting him, not helping him.
I offer true compassion. I offer truth, in love.
If you truly love someone, you should never, ever encourage that person in a demonstrably destructive and subjective “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual” or “transgender” identity. Love them unconditionally, but encourage them to find freedom from it.
Because, whether spiritual, physical, or both, it may be the difference between life and death.
Source: The Entire ‘LGBT’ Narrative Just Crumbled | The Stream
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Our programs are like an immersion into a new language – the language of living in Jesus. The goal is fluency in the language of relationships. Programs share a sequential vision, building an understanding of relationships and family culture. The foundation is an encounter with Jesus. This encounter is the means for both insight and vision. Encountering Jesus leads a radical change in living and relationships.
Heroes Semester is a 10-week residential, “family style” living experience like no other! | — Sept 2 – Nov 9, 2019 | Participants ages 18-26 come with one purpose – to go deeper with the Lord. ow.ly/Nhag30oRYRK
Strengthening & Restoring Family Relationships — Train to Reign Program — Oct 20 – Nov 2 | Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. http://ow.ly/l5SU30oS5pQ
Synchronized Swimming – Our Talent Show Winners
Our fun family talent show. This is a short clip of the winners.
Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack.
Throughout the year, we welcome individuals, couples, and families from around the world who are seeking to strengthen their relationships – with God, within their own families, and with their fellow believers.
Every session, individuals, couples, and families from around the world are transformed, healed, and renewed. Barriers to forgiveness, personal growth, and hope are overcome in a supportive and intimate environment. Join us in this safe and holy place where painful and complex situations can be worked through – a place of hope and healing.
Learn more and register
Teaching topics include:
- The Plan of God for Family
- Duty vs Intimacy
- Fatherhood
- Communication
- Covering
- Resolving Conflict
- Defeating Parenting Fears
- Discipline
- …and more!
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Heroes Semester is a 10-week residential, “family style” living experience like no other! | — Sept 2 – Nov 9, 2019 | Participants ages 18-26 come with one purpose – to go deeper with the Lord. ow.ly/Nhag30oRYRK
Strengthening & Restoring Family Relationships — Train to Reign Program — Oct 20 – Nov 2 | Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. http://ow.ly/l5SU30oS5pQ
How innovative ministries are bringing millennials back to church
Here is a great article about faith among young adults. For many teens and young adults, they only have a limited amount of experience in their walk with Jesus. The article points out that young adults are in need of mentorship from those in their congregation who have decades of experience as devout Christians.
The Christian Training Center’s young adult program is focused on personal and spiritual development for young adults. While immersed in a way of life that emphasizes the Word of God, prayer, relationships, family, servanthood and personal discipline, you will be renewed, trained, and challenged to walk with God in a deeper way. Learn More and Register.
Despite belonging to a church-attending family, 24-year-old Danielle De Guzman is among the many American millennials who struggled throughout adolescence to find relevance and trust in the church or Christianity.
After high school, she would at times still attend her parents’ large church in Collin County, Texas, but admits that she would just sit in the lobby and wait for the service to end because she just didn’t see the point of going into the service.
Although she spent years going to the church, she struggled to get plugged in or even develop personal relationships with others in her congregation.
Eventually, she began telling her parents that she had to work on Sundays so she could get out of going to church. Her parents respected her freedom and De Guzman stopped going to church for a period of time. Going to college locally, she spent a lot of time — like many other college students — partying.
The experience had by De Guzman is not unique among millennial adults who grew up in the church.
Read More Here:
How innovative ministries are bringing millennials back to church – The Christian Post
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Heroes Semester is a 10-week residential, “family style” living experience like no other! | — Sept 2 – Nov 9, 2019 | Participants ages 18-26 come with one purpose – to go deeper with the Lord. ow.ly/Nhag30oRYRK
Strengthening & Restoring Family Relationships — Train to Reign Program — Oct 20 – Nov 2 | Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. http://ow.ly/l5SU30oS5pQ
Fun at family night with wholesome dancing! We train families to reign!
We know how to have some fun at our family oriented Train to Reign program.
Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack.
Throughout the year, we welcome individuals, couples, and families from around the world who are seeking to strengthen their relationships – with God, within their own families, and with their fellow believers.
Every session, individuals, couples, and families from around the world are transformed, healed, and renewed. Barriers to forgiveness, personal growth, and hope are overcome in a supportive and intimate environment. Join us in this safe and holy place where painful and complex situations can be worked through – a place of hope and healing.
Learn more and register
Teaching topics include:
- The Plan of God for Family
- Duty vs Intimacy
- Fatherhood
- Communication
- Covering
- Resolving Conflict
- Defeating Parenting Fears
- Discipline
- …and more!
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
The Deadly Deception of Sexual Atheism in the Church
Below is an article on The Deadly Deception of Sexual Atheism in the Church by Kenny Luck, founder of Every Man Ministries, men’s pastor at Saddleback Church, and ChristianMingle.com advisory board member, provides biblically oriented teaching and leadership for men and pastors seeking relevant, timely material that battle cultural, worldly concepts threatening men and God’s men. Go to everymanministries.com for more information.
The guy sitting across from me is a professing and practicing Christian. He drops by my office unannounced today to talk to me about his new online-dating life. Specifically, he wants to talk about the over willingness of Christian women he has encountered on several of his dates who want to jump right from a very public conversation and vanilla latte at Starbucks to very private whispers and physical exchanges between the sheets back at his place.
Usually this gender scenario is reversed, but the sex, love and dating landscape continues to move in a progressively liberal direction among Christians without any solid indicators that it will change anytime soon. Both genders today, across all ages and Christian demographics, are prone to compartmentalize their faith away from their sexual life.
While Christian singles report that praying and church attendance are highly desirable qualities in the dating matrix, a troubling and confusing dichotomy arises when the issue of sex before marriage presents itself. Specifically, single Christians enter a sexual fog. That fog clouds and hides the reality that an identity rooted in Christ should manifest itself in intelligent and hope-filled sexual restraint based on God’s promises and instead replaces it with fear and pride-filled choices based on some other promise they believe more.
Read More Here:
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Sacrifice for family, is it worth it?
Claire and Alvin, from England, talk about the importance of the Train to Reign program for their family.
The Train to Reign Program is all about strengthening & restoring family relationships. Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God at our Train to Reign program.
Teaching topics include:
- The Plan of God for Family
- Duty vs Intimacy
- Fatherhood
- Communication
- Covering
- Resolving Conflict
- Defeating Parenting Fears
- Discipline
- …and more!
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
What are the blessings of acknowledgement?
Susan Pons grew up in Valdese, North Carolina. Prior to her marriage, she performed professionally on stage and dinner theaters. The mother of four and grandmother of six, she and her husband, Larry, direct Christian Training Center, International, a ministry dedicated to the restoration of families. She has loved her life.
Susan ends our Train to Reign Devotionals with some final words.
Check our Susan’s book here.
Why does Jesus want us to reign for our families?
Bill Eubank is a member of the Christian Training Center International Board of Directors. Bill has been involved with training center for 40 years and has a great perspective on our work.
Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God.
Throughout the year, we welcome individuals, couples, and families from around the world who are seeking to strengthen their relationships – with God, within their own families, and with their fellow believers.
Every session, individuals, couples, and families from around the world are transformed, healed, and renewed. Barriers to forgiveness, personal growth, and hope are overcome in a supportive and intimate environment.
Join us in this safe and holy place where painful and complex situations can be worked through – a place of hope and healing.
Learn more and register
Teaching topics include:
- The Plan of God for Family
- Duty vs Intimacy
- Fatherhood
- Communication
- Covering
- Resolving Conflict
- Defeating Parenting Fears
- Discipline
- …and more!
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
How do we restore ruins in our lives?
Jesse Wahl shares on day 8 of our Train to Reign devotional. Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. http://ow.ly/l5SU30oS5pQ
What are The Consequences of Fatherlessness?
Courtney reads our Train to Reign program devotional for the day.
Strengthening & Restoring Family Relationships — Train to Reign Program — Oct 20 – Nov 2 | Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. http://ow.ly/l5SU30oS5pQ
Scripture
Malachi 4:5-6 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
5 Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Master comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
Ephesians 6:1-3 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
6 Children, obey your parents in the Master, because this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, 3 so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Christian Standard Bible (CSB) The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
What sort of house will you build for me?
Bill Eubank, member of the Christian Training Center Board of Directors, leads a devotion on What sort of house will you build for me?
The Circus – A Train to Reign family production
The Christian Training Center has fun with the Train to Reign program. Here is our production of The Circus by one of our families. There were five of these productions. They were put together by each team in 15 minutes.
This wrapped up our evening. Everyone had a blast.
Are You Contending for Your Children’s Faith?
Here is a great article by Jennifer DeFrates. The source is: Are You Contending for Your Children’s Faith? ~ Heaven not Harvard
Contending for your children’s faith can sound daunting. If you’re a Christian parent, you want to raise your children to know and love the Lord, but there is no one sure-fired 100% way to parent that brings kids to Jesus.
With 161 million search results on Christian parenting, it’s hard to know where to begin. We want to be the kind of parents who lead our children to Jesus, but how to do that is more complicated than just taking them to church anymore.
First, we can’t make our children love God.
We can’t force them to have a real relationship with Jesus. God has to call them and direct them and build a desire in them to seek Him. All we can do is point the way.
But we can’t point somewhere we’re not going.
“A leader leads from in front, by the power of example.” Edward Abbey
If you want to lead them in faith, you need to be walking in faith in front of them. Make sure they see you reading your Bible. Show them how you use Godly wisdom to make decisions and deal with your own sin. Teach them how to study the Bible and what a relationship with God looks like.
Yesterday, my daughter and I read James 1 together. We talked about how James thought his brother Jesus was crazy, but following the crucifixion became an ardent follower after seeing Him alive, even calling himself a bondservant or slave of Christ. We read a few different translations and talked about not reading tricky verses alone, but making sure we read in context.
How it fed my heart to have those moments with her. But I know I can’t secure her salvation, only God can.
But there are some ways you can be contending for your children’s faith.
Be constant in prayer. Praying for your children with intentionality and focus is probably the most crucial step you can take that requires no special knowledge or training. Just pray.
If you need some practical ideas about how to pray, what to pray, how to remember to pray, I have this resource for you.
Pray with your children for their futures. Pray with your spouse. Ask friends and family to join you in prayer for your children.
Give them a firm foundation in the faith.
A few years ago, someone close to me came out of the closet as an atheist. After listening to logical, well-reasoned arguments against Christianity, I went through a crisis of faith. I wasn’t sure what was true.
That crisis led me to discover apologetics for myself.
Apologetics might sound like some mysteriously difficult subject, but really just means to give a defense for what we believe.
I had to know – is there evidence for our faith or is the Bible full of fairy tales, myths, and legends?
I got tears in my eyes as I listened to J. Warner Wallace of Cold Case Christianity and Gary Habermas’s Minimal Facts Approach.
If I had known all that I do now, I don’t think I would have walked away from the faith as a young adult. I wouldn’t have struggled alone to survive the traumas I endured.
And, I want my daughter to have the kind of faith I do now, only better. I don’t want her to face the years of doubt and fear that I did.
Now, I’m constantly studying apologetics and believe more and more strongly that there is powerful evidence for a creator and for the resurrection of Christ, but there is so much to know and learn. You can focus on evangelizing Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. or study the cosmological arguments for creation by God or the historicity of the scripture, etc.
But there is so much information, it’s hard to know where to begin. You need a basic grasp of a lot of ideas, a firm understanding of God’s views, and the way the world is trying to twist reality, and how to combat those false narratives as a Christian while being able to defend your Biblical worldview.
Does that sound crazy intimidating?? It doesn’t have to be!
I have found an excellent resource for all Christians, Mama Bear Apologetics. While the title is directed at moms, the book itself is such a great resource any Christian (every Christian) should read it to know what we believe and why. They also have a podcast and website to further equip Christian parents.
If you want to raise children with a firm foundation for their faith, START here! It’s still on sale and is the #1 New Release in Christian Apologetics!
This book is a cheat sheet to defending the Christian faith. (read my full review here*)
Mama Bear Apologetics™: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies
By Hillary Morgan Ferrer (Paperback – Jun 4, 2019)
Mama Bear Apologetics was written by a group of talented women with conversational writing styles. The authors have organized and fleshed out all the important apologetics ideas in ways that are easy to digest and discuss.
They start with ‘why care about apologetics’ when my kid has a cheerio up his nose. Because let’s face it, we’re busy. Adding one more thing isn’t going to happen. But, then they follow up with why it matters so much, the youth exodus.
“Most studies indicate between 45-88% of youth leave the Christian faith after their freshman year in college and never return.” – Julie Loos
We can’t make them believe, but we can help our children build a faith that lasts on the foundation of truth.
Mama Bear Apologetics is Really a MUST-READ for all Christian parents in this post-truth culture!
There are so many great resources that I couldn’t possibly list them all. But if you want to get serious about contending for your children’s faith, Mama Bear Apologetics is a great place to start.
By chapter 4, you’ll be wondering why you hadn’t found it sooner, even if you’ve never considered apologetics before. I thought it was a few simple facts about creation. I had no idea how much better I understand the character of God and the Bible because I’ve learned how to read and study it.
I’d also highly recommend Cold Case Christianity for Kids, God’s Crime Scene for Kids, and a Case for Christ for Kids.
For younger kids, JD Camorlinga’s series about James and Ruth are excellent. They are picture books that deal with the three main arguments against Christianity and the back of the book has a cheat sheet for parents to explain the concepts in greater complexity.
So the Next Generation Will Know: Preparing Young Christians for a Challenging World
By Sean McDowell, J. Warner Wallace (Paperback – May 1, 2019)
$12.32 $16.99
Contending for the faith of our children has never been more difficult or more important. Our culture tells them there is no truth, do what feels good, there is no right and wrong.
We have to help them learn how to think for themselves. We need to understand the fundamental concepts that erode a Biblical worldview without being intellectually honest.
Are you ready to answer the call to fight and start contending for your children’s faith?
Source: Are You Contending for Your Children’s Faith? ~ Heaven not Harvard
How to Use the Lord’s Prayer to Pray for Your Family
Here is a great article from Mark Altrogge. He has been senior pastor of Saving Grace Church of Indiana, Pennsylvania, since 1982. He has written hundreds of songs for worship, including “I Stand in Awe” and “I’m Forever Grateful.” Mark and his wife, Kristi, have five children and five grandchildren.
Jesus gave us “The Lord’s Prayer,” as it has been called, not simply to pray as a standalone prayer, but as a pattern for prayer.
It is a great pattern to use when praying for yourself, your children, grandchildren and all your descendants. I use this pattern almost every day to pray for my family.
Here’s the Lord’s prayer in Matthew:
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. MT 6.9-13
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Check our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Here is how I incorporate this prayer when praying for my family. I really like this pattern because it keeps me focused. And I can pray through the various sections in a short time.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name. (9)
Before we begin asking God for things for ourselves it is so wonderful and important to focus on his glory and holiness. “Hallowed be thy name.” Or, “Holy be your name.” Take a few moments to worship Him: It can be something as simple as, “Father, I praise you, for you are holy and good and loving. Praise you for your steadfast love and your mercies that are new every morning.”
Psalm 100:4 says:
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
So before I begin to ask God to bless my family, I usually try to begin by giving thanks to him. Most days I take a few minutes to write 1 page in a moleskine to the Lord of things I’m thankful for. Focusing on God’s holiness reminds us of whom we are approaching – the infinitely glorious One. And beginning with thanks helps us not forget all the ways he has blessed us already, before we ask him to bless us again. It also strengthens our faith in how generous and gracious our heavenly Father is. Next Jesus tells us to pray:
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. (10)
Before we pray for our interests, we should pray for God’s interests. God’s kingdom is his rule. So I pray that the Lord would bring his rule into the world. That he would save multitudes in every nation, and our nation. But then I pray he would bring his rule into the lives of my family – me, Kristi and my children, every one of our grandchildren, and every single descendant until Jesus returns. I pray that he would save every one who is not yet saved, and that each and every one of us would follow Jesus wholeheartedly as disciples as long as we live. That Jesus would be the king of our whole family.
Give us this day our daily bread, (11)
I ask our heavenly Father to bless and provide for me and Kristi, and each one of our children and their families.
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. (12)
The Greek word for “debt” means: “a debt, offense, sin.” (Thayer’s Greek lexicon). By “debts” Jesus meant “tresspasses,” for 2 verses later he says:
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (14-15).
But didn’t Jesus pay for all our sins on the cross? Yes, but we should still ask God’s forgiveness whenever we sin. As he says in 1 JN 2.1:
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And in 1 JN 1:8-9
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So I pray something along these lines:
“Father please forgive me and Kristi our tresspasses. And please forgive each of our children and grandchildren for their sins.” Even when we aren’t aware of any sins, we all fail in numerous ways all the time. We may not have actively committed sins; but we all fail to perfectly obey him every day. We should ask God to forgive our children who are saved, but especially those who Jesus has yet to save.
as we also have forgiven our debtors. (12)
I don’t always remember to pray this, but I will often ask the Lord to help us and our children forgive anyone who has sinned against us.
And lead us not into temptation (13a)
This is a big one, which I think we often fail to think about. But I have seen so many Christians, even those who have followed Jesus for years, often Christian leaders, fall into sin. I want to fear God. I want to finish well. I don’t want to bring shame on the name of Jesus. So I pray this first and foremost for myself, then for Kristi and our children, grandchildren and descendants.
“Father, please, deliver me, deliver us and our children and grandchildren from temptation and sin. Please keep us pure and holy. Please help us to fear you. Please keep us from falling into sin. I also ask that you would deliver us and all our descendants from false doctrine.” I pray this because in our culture and in the church, so many pastors and churches are buying into the spirit of the age in so many areas.
but deliver us from evil. (13b)
I ask the Lord every day to deliver me and Kristi, our kids and grandkids from all evil. I know the Bible says that every Christian will suffer various kinds of affliction, but we are still supposed to ask our heavenly Father to deliver us from evil. Sickness is evil. Depression and anxiety are evil. I pray that the Lord protect us from physical harm and sickness and if it would be his will give me and Kristi and each of our children and grandchildren and all our descendants long, healthy lives.
Health is a gift from God. So I am going to ask our Father for that gift for our family. My wife and a couple of my kids suffer daily from health issues. I have a grandchild with heart issues. I don’t understand why the Lord allows these kinds of things to continue, but I trust that our heavenly Father is good and wise and loving. And I’m still going to keep asking him for the gift of healing and health for my family because he tells me to. Jesus said,
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! MT 7.7-11
Our heavenly Father loves to give good things to those who ask. Just like me – I would give my kids anything good that I could. Our Father is infinitely more generous and kind to us than we are to our children. So I’m going to keep asking him for good gifts for my family, especially the gift of health. If it doesn’t come in my timing or my way, I’m still going to keep asking him.
So that’s how I use the Lord’s prayer to pray for my family. I make plenty of other requests for my children and descendants. But I try to pray through the Lord’s prayer pattern on a daily basis if I can.
Source: How to Use the Lord’s Prayer to Pray for Your Family – Mark Altrogge
Why are fathers so important?
Larry Pons is the Chief Executive at the Christian Training Center.
This is a special message for fathers.
The program that we have for fathers is Train to Reign. Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack.
Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. Throughout the year, we welcome individuals, couples, and families from around the world who are seeking to strengthen their relationships – with God, within their own families, and with their fellow believers.
Every session, individuals, couples, and families from around the world are transformed, healed, and renewed. Barriers to forgiveness, personal growth, and hope are overcome in a supportive and intimate environment. Join us in this safe and holy place where painful and complex situations can be worked through – a place of hope and healing.
To register for the next Train to Reign program, go here.
If you would like to donate to CTCI please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Building An Ark For Your Family
Brittany shares a Train to Reign Devotional on what it means for a father to protect his family in Hebrews 11:7.
Hebrews 11:7 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Strengthening & Restoring Family Relationships — Train to Reign Program — Oct 20 – Nov 2
Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack.
Throughout the year, we welcome individuals, couples, and families from around the world who are seeking to strengthen their relationships – with God, within their own families, and with their fellow believers. Every session, individuals, couples, and families from around the world are transformed, healed, and renewed. Barriers to forgiveness, personal growth, and hope are overcome in a supportive and intimate environment. Join us in this safe and holy place where painful and complex situations can be worked through – a place of hope and healing.
Learn more and register
Teaching topics include:
- The Plan of God for Family
- Duty vs Intimacy
- Fatherhood
- Communication
- Covering
- Resolving Conflict
- Defeating Parenting Fears
- Discipline
- …and more!
Learn more and register
Family — Is it the foundation of relationships in God’s Kingdom?
Family is extremely important in the Bible, both in a physical sense and in a spiritual sense. The foundation of family was introduced in the very beginning, as we see in Genesis 1:28.
God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’
God’s plan for creation was for men and women to marry and have children. A man and a woman would form a “one-flesh” union through marriage (Genesis 2:24), and they with their children become a family, the essential building block of human society.
Promises of God about families
God doesn’t guarantee he will automatically save our children but gives us many promises to inspire us to pray and believe him to answer.
I review these promises from God occasionally and use them as springboards for prayer for my descendants. For example:
All your children shall be taught by the MASTER, and great shall be the peace of your children. | Isaiah 54:13
I pray, “Master Jesus, you have promised your people that all our children shall be taught by the Master. Please do this! Please reveal yourself to all my children and grandchildren and descendants and bring each one into peace with you through your blood.” Consider using these promises as you pray for your children:
- Acts 16:31-33 And they said, “Believe in the Master Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Master to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.
- Isaiah 59:21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the MASTER: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the MASTER, “from this time forth and forevermore.”
- Psalms 102:28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.
- Psalms 112:1-2 Praise the MASTER! Blessed is the man who fears the MASTER, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed
- Isaiah 44:3-5 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. 4 They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. 5 This one will say, ‘I am the MASTER’s,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The MASTER’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.
- Isaiah 61:8-9 …I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the MASTER has blessed.
- Isaiah 65:23 They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the MASTER, and their descendants with them.
- Proverbs 20:7 The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him.
- Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the MASTER one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.
- Jeremiah 32:39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.
- Deuteronomy 4:40 Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the MASTER your God is giving you for all time.
Don’t quit praying for your children until the day you go home to be with the Messiah Jesus. Even if you don’t see them saved in your lifetime, God can still save them. Although he doesn’t guarantee they will be saved, he promises to hear our prayers, that the prayer of the upright is powerful and effective, and he gives us good reasons to believe he desires to save whole families.
“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” ~Jesus
Family is important to God and Jesus. God sanctifies our earthly families and gives us lots of ideas on how to make our family relationships healthy and productive.
God has a family. What does it take to be a part of God’s family?
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. | (Matthew 12:50)
The answer is very straight forward. Jesus doesn’t hold anything back from me. His challenge to me is to do what God wants. Obedience is the core of everything in God’s world. Obedience leads to being a part of the family of God. Now that is some good news.
It is not about my plan. It is all about God’s plan. He has one. Will I obey it? Jesus challenges me to do so. This is a radical call to discipleship.
Now here is some VERY good news. God’s plan is simple and straightforward.
In this day of complicated programs and books, simplicity rocks. We even have it on a bracelet. WWJD. “What would Jesus do”?
God’s plan is for me to do what He has in mind for me. All the time. That puts me in the family of God. Good news for sure.
Even our Lord’s earthly family did not fully understand Him or His ministry. Some of His friends thought He was crazy. But Jesus did not want the honor that comes from people. While He was not disrespectful toward His physical family, He did emphasize the family of God.
Note His use of the word “whoever”. This paralleled His beautiful invitation in Matthew 11:28–30 where He encouraged all to trust Him. If the nation would not receive Him, at least individuals within the nation—and among the Gentiles—could trust Him.
“Haven’t you read in your Bible that the Creator originally made man and woman for each other, male and female?” ~Jesus
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Jesus wants us to have healthy families. That starts with Godly marriages.
Jesus is put out with the Pharisees. Jesus points them and us to the Bible. I’m afraid some church leaders are not serving us well and are deceiving God’s people by pretending something that God did (make us male and female) isn’t true.
There is a lot to unpack here considering what is going on in our society and culture.
“Exploit or abuse your family and end up with a fistful of air; common sense tells you it’s a stupid way to live.” ~King Solomon
There is right and there is wrong. We all know the difference. I must remember to stand up for the abused and keep up the good fight for justice.
“Exploit or abuse your family and end up with a fistful of air [inherit the wind]; common sense tells you it’s a stupid way to live.” ~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:29)
And now consider this from Jesus.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” ~Jesus | Matthew 5:21-22
Family — Is it the foundation of relationships in God’s Kingdom?
Family — Is it the foundation of relationships in God’s Kingdom?
Family is extremely important in the Bible, bot
h in a physical sense and in a spiritual sense. The foundation of family was introduced in the very beginning, as we see in Genesis 1:28.
God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’
Correct Discipline
In this message, Larry Pons walks us through Hebrews 12: 3-12 and we see how God, as a good Father, disciplines His children and how we are to follow His example.
WATCH the Full Video HERE.
LISTEN to the Full Audio HERE.
Transformation in Singapore
In this message, Regina Wong shares the incredible story of transformation among the YWAM base and the homeless in her hometown of Singapore, and explains how the roots of transformation began on a personal level with Regina and her core team here at CTCI.
WATCH the Full Video HERE.
LISTEN to the Full Audio HERE.
Walk For God, Country & Family 2016: Thank You!
To all who showed their support by coming out to walk with us, giving toward this cause, volunteering, or praying for CTCI and this nation leading up to or during our first annual Walk For God, Country, & Family event: THANK YOU! We couldn’t have done it without you. We hope to see you again next year!
CTCI’s First Annual 5k Walk for God, Country & Family
Check out Nikki’s video on CTCI’s First Annual 5k Walk event happening on October 1, 2016. We would love for you to come and join us! For more information visit lifeisrelationships.com
Train to Reign (Update video)
Couples share about their experiences during the Train to Reign Family Program – a two-week course designed to teach practical skills in relationship building and parenting.
To learn more about the Train to Reign Program, click here.
Train to Reign and Children with Melissa Lee
Melissa Lee has been overseeing CTCI’s children’s ministry for 26 years. Find out how the Lord is working in children’s lives during our Train to Reign Program.
The Plan of God for Family (4/4)
In this series, CTCI Director Larry Pons talks about God’s plan for the family, how Satan tries to destroy that plan, and how we can keep God’s plan intact in our lives.
The Family of God | Jay Fesperman
My dictionary defines “family” as “the body of persons who live in one house, under one head”…. It is important that we realize the significance of the family “living in one house”, as the dictionary [defines] it. A family is meant to bring people together in close fellowship in order to cause friction among its members. If we don’t learn how to face troubles at home, we will not learn how to cope with the pressures of ordinary living in the world. There is clear purpose in the closeness required of family members. But the nature of man wants to pull away and live unto its own self.