|
June 2005 Paul and I are currently in Charlotte, North Carolina, continuing the pursuit of our Doctor of Ministry degrees in Christian Marriage and Family Therapy through Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. The best part of this program is that it is taught by two godly professors, Dr. Raymond Pendleton and Dr. Sidney Bradley, who unequivocally hold the position that God, through His Holy Spirit-not psychology-is the change agent in our lives. He is the one who takes our brokenness and transforms us into more wholeness. It is refreshing and heartening for us to learn at the feet of these men who have over seventy years between them in psychology-but much longer than that in their journey with Christ. God is using them to help us be better equipped for the ministry to which He has called us. A recurring theme in the study of marriage and family is that much of what ails us has its roots in our disregard for God's clear design for family life. In the book Intimate Allies, Dan Allender and Tremper Longman teach that the twofold goal of marriage is to reflect the glory of God and to enhance the glory of one's mate. If that "simple" truth were embraced and lived out in our homes, the body of Christ would experience a revolution. Our disillusionment with marriage would be replaced by hope as vital, Christlike relationships were experienced. More solid marriages produce more secure children, who grow up with a better understanding of the reality of Jesus, since He's so obviously alive in the life of Mom and Dad. More secure children make more positive contributions to the world at large, and so on. This is what Home Improvement Ministries is about. Our passion is deep for marriages and families. We see these units as the most strategic ministry focus and are privileged to be living out our passion. We closed out April by being part of the teaching team for the Thriving Churches Conference sponsored by Bayside Church in Roseville, California. We taught a pre-conference, day-long workshop on "Putting the Family Back in the Family of God," and were delighted with the response of the attendees. One youth minister in attendance told us afterwards that it challenged his whole view of how to do ministry multi-generationally rather than just in peer groups. Being part of the conference was a privilege; Ray Johnston, Bayside's founding pastor and vision caster, set the tone for an energetic, revitalizing, think-out-of-the-box sort of experience and we’re sure we gained more than we gave. We followed that up with a "True Love Waits-Family Edition" conference in Moorpark, California. Mark and Lisa Fischinger, long time friends from Campus by the Sea, organized the event for their Presbyterian Church and did a great job of setting it up. We were joined by our daughter Julie and by David Hart and Christa Engle, two recent college grads we've known since their elementary-school days who've served with us at Campus by the Sea as well. All three added credibility to the message of God's design for purity as they honestly shared their own commitments and experiences. We are so grateful to have such partners! In early May, we had an extended H.I.M. Board meeting and were again humbled to have such a godly, wise, committed team around us. Guy and Barbara Steele, Doug and Julie Macrae, Richard and Kit Hendricks, Jack and Leiann Harvey, RJ and Mary Mathew, Ryan and Kelly Plosker, Jim and Stacey Higgins, John and Marilyn Nugent, and Scott and Sally Shaull-they've been Jesus with flesh on to us in so many ways. We are deeply grateful to and for them. We spoke at "Date Night" for the Mom to Mom group from Free Christian Church in Andover May 7. Rhonda Kitabjian and Dawn Amico organized the event and it sure was fun to be part of! Our growing challenge these days, however, is reading our notes in dimly lit, romantic environments. :) A highlight of these past two months was participating in Kyle Becker's "rite of passage" into his teen years. Gordon and Barbara very thoughtfully planned a ceremony to honor this passage in Kyle's life. In the presence of about 50 family and friends, Kyle was charged to become a true man of God and to be reminded that the choices he makes will determine which road he travels. I mention this event for several reasons: it was a meaningful reflection of the Becker's ongoing commitment to raise their children intentionally driven by godly principles; it was an affirmation of the body of Christ as this multi-generational group gathered to support them and him; it set up a high level of accountability for Kyle; and it prompted a youth pastor in attendance to say, "Wow! If all our families were this committed to training, my youth group would be very different." May 11-14 found us in Blaine, Minnesota (right outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul) for the Intercollegiate National Women's Lacrosse tournament. Our daughter Julie plays for California Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) and they returned to Nationals to defend their fifth championship title. Much to the delight of all Cal Poly fans, they did just that in four tough matches, which they managed to dominate. Julie has provided spiritual leadership for the team and that somehow set the expectation that her parents would provide spiritual leadership for the dozen or so parents in attendance. We huddled for prayer with the parents before and after each game, and had some very good conversations with a number of the parents. The whole experience was very positive. Back to California we flew May 20 to do a parenting conference for Shoreline Church in Monterey. We had been there in January doing a marriage conference, so we had some continuity with the congregation. Johnny and Lori Potter sponsored the event and brilliantly provided a children's program concurrent to our teaching to facilitate attendance. It worked! The conference was well attended and very interactive. Our Julie added some ballast to our teaching by responding to it at the end of each session and taking questions. A H.I.M.-sponsored Family Tenting Camp was scheduled Memorial Day Weekend, but dire weather predictions convinced us to cancel it. Turned out the meteorologists were off, so we were very disappointed with our decision. We did hold "Day Camp" at Doug and Julie Macrae's on Saturday and most of the canceled campers took advantage of the day filled with pool fun, barbeque, and worship. Plus, the Red Sox routed the Yankees, which always makes a good day. :) And finally, we flew to West Palm Beach, Florida, to speak for another Pro Athletes Outreach conference, this one a "Coaches Time Out." A delightful group of mostly Christian high school coaches and their spouses attended and responded very positively to our teaching on marital sexuality and the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory. (Those were two separate sessions. :) ) We were especially privileged to join forces with Les and Chris Steckel, the new directors of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and Walt Wiley, who served as the Bible teacher. Norm and Bobbe Evans, directors of PAO, were as always an inspiration to serve alongside. For the thirtieth year in a row, we'll spend our summer on Catalina Island, directing family camps at Campus by the Sea. Lisa and Julie will join us (along with about 20 other college students) for the summer as we run six weeks of family camps. We'll close out the summer with H.I.M.'s Family Camp, August 13-19, at Singing Hills Conference Center in New Hampshire. We increasingly feel that family camps provide one of the most effective, high impact experiences for families in their quest for living life according to His design. His design is the only design that works. We'll continue banging that drum everywhere we go, with hopes that more families will be spared the oft time debilitating effects of living life outside of His design. |
|