Which of the following are similar to the ways you've served Christ in your family? [check all that apply]
• Taught your kids to see God's glory in nature
• Washed the dishes without being asked
• Played a board game with your kids
• Encouraged your wife to finish her master's degree
• Attended a child's open house at school
• Worked fewer hours to be with your family
• Set an example of a godly prayer life for your children
• Held a crying child
• Swung on the tire swing with your daughter
• Told your wife why you're still in love with her
• Told your son he's got what it takes
• Coached soccer
• Let you child correct you now and then
• Fixed the vacuum cleaner
• Taught your sons to ride a bike
• Listened patiently to a complaint of your wife
• Taped your child's artwork to your office wall
• Admitted to your kids that you were wrong
• Told your children how Christ entered your life
• Cleaned up vomit
• Taught your children to love books
• Been romantic without expecting sex
• Told your daughter she's smart/beautiful
• Set standards for your kids and stuck to them
• Dealt graciously with a busybody neighbor
• Peeled carrots
• Watched movies together
Shock Troops Theme of the Week: Sacrifice or Safety? Monday, February 16, 2004
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Men of IntegrityJanuary/February 2004Shock TroopsTheme of the Week: Sacrifice or Safety?Monday, February 1671
Key Bible Verse: They were too good for this world (Hebrews 11:38). Bonus Reading:Hebrews 11:33–39a
Back in the 7th and 8th centuries, Christianity virtually died in Europe. Organized Christianity collapsed with the collapse of the Roman Empire. The only place in the western world where Christianity was of any influence was in Ireland, as it was preached by the Irish monks. They expressed their extreme faith by getting into little boats and putting out to sea, trusting that wherever the current led them was where God wanted them to go. Many, of course, perished. It was, in my thinking, a dumb way to express your faith. But those who landed on the shores of the European continent preached the gospel. You can find great monasteries in Europe today that were founded by Irish monks in that period–including the monastery where Francis of Assisi was converted.
Before the monk Brendan embarked upon the seas, he's said to have prayed, "Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home? Shall I turn my back on my native land? &… Shall I put myself wholly at the mercy of God, without silver, a horse, a sword and shield, food and drink, a bed to lie on? &… O Christ, will you help me on the wild waves?"
–Gordon MacDonald in PreachingToday
My Response: Do I find this kind of abandonment repelling or attractive? Why?
Thought to Apply: If you have people who will come [to Africa] only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men and women who are willing to come if there is no road at all.
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