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
Time to Speak Theme of the Week: Witnessing That's Not Weird Tuesday, June 22, 2004
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Men of IntegrityMay/June 2004Time to SpeakTheme of the Week: Witnessing That's Not WeirdTuesday, June 2273
Key Bible Verse: "We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20). Bonus Reading:2 Corinthians 5:18——6:2
I was relaxing with a group of executives who'd just attended one of my programs. There was the usual banter, political complaints, and the mandatory jokes. After a joke of questionable taste, I didn't laugh. An executive who hadn't seen my response, told the men how glad he was that John, "the uptight Christian," had left! If I speak up, I thought, they'll think I'm a fanatic too!
The words didn't come easy, but they came. "I hope that doesn't mean I have to go to my room. I'm one of those Christians too." The apologies flowed, but I interrupted, "Hey, I'm no saint, just forgiven. Somehow people think you have to be terminally serious and judgmental to be a Christian. God came to give us joy, not to take it away. I'm not comfortable with some jokes, but Jesus wouldn't have been invited to so many parties if He didn't have a sense of humor."
Talking about their faith certainly wasn't politically correct for the early apostles. But Peter and John spoke passionately about the gospel to all who'd listen. Although commanded by the authorities to desist, they couldn't stop! Knowing the risen Lord, we can do nothing less.
—Terry Paulson in Meditations for the Road Warrior
My Response: Which do I fear more: being thought extreme or denying my Savior?
Thought to Apply: Our task as laymen is to live our personal communion with Christ with such intensity as to make it contagious.
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