8 Ways to Help Your Children Love Other People

John Piper did an excellent message that many parents and children can learn from.  On “Racial Harmony Sunday” he spoke on how to “Help the Children Love the Different People.”

Here are his 8 suggestions for children learning to love people that look different than them.

1. Help the children believe in God’s sovereign wisdom and goodness in creating them with the body that they have.

2. Help the children believe in God’s sovereign wisdom and goodness in making other people with the body that they have.

3. Help the children believe that they and all other children and adults are made in God’s image.

4. Teach the children that God tells us to do to others as we would like others to do to us.

5. Teach the children and model for them that their own sin is uglier than anybody they think is physically unattractive.

6. Teach the children that God loves them in spite of the ugliness of their sin and that he proved this by sending his Son to die for our sins and give forgiveness to all who would trust him.

7. Teach the children that because Jesus died for them and rose again, he becomes for them an all-satisfying Friend and Treasure.

8. Teach the children to love others who are different from them, not in order to be accepted by God, but because they already are accepted by God because of Jesus.

Single-Minded

The Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF) has a good resources for counseling others or for counseling ourselves.  Here is a booklet for singles who are battling loneliness.

Mission 28 Update

Hello friends!  I have been given the task to give an update on all that has been happening in Mission 28.  In writing this, I am again freshly encouraged as I recall and articulate all the ways the Lord continues to work on the campus of UNCC! 

 Starting with the macro, Joe Lechner and Tyler Levan are preaching an 8-part series on Jesus this semester that has proven fruitful!  Specifically they are examining what Jesus said about Himself and who He claimed to be.  New faces continue to come and have every week since the start of this school year – praise God!  Through these meetings, community is being built, new friendships are being formed, and everyone is hearing God’s truth that can change their lives! 

Our Open Discussions (ODs) have started back with tons of new faces!  Logan, one of the freshman that comes to my OD in Moore Hall, and I have been hanging out consistently as the Lord has softened his heart towards the gospel and grown our friendship.  I believe Logan knows I’m for him, even though we openly and frequently speak about our different view points on Scripture, God’s existence, Jesus, and world philosophies.  The Lord has given me favor to win his trust and respect so that after an hour long debate we can go get coffee together, talk about football, and enjoy life together. 

 I have continued building my friendship with Jake and Conrad, who are both freshman, I’ve shared my thoughts on life and death, and how Jesus personally changed my life back in March 2004.  Conrad’s heart remains very hard towards the gospel, though his respect for me has increased.  He is a philosophy major and has frequently talked about all that he has heard about Christianity with me.  I’ve been dependent on the Lord for humility and love as I believe Conrad consistently and intentionally tests my genuineness for my claim of his well being.  I love that guy! And despite his hard heart and I am in full faith that the Lord will work through me, so long as I increasingly depend on Him for love and humility!  Pray with me for his salvation and my humility and love for him! 

Jake has been attending church this past month.  Though I’m still not sure whether he knows the Lord, I continue to build a friendship with him as well as pray for him.  He seems to look up to me as he consistently brings questions my way – praise God!  Pray with me that the Lord will be feared and praised in his heart! 

 Lastly we are getting ramped up for REKINDLE!!  This is our annual spring break trip to Laguna Beach, FL where we bring down 100+ UNCC students for the purpose of building community and hearing God’s word preached.  This year we’re expecting as many as 115 students and are praying, fasting, and laboring for everyone’s salvation and maturity in the Lord!  Pray with us and expect a post-Rekindle update mid-march!

 Tim Rhue

Dave Harvey: “When Sinners Say ‘I Do’”

This Sunday, Dave Harvey is going to be speaking at Crossway.

If you haven’t read his book When Sinners Say “I do” you are missing out!  He also recently gave a series of messages based on this book.

HT: Justin Taylor

Valentine’s Contest: Best Surprise

by Angelo Delli Santi

Last Valentine’s Day, I wanted to surprise Kasey with a puppy.  She had been going back and forth as to whether or not she even wanted us to get one…but in my infinite wisdom and unmatched leading…I found a breeder in South Carolina and went to go pick it up.  By the way, this was a week or two before Valentine’s day, but I can’t wait to give people gifts…it’s too exciting for me.  

 So, I brought Aaron along with me.  We drove into the boonies to find her house, but after a wrong turn, we did find it.  Once I got there, I was greeted by 10 identical Chocolate Labs.  I could not tell one from the other.  And so, I kept picking a different one, justifying all the ones that I had chosen with a different reason for why I liked him or her.  However, I realized that the moment I would settle on one, looked up and told the owner, I could no longer figure discern the one that I had just chosen.  It was fairly trying.  However, as a stood there, it began to drizzle a little bit and many of the puppies went back into their house with the Momma Dog.  All except one.  This little guy came right to my side as many of the other dogs went back.  When I bent down to pick him up, he looked up at me and I immediately saw that all the hair on his body was standing up, like a grizzly bear.  And that is when I knew that this was our “Bear.”  

 So, I bought the dog, rode back to charlotte, dropped Aaron off (who hated the dog and refused to pick him up, but rather left him on the floorboard of my Jeep, and then proceeded home.  Initially, I thought I would just give the puppy to Kasey with a big, “Surprise.”  However, after more thought, I had the bright idea to walk inside, put the dog on the floor before she saw it, and then go about my routine…leaving Kasey to figure out that there was a dog in our house.  And so, I walked inside, put the dog in our little foyer, walked into the living room and gave Kasey a kiss.  But, even though only two seconds had passed, I wanted Kasey to find the puppy right away.  So, I asked her if she would go grab my sweatpants and a shirt from the closet.  

 Well, Kasey was all bundled up on the couch and instantly was like, “You’re a lazy mug and you need to go get your own clothes to change into!”  So, I asked her if she would PLEASE go do it for me…it didn’t work.  In fact, I continued trying to get her to do things, but the tension was only increasing as she thought I was just being lazy.  Therefore, I gave up.

 At that point, I opened the fridge to get pour myself a glass of tea when I hear, “Ang, there’s something in our house!”  I smile appeared on my face, though I had it hidden in the refrigerator, and asked, “What?  What are you talking about?”  She said, “There is something in our house.  I just heard it.”  I told her that I did not hear anything and that she just needed to chill out.  That lasted for about 10 seconds.  After that, I heard, “Ang!  There is something in our house.  Come in here right now!  I think it is a raccoon or something!”  I then walked into the living room and then into the foyer where the light was off…Kasey was fixated on the floor that was covered in darkness…waiting for something to jump out.  Then, I turned on the light.

 Bear was looking right at her.  She put her hands over her mouth and started to cry.  I told her that it was not a raccoon, but that it was just our new Bear.  She walked over to him, grabbed him, gave him a hug, kissed him, and those two have been attached ever since.  She now refers to Bear as her “Specimen of Perfection.”

Valentine’s Contest: Most Romantic

by Beth Pearson 

Having never been one to dominate the conversation, it was so unusual to not be able to get a word in edgewise with Bob.  He sat across the small linen covered tablecloth from me talking a mile a minute.  Once I announced what I had decided to order for dinner, my handsome dinner companion started talking and didn’t stop.   His control of that evening’s conversation allowed me all the time I needed to admire how good looking my date happened to be.  I think I listened to most everything he had to share, but I do admit that cataloging his physical virtues probably distracted me now and again from the finer details of some of his stories.  Being a bit of the romantic myself, I was also taken by the whole ambiance that surrounded us that night.  Here we were, in my favorite Italian restaurant in New York City, old Chianti bottles playing host to generation after generation of dripping candles, waiters with their white sleeves rolled up just above their wrists and long white aprons remaining spotless in spite of serving order after order of linguine and marinara sauce.  It was the weekend before Valentine’s Day, and my boyfriend had come from Syracuse to visit me in New York City.  We had been going together since September.  This was almost 20 years ago.  We would only get to see each other about every other weekend.  The time between visits was filled by lots of letter writing and a couple phone dates where I would sit with the phone on my lap waiting to pick it up on the very first ring.  We didn’t have cell phones, we couldn’t send emails, let alone texts, and long distance calling was pretty pricey.  In fact, it was so long ago that one of the things that made the list of what made a perfect spouse was that he owned a microwave.  In my defense, the whole microwave thing was negotiable, but it does give you an idea of where you will land when you go back 20 years. 

 As usual, I was very excited to see Bob this weekend, but I was unusually nervous as well.  You see, the whole week prior to this visit I had spent wondering what I would say if Bob were to propose marriage.  I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was going to be the weekend where I was going to have to answer the big question.  Now, there was no question in my mind that I was madly in love with Bob.  With or without a microwave, he was the most wonderful man I had ever known.  But marriage?  That was forever!  20 years later I can’t for the life of me remember what was standing in the way of an immediate, and probably very loud YES, when I thought of him asking the question.  But I was pretty sober at the thought of a lifetime commitment at that time. 

 When Bob would visit me in New York City, he would usually take a train from upstate and walk to my third story apartment.  Every time he signaled his arrival with a whistle from across the street or some pebbles at my window, I would throw open the window and find him standing across the street smiling ear to ear with an armful of flowers.  This weekend he had dozens of pink tulips.  They were beautiful.  I met him at the elevator and immediately forgot about answering any big questions that weekend.  

 Even though I had forgotten the prospect of a proposal of marriage, I was noticing a lot of other things that were finding their way onto the strange-O-meter that weekend.  For example, Bob had asked that I turn down an invitation from my best friend to come to dinner with her and her husband that Saturday night.  I could usually count on Bob chiming in with, “Sounds like fun!” whenever the prospect of getting together with others was proposed.  Asking for a rain check was completely out of character.  And, then there was the animated monologue that accompanied dinner.  Even his coat … Bob was very into checking his coat whenever he was given the opportunity to do so.  And here he was with his coat draped over his chair forcing his chest into the table.  There were the glances at his watch that seemed inspired by some sort of agenda.  I would have been happy spending the rest of the evening losing myself in his stories and his brown eyes, but once I made my first sigh of satisfaction after my last bite of pasta, Bob had places to go and people to see.  His first stop was the corner grocer at 12^th Street and 3^rd Avenue.  Purpose of the stop:  purchase cigarettes.  What made this particularly noteworthy was the fact that Bob didn’t smoke.  Watching him take two puffs from a single cigarette and then trying to figure out what to do with the smoke once it arrived in his mouth confirmed that fact.  Next stop:  trash can on the corner to appropriately dispose of the aforepurchased package of cigarettes.  Then we were off to World Trade Center.  

 Bob pulled me along the icy sidewalks and into the subway only to discover the observation deck of the World Trade Center had closed at 9pm.  It was now 9:30.  Without losing a beat, Bob decided we were headed for the Empire State Building.  I assured him we didn’t need to rush back uptown; I didn’t mind waiting until another weekend.  He made it very clear waiting for another weekend was not an option.  We had to go somewhere high that night.  Slipping and sliding our way across town, we finally arrived in time to make the final elevator ride up to the top of the Empire State Building.  Bob took me out to the observation deck and put his arms around me; very romantic, except for the fact that the wind was so strong that my earrings were lancing my neck.  At the prospect of my needing stitches if we remained outside, Bob agreed to go inside.  I leaned up against his chest as he held me in his arms and his heart was racing like a rabbit’s.  Now, I’m still not putting two and two together.  It is not occurring to me that anything of particular significance is about to happen, but I do think it is of particular significance that his heart is really racing.  My mentioning it to him was strictly out of concern for his life and wellbeing.   After assuring me he was fine, he directed my attention to the view, which was truly spectacular.  We were surrounded by the lights of Manhattan and the musings that such a view can stir.  Bob cleared his throat and began talking about eternity and said something that prompted a desire in me to pursue a theological question.  Usually, chomping at the bit to enter into spiritual discussions, Bob made it perfectly clear, this was not the time for such pursuits.  He actually cleared his throat again and repeated some of what he had previously said, like he had actually rehearsed it.  And STILL I didn’t have a clue he was getting ready to ask me to marry him.  And then it came – the Big Question!  Or was it the Big Question?  What he asked was whether or not I wanted to spend the rest of our natural lives together.  Aren’t you supposed to use the word or a derivative of the word “marry” in a marriage proposal?  Well, now I was really confused.  I finally asked him, “Are you asking me to marry you?”  Once he confirmed he was, I couldn’t speak.  All I could think of was, “Do I?”  Finally, it became crystal clear:  yes, of course I do.  Bob remembers that I took what seemed like forever before I finally said, “Yes.”   But I said, “Yes!”  Now, my heart was racing like a rabbit’s.  And then he took out a ring out of his coat pocket, the coat he wouldn’t let out of his sight in the restaurant.  The ring was incredibly shiny and big, so much so that I thought he had purchased something in zirconium to be replaced by a real diamond once he had closed the deal.  I didn’t know it was real until the next day.  Jumping up and down wearing what I thought was a polished imitation of a diamond, I was the happiest girl at the top of the Empire State Building.  And Bob was the happiest guy.  We made our descent and chased each other like two kids through the revolving door to Fifth Avenue.  It was past midnight and Bob called to every passing cab and pedestrian, “She said,’Yes!’”  We laughed and jumped up and down and were as silly as two people have a right to be when they’ve decided to spend the rest of their natural days caring for and caring about the most wonderful person in the world.  Almost 20 years later, we are still caring for and caring about each other.  Almost 20 years later, we have a lot nicer microwave and a lot more reasons why I would say, “Yes” all over again today.

Valentine’s Contest: Best Marriage Proposal

by David Ruszczyk

It all began on a Hot Charlotte summer day on August 25^th of 2007 at approx 3:00 pm., Saturday to be exact. The day after I was helping some single ladies move, yes it was a scorcher, drenched in sweat, thirsty as I was one of the ladies drove me to a gas station where I guzzled down a couple of Gatorades. After getting home I realized I had no wallet. Where did I leave it? I called the ladies and no luck. I then realized by one of the ladies that I may have left it on the trunk of her car where I was gasping for air and getting cooled off from Gatorade.  Wow, was I that stupid and exhausted, absolutely.

The next day a man called and told me he found my wallet and would meet me to return it. Melissa and I then drove to Huntersville and he returned my wallet with the $100 cash still inside, Wow again. The driver’s license and bank card were missing; however he told me where he had found it, in Davidson. To Davidson Melissa and I went.  I found the bank card, but no license.

Driving down the street to look more, a Police Officer pulled us over. I was nervous as I did not have my driver’s license.  I asked Melissa if I was speeding, both nervous as most people are with the local police with their lights and sirens going. Mr. Officer asked me to get out of the vehicle and step to his vehicle, which I complied. Then returning to the car with Melissa inside, he asked her for her license and for her to step out of the vehicle as well. It was about 90 degrees smoking hot and Melissa will tell you it was 100. The officer asked Melissa if she knew that her boyfriend had revoked driving privileges in the state of North Carolina. The sweet Southern Belle replied in a surprised manner, No, as we only knew each other for several months. She was nervous, shocked and speechless; the thoughts that were running through her head were, “This guy lied to me, what am I doing with another loser.” The officer then asked her if she knew of my revoked driving privileges and if she was willing to spend the rest of her life with me, still in shock with nothing to say, the officer then raised his voice again asking her. I then got down on one knee and asked her if she would marry me. I had to trick her and get her on an emotional roller coaster, but she said yes and today we have been married for 2 great years with a beautiful 16 month old girl and are expecting #2 in June. The end!

2010 Valentine’s Contest: WINNERS!

We are happy to announce the winners of the 2010 Valentine’s Contest.  Each winner can contact the church office and pick up their gift card tomorrow afternoon through Friday.  We will post these stories the next three days.

Best Wedding Proposal: David Ruszczyk

Most Romantic: Beth Pearson

Best Surprise: Angelo Delli Santi

Valentine’s Contest: Deadline is this Friday!

Please remember that the deadline for the 2010 Valentine’s Contest is this Saturday, February 6.  I hope your engagment was not like this guy…

The Role of the Ultrasound

Here is an interesting article about how ultrasound technology has an effect on turning abortion workers pro-life.

HT: Kevin DeYoung