How We Can Discover What is at the Center of Our Life

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD. The fruit of the womb is a reward. (Psalm 127:3 NASB)

Children are a gift! Parenting is a true gift from God, and He gives us children to enjoy. But it is possible to fall into the trap of enduring a child’s behavior issues rather than genuinely enjoying the child as a gift from Heaven.

It brings us to a fundamental question: How do you raise children you enjoy?

We must start with the heart. The Bible tells us that everything flows from the heart. Think of it this way: Your child's heart is upstream, and anything flowing out of them is downstream, such as characteristics and behaviors.

As Christian parents, it is essential to deposit the correct teachings into our children's hearts so they learn and develop self-control. I have come to believe that one of the most crucial elements of parenting is to embrace this truth:

The purpose of parenting is not to control the child but to teach the child self-control.

This principle becomes increasingly important in present times because whether we choose to realize it or not, every time our child scrolls through social media or launches a playlist on YouTube or Apple Music, the world teaches them lifestyle philosophies. And, unfortunately, most of those philosophies are centered in darkness. It seems we are raising our children in a spiritual Babylon, similar to the culture in the Book of Daniel. As a result, when it comes to any unholy ideology that culture may be using to take our kids captive, our sons and daughters must be raised in such a way that they can respond with uncompromising attitudes like Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abendago.

What are you teaching and developing in your child? Because the most important disciple you will ever make is your child. And… Making a disciple comes down to helping people get centered.

We as parents must be the ones to sow seeds of godliness into our children and center them in Christ so that anything transpiring around them externally will not affect what is inside of them. Because if our children are centered correctly, that which flows from their hearts will be of God, and they will have the power within them to defeat any attack the enemy forms against them!

What is your family's center? What is your child’s center? How do we evaluate our priorities to make sure we are centered correctly?

These are essential questions to answer as parents. I invite you to watch this crucial message, How to Lead Your Family Well, as I walk through the significance of centering our families in the things that matter most.

It's our responsibility to plant the correct seeds within our children's hearts and keep them centered. We are blessed with the opportunity to make our children into disciples!

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15 NKJV)

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I See Dead People

In the movie Sixth Sense, Bruce Willis stars as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a psychiatrist attempting to help a young boy named Cole Sear. A fundamental tension exists throughout the plot’s development as Dr. Crowe doesn’t realize that Cole is also trying to help him. Working their way to mutual revelation, Cole finally breaks the tension eerily with a piercing statement, “ I SEE DEAD PEOPLE.” The plot later reveals that this struggle for Cole is the only reason he can see Dr. Crowe. Dr. Malcolm Crowe is dead. But he doesn’t know it.

One guy sees dead people. The other is dead and doesn’t know it. There is something for us to consider spiritually here from a symbolic perspective.

And He made you alive, who were dead in… sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air... 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind... just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (Ephesians 2:1-5 NKJV)

Do you see dead people?

Or, maybe I should ask if you are dead or alive personally?

I’m not talking about ghosts. Instead, I am referencing the reality that we can be dead due to separation from Jesus Christ and not realize it.

We can become so enthralled with walking after the course of the world that we remain spiritually dead. And, this state of existence is a dangerous place to be! But, thankfully, we all have the opportunity to become alive, despite all of our sins, by confessing Jesus Christ as our Savior!

In this message, I See Dead People, I share why we need to ensure that we are alive. I also share why your answer may change when processing this all-important question: Do you see dead people? Because, here’s the truth, there are dead people all around us, and God created us to bring the light of life into their lives through good works! I want to help you realize that you were made anew through salvation in Jesus Christ to do good works.

We do these good works because of the good things Jesus is doing in us, not because we are good people! Commissioned to spread the Gospel of Jesus to everyone we meet, it’s only through receiving the Gospel that the dead can be made alive, and God wants to empower you as His son or daughter to serve as a laborer for this cause.

Be encouraged through this message that God created YOU to serve a significant role in the Kingdom of God!

Are you willing and ready to be used by God and do something good that leads to someone’s salvation experience? According to Jesus’ own words, “The Harvest is ready, but the laborers are few.” Let’s go to work!

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works… (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)

Check out this message by Pastor Eric and be encouraged to start using your time, talent, and treasure to populate Heaven and plunder Hell!

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The Most Important Word in the Bible

Love is the most used and abused sentiment in the world. It has healed many hearts and broken many others. Interestingly, love is the key theme of all 66 of the Bible's books. The very definition of God comes in the context of love, and the greatest commandments in the Bible are based on love.

Because God is LOVE, He desires for His love to be duplicated throughout the earth. That is why, as children of God, we have been commanded to LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE. However, Jesus gives us a warning in Matthew 24:12, when sin and lawlessness abound, the love of many will wax cold.

In the Book of Revelation, we learn from the Church of Ephesus what happens when our love waxes cold. While Jesus affirmed the Church of Ephesus for their perseverance, He had one complaint against them. Amid persevering, they lost the most important thing; their proper expression of love for God and others.

The solution was to repent and redo the works associated with their first love. And, Jesus firmly told them that failure to facilitate this act of turning back would result in removal of their lampstand.

Like the Church of Ephesus, Jesus wants us to persevere, but he also wants us to love people. Have you considered if there are places where you have persevered, but your love for God and others has grown cold along the way? Do you need to turn back and revisit the place where you invested in your first love?

Check out this message from Pastor Eric to learn the definition of a church's lampstand and how to know if you are in a spiritual danger zone.

“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

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