Subscribe via RSS

Strategic Friendships for Our Children

Posted on January 14th, 2012 by Pastor Craig Houston

Much has been said about the importance of strategic friendships among men and women in the work of the Kingdom of God, to which I would whole heartedly agree.  But what about strategic friendships for our children?  How should this look?  How should this play out?

In this article, I would like to take a different approach and look at the value of strategic friendships in our children’s lives, in a Biblically ordered church setting where peer culture and age segregation are not the norm.

The subject has been on my heart, so last week I sat down with my two oldest daughters, Naomi (17), and Anna (15), on separate occasions for a daddy daughter talk on the subject of friendship. I simply asked… who are your best friends? The answers they gave were both without hesitation, that their mother and one another were their best friends. This was a fact I already knew because it is both verbalized on a regular basis and demonstrated in practice daily.

My desire; however, was to get outside the walls of our home, to the other people that they considered close friends.

What happened next was a deep encouragement to my soul as a father.  Both of my daughters lists of closest friends included 5 ladies ranging from as young as age 13 to two women over 50 and a few in between. I thought to myself, how wonderful that they both had godly young women whom they could treat as sisters and older women whom they could treat as mothers (1 Timothy 5:2) and receive the kind of influence that Titus 2 models for us.

I know that to some, what I have just said is weird and they may immediately think that surely my children need more friends their own age.  On the contrary, I want to say how marvelous it is to be a part of a church family that allows for both young and old to grow in Christ and community together.  A church where it is not abnormal to see a 17 year old praying with or visiting with a 13 year old or a fifty year old. Nor is it freakish to hear a 15 year old list off a woman who has three adult children as one of her dearest friends.

I believe that is the way God intended friendships to be. Older friends that can invest wisdom of years into the life of the younger, who in turn, are often encouraged and invigorated in their own lives because of the friendships that flourish with these younger ladies.

The reality of these kind of strategic friendships is that they are wonderful for both men and women, young and old. These friendships that flourish have also been a blessing to me as a pastor. It has been one of the greatest joys of my life to have other men of God, who are old enough to be my father, befriend me, challenge me, pray for me, and rebuke me on occasion. I also have friends that are young men, new husbands, and new fathers that desire to grow into men of God who lead well.

May God help strategic friendships to flourish in our Biblically ordered homes and churches.

Iron sharpeneth iron; So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Proverbs 27:17


Read the restNo comments

Share: Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Email

Tags: , , , ,

2012 Salt and Peace

Posted on December 31st, 2011 by Pastor Craig Houston

HAVE SALT IN YOURSELVES AND HAVE PEACE ONE WITH ANOTHER!  Mark 9:50b

Read the restNo comments

Share: Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Email

Tags: ,

Family – A Noble Business

Posted on December 18th, 2011 by Pastor Craig Houston

“…the business done in the home is nothing less than the shaping of the bodies and souls of humanity. The family is the factory that manufactures mankind.”
Brave New Family, by G.K. Chesterton

Read the restNo comments

Share: Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Email

Tags: ,

“Found Faithful” Men’s Retreat 2011

Posted on October 29th, 2011 by Pastor Craig Houston

When our life in these mortal bodies comes to a close, will we as Christian men have fulfilled what God requires?  Surely I am not speaking of our redemption, for there is nothing that could ever be done to merit eternal life. But what about how we have used the life that God has given? Will we be men that finish strong?  Will we be men that can give a good accounting of the stewardship of our lives? When it comes down to it will we be FOUND FAITHFUL as Christians, husbands, fathers, and sons? This year, my desire is to build upon the foundation of the themes laid in these past five years  “Marks of Manliness”, Band of Mighty Men”, “Kings not Pawns” and “The Call to Endure” with the capstone theme on being men who finish well. Ultimately, to be FOUND FAITHFUL!

“Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be FOUND FAITHFUL.” 1 Corinthians 4:2

Men’s Retreat November 17-19, 2011 at Tall Timbers Ranch, Leavenworth, Washington

Read the restNo comments

Share: Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Email

Tags: , ,

Your Choices Impact Your Children!

Posted on October 20th, 2011 by Pastor Craig Houston

I believe people are as they think. The choices we make in the next decade will mold irrevocably the direction of our culture… and the lives of our children!  ~ Francis A. Schaeffer

Read the restNo comments

Share: Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Email

Tags: