Beginning 40 Days of Change with the family

For a little over half my life I have been a Christian. For more than 13 years I've been a husband. For more than 10 years I've been a father.

One question has haunted me since I became a follower of Christ: What does it mean to lead a Christian family? How do I do it? I really don't know. All I can say is that I am in the process of learning- but it is one of the most important things I have been charged to do in this world.

I think I took a big step towards answering that question on Monday night. For those of you who aren't part of Catalyst, we are at the beginning of a campaign called 40 Days of Change. This is a 40-day churchwide study of spiritual disciplines like study, prayer/fasting, submission, giving, simplicity, and celebration/worship.

Monday night, my family was sitting around the dinner table eating like we always do. For some reason, I blurted out, "After dinner, everyone go get your 40 Days devotional books and your Bibles and meet me back here." I got some strange looks, but everyone agreed to it.

After the table was cleared, all of us, including Sam (my 3-year-old), sat down and did the day's devotional on the spiritual discipline of study. We were quiet for about 5 minutes (which is a rarity in the Kibler house, believe me), and then we discussed what we had learned and what we had written. We looked up Bible verses together and memorized 2 Timothy 3:16 as a family. Then we had dessert.

I marveled as I watched my family, sitting down at the table, discussing the Bible and memorizing it. I couldn't help but think that God was pleased- a family that turned off the TV at night and instead sat together and learned what His Word had to say. I listened with joy as my 8-year-old said, "This is cool! I want to do this EVERY night!"

Now I am asking God a pretty tough question. "God, are you pleased with my family?" I wonder what He would say. If my family had been around in the time of Jesus, I wonder if my home would be a place where He would have chosen to stay. One thing is for sure- I have learned two things from jumping into the 40 Days of Change. One, I have learned the joy of sitting down as a family and practicing our faith together. Two, I have realized how much this has been missing in my family.

I am thankful for the grace of God- despite my failings and shortcomings as a father and husband, my kids still think it is really cool to sit around and learn the Bible. That is definitely more to God's credit than to mine. I look forward to seeing what else God does over the next 37 days.

Oh, by the way, we did the same thing last night as well. Then we went to Brusters for ice cream. It was a great night.

Being a Christian when you're in a terrible mood and the world's coming to an end

Christians aren't always in good moods. They aren't always having a good day. That's okay. But that doesn't stop you from being a Christian. Many times, the biggest blessings we receive are when we are faithful even when we don't feel like it.

One of my favorite guys in the Bible is Peter. I can really identify with him. My favorite story in the Bible about Peter is one that starts off, well, shall we say . . . .  terrible?

Peter and his buddies were fishing all night. They caught nothing.

This wasn't an ordinary fishing trip. This was like a salesman working an entire day and making no sales. An employee working an 8-hour shift and not getting paid.

He was in a terrible mood and the world was coming to an end. Otherwise known as having a bad day.

To Peter, no fish meant no food for his family that day. It meant no fish to take to market to sell, no income for the day. He was tired, mad, grumpy, and not in the mood to hear from anyone or anybody. In Luke 5, we find him washing the nets after this fishing disaster, and Jesus was teaching the crowds right beside him. The crowds get too big, so Jesus walks uninvited onto Peter's boat and tells him to put out a little ways from shore, so he can teach the people from the boat.

Oddly enough, Peter agrees. Why he agreed I have no idea. I certainly wouldn't take orders from a stranger when in a mood like that. But he does. He sits on the boat and listens to Jesus teach the crowd. After the teaching, Jesus tells Peter to go even further out, into the deeper waters.

Oddly enough, Peter does it. Jesus tells him to put his nets down. Oddly enough, Peter does it. Verse 6 tells us that as soon as he did, he caught so many fish that his nets began to break.

I think the point of this story is that God truly wants to bless us. Jesus wanted Peter to have the huge catch of fish- He wanted Peter to be able to provide for his family, to earn an income, and to have a return for his work. However, many times, blessings are only given when people are obedient first.

Blessings follow obedience.

Let's just suppose that Peter had not agreed to let Jesus teach from his boat, or had not agreed to go out to deeper waters, or had been too tired to put his nets down. Let's just suppose Peter had let his terrible mood get the best of him and he had quit. Gone home. Not done what Jesus said.

 He would have missed the blessing that God had in store for him. I wonder, in our lives, how many blessings we have missed because we simply weren't obedient to God's call?

Have we quit on the church? Maybe, like Peter, Jesus had a huge blessing for you if you had simply accepted His invitation to Sunday morning.

Have we stayed home instead of going on mission trips because we simply didn't want to? I wonder what blessings we have missed. Have we slept in on a Sunday morning because we were tired? Maybe God wanted to bless you that morning, and you simply weren't obedient. Does God want you to forgive someone or love someone that you can't stand? Learn the lesson from Peter's example- blessing follows obedience.

Is God calling you to a deeper prayer life? To study His Word more thoroughly? Is God trying to work on your heart to get rid of a sin that is so prevalent in your life? It is because He wants to bless you. I have no idea how He will bless you, or in what form that blessing will take, but one thing is for sure- blessing follows obedience.

Peter obeyed Jesus even when he was in a terrible mood, tired, frustrated, and busy. Sounds a lot like us. If he can do it, so can we. So, instead of my saying, "Be blessed," I am going to say "Be obedient," and leave the blessing up to God.