Musings on the Family

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways (Psalm 128:1).

Kidner says, "The quiet blessings of an ordered life are traced from the center outwards in this Psalm, as the eye travels from the godly man to his family and finally to Israel..."

Psalm 128 is a beautiful Psalm of the blessed life. The vision of a life that is blessed is founded on the fear of God. To fear God means to take God seriously. From a foundation of properly honoring and regarding God one is able to cultivate domestic happiness.

Meditate on Psalm 128 and see the godly vision of a blessed life.

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Operation Amina

One of the great things about serving as Pastor of Grace Community Church is having the privilege to minister alongside a truly outstanding man. My fellow Pastor, Kevin Jarrard, would quickly remind me that he is not a great man but serves a great God. Kevin is a godly man with the gift of leadership and a big heart of compassion for others. I have witnessed that personally as we have served in ministry together. Kevin is presently involved in “Operation Amina” which is a project with the objective of getting a three year old girl in need of surgery from Iraq to Nashville, TN. Below is a summary statement from Kevin.

“I am serving as the company commander for Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines. This is our second tour of duty in Iraq. We arrived in Iraq in early October. During our interactions with the local folks we met a family with a sick little girl—Amina Ala Thabit (Amina), age 3. She needs immediate open-heart surgery in order to preserve her life. I have been working on a plan to transport her to the United States for treatment ever since. It looks like this may be possible. Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville has agreed to perform the procedure.”

In God’s providence it appears that Amina will soon be able to make the journey to Nashville for her surgery. This has been a challenging process involving many logistical hurdles. Please go to http://operationamina.blogspot.com/ to get the most recent update and to read the archives. Reading through the brief blog will give you more of a context and an update of the situation as it now stands.

This project requires many thousands of dollars. It is estimated that the total cost will ultimately be around $47,000.00. As of today about $13,000.00 has been raised. The blog site gives an update on the funds raised and an email address to contact with questions.

With all of the challenges of war it is encouraging to hear of Amina’s story. This project requires a team of people in Iraq and here in the United States. It seems that the team has come together and soon little Amina will be able to have her surgery. It is a long journey, and detailed process, requiring creative logistics to get Amina from Iraq to Nashville. God-willing this will soon occur. Please pray for the safe travel of all involved, for Amina’s health to be sustained as she travels, for at least $30,000 additional funds to be raised, and for God to be glorified in this endeavor. Pray that our sovereign Lord would open up the doors and make the passage clear for Amina.

If you would like to make a contribution then please send to BB&T Bank: Attn: Ms. Robin Smith, 455 Jesse Jewel Parkway, Gainesville, GA 30501. Please make check payable to Operation Amina.
Ray Rhodes, Jr. is Pastor of Grace Community Church located on Beartooth Parkway, near Hwy. 400 and 53 in Dawson County. To contact Ray visit him on the web at www.gracechurchdawsonville.org

To See Ahead You Must Look Back

“Look ahead and don’t turn back” is the mantra that many associate with visionary thinking. The problem with such an equation is that it is dead wrong. Yes, people of vision must cast a wishful gaze forward but before they can do that they must fully engage themselves in a look back.

Parenting requires great vision. The faithful parent simply must know how to see into the future and wrap their arms and dreams around things yet unseen. Psalm 78 captures the essence of the forward look with these words: “…tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done” (Vs. 4). Parenting the present generation requires thinking about the future generation. Thinking about the future generation while parenting the present generation requires thinking about the past generation. We are to teach our children that, “which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us” (3).

How can we apply these words?

1. We must put our minds around ancient biblical history.
What we are looking for is the greatness of God demonstrated in His superintendance of His people historically. This includes His provision, guidance and chastisement. Psalm 78 is filled with such instruction.

2. We must seek to impress the character of God upon the hearts of our children.
Children and adults learn to trust God for the future when they are able to see his faithfulness historically.

3. We must train our children with an eye towards our great grandchildren. That the generation to come might know…That they may arise and tell them to their children” (6).

4. Visionary training keeps great objectives in view.

What are we really aiming at when we teach our children who God is and what He has done? Our objective is three-fold.

A. We are aiming at the goal of faith in God (7).
B. We are aiming at the goal of remembrance of God (7).
C. We are aiming at the goal of obedience to God (7).
Visionary goal setting for our children requires that we and they know that God can be trusted. We know that by looking back. The very call to remember God requires that we look back. The call to obey God requires that we look back to the commands of God.
To have a visionary family we must see ahead. To see ahead we must learn to look back. Moving forward by looking back is at the heart of the message of Psalm 78.