Good Friday & Kids

It can be difficult to decide what to do on Good Friday as a family.  Some Good Friday services tend to be to intense and/or difficult for a child to sit through.  Since this is true for my family, I would like to share a couple ways that you can still worship together as a family.

 Canaan in the Desert:  

This is a wonderful prayer garden located off 40th Street, just south of Shea Blvd. in Phoenix.  I have been taking my daughter Sophia for the last couple of years.  She refers to it as the Jesus Park.  Here you can take your whole family through different stations starting with Jesus praying at Gethsemane all the way to His Resurrection.  As you walk into the garden there is a small box with a map for the garden, a guide you can read for each station and a card that your child can color later.

Each station has a beautiful wood carving depicting a scene.  Don't worry they are sturdy and your kids can touch them.  Also, depending on how much your kids can handle take as much or as little time as you need at each station and talk about what you see.  There is no rush.

When you are done, next to one of the buildings they have a box that you can use to leave a donation to assist with maintaining the garden, if you so desire.

Watch the "Gospel According To Matthew - Part 2" on Amazon Prime:

If you can't make it to the prayer garden, I would highly recommend watching sections of this movie.  This movie is the best attempt I've ever seen at bringing the word of God to the screen.  It's wonderful for kids for two reasons that the "Passion of the Christ" is not.  First, the movie is in English.  Secondly, it is nowhere near as violent when it comes to Jesus' flogging and crucifixion.  Moreover, it is word for word from the NIV with the chapter and verse always in the bottom right hand corner of your screen so you can follow along in your Bible.  If it is text not said by a person it is voiced by the narrator who is playing the part of Matthew as an older man dictating his account of Jesus' life.  I recommend watching the whole thing.  Also, the same people did the book of Acts which is also available to watch on Amazon Prime.

However, just like any movie, I strongly recommend that you preview it before allowing your kids to watch it with you.  Some kids are more sensative than others and each parent knows what their child(ren) can handle or not.

I hope these tools help to enrich Holy Week for you this year.

Happy Easter to you and your family!

HE IS RISEN!!!!!

Faith, Hope, and Joy

I have three daughters, but I can only hold my darling Sophia Joy.  The other two, Miracle Faith and Annabelle Hope, are with Jesus.  One thing that we have always been very intentional about is the middle names of our darling girls.  I'd like to tell you about why we chose each starting with the oldest.

Sophia was given her middle Joy name for two reasons.  First we wanted her to have similar character to our friend Joy Chapman who had gone to be with Jesus not to long before.  Joy was and continues to be a testament to joyful living.  She was also quick to pray about all things.  We miss her and look forward to seeing her again someday.  Secondly, we wanted her to have the Joy of the LORD to be ever-present in her life.  This world has enough sadness and woe in it.  So we pray that she learns to fix her eyes on Jesus, so that no matter what happens in life she can still experience joy.

Aannabelle we gave the middle name Hope.  We did this because when we think of her we are reminded of the hope that we have in Christ.  We need not despair for long because we will get the chance to see her and Miracle in heaven.  As the song states, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and His righteousness. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is shifting sand."

Lastly, we gave Miracle the middle name Faith.  We did this because no matter what happens in life our faith in God can't be moved.  Moreover, we know that God could have healed Miracle, but it was part of His plan that we only got 15 weeks with her.  I know and hope that this sadness will bring growth to me and hopefully my testimony will bring comfort to others.  Lastly, my hope is that how my faith in Christ brought me through this difficult time will help to bring others to faith in Him.

This is my last post regarding my three beautiful girls.  I will forever hold them all in my heart.  One way that I will be doing that is by taking part for the first time in the Choices Pregnancy Center's Walk for Life.  I will be walking in memory of Annabelle and Miracle.  So I would like to ask you pray and consider sponsoring me as I walk for life.  You can do so by clicking below.

http://www.fundeasy.com/m/3800453/

Good Grief

I really enjoy watching the Peanuts movies with my daughter Sophia.  Hearing Charlie Browns catch phrase "good grief" got me thinking if there is anything such as good grieving.  So as I continue my grief journey I would like to add two more things to my last post regarding grief.

So first to have good grief you must run head long into that pain that you are experiencing like I stated last time.  There are two more essential things that get me through grief, and they are as follows:


1.  Don't Run from Grief/Pain:

• Express emotions.
• Don't be afraid of how others might react to your grief.
• There is no shame getting help.  Get counseling and/or join a support group.  That's why God gave us the Church.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5:4, NET)

or

Admit your pain and Jesus and the Church will surround you with love.

2.  Don't live in your grief:

Once you face the pain don't get so lost in grief that it becomes your new identity.  In the first episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 we meet Commander Sisko.  He is accused by the worm hole aliens of living in the grief of losing his wife.  His grief had consumed him and it's not until he is confronted with this fact that he is able to move on with his life.  Sisko's loss became his identity without him even realizing it.

I'm not saying that you won't ever experience sadness over missing someone  That is normal and to be expected.  However, you don't have to allow that void to define you.  Especially if you have Jesus in your life you have everything that you will ever need.

   “Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.” (1 Thess. 4:13, NET)

or

When you're sad, look to the cross for hope.  

3.  The Joy of the LORD is your strength: 

Lastly, and most important, before tragedy ever finds you in life you must learn to make Jesus the sole source of Joy in your life.  Because if it comes from any other person or thing grief will smack you so hard it will be difficult to get back up again.

"Count it all joy when you experience various trials." (James 1:3)  

or

If you have Jesus, it doesn't matter what's going on around you.

"Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." (Psalm 30:5b)

or

Sadness is temporary and short compared to the wonderful love of Jesus.

"Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10b)

or

If your Joy is found in Christ alone, then nothing can overcome you in this world!

So right now I challenge you to start making daily worship and celebrating Jesus a daily habit.  You will be able to see the effects in your life almost immediately.  And, it will certainly be a source of comfort and the only thing that will remove the darkness that seems to surround you.

With that I would like to leave you with the song Joy of the Lord by Rend Collective.

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

I have never cried so hard as I did on December 8, 2017.  That was they day my wife delivered our daughter at only 15 weeks.  As I held her tiny body in my hand I saw every possible moment in her life that she would never have a chance to experience.  And even now I would give anything just to hold her once more.  She never got to breath a breath this side of heaven, and I can't wait to hold her again in heaven.  What follows in this post and the next couple to come are going to be my journey through grief and how God has and continues to bring me through.

But first, like the proud daddy I am, I have to share a picture of my beautiful little girl Miracle Faith Farris.  My 5 year old daughter, Sophia, said she is doing the pledge of allegiance and looks like a jelly bean.  So that is our nickname for her.  She is our little jelly bean.

With that stated, in the hospital the Holy Spirit truly illuminated the understanding of a verse I always had glossed over and thought was just stating the obvious.  The verse is from the sermon on the mount and states,

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  Matthew 5:4

It seems obvious that those who mourn would find comfort in Christ.  However, God reminded me that not all those who mourn look to God for comfort.  But even bigger...the Spirit showed me that to often we have a tendency to run from grief and pain, so if we do that we don't allow ourselves to properly mourn, and if we don't mourn properly...how can we be comforted?

So I let it all out.  I didn't hold back the pain or the heartache that I was feeling.  I fell to the ground on my knees rocking my sweet child and I let the Holy Spirit communicate with God through my bitter tears and sobs.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God."  Romans 8:26-27

So I want to encourage you, if you are going through a hard time, please don't run from the pain and sorrow.  Instead, run full speed into it with God at your side.  Because even though there will be days that you don't want to get up in the morning because of sadness and pain Christ and His church will be there with you.  They will bring comfort to you and walk with you through this valley of pain.  Don't ignore it because it won't go away until you face it head on.  Don't let grief destroy you...instead allow God to use it to make you stronger and more effective in His Kingdom.

I'll have at least 2 more posts on this subject coming...until then I want to leave you with a song that has brought comfort to me and expresses quite well the emotions I have been feeling.  Thanks to Tracy Lessard for sharing it with me.

Emotional Journey Part 1

Whether you handle them well or poorly, we all experience a wide range of emotions.  The question is how do we deal with those emotions?  My favorite way is to use music and poetry to both express my feelings and to learn how to handle them in a God honoring way.  The music is worship and the poetry/music are the Psalms.

I want to take you on an emotional journey that I went through over the past year and half(ish).  I want to show you how God helped me deal with these through worship music and the Psalms.

Reason 1 - This is me putting a bookend on a series of events.
Reason 2 - I hope that this is helpful to even one other person to help him/her through a difficult period of time.

2014 had two major events that caused turmoil in my family's life.  In the spring I resigned as youth pastor at our church.  Then in September my wife experienced a miscarriage.  So for obvious reasons that year is not a favorite of mine.  However, it is also the cause of great growth in me.

The first emotion I felt after the miscarriage was anger and confusion aimed at God.  Just because you go to seminary and become a pastor does not mean that you are exempt from going through the grieving process.  I withdrew from God for awhile because of my anger, because I knew He was powerful enough to heal and He chose not to do so.

Than the first song of healing entered my life.  Never Once by Matt Redman

Though I owned the album with this song on it over a year before any of this took place, it was during a worship service that I first heard this song and tears came down my face.  God was reminding me that He Never Once Left Me.  He had been holding me in His arms the whole time.  It was the first time since we lost our Annabelle Hope that I felt I was truly able to lift my heart in worship.

And the Psalms reminded me that I am not the only one to ever feel this way.  God reminded me that I was not alone.  This became my prayer:

   “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation” (Psalm 42:5, ESV)  

So no matter what you are experiencing (anger, loss, sadness) put your Hope in God and praise His Mighty Name!

To Be Continued...

Bonus Song That Helped Me...My Hope Is In You by Aaron Shust-

Trashy Christmas Presents

The other day I wrapped gifts and prayed that those who receive them will be blessed and reminded of the love of Christ when opened.  Afterwards, I placed all the packages underneath the tree where they will sit until Christmas Eve/Day.

As I sat looking at the stack of presents on the ground a beautiful passage came to mind for me. 

 Philippians 3:7–9 (ESV) — 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

The truth is that underneath every Christmas tree is dump heap.  That is in comparison to the riches that we have in Christ.  Now I understand that the context for this passage is about Paul's past and prestigious heritage and not about any current or future blessings.  With that said, it puts the pile of presents in perspective.  It reminds us that these presents are worthless in comparison to love of Christ Jesus.  It also reminds us that God loved us so much that He gave us the greatest present: Jesus!  And now when we receive these gifts/blessings at Christmas time I see it as God showing off.  

So now I ask you to be God's instrument to show off His great love.  Use your time, talent, and/or treasure above and beyond normal this season to show the love of Jesus to someone.  Proclaim the gift of His great love when you give.  Otherwise, we will all just be surrounded by heaps of trashy presents.

Below is one of my favorite Christmas Songs:
The Gift by Randy Travis

Asking For Help

For the last couple weeks I have been going through my apartment looking for a book we checked out from the library.  Last week I realized that we had run out of renewals so I looked online to see how much it would cost to replace the book.  That's when I found out that it is out of print.  As a result, it would cost way more than I would like to replace it.

So one more time I prayed and asked God to let me know if this book could be anywhere else besides our apartment.  That is when the thought came into my head that I needed to go to the library and look for it there.  So the next Tuesday we went to the Library for storytime as usual and I looked for the book hoping that it just didn't get checked in.  I found a copy of the book!  So I took it to the front desk and asked an employee to check if this was checked out to us.  He scanned the book and said it wasn't checked out to anyone.  But again, I believed this to be the book that we checked out so I asked him to please compare the bar code to the book checked out to us.  Low and behold, it was the same book.  Somehow it had got checked in through the system but had not removed the title from our account.  It was a rare and strange glitch.  I praised God at the counter and told the man that I had prayed and God told me to look for the book here.  His response was a bit confused with a smirk.

Now I believe that I forgot about returning that book, along with a plethora of others, and the glitch for two very specific reasons.

1.  That I would have to trust God for help.  I had to call on Him for help and than go a little further in believing what He told me when the system said that the book was not checked out.  It may be easy to say that it is just a little thing, but God cares about the little things such as lost books.  Especially if it helps us learn to talk to Him.  I know that I want my little girl to come to me with anything, big or little.

2.  I believe that the man who worked with me on the situation needed to hear the testimony of God that I shared.  He was a bit confused by it and didn't want to talk about it, but he still heard it.  I don't know if that will lead to him knowing Christ in the future or not.  All I know is that I was being obedient to Christ and that He was proclaimed to someone that didn't know him.

So remember that God cares about the little things just as much as the big things.  And when God answers prayer...share how He worked in your life for the edification of believers and so that He might be glorified before unbelievers.  Because you never know how your story will affect others.