Category Archives: Spirit Fire

Family interaction and devotion time with God.

Spirit Fire, Proverbs 18:20: Whose Lips?

“From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled;
with the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.”

Now I know I see Jesus whenever I read the book of Proverbs to my kids, but tonight I was preempted by my daughter. Each night I give my kids the chance to explain the proverb to me before I try, most times Betsy and I have to explain definitions of terms etc. Tonight, however, my daughter dropped this on me that changed/fulfilled the meaning and our direction for the night:

“His” is referring to God.

We then talked about John chapter 1- the Word became flesh and lived among us. Which then lead us to talk about the reason for this next season, Jesus’ birth, and that in the garden of our hearts, souls, and minds, a new tree is growing… A Christmas tree! And this proverb, with my daughter’s saintly explanation, was its first ornament!

Spirit Fire: Proverbs 18:19, “An Offended Brother”

“An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city,
and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.”

Last night’s Spirit Fire started out a little daunting for me. I read the proverb to my kids and knew right away that it was going to be a difficult one to explain. Like so many other times in my life, I jumped in anyways, and boldly told them Betsy would explain it.

After we got definitions out of the way, Betsy began explaining by using our kids as examples. She sited times when one of my son’s made my daughter so mad from teasing her, (usually from copying her), that when he needed her help, (like going downstairs with him to get something, because that still scares him, but not her), he has to beg her over and over. Sometimes he has to pay for his offense to inspire her to help by giving her whatever works.

I am so thankful that is not how we have to come before God when we pray for help. Because of Jesus, though He suffered the offense of the cross did not use it as an excuse to punish us or shut us out, we can come to the throne of grace with confidence, Hebrews 4:16. He actually turned the “offense” around and made it a cause for joy not fear, because through it Jesus opened the way for us to be with God.

Jesus went downstairs for us all, not because we bribed Him. He suffered the greatest offense of the cross because He first loved us. And we, who follow Him, are called to love through offenses no matter how much we may want to bar the gates.

“Open the gates and love!”

Spirit Fire: Crushed Spirit- Proverbs 18:14

For Spirit Fire last night we looked at Proverbs 18:14. It got heavy as this “Coin” proverb talked about having a crushed spirit.

“The human spirit can endure in sickness,
but a crushed spirit who can bear?”

I remember wondering as a kid why people become alcoholics. Back then I thought it was merely a consequence of party living. I thought you would just love the flavor so much you’d get addicted to it like candy or something. However, life and actually tasting it, taught me a different tale.

Loss, disease, death of loved ones, shame, regret, these and other burdens can’t be shaken but can be forgotten for a short time in the bottle. These burdens crush the spirit, who can bear it?

We talked about how in the Holy Spirit we meet the Comforter, (greater than the southern kind), John 14:26, and His peace that endures. This life is so hard at times, and yet He meets us there. He lifts us up and gives us renewed strength when we have none, Isaiah 40:31.

Its an honor to teach my children the Book of Proverbs and to show them its fulfillment in Jesus. Who can bear the brokenness and sorrow of this world? Only Jesus, He did it for us and He gives us hope.

Spirit Fire: It Got Real, Proverbs 17:26

Spirit Fire got real tonight, unexpectedly to me, (I didn’t read ahead):

Proverbs 17:26 “It is not good to punish an innocent man, or to flog officials for their integrity.”

We talked about the laws of reason that God placed in our minds to explain why it doesn’t make any sense to punish the innocent. Then we talked about Jesus. If ever there was an innocent man, it was Him. And we spoke of the good that God planned for mankind through His punishment, our salvation.

His ways are higher than ours. Such a glorious mystery!

Spirit Fire Ch. 7: Share the Fire

It started out from watching a Darren Wilson movie that shared about a woman named Heidi Baker who evangelizes in Mozambique, Africa.  She travels from village to village calling the people there to bring forth their sick and blind.  She then invites children to pray with her, and God answers.  Now I’m not saying to get healed you must get prayed over by African orphans, but it stood out to me that if you open your kids up to experience God at such an early age it sets them up for an even greater awareness of Him.  When I think about my own children, I know I want that for them.

This world has been dark ever since the Fall, but Jesus came to be THE Light.  The Bible says some pretty amazing things about what we get to be a part of as children of Light:  Spiritual Gifts, healings, resurrections, demonic deliverances, and other signs and wonders.  Every generation thinks it’s living in the last days, and with the constant barrage of violent and tragic events all over the globe, it’s not hard to see why.  But along with the people in Darren Wilson’s movies, I want more of Him in midst of the chaos.  I don’t want to sit and try to find meaning in how we are doing it all wrong or try to find creative ways to kick a dead horse, but I want to be a part of what He’s doing now.

I want to be so familiar with His presence that when people look at me they see Him.  I want for my wife to be blessed with the opportunity to help others gain His Beauty that she has more than any other woman I have ever known.  I want for my children to have the opportunity to be a part of something more than simply going to church on Sundays and playing video games the rest of the week.  So as I walk this path with my amazing family, we began to go out and “Share the Fire”- the “outreach” version of our Spirit Fire times.

We go out, grab a few $5 gift cards and hit a shopping store.  We have our kids pick the person we are going to bless and off we go.  Betsy is the lead talker and after we give them the card, she asks if there is something we can pray for them about.  Responses have been pretty wild from tears of thankfulness to smiles of joy.  It gives my kids the opportunity to see His power at work through them for others.  To the people who say, “No thank you,” they are free to keep the gift card.  We still pray for them as they leave.

God has given Betsy and I many opportunities all over the world to share His love with people from Mexico to Africa to Hong Kong.  Since our days at Great Lakes Christian College we’ve felt lead to be missionaries, and though we wait for His call to go elsewhere we know for now He has us here.  We seek to live always for Him no matter where.

Spirit Fire Ch. 6: “No Longer A Slumdog”

A couple of months ago I saw an ad on Facebook for a free book about children in Asia titled “No Longer A Slumdog”, written by K.P. Yohannan.  I thought it would be an interesting read because I know people who serve the LORD there, plus it has a forward written by Francis Chan, so I ordered it.  When it finally came in the mail, I set it aside on the shelf next to where I sit for our Spirit Fires, and truth be told, I forgot about it.  Till one day I saw it sitting there and thought to give the first chapter a read.  Boy, I’m glad I did.  As I read the stories about the hundreds of millions of children that suffer in this world, and about the work of the Spirit and the light God brings to such places, I quickly thought about my own children and how invaluable it would be for them to learn and hear about it.  Most of the children mentioned in the book are around their age of 7 so it seemed even more appropriate for my kids to hear about them during this stage of their lives.

In our beginning prayer time, we talk about our Treasure Rooms which are filled with all kinds of riches from God.  When reading Yohannan’s book, I spoke to them of a rare jewel of Wisdom called Perspective, and each page of his book was loaded with it.  Perspective provides for us an opportunity to value others and ourselves, and it is something every child and adult in every culture needs.  With it we take a step out of our own shoes with our needs and wants and step into another’s and hear of even greater needs and in that trade off, a new need awakens, a need to help and do something about it.  A need to love.

Yohannen’s book provides a personal view into the dark streets of cities like Bombay and what daily life is like there for the Dalit children and communities.  Children who don’t know the love of God, let alone the many who don’t even know the love of a parent.  The harshness of dealing with a pimp who knows a maimed child makes more money begging than a healthy one is contrasted by the blinding glory of God’s redemptive love as the life of a violent child changes to that of a loving child becoming a blessing to his community.  Yohannan shares many stories of hope and joy amidst the dark, each one of these stories is a seed for my children; a seed I know that will grow in the garden of their hearts, souls, and minds.

Last night we had our recap discussion time.  Honestly, my kids couldn’t follow many of the questions I asked like:  “So what did we learn about the Jewel of Perspective?”  But when I asked them about specifics in the book, they couldn’t stop talking about the children we read about.

I know this almost sounds like a commercial, but to get the info out plain and simple here it is:  “No Longer A Slumdog” written by K.P. Yohannan was a perfect book for my family to read and talk about together.  I look forward to the ways its seeds will impact my kids and myself in the days to come.

Spirit Fire Ch. 5: Who wants to pray with Sunny?

In our family devotions, we’ve had times where it feels like we’re in a rut.  Times when you can almost feel the burn of the exercise and discipline that it can be.  Like the other night, since we alternate nights between Spirit Fire and Night Show, my kids asked which one we were doing.  They asked me with that hopeful ‘Dreams come true’ tone, “Is it Night Show night Dad?”  That got my wheels turning.  I thought about the cartoons we’d watch compared to what our devotions were like.  Staring at me while I read from the Bible seemed pretty bland in comparison.  It’s all about their attention, what will grab and keep it.

About 15 years ago or so while down in Tennessee, my wife and I visited a toy shop thinking of presents for our nephews and nieces.  It was there that I saw a puppet I couldn’t ignore.  “Sunny” was its name.  It looked biblical and wise and just spoke to me of adventures.  I’ve never really been interested in puppets before, but in the years we’ve had Sunny, I’ve witnessed how using one can break all kinds of barriers including cultural and linguistical ones.  Years ago I had the opportunity to take it to Hong Kong and entertain the children there.  I carried it around in my backpack with its head sticking out and anyone I passed by or sat next to on the train, boat, plane or bus was instantly interested in it.

I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to use it during Spirit Fire, but once my kids demonstrated their lack of enthusiasm for reading the Bible, it was on.  And now my kids ask for Sunny every time.  It has become a highlight which is what I’ve been wanting to create for them.  Sunny has white plastic strings for hair on its head so I’ve tried to give it an old man’s voice.

“Who wants to pray with Sunny, who wants to pray with Sunny, who wants to pray with SUNNY!!!” is the song I sing with it to call the kids to prayer for Spirit Fire.

Using Sunny has opened up a whole new kid-friendly level to our family devotions.  It has helped to keep everyone interested even if/when I’m the tired one.

Spirit Fire Ch. 4: More Family Time in God’s Word

We finished reading through Revelation, wow what a time that was!  We read about the end of the world and the salvation of God’s children.  We read how Jesus will come again to bring an end to suffering and pain.   We even took a look around in the heavenly courts and saw some strange creatures.  Each night we reviewed the major points we found along the way, an example is the 7 churches.  We would name them and a word about what was written to them.  If you think of Revelation as a painting, the first three chapters create a great background for the rest of the book.

After we finished Revelation we went into Mark.  So far in the past years, we’ve gone through Acts exploring the power we’ve been given, Revelation for the victory, Proverbs (which we are still in) for the Wisdom, and now Mark for Jesus.  Honestly, there’s no rhyme or reason to the order that I know of, but I do know paths converged for a moment when about halfway through Acts, Pastor Kevin from my church began taking us through it on Sundays.  That was cool.  Then Bill Johnson, another leader I respect, mentioned wisdom and power being for the believer when we were in both Proverbs and Acts.  Both emboldened me for our Spirit Fires and what I wanted for my kids.

The intro for Mark is easy.

Leader:  “Who wants Jesus to be in their treasure room?”

All:  “Meeeee!!!  I dooooo!!!”

Leader:  “Good, I have a book here called _____”

Kids:  “Mark!”

Leader:  “Written by _____”

Kids:  “Mark!!”

Leader:  “To teach us about ______”

Kids:  “Jesus!!!”

We review by calling out one thing that we’ve already read, we’re at the end of chapter 4, and by each of us naming one of the disciples.  Then I read all their names from Mark 3:16-19.

We are still making our way through the book of Proverbs on the alternate nights.  We’ve added a few more things to the intro as we’ve come across new types of Proverbs, two of which are the “Coin” and the “This and more” proverbs.  My kids’ favorite is the “Coin” proverb.  We call them “Coin” because they have two sides saying the same thing but from different viewpoints often in reference to comparing the wicked and the righteous.  My kids like the word that reveals the other side, “but”.

So we say:

Me:  “Some proverbs are like a _____.”  And then I hold my hand out flat.

Kids:  “Coin!”

Me:  “One side talks about the _______.”

Kids:  “Righteous!”

Me:  “The other side talks about the _______.”

Kids:  “Wicked!”

Me:  “And what word flips it?”

Kids:  “But!” Their favorite part.  Then I flip my hand over making a spank sound to emphasize it.

For example:

15:29 “The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”.

The LORD’s proximity toward the wicked means the same thing as His toward the righteous.  For one side to go up, like a teeter-totter, the other has to come down.  If God is near one then that means He is far from the other.  He isn’t near them both in regards to His favor.

Another type of Proverb is “This and more”.  Basically, this type of Proverb adds to its point by increasing it, not contrasting it like the “coin”; hence the different conjunctions “but” vs. “and”.

For this one we say:

Me:  “Other proverbs are a ‘This and ____.”

Kids:  “More!”

For example:

14:26 “He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.”

The “this” is “He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress”.   A quick explanation of this is that we who fear the LORD obey Him, and we who obey Him receive strength and power to accomplish what He is calling us to do.  Side note:  This reminds me of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:24-27.  The “and more” is the second half of the proverb furthering the original point to providing for the children.  So basically our “fear” of God is not just for us, but it’s for those under our care, namely, our kids.  My children liked hearing the good things that are coming their way, especially when I explain refuge means a huge castle.

I try to make the names for the proverbs easy so we can grasp the form which lends itself to opening the door to explore the meaning.  So that’s why she swallowed the fly.  🙂

-Brian

Cultivating Context

One thing that seems to be consistently missing in the minds of children, and many adults, is a context for knowing the difference between right and wrong and why that is even important.  What is parenting other than teaching the next generation how to successfully navigate life?  Whether it is teaching a skill or a trade, how to enjoy life, and how to help others, parenting is about planting the right seeds in the right soil as best as we can.

Spirit Fire is parenting in the ways of God.  It provides a context, a view from which to understand the world.  Many people only know the world through the lens of what makes others angry, or what will get them punished.  Spirit Fire gives the foundation for wisdom and understanding, this is different from merely knowing what it takes to defend oneself. 

If you want your children to grow beyond your own limited perspective, if you want to establish a road that elevates their thoughts along the path of God, if you want to give them the tools needed for a godly life, then establishing a time in which your family encounters God together is a great way to begin building that holy foundation. The harvest from which will bless you and your household for generations to come.

 

Spirit Fire Ch. III, Pull My Finger

“As a parent, I can’t think of anything more important than the privilege and responsibility of training my children in the way of God. The way my wife and I have chosen to do this is by having what we call Spirit Fire.”

Tonight’s Spirit Fire began with a question: What does God laugh at? I felt lead to start with that thought because I recently added a new voice to storytelling that makes all three of my kids laugh from the gut, and that is gold to me. I was also getting the feeling that God wanted us to mess around tonight, so we did. I figure God’s got the best sense of humor if we can relax enough to see it. I mean, a platypus?

After we thought about it, all five in my family answered differently.

Jack: when we tell jokes and laugh

So I asked him what kind of joke makes God laugh. Jack sat there thinking while he ate his night snack of lime chips, and he said, “What if a chip was a mountain?” And he laughed and laughed, no doubt thinking of the best snack time ever. One mountain lime chip please…

Gwen: funny faces

I asked her to demonstrate a face that would make God laugh. She made the face when you put your pointer fingers in your mouth and pull the corners apart. She then smiled and stuck her tongue out, perfect.

Caleb: tickling

We talked for a little about what it would be like to tickle God. I asked Caleb how he would do it, thinking maybe he would go for his favorite, the armpit. However, he reached right for my belly and said, “Like this!”

Betsy: when we do klutzy things

No demonstration necessary for that one.

Me: farts

My kids loved that one. Again, no demonstration necessary.

When we are working to garden the minds of our children, let us not forget fun. It needs to be fun, at least some of the time. Many preachers begin their craft breaking through countless barriers with a good joke. It can open doors and break up the soil so that you can plant some seed. Much of life is hard, and if we’re not careful we can become as hard as stones.

-Brian Carter