Kathy and I had
the privilege and blessing of caring for two of our grandchildren on a recent
Saturday evening. Our son, Andrew, was
working as an air traffic controller.
But then again, Kathy was also called into work at Mat Su Regional
Medical Center that evening. So, I had
the joy of feeding Jackson and Kendall, caring for them and putting them to
bed. We ate some chicken and dumplings for
supper which Kathy had prepared beforehand.
Our supper included salad from the garden, and some berry pie Kathy had also
cooked. Kendall read a devotion after
supper before we left the table. Then,
after Andrew left for work, and after the dishes were done, I asked Kendall if
they wanted to watch a movie together. I
was surprised at Kendall’s reply. “I’ll
watch “Black Widow” on my I-Pad.”
Life changes for
every generation. My grandchildren have
technology that, when I was a child, I never dreamed would even exist. For example, Jackson was playing “Minecraft”
on his technology with one of my other grandchildren who was at his home 5 miles
away. I don’t even own an I-Pad. I have never played Minecraft. Life is different than when I grew up.
I had two
responses for Kendall. First, I told my
granddaughter, “I thought we could all watch a movie together, not do things
separately.” But, my second response was
that I asked Kendall, “What does that movie teach?” I believe the wisdom which God shares through
St. Paul to the Christians in Philippi. “8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is
noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.
9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-- put
it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9) Christians are called to think about, to
focus on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Thoughts on such healthy topics bear fruit in
our lives. I know that “Black
Widow” is a “Marvel” movie. But, I have
not seen that movie. Not knowing what
was in the show, I was concerned about the content, the language, the sexual
situations, the violence, and the values.
My granddaughter is only 10 years old.
But, children are
not the only ones who should have concern about what goes into their minds and
hearts and souls. I try to ask myself,
all of us should ask, if the movies, the music, the reading material, the TV
shows we give our attention to are feeding our faith. Do these different media bring us closer to
our Savior, or perhaps damage our relationship with our Lord? Do we grow in our faith and Christian values
through what we watch, or listen to, or read?
Or, is our faith assaulted and our relationship with Jesus weakened?
Life is different
than when I grew up. Situations do
change, but the Lord does not change. God’s
changeless character was good news for the Israelites when the Lord spoke
through the prophet Malachi. "I the LORD do not change. So you, O
descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.”
(Malachi 3:6) God’s
faithful love for the Israelites caused Him to act in mercy, even when the
people deserved punishment. The writer to the Hebrews reminds the
people of that New Testament church, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever.” (Hebrews
13:8) Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior
of the world, is the same . . . forever.
Jesus,
who does not change, therefore taught, “Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) God’s word remains
the same. The world may change, but
God’s truth does not change. We should want
to grow closer to our true, right, and pure Lord.
My children sometimes tell me that I am old-fashioned. But I want my grandchildren to know Jesus and
His saving love. I want them to consider
what is true, noble, right, and pure. I
want them to follow Jesus in faith and in obedience. So I am concerned about what they put into
their minds.
I have quite a few movies, many purchased for the family or
for church groups to watch. I pointed Kendall
to some family movies and suggested she might choose one of those. Kendall chose to watch, “The Wizard of
Oz.” I called Jackson, made popcorn, and
the 3 of us watched the movie together. We
talked about home, and about brains and heart and courage. We said a prayer and they went to bed. “Finally, brothers, whatever is
true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--
think about such things.”
A Child of God, Seeking
Healthy Thoughts of Faith and Obedience for my Family and Myself,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. I took
Tony Schultz and his niece from South Carolina fishing on Friday, July 16. She had never been fishing, and never caught
a fish. Now she can say she has caught
15 rainbow trout! https://photos.app.goo.gl/Mocwy5bdMqFcL1EX9
P.P.P.S. – Here
are some more yard and garden pictures mostly taken on Friday, July 16. https://photos.app.goo.gl/VCvR5f2AbuQPcQXu5 (I injured my knee that day. L)
*****
ABOUT THIS
DEVOTION - I retired at the end of August 2019 from serving as senior pastor of
St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion
previously entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor." When I
retired many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have
continued writing. However, with life's changes I now call this weekly
devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child of God."
Since I am no
longer senior pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this
message to those 0000who asked to receive it. (Though I am now serving
again part-time at St. John as assistant to the pastor.) Perhaps
you also know that I “killed” my computer on November 7, 2020. In so
doing I lost, for a time at least, all my e-mail contacts. So, I was
really goofed up. Many who were receiving this devotion each week were no
longer receiving it. I tried to rebuild my distribution list, but I am
not sure how accurate I have been.
So, if you stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you
understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions and do not wish
to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove your name from my
distribution list. My e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our
Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father,
Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus,
St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
cell phone -
907-841-4066
Home phone -
907-746-5131
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