November 19, 2020

Have you ever found a book that you find so interesting that you feel that you can’t put it down? I have had that feeling many times, for which I am very thankful. When I was very young, I read biographies of baseball players like Willie Mays and enjoyed watching them play even more after I knew something about them. As a teenager, I enjoyed reading novels like “A Separate Peace” and “1984” which I don’t remember much about now, but I know that I found them very interesting at the time. When I put my faith in Christ at the age of seventeen, I was drawn to books by British authors like Michael Griffiths and John Stott, and then had the privilege of serving the Lord with Operation Mobilization in England for nearly a year in my early 20s.

Speaking of things British, the fourth season of “The Crown” debuted this week. I enjoy seeing the castles and countryside, as well as the portrayals of prime ministers and other prominent people. The interaction of Prince Charles and Lady Diana before and after they were married raises many questions in the minds of viewers, as it did in the minds of the royal family. I won’t go into details here, but I will say that watching this drama has helped me to pay closer attention to what I was reading this week: a book entitled “Becoming a Family that Heals.” This book by Drs. Beverly and Tom Rodgers examines the negative patterns of behaviour that plague many families, providing insights as to how to have healthy relationships.

Here is a small portion of a chapter called “Disarming the Family Power Struggle”: “When family members get angry, they typically either hurl or hide their anger. Hurlers externalize their anger. They yell, scream, and blame. Hiders internalize their anger by stonewalling, being icy, and rejecting. Both patterns can be destructive. We have found that if you can share the deeper emotions beneath your anger, you have a better chance of not hurling or hiding. Because you are thinking more rationally you also have a better likelihood of being understood and thus resolving conflict.” Drs. Tom and Beverly Rodgers then share an acronym to help us remember the primary emotions rooted in anger:

                                                                                                                                                Guilt                                                                                                                                                   

Inferiority                                                                                                                                           

Fear                                                                                                                                                  

A few weeks before Christmas, members of our family like to tell what gifts they would like to receive. Of course, the greatest gift we could ever receive is the gift of love that God poured out on us, when He sent His only Son, Jesus, to Earth to be born in Bethlehem and to grow up to heal many and to die for the sins of mankind. May we determine to be more Christ-like in all that we think, say and do, to the glory of God!

Scripture for the weekend: “Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.’” John 8:12 (NASB)

Thought for the weekend: “What tremendous power Christians could wield in the world today if only they knew who they are called to be. And what tremendous evil they permit in the world when they refuse to live as God wants them to live.” – Ray C. Stedman (from “Hope in a Chaotic World”)

Steve