And we shall name him...Emilio?

Genesis 5
My tendency is to breeze through the so-and-so-begat-so-and-so sections and get back to the stories, but like I said I want to slow down a bit and see what nuggets God has left for us. So is there anything to be learned from the genealogy in chapter 5?

Martin Sheen with a young Martin Sheen

Two things I noticed...

When Adam fathered Seth the scriptures say "he fathered a son in his own likeness" (v 3). The same was not said of Cain or Abel. It's the same language used when God created Adam, but instead of man taking on the likeness of deity it's a man taking on the likeness of another man, his earthly father. What is the significance of making this distinction? Maybe it's nothing, but I found it interesting.

The other thing that jumps out is when the pattern in the recording of the genealogy is broken. Notice verse 29. Here we learn more than just birthdays and life spans. We see that Lamech, Noah's father, knew that his son was something special. So he named him accordingly. My bible tells me Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest. Do you suppose Lamech knew what his son would do?

When my wife and I were preparing for the arrival of our son we scoured through a couple baby name books. I wanted a name that sounded good with our last name. Names that ended with 'n' seemed to work best. I know, silly, but that was a part of the criteria. We also liked a few biblical names and the story behind the men who made them famous. We hadn't settled on one until he was born. We figured we had to give him a good once over before we gave him his name for life.

Tell me...
Do your kids look like you? How does that change your perception of them?
How much thought went into naming your child? Was it a family name or did you choose a name based on the characteristics or personality you want your child to possess?

Behind Closed Doors

Genesis 4
I find it strange that our all knowing, all powerful God would ask Cain the questions, "Where is Abel your brother?" and "What have you done?"(v 9, 10). Surely he knows, right? He's God. Why not just call Cain out? Why not say "I saw what you did and you're in big trouble mister!"?

Photo courtesy of sxc.hu/profile/vla

I've caught my son in the act. Occasionally at the end of his room time I'll go back there and quietly peak in on him before going in. Sometimes I'll catch him dancing around on his bed. He knows he's not to stand on his bed. The simple thing is to go in, yank him off his bed and put him in time out or at the very least give him a good scolding.

But I want to know that he knows right and wrong, so lately when I've seen him doing something like this I'll go in and ask him what he's doing. It's and educational experience for me as a dad. I discover if he knows he was doing anything wrong to begin with, what mommy and daddy have told him about that behavior, and what the consequences are. He knows what's up and he knows he can't get away with it. (Well, most of the time. I'm a bit lenient at times and it's come back to bit me. Just ask my wife.)

So I guess that's what God is doing here. He seems to want us to give an account of what we've done. He did the same with Adam and Eve (Gen 3:9, 11). It's an opportunity for us to do the right thing and confess.

Tell me...
How do you approach your kids when you know they've done something wrong?
Is there a stricter punishment/consequence when they don't tell you the truth or is the disobedience treated the same whether or not they confess?

Bad Produce

Genesis 3
How many times have you told him not to? And how many times did he do it anyway?

I don't give my son enough credit sometimes. My expectations of him can often be too low, but I've learned of late to raise my standards for him.

God, in his infinite wisdom, left room for choice within his created universe. But the choice did not come without warning. Here he tells Adam once to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17). One time he told him. Do you think it stuck? Did Adam get the point?

You bet he did and Eve, who we can assume knew of God's command through Adam, took it a step further and said that they were told not even to touch the tree (v 3). They heard God and they knew what he meant. But the temptation was too great.

As some point we will all let our children loose. They will hold fast to their chosen mate as God instructed (Gen 2:24). Our job is to prepare them for the freedom their future holds. They must understand the choices before them and realize the consequences, good or bad, of each decision.

The temptation is to shelter our kids from the evil of the world. But notice God does not hide this forbidden tree from man. It's in the garden. It's in their backyard! Rather, he educates them about the tree, offers his trust and leaves them alone.

This will be something difficult to wrestle with as my son grows older. Temptation is all around us. In our culture we find knew ways of sinning everyday. What do I allow him to be exposed to, what do I simply tell him about without showing him, and from what do I shelter him completely?

Tell me...
How do you tell your kids about the sinful things of the world?
What do you prepare them for and what do you allow them to experience on their own?
How will you know when they are ready?

A Chip off the Old Block

The story begins with the creation of the world and of man. We've all read it a million times. So let's try to take it slow to see if there's something we missed that has implications for fathers.

Genesis 1
God makes man in his image and finally finds his handwork, not just good, but now very good (v 31). God took joy in his children–Adam and Eve. They were created to look like him.

My son looks like me (although he is looking more like his mother every day). He has since the second he entered this world and everyone reminds us of that. I find myself looking at him at times and seeing myself, innocent and oblivious. It's a feeling only a father knows. But it's easy to miss those moments. We can so easily become preoccupied with our work, our hobbies even, that we rob ourselves of the joy our kids bring.

Genesis 2
God had a purpose for man and that was to work and tend to his creation (v 15). Earlier God ordered man to "be fruitful and multiply" and to "have dominion over" all the created things (Gen 1:28). The multiplying is the fun part, the having dominion bit takes some sweat. Are we instilling in our children, even from a young age, the value of hard work?

I have a 3-year-old son. He has his own room. We've given him toys and books and clothes. In a sense he has dominion over those things. He is the caretaker for the things we have placed in his room. It is his job to keep it clean and to care for his toys, otherwise Mom and Dad will find a more appreciative child to give his toys to. It's happened before.

Tell me...
What do you do to appreciate your kids and take joy in them?
How do you teach your children the value of hard work?

BCS minus the C

I know two things: I like Rick Reilly and I think the BCS is a joke.

I like what Rick had to say in his latest column. Here's an excerpt:

What a lie this BCS era is. They say a playoff would take too much time away from school, yet Oregon's players will have had 37 days off when they play again.

They say with this system, "every game counts." Except of course, TCU's epic win over Wisconsin to stay undefeated Saturday. Counts exactly as much as a rainbow to Stevie Wonder.

I couldn't have said it better myself, so I won't try.

So how 'bout you? 

BCS? Thumbs up? Thumbs down?