Pastor Claude Thomas Weblog

Author: Pastor Claude Thomas

Children learn to speak a language by living in the home. Take a child who grew up in America where the family spoke English. Then teach that child how to speak Chinese. Give them tapes and books so they can learn to speak the language.

Then send the child to China where the language is native to the people. Do you think it is possible for the child to speak Chinese without an accent? No! Why? The language is learned in a climate of the home. And the home had a distinct accent.

Create the right climate and values that build great families will flourish. What are the essentials for that kind of climate? We require the wisdom and power of God!

First, be wise by being careful of the dangers to the family. Be alert to the destructive dangers to the family.

Second, be powerful by being controlled by the Holy Spirit. When a person is drunk with wine, that person is controlled by wine. When a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, that person is controlled by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit gives us ability to live our values so our families can flourish!
Now how do we get the wisdom to detect the destructive and the power to live out the positive? Answer is this: request and release.
Request the wisdom from God. He gives it.
Release ourselves intentionally to the Holy Spirit. He gives power.
Living in the wisdom and power of God creates a climate where the biblical values can be realized and enjoyed by every member of the family!
Let’s build strong families because the family is a treasure to be treasured!

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a pilot flying over the desert and have you plane hit by enemy fire. It did happen to Captain Evans, a pilot in the Gulf War. He had already flown 20 combat sorties over Kuwait and Iraq in a warplane called the “Wart Hog”. Twenty missions without a scratch….a record that came to an end. He was flying sortie number twenty-one against the vaunted Iraqi Republican Guard, when his aircraft was suddenly ripped by 23 mm canon shells and small arms fire. The plane bucked under him and warning lights flashed inside the cockpit–something happened he hoped he would never see outside the simulator.

He trailed a thin line of smoke, and feared his hydraulic system might fail at any moment. With rudders gone, the plane could slip into irrevocable spin.

Yet as part of his training, Evans forced aside his fear and made his mind go through a rigid checklist in preparation for an emergency landing.

Airspeed….check
Altimeter….check
Fuel….check
Family….check
Hydraulic pressure….check
ILS….check
Flaps….check
Family….check
In spite of himself, the one thought

Captain Evans couldn’t hold captive was the one he treasured most of all….home. The picture of a loving wife and three children, the youngest only three, was zipped inside the top pocket of his flight jacket.Just get me home…Just get me home. These words echoed in his mind. Over and Over.Captain Evan’s plane did touch down at his home base that morning sporting eighteen holes in his right wing and fuselage.