Where Do I Go From Here?

Amidst the challenges set forth this weekend at the Family Driven Faith conference, I have been convicted to search my heart as well as the Word of God as standard for re-analyzing and re-establishing what I truly do believe to be truth; why I believe it to be truth and then living and communicating this Biblical Worldview within family foremost and then to those in my sphere of influence.

After studying Titus more I wanted to put things in better context and this is what I came across in relating to where do I go from here:

• Titus is obviously a letter to Titus in establishing and governing the church in Crete


• Titus was a Greek believer, probably converted thru Paul's teaching


• Like Timothy, Titus traveled with Paul and was nurtured and discipled in his faith


• Paul then sent Titus to Crete and instructed him to not only oversee the church in Crete, but to Disciple the believers there.


• Crete was an island known for Laziness, gluttony, lying, and evil.

Where do we find Paul encountering the Island of Crete? Head back to Acts 27:

Paul, a prisoner at this point, was headed to Italy. On the way over, a storm began to brew and Paul encouraged the ship to anchor at Crete for the time being. The centurion in charge, however, did not listen to Paul and they set out. The storm however, drove them off course and they feared for their lives as they had to begin dumping cargo overboard. Then we see Paul speak:

"After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said, 'Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage & loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed" Acts 27:21-22.

What does this have to do with anything? Well this is why these verses jumped off the page to me: I, as a christian, and part of the body of Christ, have been challenged to re-evaluate how I truly am living the Word of God in everyday life. Am I truly living the biblical precepts that are set forth for a "royal priesthood and chosen people?"

I saw Crete figuratively as the Word of God that has been given to us this past weekend at the Family Driven Faith conference. Not what the man Voddie Baucham spoke, but rather the conviction of the Holy Spirit that came through the teaching of The Word of God. I saw the storm as the current state of our culture. Trying aggressively to do everything it can to take us off course and destroy the effectiveness of the family dynamic. Lastly, I see the ship representing our families or possibly the effectiveness of the biblical family dynamic. All together, I see the opportunity now for all of us, most importantly the fathers, husbands, and other men, to build and plant our families ( dock the ship) on the Word of God (Crete) so that the culture (storm) can no longer have a say so in what happens to our families. I do believe that our choice on moving forward with knowledge of the Word will reflect our priorities....Paul goes on to tell the other people on the boat that despite the fact that they did not heed his warning their lives will not be lost, only the ship will be destroyed (v. 22). Will we (I) choose to heed the Word of God now and dock our families or will we continue to allow our "ships" to be tossed in the strom?

"Do not merely listen to the word and so decieve yourselves, do what it says" James 1:22