Heart Soul and Might

After having posted on fathers, sons and March Madness (basketball), C.J. Mahaney was asked by Mark Dever about how he prepares his son for their Sunday morning worship service. Having two little boys myself, I’m especially interested in this, and am challenged and inspired to be as intentional with my boys as C.J. is with his. Read the whole thing at Together for the Gospel. Here’s an excerpt:

Yep, Mark, I follow a similar approach in order to prepare Chad for the Sunday meeting at Covenant Life Church, only this event is much more important than basketball. Actually, as I understand it, parenting is all about preparation. I need to prepare Chad to fulfill his call as a man to serve and lead, and ultimately I must prepare him for the fast-approaching day of judgment.

My approach to preparing Chad for the Sunday meeting has been informed by the doctrine of the church as clearly taught in Scripture and the Savior’s love for the church as compelling demonstrated on the cross. I want to inform my son theologically about the church and demonstrate for him a passion for the church. I want to transfer to him my love for Covenant Life Church in particular.

Imparting a love for the church must begin with my example. Modeling precedes teaching. Before we teach, we must provide a genuine (not a perfect) example for our children. So, in order to effectively prepare Chad for Sunday, I must first prepare my own heart.

I’ve enjoyed reading Justin Taylor often at Between Two Worlds. Here is Adrian Warnock’s interview with Justin. Justin has been mentored in a big way by my favorite author and teacher, John Piper, and is leaving Piper’s Desiring God Ministries to head up the ESV Study Bible project at Crossway.

In this interview, he talks about the value of not only having a mentor to walk through life and ministry with, but also mentoring someone younger on issues of faith and life. I am a big proponent of establishing mentoring relationships in both directions, having been mentored by some great men of God as a younger man.

Undoubtedly, my dad, George Petak is the man most responsible for shaping who I am today. I am truly blessed in having a father who pointed me to Christ from a very young age and has modeled a life of character and integrity in the face of many challenges. I have also been very blessed to have a number of men who proactively took interest in spending time with me in the most formative years of my life: Jim Servi, Brad Bliss, Jerry Worsham, Jack Bell, Jim Johnson… and most recently, Ken Edwards. I am so thankful that these men cared enough to speak truth into my life - sometimes very hard truth. The one thing they all have in common is pointing me to the Word of God. I have a great desire to give my life away to some younger guys because I stand on the shoulders of some great men. Thank you to each of you for believing in me and for seeing something I didn’t see.