My Sister Suse Gave Birth to her Second Son

Being a little outnumbered with girls in my family, I'm really excited about the birth of my second nephew Lukas Josiah Pineda.

But the other thing that I wish I could see more of is people being born again with eternal life (John 3).

And it's kind of interesting because one of the couples that I most got to share the gospel with in Illinois, have recently discovered that they are going to have a child themselves.

Emily got pregnant a couple months back, and I was the second person they told this to. Emily has said that it's been a really tough process for her body to adjust, and I can tell that at times she feels really wiped-out since she barely has any strength from the few foods that she can eat without regurgitating.

Similarly, I think that the process of receiving New Life is pretty intense.

There are huge adjustments of things you have to leave behind in all of a sudden entering into a brand new relationship with God... I mean the Holy Spirit is literally going to start living inside you! and so he's not going to automatically accept every sinful thing you once did. He'll want to regurgitate a lot of stuff that at one point you felt so comfortable with, and you'll have to resort to the pure water of knowing that in Jesus you can have eternal life, not much else (John 4:10; John 7:37-38).

Once you are born by the Spirit, you'll start to get a craving for pure spiritual milk, which is something like a true understanding of God being good, and you'll just want to sip it all up (1 Pet 2:2-3). To the degree that you do, your faith will eventually be strengthened and you'll start craving heavier type doctrines which are like the equivalent of solid food (Heb 5:12).

  

Stuff like the sovereignty of God or his justice and omnipotence as well as certain aspects about the purpose and practice of the church are a little harder to digest, but they are essential for our nourishment, if we honestly want to grow up in him.

Initially I suggest that anybody who wants to father someone else in being the first to present that person with the gospel (1 Corinthians 4:15)... I suggest that that person concentrate primarily on aspects of encouraging others to "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8), and to explain how Jesus is the bread of life that we need (John 6). If in an "already believing youngster" you would like to play more the role of a tutor for instance, then yeah - get into more of the profound teachings found in Scripture, but just give it in viable/steady doses that the person can consistently get his or her hands on.

Because I mean after all - it's only a matter of time till you're going to be wanting to see your own protégé being entrusted with the responsibility of teaching others also (2 Timothy 2:2).

Notice in the above pictures how Kaleb goes from being bored to eventually touching his little brother's head with the affirmation of his dad.

Jonny and Susie Pineda live in Memphis, TN and are the proud parents of Kaleb, Aliyah, and Lukas (not pictured). Jonny is an incredible musician/songwriter/worship leader as well as a 3D animation artist; and Susie is an amazing stay at home mom.