Don't Waste Your Summer

My most recent blog article was written for parents, which totally left out the next generation. In light of that, I want to share some thoughts that I spoke to our youth group recently in preparation for the summer.

Life is passing us by quickly. I can't believe my oldest son is 10 years old, which means I have been a parent for 10 years. Time is moving too fast. Because of this fact, we need to take advantage of our days. Summer break is a great time for students to unwind from a school year, get a job, take vacations or just enjoy a different change of pace. However, all too often, and this happened to me one summer when I was in school, we get to the end of the summer and we wonder, what did I accomplish that was worthwhile?

As we consider taking advantage of our summer and not just doing a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants summer and wonder what you're doing that's worth while, let me challenge you. Jesus wants to be a part of your summer break and He will help you make your summer a success. I want to share with you 5 different areas of your life where you can invite Jesus into your summer to make the summer of 2013 the best ever.

First of all, spend time in the word and in prayer. Psalm 119:9 says, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to God’s word." Mark 1:35 says, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus went out to pray." Prayer and Scripture study will ignite your passion for Jesus. You can’t have a strong walk with Jesus if you’re not spending time with Him in prayer and digging into His Word. When you spend time with Him and experience His presence, He will anoint you with power. Imagine if every Christian teen were to spend a half hour each day in prayer and Scripture study this summer? Imagine how on fire you would be next school year? Your town would change. Your schools would be changed!

Secondly, obey and respect your parents. Ephesians 6:1 says, "Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and your mother -- which is the first commandment with a promise." Obey your parents. It’s pretty clear. When your parents tell you to do something, you should do it right away. Too many children wait until their parents are to the point of nagging them before obedience happens. Obedience is a right away deal! Now, I realize this is difficult for some of you because your parents are not walking with the Lord. God still calls you to obey them. If your parents aren't walking with the Lord, you should make that a priority in prayer and watch God work. As you obey your parents, the home can be a training ground for you in preparation for being an adult. No matter where you end up in life, you will always have authority over you. Learn these lessons now.

Thirdly, build relationships with Christians. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:33, "Bad company corrupts good character." I have heard so many youth over the years tell me, Fred, "I can spend time with my non-Christian friends and it won't affect me." You will become like the people who you spend the most time with. If you spend time with Jesus, you will become like Jesus. If you spend time with your parents, you will be like your parents. If you spend time with Christian friends, you will be like them. If you spend time with non-Christian friends, you may have good intentions, but you will become like them. You will be forced to compromise your beliefs for them. Christian friends will build you up. Christian friends will help you stay accountable in your walk with God. Get plugged into a youth group and ask God mend your hearts together. You may be thinking, why doesn't he challenge me to build relationships with pre-Christians? It is important to do so if you intend to share the gospel, but all too often we build friendships for the wrong reasons and we get pulled away from Christ.

The fourth area is to avoid the devils traps. The beginning of Colossians 3 in summary says, "Put to death all immorality. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming." God calls us to a standard of purity. Anything short of that is immorality. With that in mind, the enemy will tempt you to immorality. What are some of these traps? Sleeping with your significant other. Watching Rated R movies. Looking at porn. Playing video games or listening to music that is not appropriate. Let me challenge you to avoid situations where you will be forced to make a decision to sin or not. If you’re at a friend’s house who isn't a Christian and his/her parents aren't at home and there’s beer in the fridge or there’s a rated R movie in the DVD player or they have the Playboy channel: run from it! 2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Flee the evil desires of youth." Stay strong in the face of temptation. Don’t put yourself in a situation to compromise.

Lastly, look for opportunity for service. Ephesians 6:7 says, "Serve wholeheartedly as if serving the Lord, not men." Jesus was a great example of this. He was a servant. He came not to be served but to serve. When was the last time you did something for someone and didn't expect anything in return? Your town needs more kindness. Could you imagine what your town would be like if a group of youth decided they were not going to just cruise through the summer thinking about themselves, but instead they intentionally looked for opportunities to serve those in need? Wow, that would be the best! Kindness becomes prideful if the service is done to boost one’s ego rather than to give God the glory. Open your eyes to the needs around you and seek to meet those needs with the strength God provides. There are many widows and single mom's in your town who could use some help with various jobs around the house.

In conclusion, friends, I want to see you have the best summer ever. The only way that’s going to happen is if you seek to honor God. If Jesus has center stage in your life, then your summer will be the best ever. If you put yourself on center stage this summer, chances are you’ll get to the end of your summer and think, wow what did I do? Live for Christ and you’ll have the best summer ever! Your legacy is not only determined by what you do as you get old but also by whom you are when you're young.

More is Caught

I have many significant roles in my life. None more important than being a Dad to my three children. They are my pride and joy. As a father, my main passion is to point my children to Jesus Christ. I desire for my children to embrace Jesus: to know Him and to serve Him.

Our culture makes my role as a Dad difficult. The world is full of evil. My kids are bombarded daily with temptations that push them to the edge of compromise. The world has become more and more accepting of what was considered out of bounds 15 years ago. Television, movies and the internet promote an accepting of immorality, violence and evil that has taken what is sacred and made it common. As a Dad, I want to protect my children and their innocence. In protecting them, I want to empower them to navigate temptations, on their own, by knowing right from wrong. 

From the day they are born, our children begin to take small steps of freedom in moving out of our care as parents. Every day that we have with our children, we are preparing them for the ultimate freedom of living on their own, which in most cases happens when children go off to college. We must take advantage of our time with our children. 

When I was studying youth ministry, back in college, I learned a phrase that applies well to my mindset as a Dad. One of my professors shared: "More is caught than taught." My children are more likely to grab a principle or truth of God's word if they see me live it out, than they would if I presented some clever devotional lesson. I am not discouraging family devotions, because they are important. As a matter of fact, we have them as a family. However, if I lead a devotion on tithing and my children see my wife and I put our check into the offering plate, that speaks volumes to them on the importance of giving to God what belongs to Him. 

Our children watch us closely. They see how we respond when we're faced with difficult situations. They see how we spend our free time. They observe more than we realize. This puts a lot of pressure on us as parents. The reality is that we will reproduce who we are. In student ministry, I have been around a lot of troubled students through the years. In most cases, the ones who have the biggest problems in their lives are ones who do not have quality examples to follow in their parents. 

If more is caught than taught, then I want to be there for my children and I want to model Christ for them. I can't expect my children to learn enough at Sunday School, Children's church or Awana to suffice their spiritual growth. They need encouragement and inspiration from me. This requires me to spend quality time with each of my children. By quality time, I'm talking about having eye ball to eye ball conversations with them about what is significant in their life. This also means to allow them opportunity to be with me as I make important day to day decisions in striving to live for Jesus. Yes, sometimes this requires admitting my shortcomings.

God calls us to submit to His authority and to obey His truth. When we do this as parents, then we are able to call our children to obey our authority. By God's grace, we will point our children to Jesus as we live for Him.

The Breakdown of the Family

At the core of every community are the families who live in it and create an environment that we call home.  The family has been the core of any community since the foundation of the world.  In Genesis 2:18, we read that God said, "It is not good for man to be alone."  So what did God do?  He created woman and they started a family.  The family was God's design from the very beginning.

Then, as we read in the early days of Israel's history, God established bedrock principles for the family.  Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."  Parents are to first of all love and honor God, and then to train their children to do the same.  The end of the book of Joshua, in chapter 24, Joshua is transitioning out of leadership and he gives the people of Israel one final command, "Choose you this day whom you will serve."  Then he makes a remarkable statement, which should be the mission of every family, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Furthermore, as we look at the teaching of Jesus in the gospels, He makes it very clear that man and woman were designed to enter a marriage covenant for the purpose of starting a family.  Mark 10:6-9 says, “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’  ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”  From this passage we learn several truths:  1)  God established marriage.  2) Marriage is between one man and one woman.  3) Marriage is the instrument for starting a new family. 

In addition, as we read in Ephesians, we gain further insight into how a family should function with the man as the leader or head of the family.  Ephesians 5:22-24 says, "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." There are too many homes where the head is missing.

It's sad to look around my neighborhood and see a breakdown of the family.  I see single parent homes, live in boyfriends/girlfriends, children being born out of wed-lock, children being abused, children who are living a rebellious life with no parental authority demanding respect, and this just barely scratches the surface.  Seeing this breakdown, literally breaks my heart.

One of the main factors for this breakdown is because our government has gotten away from Biblical principles.  It all begins as a little leaven creeps into the bread.  As I consider our culture and the breakdown of the family, there are four factors that are contributing to this breakdown.  These four areas in no particular order are: divorce, pornography, abortion, and gay marriage.  Each of these issues lead to the breakdown of families and the breakdown of homes.  Our government has enabled much of these problems.  They have taken what is sacred and holy and made it common.  It has caused the standards of purity and righteousness to be lowered.  In the words of Isaiah, "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have each turned our own way."

It's obvious we are living in what the Bible refers to as the last days.  As a follower of Christ, it's easy to get discouraged as we see this decay happening in our culture and certainly as it pertains to the breakdown of the family.  However, it is suppose to happen.  May our discouragement be reversed as we turn our attention to the return of Christ.  The world will get worse and our children and grandchildren will deal with it much worse than us.  However, the return of Christ is our hope!  Until then, may our commitment to Christ grow strong.

I have come to appreciate the words from a little known book in the Bible, Jude 1:17-13, "But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.  But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh."

That last verse is becoming one of my favorites. In my words, "Be merciful to the haters. Save others from the fire of hell." As followers of Jesus Christ, may our lights continue to shine. The only solution to this breakdown of the family is Jesus Christ. May our families grow closer to Jesus and to each other. May we reach out to those families who are in need. May we say, as Joshua did long ago, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Jesus is the answer for the world today. Jesus will keep our families from breakdown.