Like It Or Not

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. - Proverbs 22:6

As I was preparing for our most recent series, The Middle, which is all about parenting I came across a very interesting article written back in the 1950’s by a representative of the Houston Police Department.  The Department had commissioned a study on the rising problem of juvenile crime, and after the findings came out they published an article called “How To Raise The Perfect Juvenile Delinquent”, in which they gave 12 things that you could do or not do that would virtually guarantee your child would end up getting into trouble with the law.

I’ve taken the liberty of shortening the list to 7 and updating them a little bit.  As you read through ask yourself if you’re doing any of these or if you need to stop doing some of these!

1. Begin with infancy to give your child everything they want.  That way they will grow up believing that the world owes them everything
2. When they pick up bad words or a disrespectful attitude, make sure you laugh at them.  This will make them realize that bad behavior is cute.
3. At all costs avoid using the words “no” and “wrong”.  These could crush their spirit and may cause a guilt complex.  This will condition them to believe later, when they are arrested or fired, that society is against them and they are being persecuted.
4. Pick up everything they leave laying around.  Do everything for them so that they will be experienced at leaving all their responsibilities to others.
5. Let them read, listen to, or google anything they want.  Please ensure that they have a balanced and healthy diet of food, but allow their minds to feast on all kinds of garbage.
6. Always take their side against neighbors, teachers, and any authority.  They, of course, are prejudiced against your child.
7. When they get into real trouble, apologize for yourself by simply saying, “I never could do anything with them!”

1. I believe the potential for the local church to do good and create positive change in the world is greater than it has ever been.

2. I believe that the ROOT of the desire to do good and create positive change in the world HAS to be the GOSPEL…and if it isn’t, what will develop is cool ministry fads and ideas…but nothing revolutionary that will impact the world.

3. I believe that some of the greatest Christian leaders that the world will ever know are currently in elementary school, middle school, and high school…thus making youth and children’s ministry one of the greatest mission opportunities that the local church can invest in.

4. I believe that more and more church leaders are going to begin to take radical steps of faith rather than trying to repair broken systems.

5. I believe that more and more church leaders are going to continually put personal preferences of ministry aside and work together with other people to accomplish more ministry than they could have ever done alone.

6. I believe that we’re going to see some of the greatest moves of God this world has ever seen in the next 20 years…MOST of them happening because the local church finally decided to step up and be the church.

7. I believe God wants to use your church to do unbelievable things in the community in which HE has planted you.

8. I believe the key to a healthy church is healthy church leadership…leaders cannot fly at the speed of sound and expect to hear God’s still small voice.  The healthier we get, the healthier our churches can be.

9. I believe that if ALL leaders took the advice God gave us in Galatians 6:9 that we would see breakthroughs like we’ve NEVER seen before.

10. I believe God has called the church to CHANGE the world…not complain about it!!!  We are an empowered body of believers whom He has called to attempt the “impossible” so that people can see HIM!!!  (So…what is that thing that you know you should do next?)

For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast. - Proverbs 15:15 NLT

Have you ever met someone that no matter what happened they just couldn’t be happy?  My dad used to say, “They’d be unhappy because you didn’t give them a crisp $100 bill!”  As I’ve walked through life I’ve learned a few things, and hopefully I’ll never stop learning.  But, one lesson that seems to stick out to me more than any other is this:

How you see things will determine how you respond, how you feel, and ultimately how you live.

Instead of walking through a day filled with “trouble” why don’t you determine to see things with a “happy heart” and enjoy the continual feast called today that God has prepared for you!

“I Love it when a plan comes together” - Colonel Hannibal Smith

Yep, I’m happy to admit that as a kid I was an avid, possibly rabid, follower of the A-Team!  I always loved how each week they would go up againstunnumbered foes, drastically out-manned and under-gunned.  They would deal the bad guy a blow, then the bad guy would capture them, or trap them, or take a prisoner and threaten to kill them.  But, in the end you always knew a couple of things:

• No good guys ever die
• The underdog would always win
• Hannibal would get to say his favorite line, often while chomping on an unlit cigar (way cool!)

Now, knowing these things was part of the reason I loved watching the show, I didn’t know how all these things were going to happen, but I knew they would.  What if you could go through life like this?  Knowing that no matter how hard it got, that in the end it would all work out.  Certainly you’d be a little worse for wear, but still it would end the right way.  Well take a ‘listen’ to what the Bible says about those who love God and follow his will:

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. - Romans 8:28

One of my favorite scenes in all of the Bible is found in the book of 1 Kings.  The Prophet Elijah had been in hiding for several years as God sent both famine and drought to the land of Israel as judgment.  The wicked King Ahab had lead the people of Israel not only away from God but into a path of wicked idolatry and Baal worship.

As Elijah came out of hiding God prepared a confrontation between the truth and the lie of Baal worship.  As Elijah stepped to the front of the nation of Israel he climbed up the mountain and addressed the nation:

Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. - 1 Kings 18:21

Amazingly the people stood before Elijah, and before God and were silent!  The stood there and refused to make a decision.  As you go through the week this week, you will be faced with clear-cut choices between following God and following something other than God.  Will you stand there and by your not choosing make a choice?  Or will you stand up and follow after God?  How long will you waver?

Providence is God working all things out for his glory and for the benefit of those who love and follow him.  Often in our lives things happen to us that we don’t understand and can’t really grasp how they could possibly become a positive or beneficial outcome.  Yet, the Bible consistently tells us that God is actively at work on behalf of those who follow him.

How then can we take tragic or even devastating events and believe that God is working through it to bring about the best in us and for us?  I believe the key is realizing that not EVERY event is what we would consider beneficial, but the entirety of events, working together brings about the most beneficial, best possible result.  For example, I absolutely love chocolate mayonnaise cake!  However, I don’t particularly care for the ingredients individually.  Such as, I would never drink a cup of olive oil, or down two cups of mayonnaise, or force swallow three eggs and flour.  But, when you mix them all together and bake it at 350 degrees for a while, what those individual nasty tasting ingredients produce is an incredibly delicious and moist cake.

That’s exactly how God works.  It’s not about the individual things, but how those individual things work together as a conduit of God’s providence.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28NIV

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ - Luke 14:28-30

This passage is often used to encourage people to consider what it will cost them to follow Jesus Christ, and rightly so.  It is a direct challenge from Christ himself against the easy-believism that permeates our culture today.  ”Just say Jesus I love you, and you’ll get your golden ticket to Heaven.”(said in a slightly effeminate male voice)
But, today I’d like you to look at it in reverse, what will it cost you to NOT fully follow Christ with your whole life?  What will the eventual consequences of your poor choices, bad behavior, and selfish motives be over your lifetime?  When you consider those things, is it worth it to continue living life your own way?  
Here’s the deal, when you chose not to fully follow Christ, you don’t JUST give up Heaven, you give up the opportunity to live a regret-free life.  You throw away the privilege of second-chances and fresh-starts from the very and only being who can grant them.  You literally have to PAY for everything you have ever and will ever do wrong.  I don’t know about you, but for me, that cost is way to high!