E3 Parents » Devotional Thought

First Day

Sam — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:53:08 +0000

Today was our second ever first day of school. My daughter started first grade! One of the things we talk about pretty regularly when school rolls around in the fall both in my home and with our students in the youth group is that the number one most important reason God has placed us where He has is to represent Him well in this time and place. So on the first day of school we talk about doing your best in school, respecting your teacher and classmates, and learning…but most important of all we talk about being Christ’s ambassador (see 2 Corinthians 5:20). Usually the language we use with our daughter is “be a blessing today.” God told Abraham that He was going to bless him so that he could be a blessing to others. God has blessed us in incredible ways. And I bet God has blessed you as well. So, be a blessing today and remind your teens that their number one job at school today and all year is to be a blessing.

“God Friend”

Sam — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:26:06 +0000

Last year one of our Disciple Now leaders asked her group of girls if they had a “God friend.” After looking at the blank stares for a minute she explained what she meant: A God friend is a friend that you can talk about God with–not just about God, but about your relationship with God, your questions, doubts, fears, struggles, temptations, victories, personal walk with Jesus, etc. A God friend is somebody you can trust completely, somebody you can be totally honest with, somebody you can pray with, somebody you know will pray for you and hold you accountable (even when it’s hard).

As I listened to her tell about this conversation she had with her D-Now group, I started thinking about my “God friends.” I had never used that term…to me they were my best friends. And I’ve been blessed enough to have a couple of them.

Tonight one of my best friends is coming over. We’re going to grill a couple of steaks, tell some stories, laugh, and talk about life and God. The times I get to hang out with my best friends is some of the most valuable time I have.

My prayer for you today is that you would have a “God friend” like I do. Be blessed today!

Basketball and Community

Sam — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:48:31 +0000

Last Friday I sat in the United Spirit Arena and watched the Levelland girls basketball team play in the regional tournament along with hundreds of other Loboette fans. As I sat there watching the game, cheering for our girls, and observing others in the seats my mind begin working in overdrive thinking about the parallels between what takes place during the basketball season and what takes place in authentic Christian community. During halftime I pulled out my phone and typed out a few thoughts that have had some time to marinate since then. During the next few days I will be blogging about some of those parallels and hopefully challenging all of us as believers to live out community as it is modeled in the Bible.

How?

Sam — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:57:25 +0000

One of my favorite things about my job is that I get to help you as parents and your teens by providing resources and encouragement as you pursue your daily walk with God and as you provide leadership and discipleship for your teens as they pursue their daily walk with God. (I think that’s the longest sentence I’ve ever typed)

Last night I blogged about our teaching on this season of Lent. We discussed the “why” that drives our desire for intentional and focussed spiritual growth…especially during this season. A huge part of my job is to communicate the “why” and encourage you and your students to internalize the why in your own lives. But another huge part of my job is to help with the “how.”

How do you grow spiritually? How do you spend intentional and intensely focussed time deepening your relationship with God?

The “how” can’t and won’t happen exclusively during an hour of Sunday School, an hour of worship, and an hour of Wednesday Bible study. Hopefully 3 hours will be a catalyst for the other 165 hours of your week. That’s why we have provided some free resources to help you and your teens in your daily walk. We are continually working to create and/or purchase more resources, but I wanted to let you know about some that are available right now. The following are available in the E3 youth room:

Prayer journals
Daily quiet time books
Bible study guides through individual books of the Bible
“Essentials” Bible study guide for juniors and senior
“Walk with Jesus” daily Bible reading guides
Small group student books that cover the small group lessons
Bibles for anybody who needs one
A prayer room that provides a quiet place for personal prayer and meditation

Besides these resources there are magazines available in the church office and shelves of resources available in the church library. (Later this month I will be posting a recommended reading list for parents and teens from the books available in our library). There are also unlimited resources available online. Obviously I can’t control everything published on the internet so I don’t (nor does FBC) endorse all resources that you might come across while surfing the web. However, I will let you know via this blog about many that I do recommend.

Ultimately the “how” of deepening our personal walk with Jesus happens only as we intentionally work on it (we don’t accidently grow closer to God). That’s why I try to teach and encourage our students to practice spiritual disciplines…things like personal Bible study, journaling, prayer, fasting, meditation, silence and solitude, personal worship, corporate worship, serving, and giving sacrificially.

I hope you will commit to spend some very intentional and focussed time working on your relationship with God…always, but especially during this season of Lent. And I hope you will encourage and challenge your teens to do the same thing.

40 Days

Sam — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:33:20 +0000

Today is Ash Wednesday. It marks the first day of Lent. For the majority of my life I never really observed Lent. Sadly I was never taught about the spiritual significance of this season. Until a few years ago I never participated in observing Lent. And quite honestly still today I’m somewhat uncomfortable in some circles using the term “Lent.” I know this shouldn’t be the case, but for too many Christians we haven’t been challenged to observe many of the liturgical seasons that can have such an significant impact on our relationship with God. And Lent is one of those seasons.

Last year I posted this entry with a link to an article about Lent. I taught our students about Lent and focussed on it as a time of intense focus on God and spiritual growth. Tonight I taught about Lent again. But this time I spent more time talking about why this should be important for us as followers of Jesus. I referred to the question I asked in Sunday School last Sunday and the question I wrote about in this entry earlier this week. For me when I think about what I deserve…what’s fair…I can’t help but to want to deepen my relationship with God. I want to spend focussed time with Him. I want to spend time in intense study and prayer. I want to allow God to purge me of anything in my life that doesn’t need to be there. I want to allow Him to change the way I talk, the things I do, and the words I say. And I believe with an incredible amount of conviction that once our students accept what is fair and right and just (that they die and go to hell) any apathy that exists will be replaced with a passionate desire to know more of God, to allow God to change them, to tell others about God’s amazing grace and unconditional love. There will be a natural desire and an unexplainable urgency to live as Jesus lived, to love as Jesus loved, and to leave behind what Jesus left behind. I pray for you as a parent and for your teenager that during this season of Lent you would spend intentional time focussing on your relationship with God and that you would allow God to grow you, to stretch you, to refine you, and to change you as He sees fit. Yes, this can (and should) happen throughout the year, but let’s take advantage of this season that is before us as we prepare our hearts to remember the ultimate sacrifice that was made for you and for me.

Is it fair?

Sam — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:56:00 +0000

So yesterday in Sunday School our focus was that God demands purity in His church. This was the 7th week of a 16 week study on the beginning of the Christian church. The scripture was from Acts 5:1-11…the story of Ananias and Sapphira.

I lead a small group of middle school guys and after we read the story I asked them the question, “Is it fair what happened to Ananias and Sapphira?” Go back and read the passage for yourself and answer the question. The immediate response in my small group was a resounding “No! It’s not fair.”

I have left this particular passage many times thinking it was absolutely not fair. But one area that God has been working on me personally is in this area about what is fair when it comes to my relationship as a sinner with the one true and holy God. Here’s what I’ve discovered and the challenge I gave to my small group yesterday and to you today: When I realize that what is fair and just and right is for me to die and spend an eternity in hell because I am a sinner, and when you realize that what is fair and just and right is for you to die and spend an eternity in hell because you are a sinner…we will become infinitely more passionate about the overwhelming grace and love and forgiveness of God.

Each time I sin I deserve to die, but rather than striking me dead Jesus took that blow for me on the cross. That’s grace. That’s reason to celebrate. That’s what a dying world around us needs to know and experience firsthand.

So is it fair what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5? Absolutely it was fair. Does God demand purity in the church…the Bride of Christ? Absolutely He does…no questions asked. Is it fair that I take my next breath? or the one after that? No…it’s grace.

Devotional Thought for Today

Sam — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:25:14 +0000

I came across this blog post today and had to share it. May God use these words in your life today.

Influence

Sam — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:47:56 +0000

This morning I woke up asking myself “what is God doing?”…in my life?…in the lives of our students?…in the life of our youth ministry?…in the life of our church? After a game of “I spy” with Isabel and a couple of cups of coffee I still haven’t been able to shake the question. It’s stuck in my mind…and on my heart. I want to know what God is up to.

I’ll be talking about this Wednesday in both TM 412 and Escape. I’ll share what God has been doing in my life and I’ll ask what God has been doing in other lives. As the church (by the way, Dr. Brisco’s sermon on the church yesterday was spot on incredible! I hope you caught it…if not, you can hear it here) we need to share this with each other…not just as a nice gesture or another activity, but as part of the lifeblood of what God has called us to be (again, thanks to Dr. Brisco for speaking so clearly about God’s “calling” yesterday).

So about influence…I see stats often that remind me that the most important influence in the life and faith of a teenager is Mom and Dad. This is true across the board: for believers as well as for non-believers, for all races, for all socioeconomic groups, for all religions, no exceptions. I came across this table yesterday…yet another reminder.

My question then is this: What is God doing in your life, Mom and Dad? When was the last time you shared this with your daughter and with your son?

You are the strongest influence in the faith of your sons and daughters. I am the strongest influence in the faith of my daughter. This is the way God designed it (and it’s working by the way…you see a dad who prioritizes his relationship with God above everything else and you will see a son or daughter who learn to grow closer to God and make Him number one also). As parents we have got to leverage this influence. And a great way to start is through regular, intentional conversation.

So how about it Mom and Dad…What is God doing in your life?

Sports and Faith

Sam — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:32:55 +0000

Walt Mueller of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding wrote this article titled “Turf Worship” last fall. The article is a great reminder and encouragement for those of us who have kids that play sports as well as for those of us who have kids that may someday play sports.

Discovering the Meaning of Advent

Sam — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:55:09 +0000

We always had the Hanging of the Green at church when I was growing up. Then we would have the wreath with the candles up front and various families from the church would go light one of the candles during the service. I don’t remember if we had banners or not. Regardless, it was all just a fun show to watch for me as a young boy.

Over the years as I’ve been a part of various churches it seems that all churches have the Hanging of the Green or some other time of decorating the building at the beginning of December. All churches have the wreath with candles. It’s still fun to watch and participate. The services are a little different than our Sunday morning services the other eleven months of the year. And all in all it has become more or less a habit…I just expect that we will include each of the traditional elements that I was first introduced to as a young boy during December at church.

This year I decided to dig a little deeper and discover why it is we do these things at church in December. I’m really glad I did. “Advent” literally means “coming” or “arrival.” That seems right, as we are celebrating the arrival of the birth of Jesus.

But historically, Advent was not just a time of celebration. Originally it was a time of preparation for Epiphany (the early-January celebration of early events in Jesus’ life). Epiphany was a time for new Christians to be baptized and welcomed into the church. So Advent was the 40 days before Epiphany during which believers examined their heart, fasting, and doing penance.

After the date for celebrating Jesus’ birth was declared to be December 25 by Julius, bishop of Rome in the mid 300s, Advent became a time of reflection as Christians await the coming of the Messiah. This was still very much a time of fasting and penance as the birth of Jesus was so closely connected with the crucifixion of Jesus in the liturgical church calendar. The first part of Advent was to be a time for this personal reflection and confession (as symbolized even today with the 3 purple candles in the Advent wreath). In the fourth week there was a shift towards celebrating the coming of the Messiah (as symbolized by the rose colored candle).

In modern times Advent has become primarily a season of celebration awaiting the coming King. This does not eliminate the need for examining our hearts and confessing our sins during this season. With the focus on the Advent, or coming, of Jesus we remember that we are awaiting His Second Advent and we need to be prepared for that coming.

If you think about it, as Christians we should always prepare for, anticipate, and celebrate the Advent of Christ…His birth and redemptive work on the cross and His Second Coming. For me, this makes our congregational celebration of Advent much more meaningful to me. I hope Advent means more to you and your family than decorations and candles.

I’ll be teaching on Advent tonight at Escape. Yikes!!! I get the task of turning this historical lecture into an exciting and relevant discussion for a room full of students. I better get to work.

The Advent Candles