Just do something!

  

I recently read a story about the late Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  He was on an airplane when an infant screamed and would not stop even though the women and flight attendant tried every trick they could think of.

Finally the Colonel asked if he could hold the baby. he gently rocked it to sleep.  

Later a passenger said, "We all appreciated what you did for us." Colonel Sanders replies, "I didn't do it for you, I did it for the baby."  He was demonstrating compassion towards the baby.

December is a great time of the year to talk about Compasssion. Compassion is that feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.

For the month of December, we will be teaching about Compassion in Inspire Kids.  The main idea is that compassion is caring enough to do something about someone else's need.

God saw our greatest and did something about it.  He became one of us. Humbling Himself to be born as a tiny baby in a remote town in the dwelling place of animals. His birth announcement was sent first to a lowly group of shepherds and later to kings from a distant land. He lived as one of us, so that eventually He could die as atonement for our sin and be raised again on the third day so that we could one day live eternally with God in Heaven.

So as leaders and as parents let's take time as we approach Christmas to teach and live out compassion in our lives.  Seek out teachable moments where you can instill compassion in the lives of your kids.

As these teachable moments occur keep in mind that this is the time of the year when kids (and adults) suddenly NEED a lot of things.  

Most of these needs are just WANTS. Their greatest need is for a Savior - and God met that need on Christmas Day.  Jesus is the ultimate example of compassion.

Unknown Conditions Ahead

This month on Social Media there's this 30 Day of Thankfulness challenge.  I'm not very good at keeping up on that and posting each day, but there is something to be said for taking the time to reflect on what you're thankful for.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

In all circumstances.  Did you catch that?  It's easy to be thankful for good health, for a job promotion, for a Cowboy's victory, for the purchase of a new home, for the accomplishments that happened in the lives of our children. 

But what about those non Social Media moments?  Those things you don't neccesarily share publicly.  The death of a loved one, a cut in pay, when the Cowboys lose 7 games in a row, defaulting on your dream home.

In all circumstances.

Last weekend I was at a conference and we sang the song, "Your Promises" by Elevation Worship.  One of the lines in the song stood out to me.

When the weight of life begins to fall on the name of Jesus I will call.  For I know my God is in control and His purpose is unshakeable.

I'm thankful for my wife, Jalita, who makes me a better person.  I'm thankful for my son, Isaac.  There's is no doubt that Isaac is my son. He's so much like me.  Every year we hear from his teachers or coaches that Isaac is a really nice and polite young man with a great smile.  Love hearing that.  I'm thankful for my son, Austin.  I appreciate Austin's sense of humor, He is so stinking smart and talented musically.  I can't wait to see what Austin does with all his talents. I'm thankful for my daughter, Emma.  She brings a  lot of joy into our lives.  I appreciate Emma's love for life. 

I'm thankful for the little things in life like Netflix, sports, fantasy football, Social Media, Pepsi, Wood's Coffee, licorice, and even cereal.

But even more than all those things, I am thankful that no matter the circumstance, my God is in control and His purpose is unshakeable.

So I choose to give thanks in all circumstances.

SInk or Swim

When my kids were younger, we signed them up for swimming lessons with a lady who was known for being able to teach anyone to swim in just a couple of weeks.  In fact, most kids would be jumping off the diving board and swimming like a pro by the end of the swimming lessons.

So many things in life are a sink or swim situation.   Parenting can feel like that at times.  As a parent to three great kids I was never fully prepared to disciple, train,teach, and cultivate them spiritually.  I certainly didn’t take that class at Bible College!  

Parenting is the hardest job that I have ever had.  There’s that pressure to be proficient in so many areas:  math, sports, braiding hair. For many parents, myself included, it’s easier to go play catch with their son than to tell them a story from the Bible.  I enjoy both of those things but the latter is more challenging.  I don’t think I’m alone in this. 

Many parents struggle with being the spiritual leader in their home.  Most parents want to spend time with their kids.  They have good intentions about talking to their kids on a deeper level.  They want to share their faith.  The problem is – they don’t know how.  

While church is important, God designed the family to be the primary place where discipleship happens.  So the church’s job is to come alongside families and help them fulfill the instructions given in Deuteronomy.  

In Deuteronomy 6:4-9 the Bible clearly teaches that parents are to spiritually train their children or to lead in the provision of spiritual development for their children:  “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 upon 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.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on door frames of your houses and on your gates.” 

I want to invite you to the Inspire Kids Parent Cue Event that’s happening on November 8, right after church in the Youth Center.  We believe that parents can leverage the moments that exist in the rhythm of their daily lives to raise a generation that has an everyday faith.  

Our Parent Cue Event is primarily about providing tools for you as parents that cue you to start a conversation, capture a moment, or instill truth in your kids.  We will also be giving you a calendar of events, sharing about ways that you can get involved, and also be opening up for a Q and A time.  Lunch is provided.  During the Parent Cue, your kids will be having lunch up in Howard Hall along with doing some fun activities.  Parents, I hope you can make it.

I just wanted coffee . . .

Customer service seems to be a dying art.  If you ever needed support with your cable, Internet, or cell phone provider, you probably can relate. 

I recently was at a local store for a meeting.  I arrived early so I was planning on grabbing a coffee.  But since there was only one employee working I never was waited on or even acknowledged that I was in the store.  It might be awhile before I return there.

For us, we often think of service in terms of our experience with a waiter at a restaurant or the phone call we make for technical support or in my case the lack of service at the local store.

But as we lean into God’s heart and discover what it means to reflect His character to the world around us, we soon discover something more about service. It’s not what people do for us or don't do for us, but rather what we need to be doing for the people around us.

This month's Life App in Inspire Kids is SERVICE.  We define it as lending a hand to help someone else. There’s something pretty great that happens when we decide to take the focus off of ourselves and lend a hand to help someone who needs it.

Service is such an important virtue for all of us to develop.  Today's culture is more about us than others.  Some of us take more selfies of ourselves than pictures of others.  Our kids need to move from receiving l the time to experiencing the joy of serving.

This month join me in praying that our kids are inspired to use what they have to engage in the work God is doing and make a difference in the world.

Secret Battles

There’s a story of a young woman who had been working on her two preschoolers’ scrapbooks during their nap times.  She finally decided that the project was complete.  She decided to search through her parents’ photographs and begin to document her family history for her children.

She quickly noticed that the photographs taken during the early years of her childhood were creatively arranged in the albums.  But there were no snapshots representing the two years of her parents’ separation.

Many of us have gaps in our photo albums that represent dark periods in our personal history.  They may even bring to mind a habit, or a hurt, or a hang up that you have.  

None of us ever wakes up one day and says today I’m going to be an alcoholic or I’m going to have a sexual addiction or I’m going to choose for gambling to ruin my personal finances.  Instead, it often starts with a slow drift towards destruction. 

This Sunday I'm looking forward to speaking from a passage in the New Testament that demonstrates the idea of freedom from the battle.  In John 8 it’s the narrative of the women who was caught in the act of adultery.  

Overcoming the past, overcoming our secret battles, experiencing freedom from the battle . . . takes faith . . . and something more . . . Courage.  Courage is what it takes to shed the problems and mistakes and secret battles of the past and dream again.

The best news ever is that hope remains.  No matter where you have been or what you have done, hope remains.  

"You are more than the choices that you've made.  You are more than the sum of your past mistakes.  You are more than the problems you create."

#UCC #iamchristian

Last week our days were interrupted by yet another mass shooting. A young man went to Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon and begin to shoot students and staff.

Multiple reports say that the shooter was asking them what religion they were.  The shooter may have been a Muslim that was specifically targeting Christians.  I wonder if the media would be reporting differently if the targets were Muslims or people of a certain Sexual Orientation.

These events are getting way too close to me.  I lived just an hour or so from Roseburg for about 10 years.  You might remember the shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School last year.  Back in the the mid to late 90's I lived in Marysville and served on staff at a local church.

President Obama was quoted last week as saying, "We don't take the basic, common-sense actions to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people.  what's different in America is it's easy to get our hands on (guns)." 

I have several friends that carry a gun.  Many of them would argue that if more people had a concealed gun than we wouldn't have as many as these shootings or at least there would be less casualties.

Each year more laws are added in this country but crime continues to rise and our prisons are overpopulated.  Some of the friends I have that carry a gun would act responsibly during a shooting.  Others I could see them causing more damage than good.

Others point out that we need to do a better job of meeting the needs of those that suffer a mental illness.  There's no doubt that we can improve in that area.

So what's the solution or what's the root cause?  I love what a friend of mine posted on facebook.

"I keep hearing 'guns are the problem' or 'mental illness' is the problem' and while there may a bit of truth to "all" the different excuses, I think that we are really seeing is simply the results of a nation that keeps turning further and further away from God."

Unfortunately there are no easy answers.  We live in a fallen world. There are so many hurting people.  Many of these hurting people hurt others wether its with their words or their actions. But hope does remain.  Check out this verse in 2 Chronicles 7:14

"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."

The root cause of these mass shootings aren't weak gun laws or not having enough people with concealed gun permits.  The root cause is a fallen world.  So how would the Lord have us respond?


Be ready to give an answer.  2 Timothy 4:2 says, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction."

Pray for our children, for our schools, for our nation, and for those affected by this most recent tragedy.  In praying circles around your children, author Mark Batterson states that "Our most powerful prayers are hyperlinked to the promises of God.  One of my favorite is found in Philippians 4:6-7.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Don't live in fear - but rather put our trust in God.  In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul writes, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline."

We can work for a more just society.  Isaiah 1:17 teaches us to "learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.  Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."

Yes, #iamchristian.  

Discovery

Have you ever had someone tell you that you are unique?  If that's happened to you, you may have wondered if that's a compliment or an insult.  I've decided that I will just take it as a compliment even if that wasn't the intention of my unique friend.

If you have younger kids, you have maybe noticed their uniqueness or individuality with their art projects.  You may want them to tell you what it is before you make that mistake of trying to make an artistic interpretation.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

God made each person one of a kind—even identical twins have unique fingerprints! Every person that ever was or ever will be is an original.

This month's Life App in Inspire Kids is Individuality. Individuality is discovering who you are meant to be so you can make a difference.

Most of us remember Timothy because of what Paul wrote to him while he was a young leader in the church at Ephesus.  But if you do a little digging in the book of Acts, and look at what we know about the journeys of Paul, you can piece together a pretty remarkable story about a young man who discovered his unique God-given potential and did some amazing things.

Our key verse this month is taken directly from instructions that Paul gave Timothy:  "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young.  Set an example for the believers in what you say and in how you live." - 1 Timothy 4:12a

Timothy was probably around 38 or 40 years old when Paul sent him the letters that are know as 1 and 2 Timothy.  Timothy was young for what he was doing.  Most people in his position were 20 or more years older. But Timothy didn't have to wait to make a difference.

Check out our main points or bottom lines this month in Inspire Kids.

• Jesus wants to use your story to make a difference.
• When you discover your gifts, you can make a difference.
• When we use our gifts together, we can make a greater difference.
• You can make a difference right now.

As parents and leaders we can help our kids this month discover how to tap into their God-given potential and start doing something significant right now.