Dear Graduates...

This past Sunday, we celebrated the graduation of our seniors at Monrovia Church of Christ. First of all, congratulations! I certainly wish you the best in your future endeavors.

I had the opportunity to speak Sunday morning and shared some advice. We have an awesome group of guys that stream our service online Sunday mornings and record the sermons to make them available. So, I am able to share with you the message we had Sunday morning for our graduates...

Words are the most powerful tool you have as a human

When I was interning for WREG in Memphis as a senior at Auburn in 2006, I was interviewing then Memphis football coach Tommy West. I had one of those moments you see on TV when a coach goes on a rant. I was asking a series of questions that my sports director had told me to ask about the Tigers season thus far. Memphis was not having a good year. They only won two games that season. However, the upcoming game was expected to be a win against a lesser opponent. One of the questions I asked was something along the lines of, "do you expect to get some quality minutes for your backups to get some experience?" Mr. West did not like this question and proceeded to put me in my place. To summarize his response, he said, "hey stupid intern, we aren't worried about getting experience, we are just trying to win a game," (his words were much more colorful than mine).

I learned a lesson about words that day. The words I used elicited a very negative response. His words hurt. This incident reminds me of Proverbs 12:18, "the words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

This story was part of our lesson on words today at Madison Academy as I was filling in as a substitute bible teacher. Sometimes we take for granted just how powerful our words can be. Consider the following quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne:

 

I think about Hitler and how he stirred the masses to great evil with his words. Martin Luther King had a huge impact on the Civil Rights Movement with his words. 

Words stir emotion and can leave a lasting impact. Check out James 3:

³ If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴ Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. ⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Take responsibility for your words and choose wisely. You only have a certain number of words to share in a given situation and they are your most powerful tool.

Let love explode and bring the dead to life

Outside of Monday night's basketball game, I have been a bit of a recluse this week trying to get caught up on some school work, preparing lessons, and getting some planning taking care of for some upcoming MYG events. Therefore, I have spent a lot of time at the house studying, etc.

Today around noon I got a knock on the door asking for some help. It was my neighbor who needed help loading a table into a truck. I provided a hand and then proceeded to get ready to head out the door on the way to the church building.

When I got in my jeep, I still had my iPod hooked up so I pressed play. The song was God's Not Dead by the Newsboys. The first line of the song really hit me: Let love explode and bring the dead to life.

 

I thought, "what have I done this week to let love explode?" Maybe that knock on the door was a reminder to get to work. 

Ephesians 2:10 tells us we were created in Jesus Christ for good works. I think that's what this lyric is all about. Letting love explode means letting your light shine so that others may see your good works and glorify God (Matthew 5:16).

That is where the dead find life, only through Jesus Christ!

What are you doing this week to let love explode?

What is goodness (according to the children)?

One of my favorite parts of speaking at Monrovia is interacting with the little ones at the beginning of service. Yesterday I preached on goodness and we got that conversation going, when I asked the kids some questions about what is good. You never know what kind of answers you are going to get...

Five things teens need to hear more often.

It was a Friday night in South Texas. I was working as a sports reporter about an hour and a half drive away from Victoria, the city the TV station I was working for was located. I was shooting a high school basketball playoff game and the team from Victoria was struggling to score and losing by a considerable margin early in the first half.

 

It was one of those moments when you are thinking in your head, that coach better call a time out or this thing is going to get out of control. But, instead of a timeout, the coach stepped out on the floor, while his team was in transition and yelled, “FUNDAMENTALS!”

 

I think we need that moment in our lives sometimes when we are reminded to get back to basics. That said, this list of five things teens need to hear more often isn’t ground-breaking or particularly deep. It is just a simple reminder of the "fundamentals".

First a disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert on child rearing. In fact, I have no experience whatsoever as I am not a father. However, I am very blessed to be on the receiving end of good parenting. Plus, I now work as a youth minister, so I get to interact with teens on a daily basis.

On to our list…

  

1. "I love you." Allow me to be captain obvious for a moment. I believe this one is the most important. Every child, regardless of where they come from or what they have, needs to hear they are celebrated and desired. Isn’t that what love is? It is not about what they achieve or accomplish, they just need genuine love for who they are.

To learn more about love, you should read all of 1 Corinthians 13. I will share with you just one verse: If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

2. "You are important." This one falls in line with the previous need. It is important that your kids hear they are important!  Teens are searching for identity. They need to hear that you value them as people. They need to know their decisions matter. There are ways to say "you are important" without using those words. I found a post at angelamaiers.com to be helpful. She suggests the 12 Most Important Ways to Let People Know They Matter. Following are a couple of her suggestions (more at the link above):

- Begin and End your sentences with “YOU”

• I believe in you
• I hear you
• I understand you
• You were awesome
• You rocked it
• You amaze me

 - Ask Mattering not Matter-of-Fact Questions
Question are a window into our minds and intentions. We show people how much they matter by the questions we ask. How important do these questions make you feel?

• What rocked your world today?
• Who’s world did YOU rock today?
• How can I make your day?
• What can I do to make it better?

3. "Slow down." We tend to live our lives in the fast lane. This is especially true for most kids nowadays. School, homework, practice, youth group, chores, after-school jobs, and social commitments are all on the schedule regularly. This is not to mention things like social media, where kids voluntarily plug in to an almost necessary 24-7 network that requires their time and attention. We could go on. This is normal life for most teens. The problem here is you are just as busy and have to take the time to slow down and tell them. Is there intentional down time in your schedule to spend time with your kids? Take a time-out and remind your family that sometimes you just need to slow down.

 

If you remember, God himself took a timeout after creating the world. Genesis 2:2 says, "And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done." Therefore, I see great value in slowing down.

4. "I'm here for you."  In Hurt 2.0, Chap Clark writes about the mid-adolescent's need for committed, stable, trusting relationships with adults. Systemic abandonment is a major problem among teens. Clark references a Stevie Smith poem about swimming in the sea to give us a better understanding of what he means, “’They are not waving, they are drowning.’ And just when they most need help, they are unable to take their parent’s hands.” How do we fix this? The simple answer is "be there". Clark writes, "May we, the adults who love and care for them, not be fooled. They are busy, yes, and stressed, but they want someone to demonstrate in word and action, 'You matter to me.'" It is like the old two birds with one stone idiom. You show your kids they matter by being there for them.

In Galatians 6, Paul says you fulfill the law of Christ by bearing one another's burdens. This is especially appropriate among those you love the most. He adds to this sentiment in Romans 12. In the ESV, the section is entitled "Marks of a True Christian". In verse 9 he begins this "section" with, "Let love be genuine". Part of the how is found in verse 15: "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."

  

5. "My faith is important to me!"  I have read a few books, attended a few conferences and taken a couple of classes addressing faith formation among teens. It never fails, study after study shows the most influential models of faith among teens are their parents. Therefore if you want your children to take their faith seriously, you need to tell them about yours. Of course, it goes beyond words. During my teen years, one of my dad's favorite sayings was, "you can walk the walk, or you can talk the talk. But, your talk will never walk as loud as your walk can talk." Got it? It's just another way of saying "actions speak louder than words".  

What does walking the walk look like? Check out John 13:35 "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." 

Passing along your faith has always been important for God's people...

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.  - Deuteronomy 6:5-9

 

Remember that high school basketball playoff game? Despite falling behind early, the team from Victoria battled back and won the game. According to the Victoria ISD website, Coach John Grammer is still on the court in Victoria some 7 years later. He probably doesn't remember that game. However, I guarantee you he still teaches fundamentals.

 

John Grammer, Courtesy: Victoria Advocate

May we all remember the importance of getting back to the basics.

  ***A lot of the "fundamentals" from this post were generated after reading Hurt 2.0 by Chap Clark.

The verse Boyd Crowder missed...

I must admit my guilty pleasure is the show Justified on FX (now, in its 5th season). I call it my guilty pleasure because of the language and violence, not exactly a family friendly show. Raylan Givens (the show’s main character) is like a modern day cowboy working as a Deputy U.S. Marshal in Kentucky. 

From Wikipedia: Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is something of a 19th-century–style, Old West lawman living in modern times, whose unconventional enforcement of justice makes him a target of criminals as well as his U.S. Marshals Service bosses. As a result of his controversial but "justified" quick-draw shooting of mob hitman Tommy Bucks in Miami, Givens is reassigned from Miami to Lexington, Kentucky. The Lexington Marshals office's jurisdiction includes Harlan County, where Raylan grew up and which [he] thought he had escaped for good in his youth.

Juxtaposed to Raylan on the show is Boyd Crowder. Boyd is a career criminal in Harlan County, Kentucky who begins season one robbing banks as a white supremacist.

 (L to R) Boyd and Raylan

[***Spoiler Alert – if you have not watched the show and plan to***]

In season one, Raylan shoots Boyd in the chest. Boyd survives the gunshot, goes to jail, and comes out a changed man, having given his life to the Lord. He appears to be truly redeemed, gathers a group of followers he calls his flock, and opposes his father’s narcotics enterprise in Harlan County. That opposition leads to retaliation, when his father comes in and kills every member of Boyd’s flock.

As a result of the massacre, Boyd begins to question his beliefs. He can’t understand why God would allow all the men in his church to be killed.

You can understand why this would be a traumatic event. However, this is also where I find Boyd’s theology to be a little short-sided.

Philippians 1:21 states, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

This is a verse we often miss in our attachment to this world. Sometimes we elevate the importance of our time here. We are scared to die.

The truth is, when you are found in Christ, what is waiting on the other side is so much better than anything we can imagine here.

Boyd called his band of misfits the Church of the Last Chance Salvation. The members were former criminals that Boyd had managed to convert to Christ as they lived in tents in the middle of the woods. Now, if they had truly been converted, Boyd should be able to celebrate in that he has not lead these men to their death, but instead they have found life. Although they have lost their earthly lives, they now live forever in Jesus Christ.

Now, I understand this is just a television show. But, I believe this is a verse often missed among those who question God’s mercy and justice. Have you ever heard the question, “how can God allow this person to die?” Or “why does God not heal this person? He/she is a Christian.” Once again, I understand the sentiment. Jesus himself is moved to tears when he loses one of his friends here on this earth. But, if you believe Philippians 1, those questions lose some credibility.

Hebrews 9:24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

To win the race, you’ve got to cross the finish line.

What we are worshiping, we are becoming

On the New York Post's list of top viral videos of 2013, this ridiculous video of "How Animals Eat Their Food" came in at 11:

I am not sure what it says about our culture when this video gets 97 million views, but I do think there is a lesson we can take away (that's the youth minister in me speaking).

There is an old saying, "you are what you eat". In this case it is, you are how you eat. The message however, is the same. The things we regularly consume have an effect on who we are.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (if I am allowed to quote Emerson in the same post where I post this viral video) puts it this way...

“A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will come out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshiping, we are becoming.”

Have you ever thought about what you consume being the same as what you worship? Maybe not in those terms, but if you have been in enough bible classes you have heard that idea somewhere along the way. We are charged not to let our possessions become our idols.

I am going to ask you to look at this in a different way. Are the things you claim to worship really that important to you that they begin to change who you are?

I believe that is the expectation if you worship Jesus Christ. Check out Romans 6:1-4...

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 

We are called to walk in newness of life. If we worship Christ, He will begin to dominate our imaginations. Our thoughts of Him will determine our lives, and our character.

The race is all about keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ and allowing His life to determine ours.