Why I'm a Fan of Lads-to-Leaders/Leaderettes -- Bulletin Article 04.29.07

Since we are honoring our 2007 Lads-to-Leaders/Leaderettes participants and kicking off our 2008 efforts this evening, we are presented with a wonderful opportunity to notice some of the benefits of participating in this program.

This is not an attempt to prove the scriptural soundness of Lads-to-Leaders. Lads-to-Leaders is a tool through which the church (Titus 2:4, 6) and the home (Eph. 6:4) train and raise children in the sight of the Lord. Those who quibble over Lads-to-Leaders from a Biblical standpoint must also take the same stand against any organization that carries out various aspects of the Lord’s work.

Our elders have decided to support the work that is done in the lives of our young people through Lads-to-Leaders. Therefore, we follow their lead in supporting this effort.

Both Amanda and I are Lads-to-Leaders Alumni. We have been instilled with irreplaceable attitudes, skills, and knowledge because our home church and our parents encouraged us in its spiritual involvement. We know first-hand about the doors that Lads-to-Leaders opens. If you will, notice some specific reasons why I’m a fan of Lads-to-Leaders:

Lads-to-Leaders allows for diverse spiritual growth. Over the past three decades, Lads-to-Leaders has grown in countless ways. One of the ways this benefits our young people is by offering them many different opportunities for growth. Lads-to-Leaders encourages young people by giving them an opportunity to display their strengths and build experience in new areas. Each young person is important; therefore, there is something for each of them.

Lads-to-Leaders allows for growth in the home. While the program is organized on the congregational level, the bulk of the work is intended to be done within each child’s home. The best place to practice speeches and song leading is at home. Parents can assist their children with their puppet lines each night at home. Parents who read the Bible and memorize scripture along with their children set a powerful example of spiritual maturity.

Young people spend time together. This is the most important aspect of the “youth group” in any church. Our children need to spend time together. Granted, what they’re doing when they’re together is important, but being together is the first step. Lads-to-Leaders provides a framework for different relationships to be built within our church family. This opportunity is priceless.

Young people acquire the single-most important attribute for spiritual growth: confidence. Of all the possible attributes to build through Lads-to-Leaders, I think spiritual confidence is the greatest. We must make sure we are not prideful and haughty (1 Cor. 10:12). However, many of today’s young people are going through life without any confidence in either themselves or the ones they love. Most importantly, Lads-to-Leaders helps young people get to know their Lord better. Having confidence and trust in Him is at the core of our spiritual existence (Heb. 11:6). Additionally, we should have personal confidence and security in ourselves as God’s creation (Ps. 139:13-16). Lads-to-Leaders can open our children’s eyes to the wonderful purpose they serve in the Kingdom.

For those households who do not participate in Lads-to-Leaders in some way, how confident are you about the spiritual growth and maturation of your children? Are you able to give them the opportunities they need (and deserve) to grow in the sight of the Lord? We all know that is a difficult task. That is why Lads-to-Leaders exists: to help train young people toward spiritual growth. As parents, they want to help you! If you have any interest in participating whatsoever, we would love to have you stay after the PM Service so that we can answer any questions you have. We love our young people; we know you do too. Let’s make sure we’re doing all we can to help them.

Testing Our TV Dependence -- Bulletin Article 04.22.07

Last year, we highlighted an event sponsored by the TV Turnoff Network: National TV-Turnoff Week. This year, that national week of awareness begins tomorrow (Monday, April 23rd). I was greatly encouraged by those of you who went the entire week last year without turning on your TV; that is a remarkable feat!

As we think about this year’s TV Turnoff week, use this as an opportunity to talk about your TV dependence with your family. As a family, talk about how much to watch, when to watch, what to watch. Brainstorm about activities you can do as a family to replace TV watching. Determine the best plan of action for your family and commit to following it the next week; it may even be helpful to have your children draw up a pledge or contract and have the whole family sign it agreeing to the terms. We all could benefit from a purposeful examination of the role TV plays in our lives.

I often check a financial blog called The Simple Dollar. It offers advice and links to a variety of personal-finance related issues. Back on April 9th, they ran a post titled, “Ten Financial Reasons To Turn Off Your Television - And Ten Things To Replace It With.” The author makes several interesting points about how our TV habits affect our pocketbooks and our personal lives. I’ve consolidated and omitted some of the points, and have added some spiritual reflections to each below:

· Bill & electricity costs. The author’s monthly cable costs ($60) plus electricity for two TVs cost his family a little under $800 a year. I’m not necessarily calling for all of us to ditch our service and sell our TVs, but ponder this thought: what could we do with an additional $800 a year? Could we: Pay down some debts? Give more to the Lord? Invest for our futures? Seeing the big picture of how much our habit costs us may help us make wiser financial and spiritual decisions.

· The commercial factor. The third reason on the original list is the guilt that often results from seeing perceived “perfect” situations and people as portrayed by the media. The fourth reason is directly related: commercials give us the opportunity (by buying certain products, services, etc.) to make our lives more like the ones we see on TV. Occasional viewing may not lend itself to these vulnerabilities, but continual (and addictive) viewing could cause negative reactions. We are all special and beautiful in the eyes of God. He should be the source of our healthy self-esteem (Ps. 139:13-16). We need to be careful not to allow worldly influences diminish what is otherwise wonderful.

· Poorer dining and health habits. Imagine the differences if we ate healthier and cheaper home-prepared food instead of grabbing fast food and chowing down in front of the TV. Dependence upon TV makes us more likely to make adverse choices. We all would do well to make thoughtful choices about what is best for our families instead of what our entertainment-driven instincts lead us to do.

· Less quality family time. There are many factors leading to the decay of the home in America. One of these is arguably the family’s dependence on TV. Husbands and wives could be more intimate; parents and children could communicate more openly; all could benefit from being emotionally present more often. Even though we may view TV programming together, we are emotionally invested in what we are watching instead of the presence of one another. Reassessing our TV dependence could go a long way in fixing our families.

Again, I am not calling for extremist actions like cutting cable altogether or destroying our TV sets. However, I think we owe it to the Lord, to ourselves, and to our families to honestly evaluate what’s most important in our lives. If the answer is not what it should be, there is no better time to begin fixing things than this week.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

Matthew 28.18-20: The Great Consolation

This is the final week of our six-part series from some of Jesus’ final words before leaving the earth. His words were meant to teach, motivate, and encourage His disciples as He turned the work of saving the world over to them. As His followers today, we are responsible to these words of our Savior.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The final phrase of this familiar passage is the one we need to carry with us most closely. As we are doing His work, Jesus gives us the ultimate security: His presence.

We all understand the helplessness associated with feeling alone. Jesus no doubt had experienced that loneliness himself while on earth. Many people followed Him around because of His powers. Yet few followed to the end. Jesus was faced with the loneliness that came from knowing the salvation of the world depended on Him alone. Jesus felt humiliation and loneliness on the cross of Calvary when He bore our sins on His shoulders (Matt. 27:46). Because Jesus knew the heartache of loneliness, He also knows the comfort of presence and intimacy. That’s exactly why He offers it so freely to His followers: we need it!

When Joshua was leading the Israelites into the Promised Land after the death of Moses—a parallel situation to the disciples in Matthew 28—the Lord spoke the following words: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9). God knew taking the Promised Land would be a difficult and daunting task. God knew it would take great courage on the part of the Israelites. He told them that He was the source of their strength and courage. The Lord’s message centuries later to fearful followers of the new covenant was the same: do your mission and stay strong because I am with you.

We need the presence of our Lord because of several reasons. (1) There are plenty of people around us that don’t live godly lives. If we depend on them for companionship, we’re doomed to fall into sin ourselves. (2) We need to continually remember His example each day as we serve Him. We need to see with His compassionate eyes, touch with His understanding hands, and speak with His confident words. (3) We need to constantly remember the price He paid for us to have a relationship with Him. As we hold to His nail-scarred hand, we remember our work was first His work. Knowing He gave so much should motivate us to give Him our whole lives in obedience.

Not only do we long to feel His presence as we do His will, we literally cannot do His will without Him. As the Hebrew writer was closing his letter to first century Christians, he had many things of which to remind them. He had spent the majority of his previous words convincing them to not give up on their new-found faith in Christ. Here’s the author’s words to those struggling Christians many centuries ago:

“For He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Heb. 13:5-6).

Have a good week...alongside Him.