Our Kids...Our Church

This was going to be a reply to one person but I have written it for the purpose that others may read it as well. It is regarding our kids at church and the challenges they do and will present.

First, I come from the same (slightly younger or older) generation that most at church come from. I feel like I grew up seeming to understand respect very early on. I understand the angst of the disrespect of this current generation as a whole, but every generation has had its pocket of people that have been disrespectful and pushed the boundaries of what was right or acceptable. My advice on this current generation is to not take their actions or disrespect personally. Most of the time they are equal opportunity providers of all that stuff.

I try to see the tough kids (tough to love, tough to connect with, etc) as a challenge that I am determined to win. They provide me an opportunity to enhance my skills as a parent, as an adult, as a Christian and as a representative of the love of the Father given through Jesus and His Holy Spirit. Got a kid who is tough to love? Great! Now we have a reason to get real when we pray. We have a reason to engage that kid in conversations that might reveal their heart, their struggle or their reason for their walls. We also have an opportunity to be genuine in showing the love of Christ to them. We can't do that solely with words, nor can we portray that love through a set of rules that lack any attempt on our parts to connect with them.

In addition to all that, we have the opportunity to check ourselves. How is our heart and our mind? Are we running low on the love of God for all?  Are we acting in obedience to the Father when these challenges come up or are we reacting?

Kids will know who is real, who is trying to work them from some angle and they will respond accordingly. So, let's ask ourselves, "Why are we trying or wanting to connect with these kids?" Is it because we have a sense of duty and therefore we must? Do we see these kids through the eyes of the Father and the sacrifice of His Son? How much grace and mercy is too much to give them?

We have to love them through the excess of God's love for us. We will get annoyed, bitter, angry, frustrated and so on if we are only "trying to love them from our own supply".

We, the Church, are not a gift that has been given to the kids. On the contrary, these kids are a gift we have been given. When we get invited into their world, to hear their stories and help them walk through their hard days...that is an honor. When a kid lets his or her guard down and decides that they are going to accept our love and also even love us in return....Wow.

If we want respect then we have to show love...radical love that does not have a Use By date and is not based on performance.

Now, regarding discipline...yes, the kids need to be accountable for their actions. The accountability is not my concern. It is the application of it...the spirit that it is administered in. Let's take the phone incident for example. My biggest concern is the aftermath. Is this kid going to forever be watched like a hawk, whispered about as he passes by and made to feel ostracized because of his offense?

Is the church now on lockdown? Will we become preoccupied with policing the kids versus other things we could be (or were) doing? How much of a distraction will the enemy get to make because of all this?

Last Wednesday in our youth class we talked about the equation of God. The scripture tells us many things, two of which are: love never fails and God is love. therefore if those two are true then it is correct to believe that God never fails. We talked about going into 2018 with the #LoveNeverFails challenge.

We are still defining what that will look like. We are going to challenge the word of God in regards to 1 Corinthians 13:8 and also what Colossians has to say in chapter 3:12-14
"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection."

"Above all these things"... 
tender mercies
kindness
humility
meekness
longsuffering
bearing with one another
forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do
"put on love"

We have a great opportunity to really get on our faces before God about our kids and our entire church. We don't have to respond like the world or even like other churches. We do need to be obedient to the Lord. I honestly believe we are getting ready to be used by the Lord mightily because we are willing to seek Him and know Him and do His will.

The world is currently going out of its way to be offended by everything nowadays. Let's not be so quick to be offended when these challenges come. Let's welcome the opportunity for growth and love .

I love you all.

P.O.P.C.O.R.N.- Traveling Prayer Ministry

Prayer. It is possibly the least used weapon in our arsenal of spiritual weapons given to us. 

The bible has much to say about prayer. We are given instructions on how to pray, in what manner we ought to pray, what we have to let go of in order to pray effectively and the importance of possessing unwavering faith when we pray.

Almost daily we see reports in the news or hear of friends battling health issues or recovering from a tragic event.

“Pray for me.”
“Pray for my family.”
“Pray for our city.”
“Pray for our country.”
“Pray for the world.”

We see the posts on social media. We see the need played out before our eyes daily. Do we really pray? If so, do we pray effectively?

Or does prayer get in the way of our day-to-day activities? Is it a nuisance, so many people needing prayer? Does prayer even work? Who has time to pray anymore?

This is what P.O.P.C.O.R.N. is about. It is about being very purposeful, even strategic in making a choice to gather with others to pray.

These meetings will be like popcorn, hence the name.

In order for popcorn to pop it has to be heated to a temperature that will cause a change on the inside. The change on the inside of the kernel is so great that enough pressure builds up, causing the kernel to “POP!” and become a new creation.

We, like popcorn, need to be heated up through prayer. We need to be so heated that we also burst forth as a new creation.

The great thing about popcorn is that we never cook just one kernel at a time. We put a bunch of kernels into the same pot to be heated together in oil. The whole pot gets shaken throughout the heating process, so as to decrease the possibility of the kernels getting scorched. The oil allows for greater heat temperatures than if you didn’t use any at all.

The oil in popcorn can be likened to the Holy Spirit. When He is in the midst of our prayers, the results can be heightened and things can certainly heat up faster with Him rather than trying to pray without Him. 

Popcorn pops in random fashion. Likewise, we don’t know which prayer may get answered first but we can be assured that if we allow ourselves to gather together, be heated and coated in the oil of the Holy Spirit, things are going to change. What seems like random order becomes divine order.

We will be transformed. Our cities and towns will be transformed. There isn't a limit to the lengths, heights and depths that prayer can go and transform our world around us...but that change starts with us.

What are we willing to dp?How desperate and determined are we to pursue the change our lives, and the lives around us, need?

Are we willing to meet with others at random times and in various places to gather together and pray? Can we cross denominational barriers in a true spirit of unity and coming together in "one accord"? Are we willing to set aside our biases, our grudges, our unforgiveness, our justifications, our rationalizations? Are we willing?

What if the change we are seeking starts with us? Are we prepared to go into the highways and the byways to get to know the issues that face our local areas? We don't have to agree on everything, but we can agree on Jesus. We can agree to "meet at the cross" and humble ourselves before Him and each other. We can agree that true repentance which leads to revival may very well start in our own hearts before it starts anywhere else.

I am so thankful to my Lord for His faithfulness. I am thankful for His love and for His grace. I am thankful for you.

Our world is hurting and we have a great chance to show love as we gather together to pray and support each other. Let's go and be like popcorn. Let's get coated in oil and heated up so that a true transformation may take place and our lives become even more savory to this world around us.