2008-11-24 - Raising Awesome Kids - Training and Teaching Fathers, bring up your children up in the training and instruction of the Lord - Ephesians 6:4 We, as fathers, teach and train non-stop Do not underestimate the importance of teaching The worst mistake you can make is to do nothing Children love to learn Why else would God let us keep them for almost 20 years, but to train them |
2008-12-01 - Raising Awesome Kids - Love Love is of first importance. All else is secondary. Above all we should have love - 1 Peter 4:8 Lack of love, we are nothing - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 We may lavish upon our children the finest things but if we do not make them feel loved, it is all to no avail If there is closeness and love between us and our kids, we have a place to stand and start for the battle of their hearts Build our families on love and our kids will be strong Kids are born with the capacity to love, but not all learn how |
2008-12-06 - Raising Awesome Kids - Teach them to love others Kids who are showered with love must be taught to give it away Love and concern for others should be talked about often We can do far too much for them - creates self-centeredness The whole family is an instrument of God - God will use in us is a dark and lost world |
2008-12-08 - Raising Awesome Kids - Respect (part 2) How can we tell if our oldrer chidlren are disrepectful?
Our children honoring us is to show honor to God and his plan Claim your authority! Expect to respected! Children really want deep down inside - the confidence from knowing their limits |
2008-12-10 - Raising Awesome Kids - Honesty (part 1) We must love the truth, accept the truth, live by the truth, and tell the truth Will perish if we refuse to love the truth and be saved - 2 Thessalonians 2:10 If children learn to accept the truth as children - they will be able to face their sins, repent of them, and be saved when they are older Satan is a liar and the father of lies - John 8:44
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2008-12-11 - Raising Awesome Kids - Honesty (part 2) Must have deep convictions and treat it as a serious character (as it is) Lying issues can start at age three Don't be naive, learn to spot them, and deal with the probelm is terms they understand Truthful lips endure forever; but a lying tougue last only a moment - Provebs 12:19
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2008-12-12 - Raising Awesome Kids - Winning Obedience from Children (part 1) Discipline your son and he will give you give - Proverbs 29:17 From the very beginning children should learn to obey Our will and word will be supreme Repeating ourselves and louder each time is not true obedience - find ourselves frustrated, weary, and resentful
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2008-12-16 - Raising Awesome Kids - Deaf Disobedience Some kids act as if we do not exist:
This is also disobedience There should be no repetition of commands and expect action If you allow this to go unchecked, it will ultimately destroy a child's character and wear you out as well |
2008-12-19 - Raising Awesome Kids - Power of Discipline (part 1) vWhat are we to do when our children disobey us?
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2008-12-26 - Raising Awesome Kids - Specifics Character
Beliefs and faith in God - Trust God in prayer / stand for the truth Attitudes
Values - good morals - honesty and purity - if learned young - they will not abanon them Personality, demeanor, and mannersTrain them to have a pleasant personality traits
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2009-01-02 - Raising Awesome Kids - How to Nuture Confidence (part 3) Teach them to appreciate and applaud the efforts and achievements of others
Be basically encouraging Be your children's biggest fan If you are fundamentally positive - when you give correction it will be received with thankfulness rather than discouragement Some say - 5 compliments to overcome one criticism Human nature flourishes on a diet of praise |
2009-01-09 - Raising Awesome Kids - Childrens Quiet Times Having their own quiet times is the best way for them to know God and enjoy him personally - develops their own faith Younger years (preschool and early elementary) - sit down with them a couple of mornings a week Later elementary - they can begin to have them on their own - 10 minutes a session Create a structure for them Write down what they learn ACTS like prayers Older - direct them toward Proverbs, Psalms, and the Gospels - always keep up with how it is going Pushing them too quickly = overwhelmed kids Not challenging them enough = leave a vacuum for them to be filled by the world Pray for wisdom, get wise counsel, and trust God will guide you |
2009-01-18 - Jesus with People - Grateful Son Mary and Jesus - no greater pain than for parent to bury a child and live with that memory Jesus stops the process of redeeming humanity to focus on one final moment with him mom All excuses for neglecting our families die with Jesus - spends final moment and thinking how to provide for her Jesus submitted himself to being human - learned the lesson to honor your mother - Exodus 20:12 4x in the gospels - Jesus relates to Mary:
Busy disciples - often neglect the needs our immediate family? Husbands - too busy to listen to our wives? Parents - too busy to invest in our relationship with our children? When we neglect to provide for our relative - we deny the faith - 1 Timothy 5:7-8 Jesus won Mary's soul with a relationship |
2009-01-26 - Jesus with People - Nic at Night Some people's needs could be quickly dealt with: "Heal my blindness" or "Let me just touch your garment" But not Nicodemus, Jesus knew it would be a long night - John 3:1-3 Nicodemus, was a man looking for something:
Could this be right? Could Jesus be the Messiah? Jesus was straight to the point: I tell you the truth, you must be born again - John 3:3 Nicodemus knew he could get time with Jesus and he did Who was intrumental in answering your questions and healping you see the truth? |
2009-02-17 - Jesus with People - Widows Physical Sacrifice Physical sacrifice is central to our commitment to Jesus Physically, priorities must be set, reexamined and set again God will help us discern what we can give physically God is capable of giving his strength when ours is failing Paul learned to rely on the Lord through physical suffering - 2 Corinthians 1:3-9 God grace is sufficient Each of us, with the help of God must live physically sacrificial lives daily - Philippians 2:12 Sacrifice is our act of worship - Romans 12:1 |
2009-02-28 - Promises of God - Being Fully Persuaded Abraham shows us that faith is all about having confidence in the promises of God Yet he did not weaver through unbelief, being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he had promised - Romans 4:20-21 Abraham was justified by faith - Romans 4:13 We must learn God's promises and never waver in unbelief in trusting them. |
2009-03-04 - Promises of God - Forgiving Others By the time we are old enough to understand, we have hurt and been hurt so many times - we need forgiveness and so do others The definition of a dysfunctional relationship: the inability to solve conflict and forgive Hugh obstacle: We can not truely forgive until we have experienced forgiveness Once we are forgiven, we are obligated to forgive others - Matthew 18 Our sins against each other pale in comparison to our sins against God |
2009-03-18 - Promises of God - Produces a Harvest Hebrews 12:11 - Discipline produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it Key ways to respond to God's discipline: Get Grateful Probably the most difficult thing to do during hardships It is the very thing that will help us to learn the important lessons God is trying to teach us Hunger for Holiness Media bombards us with devices, books, etc to make our lives easier God disciplines us for our good, we may share in his holiness - Hebrews 12:10 He is willing to watch his precious children to go through temporary pain for them have eternal peace Trust the Trainer We must trust him as the perfect trainer Training = something rigorous that stretches the trainee emotionally or physically God's discipline is exact what we need and he promises it is always for our own good |
2009-05-23 - No one like him - Kingdom Attitudes (part 3) Those Who Hunger and Thirst We see our lostness, we see our need to be learners; pursues what comes from God Righteousness less about perfection, and more about the relationship The Merciful First four about relationship with God; Next have to do with our relationship with others in the light of God Matthew 18:23-27 - forgiven will love much |
2009-06-26 - A Life of Impact - Discipliner Discipliner Mark 3:31-35
Discernment
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2009-08-14 - A Life of Impact - Emotional Transformation (part 1) Emotional Transformation Mark 14:32-42
In touch with His feelings
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2009-09-01 - Wild at Heart - The wound (part 1) There comes a time when we simply have to face the challenges in our lives and stop backing down Men rarely praise each other directly - by way of accomplishments (“you are a wild man”, “what is up stud” The question – Do I have what it takes? Am I powerful? Until a man knows he’s a man he will forever be trying to prove he is one, while at the same time shrink from anything that might reveal he is not Boy learns who is he and what he’s got from a man
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2009-09-09 - Wild at Heart - The fathers voice (part 2) When we see Jesus, Joseph is out of the picture – true father God – he had to learn who he really was and made of. Initiation involves a journey and a series of tests. We try to make our lives easier. What are you trying to teach me here? What issues in my heart are you trying to rise through this? What is it you want me to see? What are you asking me to let go of? Men are taught that a wound that stops you from playing is a girlish wound. No wonder we walk with our guts hanging out Most men minimize their wound David did not act like this at all - openly - “my heart is wounded within me” - Psalms 109:22 Suck it up, as the saying goes God is fiercely committed to you Wound that goes unacknowledged and unwept is a wound that cannot heal You’ve embraced and deserve is a would that cannot heal Whatever is denied cannot heal Certainly denial that it’s shaping the way they live today. |
2009-09-28 - One Another - Differences (part 1) Judgement or Apathy Two extremes:
Accused or Excused
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2009-10-16 - Wild at Heart - Offering our Strength (part 2) Cycle of a man is that he goes away from a woman to yet return to her after finding strength Most men want the maiden without any sort of cost to themselves Nature of pornography - Uses her to get a feeling that he a man (false) Strength then came from an outside source rather than deep within Self-center man angers the Lord - Genesis 38:7-10 What happens when we refuse to spend their strength on a women - Genesis 38:25-26 Pretty women endure abuse this abuse all the time They learn to offer their bodies but never their souls Many men marry for safety Why don’t men offer what they have to their women?
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2009-10-29 - Repentance - Illustrations (part 3) Like all paradigms, everything depends what you put in the center We put us in the center, it is impossible to satisfy a self-centered man In order to shift our paradigm to the truth:
Questions:
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2009-11-06 - Repentance - Jesus Opens Our Eyes (part 4) Necessity of Repentance
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2009-11-22 - Master Plan - Selection (part 1) Men were his method
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2009-11-25 - Master Plan - Association (part 1) He stayed with them
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2009-11-26 - Master Plan - Association (part 2)
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2009-11-28 - Master Plan - Church is the continuing fellowship (part 1)
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2009-11-30 - Master Plan - He Required Obedience
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2009-12-02 - Master Plan - Learning to Obey
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2009-12-05 - Master Plan - Jesus gave himself away (part 1)
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2009-12-28 - First the Kingdom - At Ease Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth - Matthew 5:5 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace - Psalms 37:11 Meekness is strength under the control of God Being meek is being at ease before God and man One looks outside himself for the power of life Totally open with God, God will work in all things for his good To be meek is not to be afraid... 1. Is at ease with God Someone who worries and has anxiety reduces them to practical atheists A child is at ease with their father/mother (in most cases) I have stilled and quieted my soul; child with mother is my soul within me - Psalms 131:2 2. Is at ease with himself Jesus knew exactly what authority he had been he had been given by God - John 13:3 3. Is at ease with others Neither inferior nor superior No longer deceived by pride, he is free to learn from anyone At ease with God and himself - has nothing to prove and nothing to fear |
2010-01-01 - First the Kingdom - Guarding Against Heart Disease Blessed are the pure in hear, for they will see God - Matthew 5:8 What does it mean to keep our hearts pure? To have undivided devotion? Set our hearts are things above - Colossians 3:1 Must learn to battle Satan's attacks on our heart Recent years - we have aware about physical heart conditions We should lower our bad cholesterol and exercise more Since we desire a healthy heart for a longer life we: diet and exercise The heart is the "want to" muscle When we really want something, we go after it with all of our heart |
2010-01-29 - Kingdom First - So Much More God wants to bless us - Matthew 7:7-11 NOT: Why are things so bad? OR Why me? We need to ask God to help us answer the right questions:
Why don't we ask God?
Has God given you "bread" only to have you call it a "stone"? |
2010-03-02 - To Live is Christ - Partners in the Gospel Philippians 1:16 Philippi was named for Philip of Macedon It was a roman colony - not actually a place one would expect the message of Jesus to take hold A roman jail is where you would expect Paul and Silas to be Paul made a career of being with other and influencing their lives - reduced to visits from the guards Through many hard times he had learned to overcome the most challenging of circumstances Five lines into the letter, Paul remembers his relationship with God and other disciples:
Only when we have been in the trenches with others will we have relationships that are full of life |
2010-03-04 - To Live is Christ - To Love is to Live There is nothing greater than love - 1 Corinthians 13:13 If we don't know how to love, we don't know how to live Those who are satisfied with the love they attained have really ceased to love God is love - 1 John 4:8
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2010-03-05 - To Live is Christ - From Trials to Triumph A successful life is not life from difficulty, trial, or tragedy - Philippians 1:12-14 He saw God the same - no matter what happened in his life In an earlier letter he saw illness as an opportunity bring the gospel to the them - Galatians 4:13 He saw imprisonment for a chance to convert Romans Paul not giving up deepen their convictions - he emboldened them to share the message Whatever happens in life can serve to advance the gospel when we are living by faith |
2010-03-25 - To Live is Christ - Learned to be Content The secret of being content in any situations is to remember - I can do everything through him who gives me strength - Philippians 4:10-13 Content = Greek word autarkeia = self-sufficiency or not needing a thing Secret he learned was not because he choose not to care He learned it by:
At one point - bad circumstances led him to despair of life itself - 2 Corinthians 1:8 What circumstances are in your life right now that could lead to a lack of contentment? |
2010-04-16 - Life to the Full - Personal Life of Peter (part 1) Before calling him, Peter's character was more rash than rational The Bad He gave into bad habits, swearing - Matthew 26:74 He lacked a mission in his life - Luke 5:10 The Good He spoke his mind plainly - Matthew 16:22 Responded quickly - Galatians 2:11 Always ready to learn from his mistakes - Luke 22:23 Peter was totally transformed by the Lord; he became bold and confident - Acts 4:12-13 |
2010-04-27 - 7 Habits of Highly Effective Children Preached by Dan Rice (2005-06-26) Mark 10:13 - We must have a child like heart to make it to heaven Children Want to Grow Children Change Fast - 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 Children Take Risk - Care less about what people think about them. John 12:42-43 Children are quick to trust Children are Idealist - they dream; it is better than synical Children are faithful - John 3:16 - They did not many reasons like we do. |
2010-06-07 - Take the Test (part 2)Learn from the results
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2010-06-09 - Take the test (part 4)Take the test50% is better than 0% Luke 8:11
Learn from the results
1 Peter 5:5-7
Do better than on your next test
Each test is administored by God 1 Peter 5:8-9
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2010-07-17 - Desire's Journey - Deeper Desire (part 4) What is it that we truly desire? The problems is we do not know Our unexamined desire rules you Most of our live far from from our hearts Those living in duty and obligation may need to give all that a rest - so their hearts can come to the surface Pharisees - their religious activities deadened them to the point that they could not recognize God when he stood before them Our deepest treasure becomes our most dutiful burden, it really kills our hearts Those living in indulging desire will need to give it a rest too Going cold turkey - just stay in your desire 15 minutes longer than you usually do When you feel the desire - let the desire just be; let your heart put some honest words to what you are feeling We must learn what is actually being roused The attuned we are to our desire, the less prone we'll be to imposters |
2010-07-18 - Desire's Journey - Deeper Desire (part 5) We can learn many things about the journey of desire in the story of Jesus' wilderness trial 1. He was hungry - Matthew 4:1-4
Satan: You don't have to stay hungry, you have options The lie is that the options will bring us what we most deeply want and need Evey idol is an impostor - not true life When on a marathon - and are given a beer It is cold (we desire cold) but we know we really need cold water for our thirst Junk food does not have the nutrition we need When we have been working out, working hard in the field, we know what we want Knowing full well what our heart's real thirst is, we will have looked the imposer in the face and laughed as Jesus did |
2010-07-25 - Desire's Journey - Letting Go (part 2) Paul learned the secret of being content - Philippians 4:12 Many Christians assume he no longer experienced the thirst of his soul Earlier Paul said he had not obtained his soul's desire nor already made perfect (complete) He was straining toward what was ahead - Philippians 3:12-14 Contentment is not freedom from desire but freedom of desire It is no longer being ruled by your desires We have 3 options:
Most of the church has chosen deadness Christians are called to live the life of holy longing but we don't like to stay there To live in thirst is to live with an ache Every addiction comes from the attempt to get rid of the ache Merely trying sets us on an unending chase that leads us farther and farther from home |
2010-07-26 - Desire's Journey - Letting Go (part 3) Pleasure is often more about drugging ourselves that it is about enjoying ourselves Avoiding the ache is always worse in the end than the ache itself We want to predict what the Lord is going to do so that it does not hurt so bad when it happens Whole creation has been groaning right up til the present time yet if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently - Romans 8:22-25 We live in hope and he says hoping is waiting and groaning Ask yourself: What am I waiting for? Is there anything I desire that I am doing nothing to secure? To wait is to learn the spiritual grace of detachment - the freedom of desire Not the absence of desire but desire at rest I have still and quieted my soul - Psalms 131:2 |
2010-08-21 - Waking Dead - Last Adam Paul refers to Jesus as the Last Adam and the Second Man - 1 Corinthians 15:45-47 Adam and Eve were rulers over all creation and glorious image bearers of God Their choices would forever shape our lives - chose to disobey the one command they were given Fruit does not fall far from the tree Parents often wonder where their toddler learn how to be disobedient It was taught to them - it is inherent to human nature Through one man disobedience - many were made sinners - Romans 5:12 A man comes down from heaven, slips into the world unnoticed as:
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