The Real Jesus

Last Night we focused on teaching about how important it is for us to know Who God is and how that dramatically effects how we view life. It should be a passion for us to seek to know the Real Jesus and not this made up idea of who we want Him to be or that we think He is. Check out this Video and see how we often times can view Jesus in a way that would cause us not to know how to Worship Him for who He is. Do you need to make any changes in how you view God?

Clarity Conference - So much need in this world

I had the privilege of going to the Clarity conference tonight with our students at Hebron Baptist Church. Jeremy Kingsley, a good friend of mine, is the speaker on the first night and once again his message was very powerful. By the way if you have never heard Jeremy be sure to check out his website at: http://www.jeremykingsley.com ! He has such an amazing way of communicating to students and yet not forgetting what is so crucial in staying true to the Word of God.

But as I was there I continue to look around and see there is so much need in this world. One of the highlights of the night was when a lady came to share her testimony. She is now 24 and when she was 9 years old she went through compassion international and was given a chance to make an impact in this world by having food to eat, education, and spiritual training. Her father died when she was young and they had no place to live. But because of the gifts of people through Compassion she came to know Jesus and graduated with degrees. She is a product and testimony of how if we work together we can reach people in so many ways.

But there is not just needs in other countries. I am sure no matter what country your in or where you are located there is need all around you. There are children going hungry next door to places that throw away food because they had too much for them to eat. There are sick children who cannot get medicine when just around the corner there are stores full of it but it costs too much money. There are people who don't know the love of Jesus when there is a Christian who waves hello to them when they pull into the garage in the house across the street. There is so much need and we must ask ourselves if we are truly making an impact in this world. Are we reaching out to those in need or do we shrug thinking we are too busy or have to much of our own problems to help someone else? My heart's encouragement tonight is for each one of us to begin the mindset change of looking for ways to love our neighbors, co-workers, friends, relatives, and people that come into our world if just for a moment. Let us make a difference and share God's truth in boldness and in love.

Prayers of a Child Part 2

One of the greatest things of being a dad is when you get to see your sons grow in their relationship with Jesus. I had the awesome privilege of baptizing my son in December and it is something that I will cherish forever. The great thing about it is that it was a decision made that I have seen the fruit of the Spirit in his life. Just in the last few months I have noticed his prayers changing from simple prayers of "Thank you Jesus for my family," to spirit filled prayers of, "Lord, you’re such a graceful God and you are creator of everything. Lord you made everything. Because you are creator you are owner of us and boss of us." When I heard my 7 year old praying this, my heart wells up inside knowing that he get's it. Of course in the middle of the prayer he adds, "Thank you for creating the Milky Way galaxy, the world, the oceans, the fish, the animals, the lions, the bears, the crocodiles." He keeps me smiling as I listen to his heart.

Another great thing is I can tell that he is not just praying because he is supposed to. When he gets done doing his nightly ritual of brushing teeth and getting ready for bed he usually heads right into bed. I have caught him several times praying without me because he is so tired. I will get in there and he will already be praying so he can go on and go to sleep. That is so cool. He doesn't want to skip praying so he can go to sleep. Man, the prayers of a child. How often in our own lives do we find that we are too busy to pray, or we are too tired to pray before we fall asleep. I know I always, want to teach my children to pray every night before you fall asleep. Isn't it great to know that the last thoughts on your mind before you fall asleep are ones of praise for God and prayer needs of others? Let's think about our Creator every night before we fall asleep. He is our boss you know!

It was funny last night when my son was praying he said that God is our boss, then he added, "But you don't boss us around." I love how he clarified that he was our boss, our owner, a good boss. He wasn't one who just bosses us around and tells us what to do. He is our owner and He has our best interests in mind. He knows what is best and He wants us to experience that best. That is why He shows us what to do.

I hope that your prayer life is one that is active and refreshing. That your prayer life is one where you see God working in and through your life. Prayer Does Matter. It is important. Prayer does make a difference. What are some things in your life that may be hindering your prayer life? Do you fall asleep before you pray? Do you pray hurriedly or in the Spirit of God? Do have to make time for prayer or is prayer just a reflection of your daily heart's expression?

Prayers of a Child

I have grown amazed at listening to my 5 & 7 year old pray. It is always interesting to listen to children pray. I get to smile alot when I hear my 5 year old son say, "Thank you Jesus for ebrything (everything), Amen!"

I would look at him and say, 'Why don't you Thank Jesus for your family or our home?"

He just looks at me and says, "I did! I thank youed Jesus for EBRYTHING!"

He has now added, several things to the list because I am trying to teach him to be a little more specific. He now prays, "Thank you Jesus for Ebrything, Amen. Oh yeah, and thank you for fish and video games."

This comes from the same child who says, "God must be a stretchy God."

I asked, "Micah, why do you think God is a stretchy God?"

"Because if He is with my cousins (who live in PA) and He is here with me He must be able to stretch really far."

The funny thing is I didn't correct him on his theology, because he understands the most important part, God is with everyone. We don't have to understand everything about How God does what He does, but we do need faith in Who God is. It is the nature of God that determines our perspective of God. Do we really have a right perspective of His nature? My prayer for my boys is that they would grow into Godly men and grow in the grace and knowledge of God's truth. The great thing about this prayer is I see it getting answered!

Peter Pan Peanut Butter

I was driving home from picking up my son from preschool yesterday and heard on the radio about the recall on Peter Pan peanut butter. I had to almost pull the car over to see if I heard it right. Who recall's peanut butter? How awkward is that, walking back into a grocery store with your little grocery bag filled with your stash of Peter Pan Peanut butter. Everyone watching as you go to the customer service desk and politely ask if you can have some more peanut butter because your peanut butter has been recalled. I suppose many people might just actually throw the peanut butter away in the trash and forget about it. Anyways, they said that if your jar had the number that started with a 2111 then your peanut butter might possibly be tainted with salmonella and you should dispose of it. I talked to my wife and she said she heard the same thing. Then she proceeds to remind me that we have a large jar of Peter Pan Peanut Butter sitting in our cabinet at home. But our jar was not just like any jar, this jar was a half empty jar. So, I get home with my boys to check out whether we have the dreaded peanut butter or not. I am not too worried since no one in my family is sick and we have already eaten at least half the jar. I walk over to the cabinet and open the door, and there it sits. Yes, my friends a large jar of Peter Pan. As I reach down to pick up the jar my hand begins to shake in anticipation of what the numbers are on our jar. I walk it over to the counter trying not to look. I set it down, and I look on top of the jar and see these numbers. 2.......1........1.......1.... noooooooo, in our very pantry sits the Peanut butter that has been recalled. You would think that my first thought would be, I wonder if anyone is sick, but it wasn't. My first thought was, “am I going to be that silly man walking into the grocery store to return peanut butter?” Actually, I did look over at my boys and see if they were ok. They were and still are.

So the moral of this story is: If you have Peter Pan Peanut butter check to see if the first 4 numbers are 2111 and then return it to the store.

Superbowl Potluck Snacks

Super bowl Sunday is always a fun time for a youth pastor. We get to have students over to our house or go hang out at another student’s party. The only thing is even if your team ends up winning you still feel a little blah going to bed. This reason for this blah feeling my friends, is because of the stuffing of the stomach that takes place. We had tons of food at my house with 30+ High School students crammed into my den. I ate, and then kept eating, and then I actually ate some more. I have been thinking how we often times do Youth ministry like Potlucks. You see, we love potlucks, and great spreads of food, with a huge selections but there is a problem. I don't usually eat the vegetables and fruits and healthy food. I tend to see the magnetic force pulling my plastic plate over toward the desserts and sausage balls. Now as great as it is I would probably be one of the unhealthiest Youth Pastors around if I had a Potluck dinner every week. You see that is where some of our Youth Ministries suffer. We feel like that the best way to teach students is to give them as many options as we can and try to teach them just whatever they want to hear. I have found that as fun as it can be at times and many of the students like the potluck, the true discipleship takes place when you build a healthy foundation. God has laid on my heart a strategy in youth ministry of one where we teach in a systematic approach and where we end up building foundations on top of foundations. Now it isn't always the wow messages but the cool thing about teaching foundationally and systematically is if your creative you can make it fun and interesting and your students will remember in 6 months more of what you have taught.

Do you have yearly themes that focus on teaching the Word of God to them or do you have monthly themes that don't tie into each other? Maybe you’re even struggling with your messages because each week is different from before. You see in churches our students hear a message on average 4 times a week if they are active (Sunday Morning Bible Study, Sunday Morning Sermon, Sunday Night message or small group, and Wed. night message or small group). The troubling thing is that oftentimes those 4 messages do not connect on any level to the others. Then when we ask our students what they learned they look at us with puzzled faces and we wonder how we can be more effective as teachers. Give them a potluck on occasion (Disciple Now's, Retreats, Conferences), but be sure to lay a foundation that will last with them for a lifetime.

Santa Claus vs. Jesus Claus

I have been thinking about how Santa is perceived versus Jesus. It is something that always comes to mind when we are reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. For some reason even though we know that Christmas is born out of the birth of Jesus we still get caught up in the busyness of shopping and decorating and all of the parties that we oftentimes put the heart of Christmas on the backburner. I know this is especially true when we are driving in traffic near any mall on the planet. Anyways, God really gave me an interesting thought that I wanted to share with you all and encourage you to pass it along.

Santa Claus vs. Jesus Claus

The thought of Santa Claus vs. Jesus Claus came after I was taking my 4 year old son to preschool and a lady asked a boy that was standing nearby, "Is Santa going to bring you some nice gifts this year?"
The boy responding without blinking an eye, "Yes, I have been more good than bad!" I realized at that moment something interesting. There are two conditions that must be met in order to receive gifts from Santa. The first condition is that you must believe in Santa Claus and the Spirit of Christmas. You must believe that Santa is real. The second condition is that you must be more good than bad. I began to shiver as I thought to myself, "What would Jesus require for gifts?"
Jesus Claus would require something as well. In order to receive gifts from Jesus Claus you must believe in Jesus. You must believe He is real and He is who He says He is. The second condition is that it doesn't matter if you have been more good than bad as long as you meet condition number 1. In fact, the kid who is the most obedient kid doesn't get any more gifts than the kid who is always in time out or never seems to listen to their parents or do anything right at all.
This got me thinking even more. What does this say about what we believe about Christmas? There is so much focus on our behavior that we fail to see that the Love of Christ comes to each and everyone of us no matter how good we are. You see the standard for who receives the reward of heaven is absolute perfection. There must be no disobedience, no moment in our lives that we don't love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and no moment that we don't love others more than ourselves. Big Problem. I fail everyday. I would never get the reward or gift. Of course the great news is that the standard of perfection shows us that a Perfect God cannot live with imperfect people. God must punish sin and it must be done with total separation from Him, in other words, the payment is death.
Here is the "Santa Claus" problem. Many Christians and many people who try to understand what it means to be a Christian believe that being a Christian is more like Santa Claus than Jesus Claus. Many people believe that if you believe in Jesus and do more good than bad then you will get your reward. We don't live like we understand the truth that being a Christian is believing in Jesus and understanding you will never be more good than bad - we can never keep up to the perfect standard God lays before us.


Now the cool thing is that God has given us the coolest Christmas Gift we could get. If we believe in Jesus (Claus) and in what he has done (been the final payment of sin for us) then we can receive presents (gift of eternal life). All we have to do is believe in Him and what He has done and it is not based upon whether I have been more good than bad.
I don't think people question that God loves them or not, it is usually that we question whether He will accept us or not. Our struggle in understanding the truth of God stops when we fail to realize that God doesn't accept us because of our behavior. God accepts us because of our faith in Him. The only way to please a holy, righteous, perfect God is our faith in Him and what He has done. That our only chance for acceptance. We must realize that our acceptance is based in what has already been done on the cross.

I learned from a pastor one day a way to show my children how much I love them. Starting when they were just 2 years old I asked them if their daddy loved them more when they are good or bad. For the first few times I asked them they answered, "When I am good." I would reply back, "No, your daddy loves you when your good or bad." Now when I ask them they will respond, "My daddy loves me all the time, even when I good or bad." Then of course I look them in the eye and say, "That is how Jesus loves you too. He loves you when your good or bad!"

Thanks!

Kevin Deming
Youth Pastor
Annistown Road Baptist Church
Snellville, GA