Regardless of the age of students there are certain steps parents can take to be helping kids navigate the world of social networking.
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Ministry
This week we continued the second of a four week series entitled "Changes." Change is inevitable. Some changes are exciting and others are terrifying.
Creativity can be a difficult task when done individually, but when done as a group this difficult task can become even more difficult.
From the moment you enter the world as a tiny baby and until you take your last breath, things will be constantly changing. While change is common, it is often difficult.
Over the past several months I have worked hard to discipline myself to develop 4 specific habits to improve my writing skills.
Creativity is hard work. There are days when writing does not come from a flow of great thoughts, but instead comes from the discipline of putting words on paper each day. If you want to learn how to be creative, you need to practice being creative. It may not be complicated, but it is difficult.
The truth is you are a worship leader. You may not sing on stage at your church but you lead worship every day.
Have you ever experienced something so delicious that you had to eat more? Maybe you've opened a bag of Doritos and minutes later discovered that you've eaten almost the whole bag. Or maybe you've experienced the feeling of walking into a kitchen with fresh baked brownies; the aroma fills the room and you can't help but eat several. One of the best snacks that I've ever experienced is my mom's chocolate chip cookies. My mom makes the best chocolate cookies in the world. There is nothing better than a tall glass of milk and a chocolate chip cookie that has been warmed up in the microwave.
This series focused on the importance of both knowing the truth of the gospel and daring to live it out in our daily lives. While the game truth or dare allows us to choose one or the other, our faith requires us to choose both. When I think of what it would like like to live a life, that solely focused on the truth of the gospel, but never dared to live it out, I can’t wrap my mind around how that can be justified.
Not only do I love preaching and listening to preachers, but I also love to read books about preaching. There are tons of incredible preachers, leaders, and writers who have a lot of valuable insight about the craft of preaching and a lot of books have really helped me as I've spent time learning how to be a better communicator of God's word. I've put together a list of some of my favorite books on preaching. The books are a variety of styles ranging from the practical to theological in nature, but they all have had value for me as I've read and studied them.
In the book Faithful Preaching by Tony Merida he listed out a great list of ten points of a great preacher. His list of preaching points are referenced from Martin Luther's table talks. The list has some obvious points like, "Be able to speak well." But it also lists some other great reminders that we might forget like, "Be ready to benture body and blood, wealth and honor, for the word of God."
When I was a young kid, I was pretty much afraid of anything. I was afraid of swimming, even with a life-jacket on. I was afraid of eating taco bell; I actually cried when I was forced to try taco bell for the first time. When I was a kid, everything seemed to be too big a risk. In life, there will always be certain things that have some element of risk to them. And this is especially true when it comes to our faith. There are risks that comes with living out your faith. The risks may be losing respect, friends, popularity, or something else. Taking the truth of the gospel seriously, to the point that we are willing to live it out everywhere, can sometimes be risky.
When Jesus tells the disciples that the truth will set them free, I immediately have two questions. What is the truth and what does it set us free from? There are plenty of things in life that are true. Facebook is filled with true statements every time sometimes likes a status that says "truth is..."
Truth or Dare is a game all about making a difficult decision; which will be less uncomfortable - being truthful about a difficult question or following through with the dare presented to you? I remember not knowing what I would choose when playing the game and being frozen as I tried to determine, should I focus on the truth or focus on the dare. As Christians, it is crucial that we spend time both knowing and growing in the truth and daring to live out that truth in our day-to-day lives.
I love pretty much anything by Andy Stanley; this clip from their series "What is Christian" does a great job challenging us to think about really living out our faith. Imagine what the world would look like if we actually lived the way the Bible teaches. What would happen if we all started doing that?