A Very Good Week With Challenges To Come!

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil 1:6 KJV)

Today, I am still in a pretty celebratory mood. My granddaughter, Ash, received her High School Diploma from Flagler Technical Institute yesterday. Sadly, there will probably not be any graduation party as so many other graduates have. Since, relocating to Florida, all of her friends and most of her family are in other states and too far away to come to celebrate with her. 

She passed her driving test with All Florida Safety Institute this week as well and is now a licensed driver. So, she has had a very good week. She has been also working since shortly after moving to Florida and saving for a car and hopefully some more education. There are still many challenges ahead for her, partly due to the fact that she is still a minor.

Being a young person in today's world is not easy. We have worked so hard to protect young people that in many ways we have made it difficult for them to grow up. They cannot see a doctor without a parent accompanying them and signing the appropriate insurance and other forms. Yet, in some states they can get an abortion without the parents even being informed. They are apparently wise enough to make a decision of that magnitude without the advice of an adult who loves them. Yet, they can't get their teeth cleaned without a parents' permission.

They can enlist in the armed forces at seventeen. Yet, in most states you have to be twenty-one to have a concealed carry permit. You also have to be twenty-one to drink alcoholic beverages even though you are more than old enough to die for your country.

I am not sure how anyone under the age of twenty-one would go about renting a place to live or how they would purchase a home. My husband and I purchased our first home when I was nineteen and no we didn't need a co-signer. Is that even possible today? 

I know that many of the laws that we have today are meant to protect children. But, some of these laws also restrict their ability to grow up; to really grow. Many of the laws keep young people reliant on their parents and the governing authorities for way too long.

But, for today, I am celebrating that Ash has met a couple more milestones in her life. She still has a lot of trials and challenges ahead of her. In reality, the trials never end no matter how long we get to live here on earth. Today, I celebrate that she has met many of the challenges set before her to date and she has overcome. 

Thanks be to God for blessing her! May He bless all of our young people as they strive to live abundant lives.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Home Based Christian Education

And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 

                         (Luke 18:15-16 KJV)

And, exactly how would we expect them to go to Jesus unless someone teaches them who he is and that they can go to him? For generations now, teaching children about Jesus has been left to the church basically on Sunday mornings for nine months of the year. Now that most of the public schools in the country are closed, parents and other guardians have figured out that they can actually  supervise the education of their own children in their homes. 

So now that you know you can; maybe, it would be wise to expand their at home education to include a Christian education as well. There is no reason that you cannot teach your children the stories from the Bible at home. There is no reason that you cannot teach them the basics of our faith. There is no reason that you cannot tell them who Jesus is and what he has done for them. There is no reason  that you cannot pray with them. 

Since so many of us are from a generation where we also did not get a steady home based Christian education, then adults that teach their children at home might receive a good refresher course at the same time. And, when Sunday School and Worship begin again this summer or fall in your local congregation; please, don't neglect to take your children so that they might worship God with the community of saints; that they might get to know Jesus more intimately.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Welcome the Little Children!

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matt 19:24 NIV)

Disney World, Universal Studies, Epcot Center, SeaWorld, and Legoland are just a few of the wonderful family vacation spots in Florida. Children are welcome to vacation here! But, what about live in Florida?

Are children welcome to live in Florida? I am sure there are many of areas in Florida that they are. But, there are also multitudes of areas in Florida that they are not. Before moving to the east coast, I did not fathom that there would be so many 55+ communities. For the past few months I have been trying to help my son and family find a new home. It has not been easy to find an affordable one and even the mobile homes that are affordable all seem to be in 55+ communities. My husband and I actually live in a 55+ community; but, no one in my son's family is near our age!

This is not the first time I've run into discrimination against young people. Many congregations all around the country that I have known about also cater to us more elderly persons. If a child whines or moves wrong in church the parents get that look that tells them either take that child outside or to the cry room that they spent money to prepare for just such a purpose. Many congregations actually have Sunday School for the children during Worship or they have a separate Children's Church to segregate the children and the adults. What has happened to us being "all God's children?" 

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Jesus desires that the little children go to him. For some reason I thought that we were to follow in Jesus' footsteps. Discriminating against anyone for any reason, including age, just doesn't seem like a Jesus thing to do.

May all God's people open their hearts and minds, their homes and their congregations to the little children of God.

God's Peace - Pr. J

No Cursing, Please!

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Eph 5:1-2

Children learn by what they see and hear. One teaching method I have noticed is adults trying to teach what not to do even while the adult teacher does it themselves. All too often, I have witnesses, adults correct children for swearing by swearing at them. Sure doesn't sound too loving to me and I'm thinking that particular teaching method  probably does not work all that well.

Some of the nicest people I know throw that f... word along with other off-colored slang randomly into their speech. I don't get it! Doesn't sound very Christ-like to me. Can you imagine Jesus using words like that? I can't.

In the past, when I taught confirmation classes, I tried to explain what curse or swear words are. There are many words that are so commonly used by the culture around us that some of the young people have had no clue that some of the words that they use daily are totally inappropriate. Many of these words actually take God's name in vain. Using vulgarity shows disrespect not only toward others; these words disrespect God and the person using them, as well.

We are sinful human beings and prone to slipping from time to time. But, life here in this would be so much more loving and peaceful if we could all be more Christ-like examples to children or to anyone around us. Maybe we could all work a little harder to erase a few of these curse words from our vocabularies and ultimately our cultures. Let us be imitators of Christ so that as our children learn from what we say and do; they too will learn to live more Christ-like.

May God help us to live in love, without using language to belittle or hurt others; rather, using language that will express our walk of faith in Jesus Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Real Love Never Ends

"Love never ends..." (Corinthians 13:8)

Young people have enough trouble growing up without having to endure the heartache of multiple broken relationships. It seems that teens and young adults (as well as way too many older adults) today fall in and out of love as fast you can blink an eye. At least, they will tell you that they were in love. It would be helpful to avoid these heartaches when beginning a new relationship to ask whether it is love or lust. Lust goes away after a time; sometimes after one night. Love never ends.

It breaks my heart to see so many young hearts broken because of the misperception that love and sex are the same thing. This is being subversively taught, not just by the media; but, by many adults who ought to know better as their own hearts have been broken many times by this mistaken line of thinking.

Love never ends. Even in many marriages that have ended up in divorce; the cause is not always that they fell out of love. They fell out of like. It is indeed possible to love someone even though you no longer like everything about the way someone has chosen to live. You may dislike (hate) the life that you have been caught up in so much that you see no other way to live except to separate. You may still love someone who uses and abuses you; but, you do not and should not love the abuse. It is possible to love the sinner and hate the sin. Real love never ends. But, if they are dragging you down; causing you to sin; causing you to turn away from living a fuller life in Christ, you ought to turn around quickly and go down the path that Jesus would have you go and not further on the path into the darkness.

There is One who will not take His love from you. He will not use or abuse you. He will give His all to you. Turn to the Lord for His love is everlasting. He does hate the sin; but, He loves you enough to die for you.

Ask yourself the next time you think you're in love. Would I die for this person? Do they love me enough to die for me? If you would take the time to do this for yourself; you may find that your heart is broken less often.

"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the wild does: do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready!" (Song of Solomon 2:7 NRSV)

Real love never ends.

God's Peace - Pr. J