God

Dear Student (A Letter of Encouragement from the Heart of a Pastor)

Dear Student,

Remember when you were born? It was a pretty rough time back then: Bush and Gore had an election standoff, the WorldTrade Centers fell, people were losing their jobs, dads were going to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. When you were born, you brought hope. People were so excited you would have thought mom and dad had just built an epic house in Minecraft or won free music downloads for life. They even made you a birthday cake with Psalm 139:14 written on it: “I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well.” (HCSB).

It’s been fascinating watching you grow up. Congratulations on learning to walk, talk, and eat with a fork (well, most of the time). You’ve downed your milk, ate your Flinstones, swallowed six bites of veggies, and took your shots (or, if you parents are “earthy,” you endured the mumps). You’ve also managed to learn to reed and right (even learned to spell); your math goes well beyond your toes, and despite your mother’s fears, you really do know how to hear. You’ve scored the goal, achieved the belt, rounded the bases, and remembered the notes.  You’ve worn the crown, found the treasure, solved the puzzle, and built the fort. It’s time to play the anthem and raise the flag; congratulations, you’ve earned it: childhood gold.

So when did it happen? When did the familiar smile in the mirror lose its teeth? When did your joyful eyes become critical? Here’s my guess: you started comparing yourself to others. The little boy in the mirror discovered that he’s really not Spider-Man, that some guys have more to talk about than video games, score more touchdowns, make better grades, collect more laughs, and receive more texts with girly emoticons in them. The little girl learned that Cinderella ends with a lie. She discovered that some girls have straighter A’s, take better pictures, have cuter clothes, get more invitations, and cause more boys to act a fool.

The tragedy in this is that when you lose your smile you’re donating your self-image to a bunch of people who really don’t care about you. Even worse, you’re rejecting God’s design for you. The Psalm was true when you were born, and it’s also true for you today. You are “remarkably and wonderfully made.” Instead of placing your trust in others to tell you how you’re supposed to feel, place your trust in Christ. God loves you, and God has a life-story for you. God has carefully designed you and equipped you to live out your own story. Pursue God’s best in your life; the best you is the one that God made.

Please don’t spend life trying to be like everyone else, and please don’t waste life trying to gain approval from everyone. Instead, live your life in God’s approval; pursue Christ’s reflection when you gaze at the mirror. Do you realize that when you believe in Christ, you belong to God?  The cross has been raised and you stand beneath it graced with eternal gold. Through Christ, you have the approval of the One who made you. Live in that approval; grow in that approval; love in that approval. So, give yourself consent to smile again, because you were, are, and always will be remarkably and wonderfully made.

 Lash Banks is Lead Pastor at Murphy Road Baptist Church (murphychurch.com). Lash’s weekly podcast/sermon can be heard at http://www.buzzsprout.com/17504 

by Lash Banks

5 Things This Dad Wants His Kids to Learn BEFORE Kindergarten (or at least by age 40).

It may be the most amazing moment life has to offer: that moment when you hold your son or daughter in your arms for the first time. At that moment, love drenches your heart. Your arms are filled with hopes and dreams. It’s a celebration which quickly turns into a staggering responsibility. During those first five years, a foundation is built which must be strong enough to sustain a century of living. It’s enough to make you swallow hard and pray for wisdom. Lord, what are the most important things for me to teach?

I am blessed with 3 little ones ages 6 and under. I’m just a dad like any other dad trying to navigate the foreign world of diapers, cartoons, and organic cheese-sticks, with my gorgeous wife who now holds the additional title of mom.  Recently, our church asked the question, “What is it that you really want your children to learn before kindergarten?” Here is my attempt to answer that humbling question.

God’s Grace—I want my kids to understand Christianity through the lens of grace. It’s easy when kids are young to teach a “do this and don’t do that” view of Christianity. In our efforts to teach children obedience, we have to be careful not to teach them that God’s love for them is based on their loveliness. When my children reach that moment of salvation, I want them to believe in a God that loves them so much that He sent His son so that whoever believes has eternal life, not a God who’s “making a list and checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty and nice.” It’s the difference between gospel grace and performance moralism.

Dad’s Grace—The most frightening reality of fatherhood for me is that my children are forming their images of God the Father from watching their own father. How can I teach them that God is graceful if I am not? My kids have to know that their Dad loves them unconditionally whether they are being good or bad. “Daddy loves you kid, now go to timeout.” I want my children to understand there are consequences, but beyond the consequences I want them to know that grace abounds and love endures.

To Listen from Their Heart—Among the greatest accomplishments of parenthood is the ability to speak to the heart of your child. When my kids are young I can control their behavior, because I’m bigger than they are, and I control their source of Goldfish, milk, and bunk beds. As children grow older an amazing deafness to wisdom occurs when they have never learned to listen from the heart. If, as father, I don’t learn to speak to their heart in toddlerhood, then I fear they will grow deaf to the Heavenly Father’s voice in adolescence.

Reality—Repeat after me “It’s okay for my children to be disappointed and sad, to know the word ‘no,’ and to have boundaries. It’s okay for my child to cry, to lose, and to struggle in their work. It’s even okay for my child to understand that life is precious and loved ones die.” Like you, I never like to see my kids hurt or struggle; daddy wants to make it better, but making it easier is not always making it better. The harsh moments are life’s greatest classroom. When life grows hard, faith, hope, and love must be my curriculum.

To Love Others—My first child rocked my world. That little one took my time, my money, my energy, even my sleep! That first year of fatherhood caused me to take a grueling look within and face my selfishness, but my love for my daughter motivated me to give her my all. The scriptures reveal the soul’s default of selfishness. If I don’t teach and model for my children what it means to love others, who will? Every night as they go to bed I pray a simple prayer over them: “Lord, help us to love you, love one another, and love others.

Parenting is hard work and there are no guarantees. We can’t be the Holy Spirit in the lives of our children. Children are gifts from God, and God is the author of their life’s story. But God has also called Moms and Dads to the amazing journey of guiding the heart of a child that He dearly loves. When you hold that little hand, you are holding a heart. Of all the people on planet earth, God has chosen you and equipped you to drench that little heart with love. You can do this!

 Lash Banks is Lead Pastor at Murphy Road Baptist Church (murphychurch.com). Lash’s weekly podcast/sermon can be heard at http://www.buzzsprout.com/17504 

10 Mind Blowing Realities About God’s Love For You
  • God sent His son because He loves you—John 3:16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
  • God loves you even though you sin—Romans 5:8 But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!
  • God saves you through grace—Ephesians 2:8-9 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift not from works, so that no one can boast
  • God is faithful to forgive—I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
  • God gives you a new life—Galatians 2:19b-20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
  • God’s love for you lasts forever—Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love is eternal.
  • God’s love brings quiet to your soul—Zephaniah 3:17 Yahweh your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy.”
  • God’s love matures you—Ephesians 3:17b-18 I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,
  • God’s love exalts you to new heights—I Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you.
  • God’s love brings you victory—Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Lash Banks is Lead Pastor at Murphy Road Baptist Church (murphychurch.com).  Lash’s weekly podcast/sermon can be heard at http://www.buzzsprout.com/17504   
 
All Scripture citations are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.  Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.