Tuesday, November 30, 2010
How I Pastor My Family
This is a great blog from Justin Hyde of Christ Church in Brenham, Texas. It is well worth the time. Check it out here. http://theresurgence.com/2010/04/13/how-i-pastor-my-family
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Social Media and Culture
"Social media is also changing the way people spend their time. Recent statistics from Nielson indicate that Americans spend 906 million hours per month using social media. Twitter has over 100 million users. YouTube serves more than two billion videos a day. And Facebook reports that, worldwide, its 500 million active users spend a combined 700 billion minutes on the site each month. That’s roughly 24 hours per person, which is a lot of time to spend checking status updates and changing profile pictures." Check out http://www.gty.org/Blog/B101110 for more.
Again, I want to recommend the Hypersocialized Generation by Albert Mohler. It can be found here http://www.albertmohler.com/category/video/
Again, I want to recommend the Hypersocialized Generation by Albert Mohler. It can be found here http://www.albertmohler.com/category/video/
Identifying Idols
AW Tozer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” The reason for this is because we will inevitably worship and idolize whatever it is we deem most important. When many of us hear about idolatry we tend to think of an ancient group of uneducated people bowing down to some sort of statue. Even though we are more educated than previous generations we are still bowing down to idols. This is especially true in a teenager’s life.
Teens long for significance and identity. In their search to fulfill these desires many of them are driven to find their identity wrapped up in a person or thing. Tim Keller says that idolatry is often taking a good thing and turning it into an ultimate thing. Students do this very thing. They tend to take a good thing, like academic achievement, and make it an ultimate thing. When this happens their sense of identity is wrapped up in their performance in the classroom. This will result in failure becoming devastating, rather than seeing it as an opportunity to learn.
Many have bought into the lie that their significance, purpose, and identity are found in the things of this world rather than God. They believe that this world will bring them more happiness than God. This is also true even for adults. Jobs, approving relationships, academics, material possessions, and family are all good things. Yet, when they become ultimate things in our lives they destroy us. CS Lewis once said “Idols always break the hearts of their worshippers.”
God is the one who is supposed to be ultimate in our lives. As parents we must show our children that all of our identity is found in what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. One thing I constantly tell myself is that all of my significance, approval and worth is found in what Christ has accomplished for me on the cross, not in the approval of man (Gal. 1:10). As parents we must repent openly to our children of our idols, and constantly help point them to the truth found in Jesus. As Augustine once said, “"Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it rest in Thee.” May we find rest in Christ, so we can guide our children.
Teens long for significance and identity. In their search to fulfill these desires many of them are driven to find their identity wrapped up in a person or thing. Tim Keller says that idolatry is often taking a good thing and turning it into an ultimate thing. Students do this very thing. They tend to take a good thing, like academic achievement, and make it an ultimate thing. When this happens their sense of identity is wrapped up in their performance in the classroom. This will result in failure becoming devastating, rather than seeing it as an opportunity to learn.
Many have bought into the lie that their significance, purpose, and identity are found in the things of this world rather than God. They believe that this world will bring them more happiness than God. This is also true even for adults. Jobs, approving relationships, academics, material possessions, and family are all good things. Yet, when they become ultimate things in our lives they destroy us. CS Lewis once said “Idols always break the hearts of their worshippers.”
God is the one who is supposed to be ultimate in our lives. As parents we must show our children that all of our identity is found in what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. One thing I constantly tell myself is that all of my significance, approval and worth is found in what Christ has accomplished for me on the cross, not in the approval of man (Gal. 1:10). As parents we must repent openly to our children of our idols, and constantly help point them to the truth found in Jesus. As Augustine once said, “"Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it rest in Thee.” May we find rest in Christ, so we can guide our children.
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