A couple of years ago, while I was the Youth Pastor, I had a mom come to me and plead with me to fix her daughters. She had two daughters who were both… let’s just say… their moral compass was not pointing north. As she sat in my office complaining to me about her daughters, how they never listen, how they were into this and that… She had a tone that led me to think it was somehow my responsibility to make them Holy. (As a side note her daughters came to youth/church once or twice a month.)

I could tell in her voice that she was desperate, and after 10 minutes of listening to her spew, I finally had to ask her to stop so I could ask a question, to which I already knew the answer. “Do you go to church?”… I could tell that my question put her on her heels. “No..” she replied, “but I watch Christian TV.”

I calmly told her that her daughters meant a great deal to me, however, there was very little I could do for them. She looked at me like a deer in headlights. I continued to tell her that if she wanted to “fix” her daughters she needed to set the example and be submitted to a pastor. I told her that she should not expect me to fix her daughter if she was not committed to it. I went on to say that I could preach holiness and purity all day long but, as long as she permitted her daughters to dress the way they did she was voiding the very thing she wanted fixed. You can imagine that this was not the response she wanted. I prayed for her and told her that I would continue to do what I could, however she needed to consider making some changes.

As she left, my heart was saddened, I knew that she was not willing to make the changes. As the parent she was not willing to take responsibility for herself or her children. When God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply He gave humans the ability to reproduce, the responsibility as parents to raise a child in the way that they should go, and the authority to be the leaders of their house.

When I was a child, the rule was, “As long as you live under my roof you will be in church!” I didn’t have an option. When the doors of the church were open we were there. Think about it for a second.. out of 168 hrs in a week, 56 hrs will be spent sleeping, 21+hrs in front of the tv, 30hrs in school, 5hrs on homework, 2hrs in church (one service a week) and the rest (54hrs) with friends, on the internet etc.. being influenced by the world. Spending 2hrs in church a week is just over 1%.

As a parent, I encourage you to walk in the authority that God has given you. Make time at home to read the bible and pray together. Get your children to church when the doors are open and get them around youth pastors and leaders. By doing so, we decrease the amount of time the world influences our children and increase the time God influences them.

All of us have experienced “priority disorder.” You know, when we find ourselves letting the things we should do fall behind the immediate things. Often the immediate things are not bad. They merely consume our time which in turn causes erosion in the areas of our life that is most needed. We experience this in our professional life, our social life, our family life and especially in our spiritual life. Have you ever sat down to read your bible and everything you needed to get done all of sudden comes to mind? And you find yourself dwelling on those things rather than what God is saying to you through His word? If the enemy can’t make you sin, he will make you busy. His one goal is to get you to pull back from what God has called you to do. For example: prayer time, bible reading, church attendance and volunteering. Don’t let the enemy dull your spiritual axe by keeping you from what God has called you to. Make a decision today to keep your spiritual axe sharp, you’ll find that when your axe is sharp the rest will fall into place. It is important to our spheres of influence that we remain spiritually sharp.

John 16:33

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

I was reminded of this story of Edmund Hillary.

Edmund Hillary attempted to climb Mount Everest in 1952. A few weeks later after his failed attempt, he was asked to address a group in England. Hillary walked to the edge of the stage, made a fist and pointed at a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice, “Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I’ll beat you the next time because you’ve grown all you are going to grow. . . but I’m still growing!” On May 29, 1953, only one year later, Edmund Hillary succeeded in climbing Mount Everest.

Mountains are not just hard times, they can be anything that steals our peace, our joy, our passion or is contrary to the word of God. For most of us we would consider a mountain as a circumstance or situation, but things such as laziness or excuses are just as much an Everest as any circumstance or situation.

Don’t let your mountains win in your life. Have the attitude of Edmond Hillary. Cheer up, put a smile on your face, and walk in peace knowing that Jesus overcame the world for you.

A friend told me, “I’m leaving the church.”  As I listened to his excuses I was reminded of a story about a grandfather who fell asleep in his favorite chair. While sleeping, his grandchildren snuck in and put some Limburger cheese in his mustache. When the grandfather woke from his nap he exclaimed, “This room stinks!” He promptly got up and went into the kitchen. As he walked into the kitchen he proclaimed, “This room stinks too!” He then walked into the dining room and to his surprise “This room stinks also!” Disgusted with his house he walked outside. As he stood on his porch taking in a deep breath he shouted “My goodness! The whole world stinks!”

It is safe to say we will be presented with the opportunity to get offended. When we get offended it is easy to blame others and make excuses. Often I hear the words “I am not the only one that feels this way!” or “I know it’s not me so it has to be you!” To someone that is offended a simple “How are you?” is interpreted that you are trying to meddle in their business. Or a simple head nod instead of a verbal “Hi” is viewed as a “You don’t care about me” or “Pastor is stuck up.” The truth is that when you are offended everything is a sign. However the reality is that the stink is on you.

Some thoughts…

1) You are responsible for your offense. Go to the person and work though it. If you are offended it’s your job to go to them, not the other way around. The word says that if a brother sins against you, you go to them.

2) God said to be meek, humble, merciful, loving and forgiving. Not mad, offended and bitter

3) We are known by our fruit, if the fruit you bear is the fruit of offense, tend to it quickly or it will destroy you

10 Signs you’re offended

1) You think stupid thoughts.

2) You think and stew on it longer than a day.

3) It keeps you up at night and invades your thoughts.

4) You talk about it to others.

5) You’re defensive about it.

6) You’re not teachable.

7) You’re angry about it all the time.

8) You murmur and complain.

9) You’re self-righteous.

10) Your personal life is a wreck.

Offense is Satan’s tactic to isolate you from God.  More people have missed the blessings of God and the will of God because they let a seed of bitterness flower into offense and keep them from walking in forgiveness. The word is clear on how God feels when we don’t forgive our brother.

I love my Pastor. He is a true Shepard. He loves people more than they will ever know. The other day I walked into his office to find him deeply moved by the concern for one of his spiritual kids. (I often find him in prayer and contemplation over the people of our church, their well being and whether or not he is doing all he can to help them.) As he shared his heart I was reminded of the movie “The Guardian” and a couple of statements that Kevin Costner’s, a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer, character made.

• “At the end of the day the most important person to come home is you”
• “Save as many as you can and the rest is up to the sea.”
• “I swim as fast as I can, as hard as I can for as long as I can.”

“At the end of the day the most important person to come home is you.” In our desire to serve God we often neglect our own spiritual growth at the excuse of serving. The time we serve can often take the place of personal bible reading, prayer time and worship. We need to remember that we are called to reach people but not at the neglect of our own salvation and growth. We are responsible for both.

“Save as many as you can and the rest is up to the sea.” We are called to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Sometimes the weight of evangelism can discourage us. We get upset because someone we have been praying for or talking to rejects Christ. Or maybe someone we have been disciplining turns their back on Jesus or falls away. Perhaps they leave the church because of offense. Often experiences like this will demoralize us. Consider what the Word says, some will sow and some will reap. Our job is to save as many as we can and the rest is up to God.

“I swim as fast as I can, as hard as I can for as long as I can” As a Christ follower we often can get so focused on ourselves that we forget to reach out to people. Jesus commanded us, not as pastors but as believers, to go into all the world and preach the gospel. The Word says that our life is but a vapor. We only have a moment in time to make an impact. Sometimes we grow comfortable in our daily life and we forget there are people all around us who are searching for the Truth and the Life that is Jesus Christ. Life must be lived with a sense of urgency, tenacity and long-suffering for those who have yet to know Christ.