Family of Faith - 9/2/07

Ready or Not...

A new school year brings with it many new beginnings and challenges. It seems that every parent I have talked with this week has commented on how they were ready for the school year to begin but not ready in other ways. It seems as if this is a common theme in many areas of life. When we were preparing for Miriam to be born, we were ready and not ready. Whenever I leave for a trip, I am ready to go but there are things I am leaving behind undone.



I think the challenge is when we feel this way in our spiritual lives. Sometimes I feel like my relationship with God is going great. I am praying daily. I am in his word like I need to be. I am seeking his guidance in my life in many ways. At the same time, I feel that there is so much more I need to be doing to further my walk with him. As I am trying to walk the straight and narrow path, even though I am mostly staying between the lines, every now and then there are areas where I could do better. I am ready for the challenges that God has in store and I feel I can serve but there are still ways I could use just a little more refining.
How do we deal with this tension of being on fire for him and feeling like we could be the basis for the next super Christian action figure and feeling like we will never measure up and that Mattel would not want a spiritual weakling for an action figure? I think the problem in all of this does not have to do with a supernatural scale that God is using to determine if we are ready or not. We are not being weighed against the ideal Christian we ought to be.
When we commit our lives to service of the King, the work on us is only just beginning. 1 John 4:4 says, “Greater is he that is in you that the one that is in the world.” Whether we feel we are ready or not, God is at work in our lives making us ready. He makes us capable of dealing with the things for which we think we need more preparation. When we know that the one at work inside us is more powerful than the challenges we face in our day, we can say with assurance that, “ready or not, here I come.” Greater is He that is in you!
~Josh Kellar

Taking It Home
Ask your children if they felt ready for school this week. Ask them what they wish they could have done to feel more prepared as they started school.
After they have told you about things they wished would have been different, discuss with them about how God makes us ready for our challenges.
Challenge them to partner with God in being prepared for each day.

Family of Faith - 9/2/07

Family of Faith - 8/26/07

Academic or Spiritual
Champions?

Each year children are sent back to school with such excitement about new beginnings and being one year closer to graduation. With all the preparations made in August, parents hope that their children are ready for the school year to begin. So much concern and effort is put toward their academics that it is hard to imagine that anything could be more important than school. It’s hard to imagine that anything could be more important than their education which will impact their future careers and success. It’s hard to imagine that with all the emphasis placed on academic achievement, there could be anything we might want to prioritize above ABC’s and 123’s. Could there possibly be anything more important?
If we were able to step out of our brand new school shoes to look at our lives, would we be able to see that there is often more emphasis on intellectual development than spiritual development? Please do not hear me saying that we should yank kids out of school and only educate them in the Bible. What I am suggesting, albeit suggesting strongly, is that the spiritual development emphasis should be tipping the scale. But how are you as a parent supposed to ensure this with all the homework, piano lessons and football practice, especially when you already attend church three times a week?
Is it really possible to raise spiritual champions in a world that makes it so much easier to raise spiritual weaklings? Excelling in school is so much easier because there are so many more resources available to ensure that children do well academically. So how is a parent wanting to raise their child up to make righteous decisions supposed to compete? Every way possible. Mark 8:36 asks, “What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet to forfeit your soul?” I do believe that it is possible for our children to excel in school and be spiritual champions. To accomplish this, I believe that parents are going to have to use every resource available to them to compete against all the tools the world uses to create spiritual weaklings. Parents, you can do it. God does not call you to raise spiritual champions without giving you to equipment you need to cross train. Jesus says, “Take heart, for I have overcome the world.” You can compete. You can cross train. You can raise spiritual champions. Do not be afraid to prioritize spiritual health over intellectual health.
~Josh Kellar

Taking It Home
Pray each morning with your kids this week before they head off to school. Pray that God will teach them more than their teachers. Pray that they will learn about His love and His compassion.

Family of Faith - 8/26/07

Family of Faith - 08/19/07

“Mom, have you ever done anything bad?”

I remember when I first asked that question of my parents. They got squirmy real fast and tried to change the subject to something else. As an eight year old I was able to catch on to what they were doing and their uncomfortability at my question. So I did what any eight year old would do...kept asking. What came out of that question was an atmosphere of honesty and openness between me and my dad that I would not trade for anything. There are certainly appropriate times for parents to disclose certain things about their past, and there may even be things that child will not need to ever hear about. As with any experience, our stories are full of teachable moments. When we see choices our kids make and are reminded of a poor decision we once made, what an excellent opportunity for children to see that parents do make mistakes and that it is ok to talk about them with their kids. Children tend to think that since the parents set the rules, the parents obey the rules. If having a conversation with your child about a time you broke the rules frightens you, think about the benefits to your relationship when they feel that the communication lines are open regarding mistakes they make. Children may understand that there will still be consequences but they will be more willing to accept them knowing that you as a parent can relate. Below are some tips for opening the communication doors to your past. I hope you will strive to use your stories and experiences as teachable moments for your children.

~Josh Kellar

Taking It Home
Share a time with your child when you:
1. Were surprised by God as a child
2. Failed a friend
3. Saw your parent’s faith in action
4. Learned from a mistake
5. Learned from someone else’s mistake.

Family of Faith - 08/19/07

Family of Faith - 8/5/07

Is Your Bread Warm?

Do you ever bake bread? Do you ever eat bread fresh out of the oven? For a while, I was in the habit of making fresh bread with our bread machine. When the timer beeps indicating that the bread is done, I would rush into the kitchen and take the bread out and while it was still warm cut off a slice and eat it immediately. There is a feel good feeling associated with eating warm bread. It seems to fill your insides with warmth as well and gives you a sensation that you have been nourished in a way not possible with cold, or even stale bread.
I wonder how often when we are partaking of the bread of life, we are eating cold - or even stale - bread. When we let our relationship with God become stagnant, we are not eating warm bread. When we feel like we can stop reading His word, because we have read it before, we are eating stale bread. If God’s word is living and active then it will be fresh on our minds and hearts. The Spirit’s work in our lives will fill our insides with warmth and give us a sensation that we have been nourished in a way not possible with cold, or stale bread.
Jesus said “I Am the Bread of Life.” When we go to Him for fresh warm bread, he says we will never go hungry and we will never be thirsty. How disappointing it is to go to the bread box, hungry, wanting to be filled only to find moldy bread. Jesus is the Bread of Life, He will fill us with warm bread that won’t leave us hungry.
~Josh Kellar

Taking It Home
1. Purposefully leave a piece of bread out on the counter for a few hours. Then ask your kids to pick it up and see if they would enjoy eating a peanut butter sandwich made with that bread.
2. Make a comparison to how sometimes God’s word is neglected and our relationship with Jesus suffers.
3. Read the passage from John 6 and ask your children to think about ways the Bread of Life can be “warmed.”

Family of Faith - 8/5/07

Family of Faith - 7/29/07

The MAGIC Ratio…

You know those couples that you look at and think, “Those two really have it all together!” You look at their family and the kids are all well behaved, they seem to always be smiling, you never hear either of them speak negatively about the other. For a second you think that they probably never argue and that nothing negative ever happens in their home. This is where John Gottman, a marriage counselor and researcher would disagree. According to him ALL couples have negative interactions. Without defining exactly what that is (because different individuals perceive what negative is differently) he says what makes these “perfect” couples different is not that they never argue. Its not that life hasn't ever dealt them a bad hand and definitely not that they just avoid their problems. Gottman says that these couples are different because the positive interactions outweigh the negative by five to one. For every negative comment made, there are five positive comments. Does this ratio seem too impossible for you and your family? You have probably never actually tried counting but what if you did? What would your family life look like if for every negative thing that happened, five positive were there fighting to make you “The perfect family.” Proverbs 15:13 says, “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.
~Josh Kellar

Taking It Home
What would your positive to negative compliment ratio be? 1 to 1? 5 to 1? 1 to 5?
The writer of Proverbs 15 uses pretty harsh language saying that heartache crushes the spirit. Has someone in your family had their spirit crushed by negative comments made without consideration of the consequences?
Having a 5 to 1 compliment ratio does not automatically fix the negative things said. How might it make you more aware of the comments being made on a daily basis around the home?

Family of Faith - 7/29/07

Family of Faith - 7/22/07

What EVERY
Woman Wants…

I certainly am not going to assume that I know what women think. When I hear men claiming that they know just what women think and want I shake my head and run away. However, after several conversations I have had recently I have made a conclusion. In some form or another, every woman wants sincerity. I have a hard time imagining a wife or mother who would willingly say they could do without sincerity. Can you think of a wife who doesn’t wish their husband was more passionate than her when it comes to his relationship with God? Can you think of a mother who wishes the father of her children was a little less interested in his children? The problem is, that as men, we settle for mediocrity. We make excuses for our insincerity and assume that our families will take the hit lying down. What would it look like in our families if our Husbands and Dads had as their number one priority their own spiritual health? Men who are in pursuit of a sincere relationship with God have no choice but to let that passion seep down into their other relationships, specifically their family. The challenge to increase sincerity in the hearts of our congregation’s men is not impossible. Let’s examine our hearts and see if we have allowed insincerity to characterize how we do our family relationships. If you find yourself allowing yourself to settle for mediocrity, fight back by being more intentional. Be in “hot pursuit” of God and you will find that the chase does not leave you breathless but instead drawing closer to Him.
~Josh Kellar

Taking It Home
Women: In what ways have I become “okay” with a lack of sincerity in my husband’s relationship with God?
Men: What would my relationships be like if I were more passionate about my own relationship with God?

Family of Faith - 7/22/07

Family of Faith - 7/15/07

Here are some statistics I found on George Barna’s website, www.barna.org.

Good
79% of adolescents feel safe when they are at home
69% say their family eats together at least five nights a week.
64 % say they can trust their parents to do what is right for the child.
91% of adolescents get punished by their parents for using bad language
74% said their parents enforce a strict curfew.
67% said the amount of T.V. they are allowed to watch is limited by their parents.

Not So Good
38% of young people said that churches have made a positive difference in their life.
34% said that prayer is very important to them.
43% rejected the notion that they would rather be popular than do what is morally right.
56% of children believe they will have a great life.
57% contend that they look forward to spending free time with their family.
35% of pre-teens said they find it easy to talk to their parents about everything that is happening in their life.

What does all of this mean? It means that parents are, in general, active in the lives of their children. The exception to this is when it comes to spiritual matters. These stats reflect that when it comes to their children’s faith, parents are much less influential.
~Josh Kellar

Taking It Home

Just one question this week:

Are you ok with these statistics?

Family of Faith - 7/15/07

Family of Faith - 7/8/07

Isn't it amazing that VBS is already here? It seems like I just started working with Mesquite a few weeks ago. The theme for this year is all about trusting God. I hope as a family you will take the opportunity to talk with your kids about trust and even more importantly, live out your trust in God as an example to them. Think about how often your children see and hear you worrying about things. Do your children hear more about how tight the finances are than how much you rely on God to meet your needs? Do your children see how you pray when there are difficult decisions to be made? God feeds the birds of the air and He dresses the lilies of the field (Matt. 6). He will meet your needs as well. He has a course set out for your family and he is not going to require you to set sail without providing the wind. Sometimes trust in God requires an enormous amount of faith. Jonah thought God was crazy for sending him to Nineveh. Elijah knew his God could torch an altar soaked in water. The disciples interrupted Jesus’ nap not trusting that even though he could feed 5,000 he could not save them from a storm. Different people respond to worry in different ways. God calls of us all to trust. I hope God will teach you and your family this week about dependence on him during challenging situations.
~Josh Kellar

Taking It Home

What are the times when it is most difficult for you to trust?
Read Matthew 6:25-34. When Matthew says, “Each day has trouble of its own” what does he mean?
What are some of the troubles that you have experienced in the last 24 hours?
How have you trusted or not trusted God when it comes to these problems?
Pray as a family about the specific things you deal with and ask God to help you trust in him more.

Family of Faith - 7/8/07

Family of Faith - 7/1/07

We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Do these words ring a bell? If not, I would encourage you to go online and read a document called, “The Declaration of Independence.” Written by a man named Thomas Jefferson, this document holds within it the basis for our independence as a nation. Its interesting that each year we celebrate the 4th of July and rarely call it “Independence Day.” Whether we celebrate the day or not, all who live in this country benefit from the freedom provided by others, whether present or past. In our nation’s 231 year history since it was written, we have seen in action how, “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” As Christians, we kick things up a notch. Our responsibilities to each other are not simply the result of our citizenship in America but also our citizenship in Heaven. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1). Our freedom in Christ carries with it the privilege of mutually pledging our lives, our talents, and our integrity to each other. I hope you will take a chance to read the Declaration of Independence this week, and also reflect on our Freedom in Christ and the heavenly citizenship it brings.
~Josh Kellar
Taking It Home
Ask your children what freedoms they have living in America.
Talk with them about the cost of freedom. “Freedom isn’t always free!”
Ask one of your children to read aloud John 8:34-36. Ask what it would be like to be a slave.
So what does it mean to be a slave to sin?
What does it mean that Christ has set us free from our slavery to sin? (Younger children may not fully understand this. It’s ok! You are laying a foundation)

Family of Faith - 7/1/07

Family of Faith - 6/24/07

Headline: “Obscenity is not protected by the 1st Amendment!!”

Believe it or not, exactly 50 years ago today, June 24th 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that obscenity was not a constitutional right and thus was not protected by the 1st Amendment. Also interesting is that 50 years to the day after this ruling, I am at Brazos Valley Camp preaching a sermon to a group of 3-6th graders on how to resist following the leader when the leader is using profane language! Despite the Supreme Court ruling, obscenity still pervades our culture and the children learn it. Even more sadly is that the children often learn this language from their parents. We read passages like James 3:9-10 and think that our mouths do only praise and not cursing. Our children do most of their learning not from teachers at school or ministry volunteers at church but from parents! Gladly, parents, you have the ability to show them how, “from the heart the mouth speaks.” When you heart is filled with the spirit, the fruits of the spirit will be produced. Think this week about how the words we say show our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
~Josh Kellar
Taking It Home
When is it most difficult for you to talk nicely?
Are there times when you want to say hurtful things that you are able to hold them back?
Have a child read James 3:3-8. Discuss each of the metaphors used to describe the tongue so the children understand what James is saying (i.e. bits in horses mouths, a ship’s rudder, a tongue on fire.)
If a tongue is like fire, what kind of damage can it do?
Talk with your children about how even fire can be helpful sometimes if it is under control (i.e. a campfire for cooking or a candle for providing light).
Have children brainstorm other ways fire is helpful and how their tongues can be used for good instead of evil.

Family of Faith - 6/24/07

Family of Faith - 6/17/07

The best thing a man can do for his children…..

Happy Father’s Day! I hope all the father’s feel a special pride today whether you are young or old. I have only been a father for 9 months but I am incredibly proud of my family. I began preparing for fatherhood long before I became a dad. I even began preparing for fatherhood before I married Krista. For me, I watched my dad while I was growing up and, whether I knew it or not, was taking note of what it means to be a good father. There were good things I learned and mistakes I learned from. Probably the most influential thing my dad did to prepare me for fatherhood was loving my mom. Of all the things that stand out and mean the most to me, it is that my dad loves my mom. I think more than participating in sporting or school events or setting aside family time, the thing that will have the most lasting impact on your children is if you have a genuine and sincere love for their mother. People have asked me before, “How can I be a good father?” my response has always been, “The best thing a man can do for his children is to love their mother.” I hope you will remember that this father’s day and love your kids by loving their mom!
~Josh Kellar
Taking It Home
Have the kids make a list of everything that makes a “good” father.
Ask them to think about the ways that God meets these characteristics as our Heavenly Father.
Read Deuteronomy 4:9 together. How do our experiences -”the things our eyes have seen”- shape us as a family?
Ask the children to think of things they will always remember about they way they see their parents loving each other.
If you are brave, ask the children ways they think you could love your spouse more. Children are very perceptive!

Family of Faith - 6/17/07

Family of Faith - 6/10/07

“How is your family doing?” asked one minister to a man in his congregation. “Oh, we’re surviving,” said the man.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people say they are surviving in response to their life situation. This is certainly good news to hear in many situations where there have been some tragic circumstances in which the family has to make adjustments to the way they live. For these families, I am glad to hear they are surviving. Sadly, this is often the response for many others as well. I have even said it myself, “If I can just survive the next 2 weeks, all will be well.” Am I setting the standard too low in merely trying to survive. What would happen if instead of setting my hopes on being able to survive, I desired to thrive instead? Would it mean that I would have to take a look at what is filling up my life and decide which extra things make merely surviving my best option? It’s very likely. Would this change my life so dramatically that I would have to give some things up? It probably would. Would this mean that keeping certain things in my life are a liability and threaten my ability to thrive? That’s exactly what it means. If we want our families to thrive instead of just survive we have to realize what it means to pursue more in life than just getting by. Jesus came that we might have life more abundantly (John 10:10). How are you going to help your family thrive instead of survive?

Taking It Home
What are some things in our life that make us feel busy?
Are these things we HAVE to do, or are they extra?
What do you think would change if we did not feel so busy all the time?
Read John 10:10. If there were a thief in your life, what would he be trying to steal?
How does being busy make it easier for the “thief” to steal it?
Create a family plan to protect yourself from “the thief.”

Family of Faith - 6/10/07

Family of Faith - 6/3/07

Good elders are gentle, hands-on shepherds who smell like sheep

. This quote from Lynn Anderson’s book, They Smell Like Sheep, made me think about the elders here at Mesquite. Isn’t it great that we have such men who are willing to lead our congregation? As the children hear lessons like Steve preaches this morning, they learn about what spiritual leadership is all about. They come to understand how God has chosen to be among his people. Jesus, the “Good Shepherd” smelled like his sheep. The men chosen as elders of this congregation seek to impersonate Jesus in this way. As Anderson also says, “When elders shepherd, they imitate the ways of Jesus and reflect the very heart of God”

Taking It Home
Below is a short devotional you can use based off the lesson this morning that you can do as a family. I would encourage you to talk with your kids about what happens on Sunday mornings. I hope this is one way of assisting with that. Set aside family time for devotionals. Sing! Read! Pray!

1. Read Psalm 23 together and answer the following.
2. What do you think of when you hear the word shepherd?
3. What sorts of things must shepherds do to make sure they take care of the sheep?
4. Can you name all four elders of the Mesquite Church of Christ? Explain that sometimes elders are also referred to as shepherds.
5. In what ways do the elder/shepherds of the Mesquite Church of Christ take care of the sheep? (At this point you may need to explain a little further that the members are the sheep).
6. Ask and encourage your children to think of ways they can show respect and thanks to the Shepherds for what they do.

Family of Faith - 6/3/07

Family of Faith - 5/27/07

I was told that I need to start putting my Bulletin Inserts on my blog. I will start at the beginning and post all the ones I have done so far. Enjoy!

Greetings! As the children get out of school, I hope that you will find opportunities to fill your summer with times which enrich your family and grow closer to God. Since the bulletin is always filled with much other important information, I hope that this insert will be helpful in keeping up with important events about the children’s ministry and that you will refer to it each week. I also hope that you will be blessed by our meeting together each Sunday. As a way of extending the faith formation of Sundays into the home each week, I hope that this insert will provide further opportunities for you to grow as a family. Use the questions presented here to have discussions with your children. Learn how to find “teachable moments” with your child as you (and they) experience the world. Find ways of applying the lessons learned from class and worship into everyday settings. As always, I am here to help in any way possible. Please let me know what is needed.

Family of Faith - 5/27/07