God is Near

This morning I preached a sermon that has developed out of some spiritual awareness I have had recently. I have been thinking a lot about God's nearness. God has been much nearer than I have known and felt. As I was preparing my sermon, I began tracing God's presence throughout history in the Bible. I worked my thoughts into my sermon and thought I would share them here.

When God created the world. His desire for intimacy with his creation is seen as God walks in the garden in the cool of the day. God is near his People and now we claim that nearness as our own.

When Abraham feels as though the Covenant God made with him is being threatened by a command to sacrifice the very son promised to him. God’s story shows us a God that is so close He can halt a dagger as it pierces the air before it pierces the son of a covenant.

As a half million former slaves leave Egypt for a land promised to them, God’s presence leads them by fire at night and by smoke during the day, only to marvel this baby nation by paving the way through a mighty river.

As two rebellious nations make Israelites choose sides, God’s story brings us “in your face messages” ending with “thus saith the Lord” from reluctant prophets.

God’s story takes us into a foreign land where Jews mourn the loss of a Holy City. Other prophets emerge to help them know that while they are in a distant land they worship a not so distant God who shuts lion’s mouths and visits friends in a fiery furnace.

From the least likely places God shows just how involved he is by moving the heart of King Cyrus to deliver his people back to the promised land. His involvement guides prophets to expect an even more incredible deliverance from a coming Messiah.

Here God’s story takes the most exciting turn yet. Limiting the distance more than ever, God comes down to dwell in one man. Emanuel, God with us. The very God of creation walking and talking, breathing and hurting among those he created.


Just as quickly as God makes his dwelling on Earth, it appears that he makes an about face and leaves his own Son to die. In reality his ultimate attachment to you and to me is shown by attaching his own son to a cross.

When we think that God couldn’t get any closer to showing his love for us than a nail splitting wood, God’s own spirit splits our hearts and once again God’s dwelling place is not just among his people but now inside his people.

As we join God’s story we remember Jesus words before leaving his disciples. That as we go out into the entire world Jesus says, “Surely I am with you always.”

God is near.

~JK

God is Near

Empty Tombs

Mark 5:1-20

I wonder what Jesus saw when he looked at this man. As soon as Jesus gets out of the boat this man comes out of the tombs to meet him. Did Jesus know that he too would one day be spending time in a tomb? Perhaps he also knew that, like the demon possessed man, no one could bind him. Chains could not hold the demoniac, hell couldn't hold Jesus. The man knew who Jesus was instantly. It was as if all the evil in the world, bound up in this one man, knew the power of "Jesus, Son of the Most High God" to put an end to the suffering. As a fellow chain-breaker, Jesus knew what freedom would mean for this man. The man (or rather the demons inside) did not want Jesus to send them away, but Jesus - perhaps seeing in the man his own after death experiences, sent them away, leaving the formerly demon-possed man in his right mind. Later something interesting happens. Everyone around wanted Jesus to leave and the man, now without demons wanted to go with him. Throughout the entire book of Mark, Jesus is commanding people not to tell about their healing. Over and over again, he commands them to keep quiet. Here, but not only here, Jesus commands him to go and tell. The only other place in the entire book that Jesus commands someone to go and tell is after his own resurrection.

When tombs become empty, then people are told to go.

~JK

Empty Tombs

At it again.

Today is the last day of the class I am taking this week at ACU. It is the second to last class of my Masters in Christian Ministry. Somehow, it escaped my advisors attention that I would be saving an introduction course to the end of my graduate career but it has been nice for me. I am taking Advanced Introduction to the New Testament. What makes an "Introduction" course "Advanced" is beyond me but I am imagining it has something to do with the fact that we are required to write 500 word book reviews on 750 page books and that we discuss some things which would be a little more challenging to handle in a Sunday Morning bible class.
Dr. Curt Niccum from Oklahoma Christian has been teaching the class. He considers himself a textual critic and has an incredible understanding of Greek and how the Bible has been handed down to us. I have been soaking up the study of textual criticism like a sponge. It really is a fascinating study of how the fragments of manuscripts of a given book are often different and it is the text critic's job to decifer which reading is more accurate. It requires a depth of knowledge and understanding I will likely never obtain.
I will be getting back to Abilene around dinner time tonight. I will have enough time to do my laundary and catch up on some sleep before I leave for Brazos Valley Camp tomorrow to spend the week with the other group of people who teach me about God, preteens. The preteen age group is so exciting. They are not quite at the age where they care immensly about what people think about them but they are beginning to realize that the world of independence is much more exciting. They desire to know God and how he works in their life teaches me things that I cannot learn from those who can quote verses and diagram greek sentences. I am looking forward to the change of pace for the next week.
Keep my wife Krista and daughter Miriam in your prayers. They are in our nation's capital along with my mom (she reluctantly agreed to go vacationing in Washington D.C. so that Krista could go to a nurse practitioner conference without a stroller and child in tote...). They will be getting back to Mesquite next Wednesday.
Blessings,
~JK

At it again.

Vacation Bible EXPERIENCE

I know it may sound hokey but who wants to go to "School" during the summer? Mesquite Church of Christ this year has changed our big outreach event from "Vacation Bible School" to "Vacation Bible Experience." We will be be misspelling the acronym, calling it VBX. Catchy isn't it? Our theme this year is "At the Feet of Jesus" and the lessons will be based on the sermon on the mount. The whole experience will end with a Jerusalem Marketplace Festival where the children can spend the shekels they earned during the week. All the children and volunteers will be dressed in Bible times costumes. I am super excited about it and it is a real focal point of much of my workday. I am including some pictures of last year's VBS ("Splash Down: Diving Deeper into God's Word")simply because it is fun to think back on the fun times.

~JK


This was our underwater fellowship hall with life size whale and giant squid.


Beautiful woman and child (Notice Miriam getting into the theme with the goldfish on her shirt).



Our children's ministry deacon is an art teacher. he and his wife taught a class in a black light room.


Someone thought it would be an okay idea to let this guy direct VBS...




Some of the kids enjoying the underwater atmosphere! (Those older kids are trapped under the whale)

Vacation Bible EXPERIENCE

Total Money Makeover

We're part of the cult....or maybe I am part of the cult. You may have heard of Dave Ramsey. We have become best friends. Actually he would probably yell at me for all the stupid financial decisions I made in college but now I think he would be on my side. That is basically because we are now doing things his way. We have known about his getting out of debt "baby steps" for a while but now we can officially say we have "bought the book." One of my new favorite stores, Mardell's, had it on sale for 7.99. Since it has been on the best-seller list and is regularly priced 24.99, it was a steal...especially since we are trying to get out of debt.

In case you are not familiar with the principles of the Total Money Makeover, its fairly simple. You start a small savings, you pay off all your debt, you never take out another loan, you start building retirement, you start a college fund for your kids, you pay off your house, then you give as much money away as you can to bless others. His plan is more detailed than that and it really does make sense. Dave Ramsey is a guy who made multi-millions, lost it all and has now worked his way back up to multi-millions. For now, I will trust his advice.

btw, I do not really think it is a cult. You just have to have, as Dave puts it - Gazelle Intensity...whatever that means.

~JK

Total Money Makeover

Focusing On Numbers for a Minute

I am not usually one who focuses on numbers. I tend to be more concerned with spiritual growth than numerical. Despite this, I think numbers are sometimes an indication of what areas need improvement or are going well. Today, for the first time since I began working as Children's Minister, I feel I have an acurate idea of where the children's ministry stands when it comes to DAH DAH DAH ...(*insert dramatic tension building sound effects here)...how many children we have in the Mesquite Church of Christ Children's Ministry.

Today I completed a painstaking process of collecting all the attendance forms from all 10 of our classrooms for both Sunday Morning and Wednesday Night and compiling them into one Super-Duper-All-In-One-More-Information-Than-Is-Really-Necessary-Impress-Your-College-Statistics-Professor-Microsoft-Excel Spreadsheet. Here are a few of the findings.

Based on somewhat incomplete information...From September 2007 to the end of April 2008 we had:

160 different children set foot into our children's classrooms.
50% of these are on our membership list. (That's about 80 kids for those who did as well at college statistics as me)
50% of these are visitors. (...The other 80 kids)
Sunday mornings we averaged about 28 kids in attendance.
Wednesday evenings we averaged about 33 kids.

What does all this mean?
I guess it means that now we can see that of the 80 kids who are members at our church 35% are coming on Sunday Mornings and 41% are coming on Wednesday nights.

Whether this is good or bad, I am not sure. Compiling this list helped me become aware of the fact that there needs to be more done as far as follow-up with those that visit. It also shows me which children and families could use more encouragement to be regular attenders.

Now we have to turn the information into transformation...

~JK

Focusing On Numbers for a Minute

Building Faith at Home

My blogging has been sporadic at best the last year. The blog posts I have created were not even meant to be for a blog but rather a church bulletin. Each week our church puts out an 11x17 three panel brochure we call a church bulletin. Oddly with a space that size, there is still no room for the happenings of an exciting children's ministry so part of my weekly ritual is to turn a different 11x17 page into three, front/back, inserts fully devoted to the children and families of the Mesquite Church of Christ. When I do not have enough activities to describe, the leftover room I have devoted to an article I have called, "Family of Faith." The goal of the article when written is to encourage families to deepen their relationship with Christ.

So what is the reason for this post (which will NOT appear in the Mesquite Church of Christ bulletin)? Today I had a parents meeting after church in which I unleashed the summer calendar full of events and activities designed to help enrich their children's summer with a deeper and growing relationship with Jesus. A common theme among many of the activities is that I am not planning them. I have delegated much of the responsibility of the summer's agenda to the parents. This is all in an effort to jump on the bandwagon of a movement affectionately called, "Faith at Home." I am not sure what is meant when it is referred to as a movement but the book I have been reading recently (Building Faith at Home: Why Faith at Home Must be Your Churches #1 Priority) has called it a movement. I prefer to think about it as God's grand plan for raising children.

There is a huge temptation as a children's minister to build the big bad children's program that is hugely attractive with lots of prizes and incentive for children. Especially as the minister of a congregation which has never had a children's minister before, I sometimes feel the need to make things great for kids at church. I want the children to enjoy being at church. Church should be fun. Children's Ministry programs like this grow in number. I can see what will eventually happen though, we will have children who grow up thinking church is fun, as long as there is an incentive besides spiritual growth.

I am becoming more and more convicted that my most fruitful efforts at growing children and families spiritually do not lie in exciting children's ministry programs with action songs, prizes, and creative object lessons but in changing the hearts of moms and dads.

This presents a huge problem on several levels. For one, "It is not the way Church is done." Meaning, the general model for how children gain spiritual knowledge is in the Sunday Morning Bible Class (an maybe Sunday evening or Wednesday night). It seems there is a general attitude that this is where the meat of children's spiritual meal is supposed to come from. The problem is that even churches with a long Bible class (1 hour or more - Mesquite's Bible classes last 45 minutes) that is only 2 hours a week of spiritual instruction! And that is IF the children come both Sunday Morning and Wednesday. We wouldn't tolerate this if the government said that they are only going to teach our children from 9:00-10:00am Monday morning and 1:00-2:00pm Thursday afternoon. A church based model for spiritual instruction is simply not enough.

The other problem with a "Faith at Home" model is that most of the parents do not seem to be wired for it. This is not to say that they are incapable of accomplishing the goals of a "Faith at Home" model, just that it is unfamiliar and there are likely some tools missing from the tool belt to make it happen. I could go up to any parent at church and ask them if they want their child to grow more spiritually and 100% of them would emphatically say, "YES!" I could ask those same parents if they felt like had all the resources they needed in order to make it happen and most of them would probably agree that they could manage popping out a devotional once a month or so. If I asked them how often they spend in spiritual activities as a family besides praying before meals each week, I fear the answers would not reflect their priorities.

I do not feel this is necessarily 100% the fault of the parents. I think both the problems mentioned above go hand in hand. The church has not stepped up to the plate to equip parents with what they need to make it happen and the parents have been comfortable in letting the church be the spiritual teachers of the children.

So where does this leave me?

I believe it leaves me with an incredible opportunity! We have some things in place for this summer (and hopefully the next school year) which will aim to equip parents to take charge of their children's spiritual growth and development. I feel like hiring a children's minister has lit a flame in the hearts of many of our church's families. I get excited when I see heads nodding at the idea of a class designed for parents to interact with their children AT CHURCH!! I hope that as a minister to these children and families I am able to find a pace that does not outrun the church or my own stamina.

Let me know what you think. If you have any ideas how to bridge the gap in helping parents be the spiritual leaders and build faith at home, share them.

~JK

Building Faith at Home

Family of Faith 3-23-08

HE IS RISEN!!!

“Death has been swallowed up in victory!
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death is your sting?
The sting of death is sin
and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God!
He gives us victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
1 Corinthians 15:54b-57

Today we celebrate! We celebrate because we can give thanks to God that Jesus holds the victory over death and the victory over sin. I love this passage because of the imagery. I think about a worker bee who is trying so hard to create something that at times seems so sweet. The honey that sin offers can be enticing at times. But going after the honeycomb means that you are likely going to get stung. For some, being stung by an actual bee can mean death. For all being stung by sin meant certain death. Until….
Until DEATH WAS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. Jesus drank the honey—he swallowed it up so its deadly work has NO POWER in our lives. Today as we celebrate His resurrection, we should remember that he took our sin and nailed it to the cross with his own body. The death he died for us carries the power to free us from the sting we were destined to feel.
Paul continues on in verse 58 to encourage Christians to “Stand firm, letting nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.” His death frees us from sin. His resurrection gives us hope. Stand firm. He will return for you!

Family of Faith 3-23-08

Pneumonia

Miriam has Pneumonia. I have been very challenged this week by illness. Since last Saturday, my wife was diagnosed with the flu, myself with a sinus infection and my poor little girl with a double ear infection and pneumonia. It is definetely the most sick our family has ever been at one time. God has blessed us so much with good health prior to this, now we are facing a number of new challenged.

Parenthood is one adjustment after another. Krista, who is a fantastic nurse practitioner, understands the human body and its health/illness so much more than I do. She is incredibly talented in what she does and you can see it in how she treats Miriam's sickness at home. I am sure that without her, Miriam would not be in as good of shape as she is. The challenge is when I am responsible for seeing to Miriam's care on my own.

This past Thursay Krista was working and I had to take Miriam to the doctor. This was when she was diagnosed with pneumonia. I do not mind taking Miriam to the doctor one bit. The difficult part is that Krista knows all sorts of probing questions to get more information than I do. It is amazing how much more confident I feel about what is happening medically when Krista and I both go to the doctor together than when I go alone. I feverishly try to recap all the important bits of information with the doctor before leaving the examination room so that I will not forget anything that needs to be relayed to Krista when I get home. When she begins to question what happened, I provide for her a well-rehearsed summary of the doctors visit, waiting for my pat on the back for being such a good dad and husband. Then more questions I should have asked 2 hours prior are asked and I am left thinking that I didnt even know to ask those questions.

This leads me to visit WebMD. I go there to get another professional summary of what is happening. Going there and typing, "pneumonia" into the search engine provides me with the following results:

Pneumonia is a lung infection that can make you very sick. You may cough, run a fever, and have a hard time breathing. For most people, pneumonia can be treated at home. It often clears up in 2 to 3 weeks. But older adults, babies, and people with other diseases can become very ill. They may need to be in the hospital.

This is where I begin to panic slightly. What does "can become very ill" mean? How do I know when they need to go to the hospital? This raises even more questions than I had when I first did the search. In the end, I am left to trust in my wife's discernment regarding what course of action is needed hoping that I will continue to receive step by step instructions on what to do and when.

It seems that I am called more and more each day to trust in God and his working hand in the lives of those around me. The truth he created in how our bodies function and dysfunction and how he has led his creation to discover treatment for these dysfunction continues to leave me in awe of his redemtion. I cannot wait for the day when every illness and disability is vanished and every tear is wiped away because of our reunion with him. I sincerely believe that sickness is the result of mankind's sinfullness. When God banished Adam and Eve from the garden and they suffered pain and sickness for the first time, the separation from God was felt in their bodies. As we walk away from God, God is walking toward us, leading us and redeeming us. He guides us toward wellness, physically, emotionally, spiritually.

Please pray for my family as we battle illness. Please pray for our world as we battle separation from God.

~JK

Pneumonia

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