Amazing Missions Stories

For Kids from 2 years up through 5th grade in the Fall. Amazing Missions Stories all Summer long! You won’t want to miss a single night! Meeting Wednesday nights from June 17 through August 5 in the Ministry Center.

Choosing Good Friends

Choosing Good Friends Importance of Good Friends Do you remember your best friends in junior high and senior high school? Think back to the impact they had on what you did, where you went, what you watched or listened to, and what you thought was cool. Friends are a really important part of our lives…

Teenagers Tend to be Legalists

    Teenagers Tend to be Legalists Goal is Godliness While the Bible is filled with instruction and commandments for righteous living, we need to be careful that all our focus as parents is not on behavior and outward actions. Godliness cannot be reduced to a set of rules. “Godliness is humble, thankful worship that…

Your Teenager Doesn’t Ask for Correction

Encouragement for Parents of Teenagers 695x181
Your Teenager Doesn’t Ask for Correction
The next several posts will explore how teenagers typically think and act and how we should respond as parents.
One who hates correction is stupid
Proverbs 12:1 tells us that a wise person loves correction. How many teenagers love to be wrong? Does your son/daughter love when you correct them? Does this make them stupid or simply immature? Or does the correction come across as unappealing and out of touch with their reality? Most teenagers lack wisdom and desperately need loving, biblical correction. Is that what you are really giving? As I consider some of my poorly received attempts at sharing biblical wisdom, I know I was often guilty of sharing with the wrong motives or the wrong message.
Prepare Your Own Heart
Am I making correction appealing? Are my words of wisdom sweet or bitter? Matthew 7:3-5 reminds us to deal with our own problems before dealing with the problems of others. Am I letting off steam and hypocritically attacking my teenager or trying to function as God’s instrument of change and grace? Stop, examine your own heart, pray for direction and guidance, find truth in Scripture to show the godly wisdom that is the right choice.Teenagers are Defensive
Well, honestly, most of us get defensive when someone points out our weaknesses or mistakes, don’t we?. Expect this, exercise self-control, and be careful that your goal is conveying wisdom and not simply looking to win an argument.

Three Helps for a Defensive Teen:

  1. Clearly explain your actions and motives.
    “I’m not accusing you. I love and I want to help you. I want to encourage you and help you please God.”
  2. Help them examine their own defensiveness.
    “It seems like you are really angry with me. I am not yelling at you or accusing you of anything. Why are you so upset? I did not want to start a fight with you, I want to help you. What do think the problem is?”
  3. Faithfully confess your own sins against your teenager.
    How many times have I lost my temper, been impatient, been stubborn and refused to listen, disciplined in anger, named called, or worse. My humility and asking for forgiveness will model what God is calling my teenager to do.

Your Teenager is Worth It
Teenagers are usually not asking for your input. They will avoid difficult conversations and protect themselves from intrusion. Don’t give up! Pursue your teenager. Express your love. Ask deeper questions. Encourage them. They are worth all your efforts to stay connected and to be involved in their lives.

Tips for Talking
When you have something to share, keep it brief. Don’t lecture on the past and how you never talked to your parents that way. Think ahead of time about what you want to share. Make it interesting. Make it interactive. Help your teenager examine his actions, assumptions, desires, and choices. Let the wisdom of God’s Word be seen as helpful and true. Your authority or ability to win a debate are not the point. Holding up God’s Word and showing how it is working in your own life will be much more appealing.

I’m praying for you too. Let me know how I can help or better serve you and your family.
P.S. The themes and main ideas come from Paul David Tripp’s book “Age of Opportunity”. I’m summarizing what I read, adding my own thoughts and Scripture too.
You can read past posts on our church website HERE.

Remember when…

Remember when… Remember when you were a teenager? For me it was the awesome 80’s. Yeah, I’m old. Do you remember the self-consciousness? The physical self-awareness? Trying to be cool and turning out just dorky? Wanting to play like a kid but be treated like an adult? Being a good parent means being able to remember…

Life in a Fallen World

  Life in a Fallen World   As hard as we may try, we cannot protect or shelter our children from the imperfect, fallen world. We should not hide from it or act as though the brokenness of the world simply doesn’t exist. As our teenagers are hurt they will see the effects of sin all…

Family: A Redemptive Community

Family: A Redemptive Community In the context of family, it is hard to hide reality. We may all “put on a good face” for work, school, even church, but who we really are and what we are going through is revealed at home. The harsh realities of sin and The Fall should make the love…

Rule of Love or Desire?

 

 

 Encouragement for Parents of Teenagers 695x181

Rule of Love or Desire?

Teenagers need their identities to be firmly rooted in Christian community. This should be accomplished through the family.

 

 

Rule of Love

 

 

The Rule of Love or the Rule of Desire
Your teenagers’ responses to situations will be shaped by the rule or love or the rule of desire. The family is the proving ground where hearts are consistently exposed in the reactions to relationships. It provides a clear and honest view into the hearts of our children and ourselves. What do you see consistently and what are you doing about it?

Rule of Love
“Do to others what you would have them do to you” Matthew 7:12

Rule of Desire
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight” James 4:1-2

Sound Familiar?

  • Fights over the last drops of milk at breakfast
  • Shoves in response to an accidental bump in the hallway
  • Arguments over too much time in the bathroom
  • Debates as to who gets the car
  • Discussions over borrowed clothes that weren’t returned
  • Joining in put-down “humor”
  • Demands for assistance coupled with an unwillingness to help others
  • Lack of spontaneous or at least quick help around the house
  • Duels of cutting and cruel words

Opportunities
These are the moments when God is calling Christian parents to something greater than our own comfort and ease. These are the times when God calls us to love our children unconditionally and take time to correct and disciple their hearts. It is so much easier to find quick solutions to end the noise or stop the arguing, but we miss the opportunities to shepherd them to learn to love each other.

I’m praying for you. Let me know how I can help or better serve you and your family.

in HIS service,

Pastor Mark

P.S. The themes and main ideas come from Paul David Tripp’s book “Age of Opportunity”. I’m summarizing what I read, adding my own thoughts and Scripture too.

You can read past posts on our church website HERE.

Family is Community

Encouragement for Parents of Teenagers 695x181

Just as our teenagers need to anchor their identity in the existence and character of God, they also need their identities to be firmly rooted in community. This is another key function of the family.

A Club You Don’t Choose

communitySinners naturally want to please themselves and will do pretty much whatever it takes to get their way.