Promise Keepers

August 97

________ Pray for Me

I SAT THROUGH a FIVE-HOUR CONFERENCE THIS WEEK.. TOTALLY BORED.. TOTAL WASTE OF MY TIME. I DIDN’T TRUST THE SPEAKER OR HIS QUALIFICATIONS.

My testimony …. church boy, Baptist camp in Wheaton, First serious prayer: Triopia, Can you Direct plays? Lay Witness Mission. God has used: honky-tonk C&W bands, pumping organ for Mom, everything I’ve given Him. I have received much praise for what God has done. Most produced author of plays in high schools in the United States, yet when asked to speak on playwrighting, I decline every time. I have no idea. It is God working through me. I enter every project scared to death. No matter what you’ve heard, that’s who I am… a nothing who Christ occasionally chooses to lift up.

Four speeches this week. This is the only one I’ve thought about all summer. Tuesday morning I received an Email from Dunseth. Said he was praying for my message. I deleted a summer’s work on my computer and started again.

A teacher’s perspective. To anyone who has influence over younger people. Father, grandfather, church member.

My premise tonight… With few exceptions, we look upon God as we do our earthly father. Our earthly father is our first and most influential example of what God is. (For better or worse, right or terribly wrong)

When I think of God, I think of two concepts. Obedience and Joy. Because……. That is my father. Kids didn’t want to play at our house. Sick frosh.. cut hedge. Dad’s priorities.. ballgames and concerts. Pepsi.. Cecil’s vs. Norma’s. 10 vs. 15 cents. $1000 check.

The Joy: My father is 77 years old… I think… People smile when he comes into a room. This Saturday he will dress as a clown and drop his pants in front of hundreds of people. Unusual activity for a life-long farmer, banker, and John Deere dealer. Our home was always filled with joy. Never a harsh word between mom and dad.. has made me a bit naïve. Last week mom called: “What would it cost to get your dad shot?”

THREE OF MY BEST FRIENDS: .. young man. Raised by warring parents.. always bargained for what he got. Today he bargains with God.

Another Christian brother. Raised in a joyless household. Has struggled his entire life to find joy. Still today.. his greatest joy is in guilt.

Another.. raised by a father who seldom kept a job. Not very reliable. Hard to trust. Today, the young man struggles daily to trust God and give Him control.

We are the models of God for young people. children, grandchildren, friends, nieces and nephews.

I would encourage you to think this week about your relationship with your father. How much are your attitude toward God influenced by your relationship with your father? As we grow older, we get other insights, but this first model is hard to shake… for better or for worse.

This is a pain I mostly hide, but ties of blood, or seed endure, and even now I feel inside the hunger for his outstretched hand, a man’s embrace to take me in, the need for just a word of praise. Jimmy Carter

We yearn for approval from God as we did from our father. We continue to feel as if His love must be earned. This is a struggle we all have for most of feel the need for acceptance from our fathers.. his approval.

Don’t feel excluded if you don’t currently have children at home. David Beard.. two blonde, little girls.. brings to church.. morning devotions. Tammy.. brings niece to church Dunseth… greatest Christian influence in my nephew’s life This summer.. little girl sat crying on my front porch… divorced parents fighting over who should pay for camps… small fees.. pride…. We prayed. She got the money. She accepted Christ as her savior this summer.

So….. How do we do this? How do shoulder this terrible burden of being someone’s first impression of God? First time I flew a commercial airline.. The oxygen mask speech… Puzzling and seemed wrong….. “Please put on your mask first before attending to children who may be with you.” I was shocked until the reason became obvious. That’s our job in influencing children, too… We must put on our oxygen mask first. Let me speak a moment about Joy. It pains me to see churches spend thousands on youth programs then continue to hold church services using 18th century hymns, 17th century orders of worship, and ministers who aim their words at the adults only. And we say, “Why aren’t kids more interested in church?” “Let’s improve our youth program!” Cool… but let’s start by making our services contemporary…by filling them with joy. Offend some? Yes. The gospel of Jesus Christ is very offensive! It is very current! It is very contemporary!

I have a problem with Christian rock and roll. I played in the bands in the 60’s and 70’s. Then I saw what Christian rock was doing. .Bringing kids to Christ. The reaction of Perry Presbyterian to the first Bill Gaither hymn. Sacrilege!

The closest I have come to screaming in public has been in church services. Oh, I haven’t been to all of them. … and some are much better than others. But here’s the deal in American religion Whoever owns the church, determines the method of worship. We shall have the church which pleases us first. Every man in this room can sit through a service which you think is too wild, too loud, too disorganized… and your salvation won’t suffer one bit. Your children cannot say the same of your way or worship. They are new. They are not as wise as you. Believe it or not, they are not as TOLERANT as you.

The JOY must begin in us. It must be a part of who we are and what we allow.

The youngest Christian I know is 71 years old. She’s a catholic lady who’s raised eight kids. All have been to college. Six have masters, one a PhD. She and her husband are farmers. Senior trips… They’re having fun, aren’t they! First Petra concert… “Look at the expression on the kids’ faces!” VERY TOUGH for me.

Our children see us dress up. Our children see us sit quietly in church. Our children see us pray.. I hope. Do our children see us unbelievably, uncontrollably, illogically happy?

Shiloh… 1st Methodist in Springfield… 5 services… “Music for common people.” “And that young man with the long hair and earring.. and his so-called witnessing.” “We must have control over what goes on here.” It’s obvious that God didn’t.

It’s so easy to take ourselves too seriously….. Me: Chillocothe Church lady.. .piano…

Let me tell you what’s happening… I don’t know, but it’s something big. There’s a generation of Christian warriors rising right now which are years ahead of where you and I were… Dylan… “I don’t know what it is….” Last week… football prayer group, first him, then two.. now five players and all the coaches. Something is happening.

You may be a bit disheartened with the reception to the idea of a class studying the Bible at JHS… Don’t you fret. Students for Christ.. Bible study every Thurs Morning.. 60-70 kids involved totally. Fellowship of Christian Athletes. a Principal who prays daily for his kids and his school Youth groups in Jacksonville churches who freely meet with each other…! Pray for your children and don’t worry about what whether bible courses are taught. Something big is happening.

Have you been to a youth convention lately? There’s an explosion taking place.

Summer PAC camps. We used to struggle a bit to settle kids down and talk about salvation. In recent years, we’ve had to revise our game plan. Most walk in with salvation.. many are already prayer warriors.. many have already formed their own groups… We’ve had to use more and more adults such as Rich just to keep up with the kids and where they are in their walk. Something is happening. We are children’s first model of who God is.

If we show Joy, our children will grow to know a God of Joy. “ “” “ Obedience……… “ “ “ Tolerance for new ways to worships, He shall suddenly become a bigger God than we have ever seen before.

I applaud you… as a teacher, I pray for you… the strength.. the model of God for our children.