G Notes

Two little lines I heard one day, Traveling along life's busy way; Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart; Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done; Then, in 'that day' my Lord to meet, And stand before His judgment seat; Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, then still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God's holy will to cleave; Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, an fears; Each with its clays I must fulfill, Living for self or in His will; Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last. When this bright world would tempt me sore, When Satan would a vi...

Christians are entrusted by God with an amazing task: not only to care for our children but to teach them to walk in accordance with God’s ways. Christian parenting is not about behavior modification but about gospel-transformation. It’s introducing our children to Jesus that they may taste of God’s grace and be radically changed from the inside out. Christian parenting is shepherding. It’s leading and guiding our children to be love-filled, faith-filled, hope-filled followers of Jesus. Toward that end Christian parents are to employ two key strategies: 1) corrective discipline and 2) formative instruction. Both are needed. Formative instruction is teaching so that it forms a specific kind of life. It’s speaking God’s Word into the hearts of our children that their hearts may be transformed. Jesus said in John 17:17 that we are sanctified by God’s truth and that God’s word is truth. The way we become mature love-filled, faith-filled, and hope-filled followers of Jesus is through God...

Last week I started a blog series in hopes of helping parents with the grand, God-given task of discipling their children. It's a wonderful privilege, but also an overwhelming one. I find that many parents are a bit intimidated by the thought of discipling their kids. After all, discipleship is about guiding our children to grow as followers of Jesus. That's a huge responsibility. One of the main challenges is knowing precisely what to teach. I've distilled it down to six topics. These are the irreducible minimums of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. These are the absolute musts of the Christian faith. These are the six topics parents should focus on. There are many ways to teach these six topics to your kids. You can pick a topic each week and concentrate on that one topic the whole week; and rotate through the topics every six weeks. You can teach a different topic each day of the week (focusing on a different one Monday through Saturday). You decide what's...

One of the most important tasks given to us is leading our children to become followers of Jesus. Psalm 78 tells us to teach our children about God and about His glorious deeds so that they may learn to set their hope in Him and learn to faithfully walk in all His ways. This is a great privilege and responsibility that has been bestowed upon us: raising up the next generation of disciples. While this is a wonderful privilege, it is also one the most intimidating challenges we face. As parents we desire for our children to grow into mature followers of Jesus but we struggle with the task. What do I say? What do I teach them? What do they need to learn? How do I go about it? In an attempt to give a little guidance to parents I'm writing a seven part blog series. This will be by no means exhaustive. My goal is simply to provide a big picture for how to approach discipleship. The goal of discipleship is teaching our children to live as Christians. So here's the big question: Wh...

Getting to present God's Word to others is an amazing privilege. I love every opportunity to do so whether it's preaching on Sundays, teaching a small group, or doing one-on-one discipleship. It's a source of great joy for me, but it's also a heavy responsibility. Not only must I be a good steward of God's Word, not only will I one day be held accountable for my preaching/teaching, but on top of that, I always feel the need to improve as a preacher and teacher. Learning to preach and to teach can be overwhelming, and growing in those disciplines can feel a bit daunting. I have a long way to go, but God is teaching me along the way. He is providing me with more and more insight, sharpening me as a communicator of His truth. Below are nine P's (excuse the old school alliteration) of preaching/teaching which God is keeping at the forefront of my preparation. This isn't an exhaustive list, but I hope thinking through these nine P's will help you as you pre...

All organizations have stated core values - organizational ideals communicated to be of paramount importance. However, often is the case that an organization's stated core values are not reflected the life of the organization. The result is a disconnect between stated core values and actual core values. So the question before all organizations is this: Are the stated core values the same as the actual core values? When there is a disconnect between stated values and actual values the result is confusion. It's the same as telling someone that you're enjoying kung pao chicken when you're actually eating a pepperoni pizza. Both are good, but each represents a different culture. And that's what core values are all about. Core values are indicative of an organization's culture. As a church it is paramount that all of our members foster the same culture. Confusion works against our mission. Therefore, we want everyone to hold the same values. As a church we want f...

What is a core value? Let's start with what a core value is not. In the business world, "making money" isn't a core value. Clearly, a business exists to make money, but so does every other business. In the church world, "making disciples" isn't a core value. Clearly, a church exists to make disciples, but so does every other church. My point is that a core value isn't something that is true of everyone else. A core value simply the bottom line (making money or making disciples). An organization's core value(s) isn't what it makes but rather how it makes what it makes. Core values are the characteristics that define the manner in which the organization makes what it makes. Core values are not to be confused with methods, strategies, or tactics. Core values are the glue that give an organization's methods, strategies, and tactics uniqueness and distinction from other organizations. So for example, you have two churches, both with the same...