Blog-Cheating

Okay! In an interest to save time, I'm posting an old post that I posted on our church's website last... June? It's about fatherhood, and it's a good one! Enjoy!

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Children are some of the most amazing people! After working with children for around six years, I’ve found that they never cease to amaze me. Everything from their creative imaginations, to their need for fun, to their blunt honesty, and their ever-fluctuating emotions, it’s no wonder that Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven is “of such” (Matt. 19:14) The innocence, purity, and unwavering faith of children is something that we as adults should always strive for.

Almost two and a half years ago, I became a father. God saw fit to bless Keri and I with our wonderful little girl, Jazmine. Ever since then, she has been a constant lesson and reminder to me of exactly what it means to have a Father’s love. It’s something that we all think we understand before actually becoming parents. After all, we know what love is. As children, we loved our stuff animals, toys, chicken nuggets, and pizza. As teens, we “loved” that special someone and couldn’t wait to see them again. As adults, we love our spouses, jobs, things, etc. However, there is nothing that can prepare you for experiencing a father’s love until you’ve become one yourself.

As a child, I knew that my dad loved me. He told me so quite often. He’d take me fishing, or go play with me on the dirt hill. He’d go off to work graveyards, and the next day around 11, knock on the wall to let me know that he was awake. I’d go running to my parent’s room, throw open the door, and hop into my daddy’s arms. My father is a hard worker, and always made sure that my mother and I were clothed, fed, and had a few fun things to keep us busy. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood were at bedtime whenever my dad would tuck me into bed. He’d always tell me silly stories he made up about wiggle worms, monkeys and such. He’d chop his arm down, and with a shout of “TIMBER!” let it fall on me like a giant tree. Inevitably, as he’d scratch my head, I’d fall off to happy, dreamy sleep. You see, I knew that my father loved me, but had no idea how much he loved me!

The other night, I was tucking Jazzy into bed. For some reason, she’d chosen me that night to help her get to sleep, and we were in the process of calming her down (not an easy thing to do) Jazmine will lay there, cover up and either say “Pat! Pat!” while patting her back to get us to pat her to sleep, or sometimes she’ll say “Sing shhhh! shhhh! baby...” which is her way of saying “Hush, Little Baby.” Oftentimes, it’s both. That night, we had one of those little moments in time that are unplanned, unrehearsed, and totally honest. Through her sleepy eyes, she looked up at me, smiled, and simply reached up with both hands to touch my cheeks. She began to caress my face in a way that only an innocent child can, and in that moment, I knew that she loved me, and that I loved her. I experienced a father’s love at it’s purest and unconditional form. It was one of those times that I knew that I would do or sacrifice anything to keep her safe and make sure that she grew up to live a life that reflects Christ. It really was a Kodak moment, and I probably shed a tear or two.

It’s in those times that we forget all of the tantrums, the defiant “NO!” the spilled milk, and torn up catalogues. It’s in those moments that we don’t mind the soiled diapers, flung spaghetti, potty training, and retrieving that one toy she threw down the diaper genie for no good reason (trust me, no one should EVER have to dig in one of those things....) It’s in those moments that we slowly begin to get a grasp on how much the Father truly loves us....

You see, as a father, my love is conditional. I can become angry or disappointed with my child, and the emotion can change. Sure, I still care about her, but during those times of “baby rebellion,” my feelings toward her don’t represent Kodak moments! When she’s good, I “feel” more loving towards her. Whenever she’s not so good, I “feel” more... corrective... towards her. It’s a subtle difference in that it’s still an expression of love, just not one that either of us enjoys. Even so, as parents, we live for those special moments of intimacy with our children when they, for whatever reason, just love us with a pure and unashamed admiration. It can be a look, a laugh, a touch on the cheek, or one of those tight squeezes with little arms and sloppy kisses hugs. Whatever the method, those time are preserved in our memories forever.

Think about this: if I as a father look for those instances with my child, how much more does our heavenly Father look for those instances with us? If I as a father can love my daughter this much, how much more does God, our perfect heavenly Father, love us? Like a father’s love, I believe that we can only get a glimpse or some sort of vague concept of how much God truly does love and care for us. The heart of a loving father isn’t something that can be explained or imagined. It simply must be experienced through your own children. In this same way, I think our own understanding of the Father’s love is limited. I think I get some sort of a shallow understanding of God’s love when Jazmine takes the time to let me know that she does, in fact, adore me. However, no matter how many of those Kodak moments we have, I don’t think we will ever really know how much He truly does love us. Even when we’re with Him in eternity, I figure it’s probably unlikely that we will ever understand or comprehend His love.

I John 4:8 tells us that “God is love.” We can experience love, even in the ultimate expression found towards our children and our spouses. However, we can never become love. More importantly, we must understand that God, too, has given everything for those special moments. Consider all that He has given freely to us with no guarantee of any sort of return! People reject and walk away from God every day. Sometimes, those who have long entered into fellowship with Him decided that something else is better, and run to that instead. What’s more, He knows who will accept Him and who will reject Him. This makes it all the more important for those of us who call Him “Abba, Father” to take the time to spend with Him. I’ve often said the only thing that Jesus was guilty of was wanting to love us. We need to be sure that we are not guilty of not returning His love. How do we do this? Through the following:

1. 1.Love God, Love Others
   

2. -We need to love God most of all. However, our love for Him must be reflected in our love for others.
   

2. 2.Hear and obey the Word.
   

3. -John 15:9 & 10 reads:
   

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

We hear Jesus’ commandments through the Word. Whenever we do what the Word says, then we are expressing our love to God.

3. 3.Spend time with God.
   

4. -Relationships are always built over time. Without time spent together, there can be no relationship! Imagine marrying someone you just met on the street! There’s no real way that could work because you’ve never spent time together! Relationships take time to build, and not just casual time in each others presence. Quality time is of the essence! Unless we spend time with God praying, worshipping, and in His Word, we will never come to know Him any better. He already knows everything about you and loves you unconditionally, so it is imperative that we take the time to learn more about Him.
   

There is no better substitute for establishing a relationship with the Father than spending time with Him. The Bible tells you how He feels about you. That’s why it’s so important to read and understand it. The time you spend with God is how you tell Him how you feel about Him! Don’t approach your time with God as a “God bless me” approach! Use that time to express your love towards Him. The one thing that God is looking for from us is our love and fellowship. That’s why He created us in the first place! Our purpose is to first love God, then to love others. When we concentrate on that, we will have “Kodak moments” with God. Take the time to reach up and caress His face and let Him know that in spite of all the little things, you still love your Father.

Tapping Out to Chinese/Mexican/Belizians...

I must say that I'm proud of myself. I have never been this regular when it comes to blogging. I think it's actually quite cathartic. Of course, you never have any guarantee that anyone is reading any of these. Then again, I suppose that's why Facebook is so popular. It's everybody's chance to do a little blogging that everyone on your friend's list has a chance to read. For some people, it seems like they take this to an extreme, but really, do we care that you're getting a double-shot venti dark cherry mocha? (that's 520 calories for a drink!!!) That you're now at the mall? That you're getting your nails done? I think the worse is when people write in LOLCat: ("I haz longh daize and meesh sweepy!") O really.... Facebook is vastly easy to overdo. I think the most liberating thing for me to discover was when I went *gasp* a day without updating my status. Again, this is coming from a guy who puts haikus in his status updates on occasion, so you can pretty much disregard anything I've just said (except for the lolcat thing... really people!) Feel free to facebook your life away to everyone, because you never know who's reading what you just said about your terrible boss/bother/spouse/co-worker.... sheesh!

(Please note that most of the people I know aren't this obsessive about facebook, but some people will never learn...)

Well, now for something completely different... but related to the title.

Tomorrow night I'm excited that I'll get to spend some QT with our missionary friends from Belize. We're going to dinner at a family member's house who loves to cook. Now, the negative side to this (aside from excessive gastric/caloric consumption) is that I'll have to miss no-gi night. This will be the 2nd no-gi night in a row that I've missed (no-gi is on Thursdays) What this means is that the next time I roll no-gi, I'll be all pajama-man combat ready, but realize that the coat of 1000 handles is missing. That's okay, open mat is Saturday, so I'll be able to brush up then.

At any rate, had a great night with the kids at church. We started discussing Samson... which is funny because I can't seem to get away from Samson during these blogs... I apparently blogged about Samson over a year ago several blogs below. At any rate, we'll finish Samson up next week. The blog looks like it pretty much covers some of what I said about him, and probably what I'll finish saying about him. It amazes me how God uses us, flaws and all, to accomplish amazing things for Him. Of course, the main flaws we discussed in Samson tonight were:

1. Not honoring his parents.

2. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.

3. Not being serious in his commitment to God.

At any rate, I'm cutting it short. I've got to get some rest so I can spend time with Jazzy tomorrow who's knocking the mess out of croup, but is still somewhat contagious. God bless!

-B

So.... Tired. :{

It's been a busy week! The first half of this week has consisted of piecing together the lose ends of our EK Spring Training Day (i.e.: baseball camp) and making sure our follow-up gets out. The good news is I've succeeded! There's no bad news...

So, I finally made it back to BJJ tonight. I missed the last 2 classes due to the aforementioned camp. Tuesdays are gi nights, which means we run around in the pajamas. To the traditionalist, this is BJJ bliss. To me, the gi is a blessing and a curse. Let me start by saying that I enjoy both sides of the BJJ Gi/No-Gi debate. It's quite an interesting thing, and one that really puzzled me when I started training in BJJ. On one side, you have the traditionalists who adore the gi and think that anyone who trains no gi is a fool. On the other side, you have the no gi extremists who understand that, for the most part, you won't be attacked by someone wearing a gi while walking across the Wal-Mart parking lot at 3am carrying your bag of Breyer's Ice Cream and Magic Shell. (for the no gi extremest, see Eddie Bravo... but understand that he's high most of the time! Don't believe me? Check out his buddy Joe Rogan's eyes the next time you watch UFC live...)

For me, I appreciate both! BUT since I started off discussing gi vs. no-gi, let me comment on my blessing/curse comment. I love the gi simply because it is literally the land of 1000 handles. It is the ultimate, bar none, way to control a larger, more aggressive, and more youthful opponent! You can wrap them up in it, pull yourself out of embarrassing situations, choke the mess out of them with various parts of their gi/your gi, and it soaks up a lot of sweat. For real! When you compare a gi night to no-gi night, it's like comparing apples to oranges. The best way to describe the incredible absorbent power of the gi is to compare it either to all of those Bounty commercials on television, or to have the questioneer (that's you) attempt to slide down a slip and slide wrapped in a cotton comforter. There are no gi nights that I literally end up being scooted across the gym floor, simply due to all of the sweat!

So, what about the cons? All of the above! Just like you are able to use the gi to your advantage, your opponent can use your gi to his/her advantage. What would normally be an easy slip out of an armbar on a no-gi night ends up looking like the losing end of a Kumite match in Bloodsport! (Cue Tong-Po saying: "FIRST I BREAK YOUR FRIEND, NOW I BREAK YOU!") This is magnified somewhat if you haven't trained with a gi in a while. You go to move, post out, or whatever, only to discover that yes, your opponent, is grabbing onto your SLEEVE! To make matters worse, since I'm built like Gimli from Lord of the Rings, my sleeves are longer due to my stubby arms, and I end up looking life Fifel from An American Tail trying to escape from a glue trap! It's really quite sad, and I need to get around to asking the Missus if she can hem the sleeves for me...

So, which do I prefer? BOTH! Much of the gi training can still come into effect in the street if you come across someone. In fact, I recall as a teenager many moons ago, essentially cross collar choking my cousin with his t-shirt after watching one of the first UFC's. Of course, I had no better idea of what I was doing than your couch potato buddy on fight night ("DUDE! Did you see THAT!? I bet I could do that..."), but I have to imagine if I could get him to tap being a hapless youth back in the day, I could certainly do it again. Of course, the t-shirt is just as likely to rip as to choke them, but well, you never know unless you try! At any rate, I understand and see the necessity for both types of training and enjoy them both immensely. It leads to interesting internal debates about the other night when we're doing the off night. ("Gee, if this were gi night, I'd choke him with the lapel!" "Gee if this were no-gi night, I wouldn't be playing Fifle caught in a glue trap tonight!")

No matter how you cut it, BJJ rocks! I don't think I meant to go down this thread of thought. I think I was originally going to whine about how my shoulders are sore and tired, and how much doing P90X in the morning with my battered body is going to suck. I'm glad we went this way.

God Bless until next time!

-B

Wait... I have a blog!?!

Dear readers,

It has been so long since I've been on Blogger that I completely forget that I actually had a blog, per se. I suppose I've been so used to writing things through our church website (www.victoryworshipcenter.com) or through my facebook account (www.facebook.com/ekpastor) that I haven't touched this site in a while. It's pretty interesting actually, because it seems like blogger is the one place where I can post "unofficial" things about life, liberty, and the pursuit of all things that interest me. In fact, it wasn't until a friend of mine sent me a link via facebook about an African-American woman who's been taking BJJ that I stumbled back across blogger. At any rate, it's good to be back!

I suppose that since this is an "unofficial" blog (i.e.: not linked to anything relating to VWC or to my facebook account that many "Victorians" visit, I should write something non-related to kids, ministry, or the like. It's not as if, as a pastor, I write things through a tainted lens, thoroughly and scrupulously scrubbed with holy water and liquid soap in other places. In fact, as a pastor, I feel that I'm pretty transparent about my life. I generally try to come off as "un-pastorly" as possible. By this, I don't mean that I act like every average joe on primetime television. I just try to appear as real as possible. I think this comes from my old youth pastor, who generally used the same approach. He never tried to pass himself off through religiosity or the like... he was just himself. But I digress! I'm discussing religion and politics in my "unofficial" blog...

Since a thread on BJJ brought me back to blogger, I should state something about BJJ here. For the uninformed ("What is BJJ? What are you talking about?"), BJJ is short for "Brazilian Jiu Jitsu." ("You mean like karate?") Not exactly. BJJ came from the Gracie family, and is descended from Japanese Judo... ("Wait... It's not JiuJitsu?") No, everything back in the early days was called Jiu Jitsu. Judo wasn't known as Judo back then. ("Oh! So Judo is Jiu Jistsu?") Um... Have you ever watch UFC and seen someone "tap out?" ("Yeah!") That's BJJ. ("Oh! Okay!")

At any rate, I've been in BJJ basically since last June (2009). It's something I've thoroughly enjoyed, become somewhat obsessed with, and something that's pretty much uniquely me. It's caused me to lose weight, become battered and scarred, and generally reshaped my physical life. It's one of those constant things that shifts around my schedule and competes for my time (BJJ or movie? BJJ or family time? BJJ or sleep in late on Saturdays? BJJ Fundamentals on Monday Nights or stay home and not go through the rigorous warm-ups that seem to only happen on Monday Night!?) Any way you cut it, BJJ has been one of the best decisions I've made for health and physical fitness in a long time. I'm collecting the lumps to prove it!

I've joined gyms over the years. I've lifted weights, ran laps, and sweated off many lbs. only to regain them one corn chip or pizza slice at a time. However, gyms and weights mean one thing: HARD WORK! I've never liked to go to the gym. It's something that we do as a discipline in order to try to measure up to some sort of arbitrary standard that's set by the media. In fact, gyms as a whole are a pretty amazing concept. Think of it! Where else do millions of people pay good, hard earned money in our current economy to run on a treadmill that goes to nowhere, and to lift really heavy metal objects repeatedly!? In theory, you could get just as good or even a better workout by simply going out into your backyard with a shovel and 5 gallon bucket, digging a 10x10x3 foot hole and moving the dirt from one side of your yard to the other than by paying a monthly fee to sweat in a building with other like-minded individuals. But of course, you wouldn't get the complimentary towel...

It's been a while since I've blogged, so please excuse my temporary ramblings....

At any rate, the point I'm trying to make is that BJJ, while strenuous at times, isn't as "work-centric" as a gym. In fact, I find that I'm hardly going to the gym at all anymore. It's not that I don't need to, it's just that I hate to. Why would I go to the gym to work out (which is work) when I can simply go to BJJ and enjoy the physical activity there? I've lost weight and gotten into the best shape I've been in for a long time doing something enjoyable, rather than forcing myself to grind out rep after rep and run a little bit faster for the next 5 min. on the walk to nowhere (i.e.: treadmill)

Of course, with all that said, I'm about to start some P90X in the morning with my Bro.-In-Law. The reason? I'm gassing out in BJJ. The more I roll (that means grapple with) the higher belts/younger guys in the class, the quicker I become tired. In other words, my working out is becoming something to supplement my play time. I'm also trying to drop another 25lbs. because I'd like to compete one day. Right now, I'm 195lbs. at 5'6" and while I'm pretty solid, there are much bigger opponents at 195 than 175. So P90X it is!

I'll try to remember about this blogger thing and keep you posted as I go. Next time, I'll try to add some more of my ideas on BJJ and cover something specific, rather than simply go on and on about nothing. Until then, God bless!

-B

Blessings!

Okay, today’s issue is a follow-up on the Character First lesson on Gratefulness. The Scriptural reference for the lesson was in Luke 17:11-19. This story dealt with Jesus healing 10 Lepers. Specifically I’m addressing point #3: “God blesses everyone, but the grateful receive more.” We’ll look at why this is so, and how this principle can apply to our lives.

The Enigma of Blessings
God can be a confusing individual. By this, I mean that His rules just don’t make sense at times. Why would God choose to love the World? Why would He choose to bless us rather than destroy us when we are so deserving of death? When we consider the nature of God, it is so contrary to what we are and how we think that it can be extremely difficult for us to accept God’s blessings. However, this doesn’t affect God at all. He still saves, heals, delivers, and blesses us in spite of our continual inability to stack up to what is right. God does indeed cause it to rain on the just and the unjust, and for this we should be thankful!

Did you catch the fact that only 1 leper returned to thank Jesus? When he did this, he was doing more than giving a cursory thank-you to Jesus. Instead, he was offering his life to Christ. Because the leper identified with Jesus as his source, rather than a means to an end, Jesus essentially saved the man. He forgave him of his sins, thus the use of the word “sozo” that’s found so often in the New Testament. Not only was the leper physically healed, but his sins were forgiven as well. The other 9 simply had their physical needs met, but we are not told what happened to them after that. Perhaps they continued on with their newfound freedom and had a great life. Or, perhaps they repeated past mistakes and simply contracted leprosy again or some other communicable disease. We are not privy to this knowledge! What we do know it that the 1 leper who did return was given a special blessing that the other 9 did not receive: forgiveness of sin.

A Change of Life
What happened to that single leper was that his life was completely changed. He didn’t just have his disease handled, he was completely healed! How often does God meet our physical need, yet we remain ungrateful or ignorant of what He’s done for us? Think of the things that God has done for you. Think of all the times He’s made life or situations go easier for you than humanly possible. Think of the price that Jesus paid for you on the cross! It should quickly become apparent that God is much better at blessing us than we are at thanking Him. How unfortunate for us that we do not return to thank Him for His blessings, for out of that simple act of gratitude, God has the potential to work with much more.

It was the faith of the man that saved Him. He identified with Christ as his source, not just a fancy doctor that made him better. The same must happen with us. We must identify with Christ as our source if we are to truly accomplish all that He has for us to do. Too often we simply say a little prayer to thank God for all He’s done, but not much more than that. God wants our lives! He wants to glorify Himself through us! God wants to be so much more to us than a simple giver of gifts. God wants to be the center of our lives.

The Leper understood that it was Christ who healed him and had given him an unmerited gift. Because he recognized Jesus as his source rather that a simple miracle worker, he was able to return to Jesus and form an everlasting relationship with Him. God's desire is that we all have the gratefulness of the leper, and come to view Him as the source for all of our needs. Whenever we step into that realm of thinking, it changes who we are and how we do things. This is why it is so important for us to live not only a Godly life, but a grateful one as well!

Welcome to the EK Blog!

If this is your first visit to my blog, then welcome! In order to provide a more concise curriculum to our children, I have decided to start incorporating these occasional blogs to coincide with our Sunday morning curriculum. The reason for this is that many of the topics that we discuss on Sunday mornings will not all fit on a single 8 ½” x 11” sheet of paper. The take-home sheet simply serves to inform you, the parent, about what we discussed. It also gives you many of the scripture references that we used throughout the lesson. In essence, it gives you a tool to reinforce the lessons that we teach on a regular basis in Extreme Kids. Please note that the blogs will pertain only to the lessons that we teach 1st-4th grade. The K4 & K5 classes use a different curriculum that’s geared towards basic Bible knowledge. I may also comment on a FUSE lesson or two, although many times the lessons do coincide with the lessons taught in EK.

On occasion, I will expound on the take-home portion of the lesson by posting a blog here, on my blog page. If I do so for that week, I will make a note of it on the take-home sheet. Of course, I will continue to occasionally enter random blogs as I feel the need to vent about particular issues, have a moment of inspiration, or what have you. However, this particular blog will serve to reinforce the lesson that we will teach in EK on Feb. 1st concerning our lesson: “Who Is Satan?”

Our goal for this lesson isn’t to give undo attention to Satan. Far from it! Our goal is to help parents and children understand a bit about the being who caused so much trouble from the get go. What’s amazing is that Satan has so little power, yet manages to cause so much trouble. Here are some of the notes that the teachers used to formulate their lessons for their classrooms. These notes came from our curriculum that is written in-house at VWC, so you're getting it from the "horse's mouth" so to speak. Here they are:
__________________________________________________________________________________

This lesson stemmed from a lesson that we taught in FUSE last Sunday about Satan and all the vile tricks he uses to mess us up. Needless to say, we don’t want to give Satan that much attention, but we do need to be aware of his power and of his intention for our lives. There are many things that we could discuss about Satan, but we will only hit the highlights. Whatever we discuss, one thought must always be kept at the forefront: Satan is already defeated. There is absolutely nothing he can do to us beyond what we allow him to do. The misconception comes into play when we consider the works of the flesh (ours and others) that impact our lives to be the direct influence of Satan. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Names of Satan
Satan goes by a lot of names listed in Scripture. Some of these include:

•The Angel of the Bottomless Pit
•The Adversary
•The Accuser of Our Brethren
•Beelzebub
•Belial
•The Devil
•Father of All Lies
•Abaddon / Apollyon (the Destructor)
•The Prince of the Power of the Air
•The Great Red Dragon
•The Enemy
•Lucifer
•Evil One
•Murderer
•Enemy
•Sinner

All of these names are used to identify the chief opponent of God, and thus, our opponent as well. Satan is a busy guy, and as such, he is known by many different names. However, one thing remains constant: he is a low down dirty liar who will stop at nothing to see us destroyed. In fact, we know this from Scripture:

The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
- John 10:10

These were the words of Christ in reference to the work of Satan in the world. Satan’s sole purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy! What’s more, he will use any means necessary to do so. Even so, there is something that is fundamentally interesting that is at the root of Satan’s objectives: he is virtually powerless to do so. In fact, the only real power that Satan has is to lie. That’s it! His ability is to lie, plain and simple. Satan seeks to kill, steal, and destroy us through lies. It sounds very petty at first, but upon closer inspection, it quickly becomes apparent that Satan is no fibber. In fact, he is a master of deceit. We will take a look at some ways that Satan uses lies to achieve his goals, and how we need to be aware of his methods of trickery.

Satan’s Tools
We’ve already discussed that Satan’s only real power is to lie. Everything that he does is a perverted copy of what God can do. The downside is that he is a very capable liar, and we already know the advantages that camouflage gives to the enemy. There are animals in creation that use deceit and camouflaged to very good effect in life. Satan uses it as well. Let’s look at some of the common ways he does this.

1. Deceit

For you are the children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. - John 8:44

There is no substitution for wrong information. Satan will not stop in order to get us to believe a lie. If he can cause us to doubt God, God’s power, God’s people, or what have you, he has already won. Believing wrong information can lead to an entire series of ailments for people. Think on this: if Satan can get a person to doubt the very existence of God, then he has already won. What are the chances that a dedicated atheist will come to church or listen to a Christian’s testimony? If Satan can get a person to believe a lie before they ever hear the truth, the battle is already won.

Of course, not every deception is about the existence of God. In fact, for the most part, the deception is much more subtle. Here is an example I gave the FUSE kids last Sunday. Let’s say that you have a child in your class this Sunday, who, for whatever reason, is just feeling a bit froggy. They continually disturb the class, cut up with their friends, goof off, and generally make a spectacle of themselves. Finally, you have to pull them aside, fuss at them, and sit them by the wall for a while. Now, you have done nothing wrong (other than maybe let the child get too out of hand before correction). You have acted as you should, sitting the child in time out. However, I can almost guarantee you that there are some imps lying around waiting for this opportunity. All of a sudden, that child will begin to think: “Gee, Mr./Mrs. so and so is really mean! In fact, I don’t like them anymore. In fact, church is boring! I didn’t do anything wrong, so I don’t know why I’m sitting here. If church wasn’t so boring, I wouldn’t have to have fun all by myself! Here I am, sitting out, being bored. I guess it’s better being bored here rather than being bored there. In fact, I don’t even like church! It’s more fun to sit at home and play video games than come here...” That’s how rebellion begins. A child is corrected for doing something wrong, but believes that they are innocent. This can happen at church, school, on the playground, or even in our homes. Our prison system is filled with “innocent” people who “didn’t do it.” Satan will do his best to make others believe that those in authority over them are wrong, rotten, and out to get them. Of course, children aren’t the only ones to fall prey to this master lie set by Satan. Teenagers are famous for this. I know of some adults who believe the same lie concerning their boss/employer/job! If Satan can convince us of our infallibility and of other’s stupidity, then he’s got the battle mostly won. A small seed of deceit accepted as truth can reap a harvest of pain and regret, once fully bloomed.

2. Temptation

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
- James 1:13-15

Temptation is nothing more than making sin look better than it actually is. It’s fun to sin! Come on, be honest. You know that sin is fun. If it wasn’t fun, then nobody would sin, we’d all serve Jesus, and all go to heaven. However, we know that this isn’t the case. Again, Satan is a master deceiver, and he can make sin look much more enticing than it really is.

We know that the problem with sin is that it will eventually kill you, spiritually for sure, and even perhaps physically. Our example above about the child who starts hating teachers and church has its root in temptation. That’s why we make the rules clear from the get go. We want children to know what is expected of them, and how they are to behave. If we don’t make them aware of that (constantly), then we are doing them a grave injustice! However, once a child knows the rules, they may be tempted to break them. Everyone gets froggy every now and then. It’s part of our nature. The problem is that after we initially warn a child to not do wrong, and they continue to do so, they are demonstrating that they have a lack of respect for authority (at least, at that particular moment). The lie for this goes something like: “Nobody’s watching! Go ahead and talk to/hit/push/spit on/etc. on so and so. You won’t get caught! You’re too sneaky for that....” Notice the lies in that simple statement. Go ahead and do it, you’re innocent, and you are much more clever than those in charge. Believing that will get anyone in a world of trouble.

Temptation goes much farther than what we’ve discussed here. Temptation occurs whenever something we like, or think we’d like, becomes available. We can only really be tempted in areas that we’ve fallen before, or other areas that we’re extremely curious about. Temptation comes from within our own human nature. Satan is just there to goad on our flesh to hopefully get us to indulge in our flesh, and ignore God. One a pattern of sin start, then we develop an addiction, which leads to all sorts of woes for us and for those who love us. Satan is a master at temptation because he is so skilled at deception. Again, the chief power of Satan is to lie, and he’s very good at it.

3. Distraction

I really don’t have a scripture reference for distraction. My discourse on distraction comes more from personal experience and from the experiences of others. I’ve often said that if Satan can’t take you out by helping you to sin, he will do his best to take your eyes off of God through distraction. The best example I can think of in Scripture is that of Peter walking on the water with Jesus. As long as Peter kept his eyes fixed on Jesus, all was fine. It was when he began looking at the waves and the wind that he began to sink. Satan’s distraction does much the same to us.

Distraction can come in any number of ways. What distracts us can vary from person to person, as some of us are more naturally better focused than others. Satan will try to get us so concerned about something that we completely take our eyes off of God. This could be anything from finances, to a test, to job-related stress, to what have you. The “cares of this world” can truly burden us down! For children, distraction could be video games when they should be doing homework or spending time with God. It could be a bully at school who they know they’ll see tomorrow, or a tough test that’s coming up (they’d probably be more prepared if it weren’t for the aforementioned video game). These are a but a few examples! In FUSE, we classified distraction into 3 areas:

1. Fun Things – Things that steal the time you should be using to accomplish
other things. (i.e.: video games)

2. Frustrating Things – Things that aggravate you so much that you have a hard
time thinking about God. (i.e.: tough homework)

3. False Things – Things that cause you to worry about them, so you’ll take your
eyes off of God. (i.e.: big tests and the like)

4. Guilt

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
- Rev. 12:10

Guilt is a biggie that Satan uses. He is known as “the accuser of our brethren.” One of the best examples of this is found in the book of Job, whenever Satan attempted to get Job to turn against God. One of Satan’s goals is to convince God that we are not worth of redemption. However, God knows the pains that Jesus went through to make us worthy, and to redeem us. As this is the case, Satan turns his attention towards us, to convince us that we are definitely not worth of any good thing.

His goal here is to convince us that we are so rotten that we are not worth of any sort of love, be it God’s, Mom or Dad, friends, or whoever. Guilt seeks to convince us that we’re stupid, no good, inherently evil, or whatever. Basically, it’s there to make us feel that we are hopelessly lost. Guilt can be a terrible thing! Note however that there is a huge difference between guilt and conviction. Conviction is whenever we feel bad for something wrong that we’ve done. It is the prodding of the Holy Spirit to make right whatever we’ve done wrong. Guilt occurs after we have been caught doing something wrong, or after we’ve confessed a wrongdoing. It comes from a lack of understanding God’s grace. It can also come from an outside source that refuses to forgive us. Satan will use either, as he’s no respecter of methods. He simply wants results!

The Bottom Line
There are several things we need to remember about Satan:

1. His goal in life is to steal, kill, and destroy.
2. He hates your guts.
3. He’ll use his power of deceit to ruin your life and the lives of those you love.

We’ve looked at some of the ways he tries to accomplish his goal. However, the truth of the matter is that Satan has no real power over us, beyond what we allow him to have. Satan is a defeated enemy! He has no authority over us! He knows this, and therefore tries to convince us that he is bigger than us, that God is too small to defeat him, and that it’s better to sin than to serve God.
Satan is a defeated enemy, and he knows it. The only thing he can do now is to convince others that his way is better, and take them down with him. Satan truly is limited in his power, and absolutely has no hope against the properly prepared child of God. It’s been said that even the weakest Christian has power over Satan by virtue of what Christ did on Calvary. With this knowledge, can anything truly be against us? Consider this:

How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.' But instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths. Everyone there will stare at you and ask, 'Can this be the one who shook the earth and the kingdoms of the world? Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wilderness? Is this the king who demolished the world's greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?'
- Is. 14:12-17

In the end, we will look at Satan and wonder how it was possible that something so insignificant and small could cause so much damage. The truth of the matter is that because of a lack of knowledge or a relationship with God, we allowed him to.
And there you have it! As you see, it would be impossible to cover so much detail on our little take-home sheet. Keep in mind that not all lessons are this detailed, so I will not expound upon every lesson unless popular opinion demands that I do. Please feel free to leave comments or ask questions! I most definitely welcome your feedback!
Children truly are a gift from God! As such, we are required to teach them all they can to succeed in life and in their walk with God. In Extreme Kids, we take this mandate seriously, and therefore want to take every opportunity to help you, the parent, accomplish this.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed this blog! Feel free to read the other blogs as well. They’re not necessarily EK blogs, but they are somewhat entertaining/educational. Thank you for all you do, and for allowing us to serve your children.

In Him,
Bobby

On Blogging...

Hello!

So here I am up late at night (fell asleep really early trying to put Jazzy nite-nite... it's a team effort!) trying to figure out exactly how to stay regular at blogging. Truthfully, I rarely think about it during the day. At any rate, I've blogged before, (on MySpace) but only a few times. Even so, those blogs were quite substantial. They ended up being mini-novellettes or something of the like, rather than a 30 sec. "So this is what I've been doing..." update. Anyway...

Pastor has been speaking to us a lot about focus recently. Everything in life that we achieve came about because we, to some degree, devoted a bit of focus to it. If you've ever baked a cake, learned to ride a bike, lost weight, grown closer to God, etc., then all of these required some bit of focus! If you ignore the cake at some point during the process of making it, you'll just end up with a sugary, burnt mess! If you don't learn to keep your balance, you'll fall off the bicycle. If you work out for 1 1/2hrs. then go out and eat a large pizza with extra cheese, you'll never actually lose weight. If you don't focus on your relationship with God daily, you'll end up like Samson.

Samson was anything but the ideal model Biblical hero. He had many issues, as many of us do, but the problem was that he suffered from a lack of focus. Sure, he was a judge of Israel, and God used him to accomplish many things. However, it must be remembered that Samson died as a prisoner in a foreign land, all because he lost his focus. The saddest part of Samson's story occurred in Judges 16:20, right after he divulged the secret of his strenght to Delilah. The Scripture reads:

"Then she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" When he woke up, he thought, "I will do as before and shake myself free." But he didn't realize the LORD had left him."

You see, it's easy to function in our gifts and in our personal talents. God had blessed Samson with extraordinary strength, which he used to great effect. However, Samson had serious character flaws that he did not address, nor allow God to change. Instead of focusing on God and growing his relationship with Him, Samson chose to do whatever it was that Samson wanted to do. As a result, he became so spiritually numb that he didn't even realize that his relationship with God had slipped away! True, it was the sheering of Samson's locks that cause him to lose his strength. However, this very natual act had a very powerful spiritual connection. His hair was part of his dedication as a Nazarite. According to the "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia," the following were the conditions of a Nazarite:

(1) the strictest abstinence from wine and from every product of the vine

(2) the keeping of the hair uncut and the beard untouched by a razor

(3) the prohibition to touch a dead body

(4) prohibition of unclean food

Throughout the story of Samson, there were several instances when he violated these rules:

1. The eating of honey from the carcass of a lion
2. Fighting with the jawbone of a donkey
3. Possibly the drinking of wine during various feasts.

Of course, Samson also had problems with the ladies. He decided to marry a Philistine woman against his parent's wishes, consorted with prostitutes, and eventually fell prey to Delilah. Now, the Bible does state the the Lord was "working in this" when Samson went to marry the Philistine woman. It must be noted that God is going to work everywhere, regardless of the circumstances, to protect His people and grow those He loves. One must wonder what Samson could have accomplished had he not been so neglectful of his relationship with God!

So how did Samson do all of this if his relationship with God was lacking? Read Romans 29:11

"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable..."

God blesses each and every one of us with unique talents and abilities. There are certain things that I am very good at that you are not, and the reverse is true. We cannot control what God gifts us with! Those gifts are His to choose and disperse according to how He sees fit. However, once God gives a gift, He will not take it back. That's one of the reasons that some ministers may be living in sin, yet see huge numbers of people come to God, receive miracles, and the like under their ministry. It's a gift from God. WE are the ones who are responsible to be good stewards of the gifts God has given us, and to make sure that our relationship with Him is strong.

Satan's job is to distract us and to destroy our focus. If we've been living for God for any amount of time, it is unlikely that we are going to just out and out do something in total rebellion against God. However, Satan is a master at destroying our focus, if we are not careful! In fact, Satan probably has little to do with the process. All he has to do is frustrate us a bit or throw in a bit of temptation and let our flesh to go work on us. When our focus is disrupted, we end up sinking in the storms of our lives, just like Peter did out on the water. Thank God that He's there to catch us when we realize what's happening!

Gifts from God are wonderful things. However, we must make sure that we never lose focus of what is truly important: our relationship with God. Above everything else in life, we must focus on that one thing, for it is that one thing that is eternally important. This life, as wonderful as it is (or horrible, depending upon your perspective) is temporal. We are eternal beings, and therefore will spend eternity somewhere. Whatever we do in this life determines the eternal. When we put Jesus at the center of our lives, our eternity will be centered on Him as well.

God loves us, and desires to be our all in all. It amazes me that my God, who loves me so much, is willing to bless me with wonderful things, even though it is possible that I could end up loving my stuff more than He. God truly loves us with a love that's beyond comprehension... If only we could focus enough to do the same. God help us to focus!!!

I've said enough, it's late, and I've got to get some more sleep!

Later,
Bobby