Eternal Security or Eternal Deception?

 "When a person truly meets Christ, changes will take place. The outward may be without the inward, but the inward is never without the outward." -Greg Laurie

Can I be frank...

No, not Sinatra...well actually...

I struggle with the idea of salvation at times. My struggle comes in talking with people who have portrayed salvation in Jesus Christ as one of a few possibilities...

• You walked an aisle
• You prayed a prayer
• You were baptized

But can that truly be it? How many parents have assured me of the salvation of children who have rarely shown even the slightest hint of spiritual sensitivity? More than I can count, and each time my heart breaks for them. 

As a Baptist the idea of eternal security is not only an important doctrine, but a biblical doctrine (John 10:28):

"I give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." -Jesus 

I guess the question becomes: How do we know someone has placed their lives in the hand of Jesus? Well, we can't really KNOW, because only God has access to a person's heart. However, the Bible says an unchanged life is an unsaved life. Not because we have to work hard to be saved, but we should WANT to work hard because we've been saved.

1 John 3:7-8 says there are two things we can practice: righteousness or sin. It does not say that performing one, on occasion, defines us. Instead we are told that our practices and repetitive habits indicate whether we have truly repented of the old life and entered in a new life through Jesus. 

One Simple Way A Pastor Can Encourage Children

"It's not enough to love the children, it is necessary that they are aware they are loved." John Bosco

Adrian Rogers was a 3-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the pastor of a 29,000 member church, and one of my preaching heroes. But my favorite story about the man comes from my Greek professor in seminary. I'll re-tell the story in his words to the best of  my ability:

"As I was walking the hallways of Bellevue Baptist Church just prior to a worship service, I noticed a man, down on one knee, talking face to face with a young child. As I got closer, I realized it was Dr. Rogers who was listening intently to this little boy. While I'm sure Adrian had several things on his mind, such as the order of the forthcoming service or his own sermon, he took the time to listen and speak with that little boy and to be his pastor. Of all the wonderful sermons and actions that Dr. Rogers took in the time I knew him, this act stuck with me more than any other."

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14 NIV)

That story was meaningful to me as a young minister and now as a lead pastor. Yes, I've got places to go and people to see, especially on a Sunday morning. But aren't children people? If Jesus took special time away from talking to adults to let the little children come to Him, how much more so should I as a pastor? I remain mindful that I need to be quick to stop and stoop in order to be the pastor even to the youngest child.

We lament the exodus of young people from our churches. We love them and we want to see God's work in their lives, but have we told them that? Have we stopped to take a knee and look them in the eye and listen to them?

I encourage pastors, ministers, volunteers, and parents to stop and stoop from time to time. Do not tower over, but get face to face with a child and let them know you care. And perhaps such simple efforts will help these kids see a genuine Christianity that continues to register with them into adulthood.

5 Confessions of a Former Youth Minister

I am NOT an expert on teenagers or youth ministry. And these 5 confessions are simply some lessons I learned from a decade of youth ministry. It's not exhaustive, but may be helpful to some parents or youth ministers out there.

1. Be real, not cool. 

My first opportunity as a youth minister came at the age of 22. I wasn't much older than the kids I was teaching, so of course I thought I could be the "cool" youth minister. I didn't grow a soul-patch or start saying "dude", but I certainly failed at just being myself. Over the course of that 4-year ministry stop, my relationships with the kids grew when I stopped pretending to be a teenager.
 
2. Work with Parents, not for them. 
Youth ministers feel an incredible burden to "fix" the kids in their youth groups. We see the answers they give in Bible study and compare them to the choices they make the rest of the time. It crushes us. But I had to realize that I was only able to invest a few hours in these kids lives each week. I'm not an employee of the parents, but my work was to support the spiritual authority of parents with their teens. Make parents a part of your efforts.

3. Sheltered kids are safe kids
My children's friends have been surprised at times when my kids didn't know who Justin Bieber or Rihanna were (just doing my part America). And over my years of youth ministry I've heard kids be teased for not seeing certain movies or listening to certain music. While many call these kids sheltered, I call them safe. In my decade of experience, those kids who lived in homes where their parents attempted to shelter them from temptation have generally lived out a more vocal faith into their adult lives. This isn't true in every single case, but more often than not.

4. Be a friend and an authority
Randy was my youth pastor growing up, and he really mentored me without either of us ever knowing it. Randy had this amazing ability to be a fun friend to us, but then flip a switch and instantly become our authority when needed. If you are responsible for teenagers, act like it. Yes, some of them won't like being told "no" and they may leave. You need to decide what's most important to you: group size or group health.

5. Teach the Bible...they can handle it.
This kind of goes with the idea of what's most important to you. I've always emphasized personal reading of the Bible to teens, but then I'd interact with other youth ministers who told me what they were doing. Suddenly I was being encouraged to do this VHS series (Be kind, rewind), or teach that book. They were always fun studies, but they weren't always biblically solid or impactful. Teach your kids that the Bible is enough. Other resources are helpful, but the Bible must always be the foundation for what you're doing.

Have other thoughts in your top 5? I'd love to hear them in the comments. 

Learn from the past. Don't live in it.

"You gotta put your behind in your past." -Pumba

     You're not alone. You've got some baggage. You've got some hurts. You've got some regrets. Everyone does, and yet we still find ourselves constantly beaten up by our past and cloudy on our future. It's times like this that I remember the words of one of our greatest philosophers:

     My most recent dealing with my past comes thanks to my grandmother. I have often said I'd like to know more of my family history. My mother had me at 16, and I never really knew my biological father. As a result, I have half a family tree and even the details on the half I know are pretty sketchy.

     So my grandmother recently sent me three newspapers that ran a series on my great-great-grandfather, Harvey McCoy.What was Harvey's claim to fame, you may ask?

Inventor of the toothbrush? (No)
First mayor of his small town? (Not even)
Was he a party planner? (You're getting warmer)

Actually, ol' gramps was a moonshiner. He realized that corn sold for feed wasn't nearly as valuable as corn that was turned into illegal liquor. And yes, our family is also related to THE McCoy's. So there's that.

I suppose I hoped that knowing where I came from would add some sort of value to my life or give me some heritage to hold onto. And while my mom says that Harvey, in spite of a short time in the clink, was a devoted family man, that's just not a satisfying answer.

     We all have a history. Whether it's a criminal family member or your own sins, it can feel like a weight on your shoulders. But I'm here to tell you that it's not about your past, it's about your future.

"For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." Hebrews 8:12"

     Jesus didn't die for us to sit and mourn the failures of yesterday. He died in His perfection to cover our imperfections and to obliterate our past while giving us a "hope and a future". So seek God above all else and live in the now!