Consistency is key.

One thing I can’t seem to get away from in every aspect of life recently is this principle, consistency is key. Whether we are talking about learning a new skill set at work, doing family devotions at home, or building a stronger marriage, consistency is the key to making it work. Let’s take a look at a few examples. 

When learning to ride a bike or teaching your children to do so, you don’t ever tell them to try it once and then if that doesn’t work just give up. Absolutely not! Even just saying that out loud sounds ridiculous. Rather, you encourage your child to pick themselves back up, shake the dirt off, even wash off the scrapes and bruises they get from the fall, and to try, try again. You know that consistent attempts, even though failures may occur, are the only way to stay up on the bike and ride. Also, knowing that once they have mastered the balance and pedaling that it is likely one skill set they will never forget, hence the expression, “It’s just like riding a bike.” 

Just like riding a bike, the same consistency and perseverance are required in this thing we call life, and in particular our spiritual journey. One does not simply decide to read the Bible and get started in Genesis, maybe make it to the book of Leviticus and decide this is impossible, give up and never try again. Yet, this is the plight of many today. They say they can’t get through it all, it’s too hard to understand, etc. Consistency is key. W.E. Hickson is credited with the popular proverb, “Tis a lesson you should heed, try, try, try again; If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.” 

In one of the evening services last week in Conway, the speaker, Rob Leonard, posed the question, “Why should we read our Bible?” He then went on to say when you love that special someone you desire to spend every waking moment with them. You talk to them as often as possible. All this because you love them and want to be as close to them as possible. You see God still speaks today, maybe not in an audible voice from a mountain top as before but through a book on the shelf or coffee table of over half of all Americans today. Maybe it’s in the back window of your car or on the desk at home. Wherever it is for you, God is desiring to speak if you would but pick up His Word and listen. Don’t give up! Consistency is key. 

However, it does take time to be consistent today. Lysa TerKeurst said it best when I heard her at a conference last year, “We have to find the ‘us’ in the middle of the ‘rush’…” I hate to say this but The Rolling Stones may have been wrong when they sang their hit song “Time is on my Side”. Time as a matter of fact the only thing we are losing by the second. Life is a rush and constantly moving faster it seems, you can not try and slow down time but rather find yourself and what is important in the midst of it. 

If you were to ask anyone older than you what they would change about their life looking back, you would consistently hear responses centered around the idea of how they spent their time. Time can’t be taken back or slowed down but it can be invested. What is it that you consistently do each week? If you had a crystal ball and could look into the future, and you could see your future self, having invested the same amount of time in the things you are currently investing your time in each week, what would you look like? Would you be pleased? If at this point you are feeling slightly defeated then don’t fear, there is a solution, and consistency is the key. 

It has been said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Whatever it is in your life right now that you want to change, I challenge you to take the next 21 days and begin this process of forming new habits, but remember consistency is key. Whether you need to strengthen your relationship with God, or maybe your spouse, kids, or grandkids, maybe all of the above, then try these simple steps. 

1. Begin by praying each day that God would help, but don’t stop there because we know that faith without works is dead (James 2)

2. Search the scriptures. Listen to God and find out what He has to say about your particular struggle. I’m crazy enough to believe the scriptures when they say:

You know that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:15-17

3. Start Simple. It’s great to have big dreams and grand goals but every flight to the moon began with a simple first step. Don’t put pressure on yourself to change overnight. Remember it’s hard to ride a bike the first time you sit on it. 

4. Consistency is key. Whether enhancing your marriage, modeling Christlike behavior to your wife and kids or reading through your entire Bible for the first time, you’ll have to keep up the hard work and realize it’s going to take time. Don’t feel defeated after you fall off the bike. If at first you don’t succeed try, try again. 

God Bless, 

Pastor Grant

How diversified is your investment portfolio?

Disclaimer: No financial advice is intended in the writing of this article. I am not a financial advisor. 

When seeking financial advice we typically seek out those with a proven track record. Not often do you seek out the novice in investments and money management. On the contrary, we look for a person who we trust due to their longevity in the field, their list of clientele, and in conjunction with a past precedent of successful investments. Most of us have a basic high school level economics class. This gives us a cursory knowledge of an appropriate way to spend our money with the highest potential for return on investment.

For example, if we brought our hard earned money to an investor and they encouraged us to put the lump sum into one area, i.e. the stock market, we would approach their advice with a bit of fear and skepticism. That’s a risky investment. Putting all we have into one high risk investment, that may or may not yield results, is quite a dicey endeavor. Rather, the advice we anticipate is a diversified investment strategy, one where they would take our investment and spread it out amongst many areas, i.e. real estate, IRA’s, bonds, stocks, etc. This maximizes our return potential. Our goal is for our little amount of money to grow.

This seems to be common sense in our world today and yet we fail to translate this principle to other areas of our life, namely our spiritual life. This principle has a biblical basis. If our only investment into our spiritual portfolio comes on Sunday mornings, our portfolio is rather weak, with little to no chance for growth. Rather, we are to be spreading out the investment of God’s word in several areas of our life, so that we can maximize the potential investment of God’s word in our lives. I am not saying that means that our spiritual investment is gauged on our Sunday night and Wednesday night attendance. Rather, what I am saying is that everyday you should be making a investment in your spiritual portfolio. Here is the kicker, though. The purpose of growing spiritually is not just to be more spiritual but to have a depth of spiritual knowledge so that you can invest in others close to you. Let me show you from God’s word what I mean. 

You are not to continually invest in yourself only but to grow in the grace and knowledge of the word of God. For example, Hebrews 5:12-6:1 says, “Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food. Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil. Therefore, leaving the elementary message about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity…” God’s desire for spiritual growth of the believer is echoed throughout the Word of God, not just in Hebrews. The type of spiritual growth seen throughout the the scriptures is not attainable from a Sunday morning church service. It’s only from a continual steady investment in the riches of God’s Word. The apostles and the early church in Acts were even accused of breaking bread and breaking open the word daily. God desires you to invest in others also.

As husbands you are to invest in your spouse also. Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus had this to say about the matter. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:25-26). The last part of that statement is crucial in the health and longevity of a marriage let alone in the spiritual life of a believer. The investment you make in your spouse has far more value than just within him/her. By investing in your spouse spiritually you prove your belief in the scriptures. You also show your children the value of God’s Holy Word in your daily relationship with your spouse, their parent. In addition to our spouse God’s plan includes investing in our family.

As a father you are to invest in your children. Deut. chapter 6 shares with us the grand design of a creator God, in particular how God plans to propagate faith in Him to a future generation. “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (vv.4-9 HCSB). Take note of the audience, your children. God desires that you and your children could share a common faith. Then He goes on to share His plan on how to make that happen. How can you share your faith with your children in a Sunday morning only scenario? The short answer is you can’t and nor is that the desire of God. You must be receiving deposits in your account on a regular basis and in turn using the day to day moments of life to transfer that faith to your children or even grandchildren. 

This is the heart and desire of God, the ultimate advisor in all things spiritual. He has given you an investment guide on where to receive instructions. He desires that you use every opportunity to delight in His word (Psalm 1:1-3), then make an investment in those closest to you. Of course none of this is possible without the application of our scripture from Sunday morning 2 Tim. 3:14-17. If you don’t know or realize that God’s breathed word is crucial for daily living that is where you must begin your investment strategy. Daily doses will prove to be the best investment you ever make.

Leadership Matters

Does leadership really matter? A question that depending on differing contexts can bring about a myriad of responses. It also depends on what positions that you see yourself in on a daily basis whether or not you have strong feelings about this question. I would like to share with you some examples, biblical and extra biblical as well as some personal experiences that bring light and maybe an answer to this question today. 

I had the distinct pleasure of attending an elective course offered by Faith Bible Institute and hosted by our church this last weekend. It was approximately 5 hours long spread out over two days and jam packed with principles, and examples of Biblical leadership, it's process, it purpose and it’s importance. It has made me really take time and think about the areas of my life where others see my leadership, whether or not I see or admit it, and assess where I am at, where I am going, and where I need to be. Sometimes seeing that we are leading others can be a stumbling block for us, in that we don’t take ownership of the fact that others see us and are following. 

There are some times in our lives where we don’t realize all those around us, whether in the next room or in the next state are looking to each of us and the examples we set. Therefore you are leading someone, somewhere whether you like it or not. There are others who know and see clearly the influence we have on others. Whether you are a father, mother, grandmother or grandfather, boss, teacher, preacher, manager, deacon or any other position in the world, God has given you a chance to influence and change others. Yet He has not left you empty handed trying to figure it out on your own. 

There are several examples in God’s Word of good and bad leadership. Some stories are there for us to see how to lead, others on how not to lead. How to be a good father can be clearly found in Deut. 6, Ephesians 5 and others. We have been preaching and teaching through the history of Israel through 1 and 2 Kings and Chronicles lately. Some kings are considered great leaders in the history of Israel and yet were not great leaders in their own homes. Our worship Pastor Luke Carney made an astute observation this week when he said, “As we have been studying the kings of Israel over the last few months at Faith and also thru my seminary classes, I have come to realize that many great men and what we consider to be great godly kings made for very lousy fathers.” He concluded with these fine statements that I have paraphrased. Certain kings may have won the battle and lost the war. We need to choose to be the pattern at home. God gives all leaders a hand book, a road map to follow on how to maximize our leadership ability and potential. When looking for answers there are many books on how to be a better leader, but let us turn first to God’s word for direction. How do we assess where we are?

The elective course offered an answer this weekend. Larry Fincher said, “The success of a leader is in how our successor does.” Did we lead others in such a way that they are able to teach others the same thing?  Another quote from Larry Fincher spoke to this very concept in our FBI elective this weekend when he said, “The success of parenting is not in the children, but rather in the grandchildren.” For then we see whether we lead our children to be good leaders of their own children. In our country we see the success of our leaders based on the longevity of their reforms and they bare the blame for the good and the bad. Does leadership matter? When it comes to our country we are quick to say a resounding, “YES!” However when it comes to matters of faith, family, or our jobs, we quickly shift blame and responsibility to others. 

God gives us all responsibility to lead others. Lead them to Him, lead coworkers, lead children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters in the Lord at church. So my question for you is, who are you leading, and where or what or whom are you leading them? Does leadership matter? Yes it does, and if so, you first need to figure out who you are leading, who looks up to you? Second you need to figure out if your example is worth following? Lastly where are you leading others? As we have seen from the kings of Israel, you can win the battle and lose the war. Are you fighting the battle or looking at the war?

God Bless, 

Pastor Grant

“I don’t wanna grow up!”

For some of you reading this, the words that immediately come to mind are: I’m a Toys’R’Us kid! For years we have sung this song and even passed it down to a generation below us who may or may not have heard it personally. This song represents a paradox in our world today and particularly to the generation we are raising right now. 

To some degree we don’t want our children, and grandchildren to grow up so quickly, that is true. With the advent of technology today we have the computing power unthinkable generations ago, right in the palm of our hands. For those of you wondering, it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon or at all. With this comes a tremendous resource but also a significant danger. It is forcing our kids to grow up sooner than ever before. The average age of first exposure to any form of pornographic material is 8 years old! The statistics used to be heavily weighted toward the male end of the spectrum but are nearly equal today between males and females. Addiction cases are not uncommon as early as 11 years old in both boys and girls. Children are exposed to violence, drinking and drugs at staggeringly younger ages than ever before as a result of readily available technology. So, what do we do? With technology becoming a normal part of everyday life, how do we handle the situation? We don’t want our kids to have to grow up so soon and see and be exposed to these things. So do we advocate abstinence from technology and the outside world? 

Sorry to burst your bubble but that’s impossible. Today it’s a requirement in almost all forms of education even down to the Kindergarten level. For those of us thinking we can shelter our kids from all forms of harm we are at risk of grandiose delusions. Jesus even spoke of this in His earthly ministry, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NLT) If we cannot avoid trouble then how have we responded to the problem?

As a result of our disappointment in the robbing of our children’s innocence many have decided that perpetuating their childhood/adolescence is the best solution, treating them as young children and adolescents well into adulthood. A recent survey I read said that a majority of young adults today have no plans to get a job or move out on their own after college graduation and are completely content in living with their parents until their late 20’s or even 30. This was unheard of even one but definitely two generations ago. I have two books in my office on the topic if you want more info: Accelerate: Parenting Teenagers Toward Adulthood by Richard Ross, and The Legacy Path: Discover Intentional Spiritual Parenting by Brian Haynes. So what should we do?

I have seen and am in the middle of experiencing three distinct stages in the development of children and families. I have come up with these three names and descriptions to help understand these stages. The first being the Principle Based Learning stage. From the ages of birth to 7 years old, the foundations are being built upon which all children will base future choices and decisions. It is during this time that children learn from what their parents say, and teach. The second stage is the Practical Based Learning stage. From the ages of 7-14 years children seem to notice and observe the practical applications of what you taught them in the first 7 years. One staggering quote I received from the D6 Family Ministry conference I attended last year was, “Children wake up believing on their 14th birthday, what they believe when they die.” The third stage I like to call the Practice Based Learning stage. From ages 14-18 children (essentially young adults at this point, whether we choose to admit it or not) practice what they have heard, been taught, and have seen modeled by their parents. 

In all of these stages it is our responsibility as parents and families to be the primary influencers in their daily lives. We will not be unchallenged in this fight. Technology, friends, popular culture and ultimately Satan would love to fight for their affections and defeat our efforts and attempts. The Church can be a resource and source of equipping for parents, grandparents and families in this fight. This is Family Ministry, and this is it’s primary goal: To equip parents to make disciples of Christ in their own homes. 

The battle cannot be won on Sunday mornings alone or even Wednesday nights. The Church must equip parents in the everyday fight for the affections of their children’s hearts. We cannot perpetuate the immaturity of adolescence into adulthood, but rather must equip this generation, not IF they will encounter troubles but WHEN they encounter troubles, to find peace in Jesus. He is our source of hope in times of need and trials. Times of need and trials will come, Jesus said so Himself. We cannot shelter our children from the world but must equip them to be more than conquerors of it. We must teach our children not only to grow up but also HOW to grow up. 

God Bless, 

Pastor Grant