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

“You can’t take it with you!”

How many times in your life have you heard that phrase? At least once I’m sure. Well what happens to all the things we leave behind? That’s a good question. Seemingly the answer is simple. We leave it behind to those who are left behind in our absence. This spurs on the next question I have. Is what you’re leaving behind worthwhile?

God tells us the legacy we leave behind will affect generations to come. 

Psalm 78:1-7 says,”1 My people, hear my instruction; listen to what I say. 2 I will declare wise sayings; I will speak mysteries from the past 3 things we have heard and known
and that our fathers have passed down to us. 4 We must not hide them from their children, but must tell a future generation the praises of the Lord, His might, and the wonderful works
He has performed. 5 He established a testimony in Jacob and set up a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children 6 so that a future generation children yet to be born—might know. They were to rise and tell their children 7 so that they might put their confidence in God and not forget God’s works, but keep His commands.”(HCSB)

Speaking practically, what team do you root for? Who told you to root for that team? Is it because you randomly decided to like that team or did someone influential in your life encourage that behavior? What’s your favorite vacation spot? Who took you there for the first time? What memory is evoked in you when you smell that favorite food? Is it one of someone influential making your favorite meal and leaving a lasting impression? All of these are simple expressions of the impact of a person in your life who may or may not be around any longer. 

Think about some of the things you hope to never do or who you hope to never become. The legacy of that person is one you learned not to emulate. The impression left by some circumstances reminds us how not to behave or act. Always remember the things of this earth will not go with you but they will leave an impression behind. 

So you can’t take it with you, but you can leave it behind. Think of this scripture, and think about the legacy you are passing on to the next generation and not only that one but the one after that and so on. Some of you may be reading this and saying, “my kids are grown, it’s too late” and others, “I don’t have any kids to leave a legacy for”. This scripture isn’t relegated to those who have families at home. It’s value is just as great in those scenarios as well. God wants us to be cognizant of the fact that there are generations to come who can be impacted by the legacy we leave and the stories we have to tell. What legacy will you leave? What story will generations tell of your life? My prayer is the legacy that you leave will be a Godly one. Hopefully your is a story of faith, in the midst of trials, triumphs, failures, and victories. Hopefully you have a story of an unwavering faith and reliance upon Jesus Christ and His atoning work on the cross. Hopefully you have a faith that not only affects us for salvation sake but also impacts the way we approach life daily.

God Bless,

Bro. Grant

A New Kind of Love

“1Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Eph. 5:1-2 NKJV

Love seems to be the topic of the day, and a taboo one at that in certain climates. The love in reference here for the purposes of this article will be that of Christian love for others. Having experienced many opportunities this summer, with many students, adults and children, there have been many responses to the love shown by our groups and the groups we have been serving alongside this summer. Literally from one end of the spectrum to the other we have seen huge shifts in the way people receive the loving acts done through our summer missions programs this year. 

Some Christian groups are concerned with being too loving and not strong enough doctrinally/theologically. Prolific Pastor Andy Stanley refers to these two extremes as “Deep and Wide.” Some churches can be extremely deep theologically and very shallow in their showing of the things they know of/about God. Others can be very loving in their expression of God (wide) but not very deep biblically. I believe in light of our study of 1 Cor. 13 this last Sunday as well as the scripture at the beginning of this writing, God’s desire is for us to be both! 

God desires us to imitate Him, following the example He set. We are to be just like a small child who is like a shadow to his father, tracing every footstep, imitating every word, action, or move. We are to be like that child that yearns to be just like his dad. We are to be just like Jesus, who came down to this Earth, teaching deep theological truths that were equally balanced with a showing of what those truths looked like when lived out. You see, love is an action. God tells us to “walk in love” not sit in love, or look in love but to actually do something with the love of God. Jesus’ love provoked Him to action and even ultimately to the greatest action of love the world has ever experienced, death on a cross. 

God desires to speak the truth in love. He desires that His truth be delivered with a healthy dose of action as well. I think John C. Maxwell summed the perfect balance of love lived out and Biblical truth when he said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” God desires that we be both deep and wide, that we walk in love and imitate His example.

What does that look like here at our church? Maybe it means we do something we have never done before, or maybe it means we do something even better than ever before. Let us help kindle the fire that has returned from each of these summer mission trips. Let us learn from the acts of sacrificial service to communities they didn’t even know, and bring these acts of sacrificial service here to our homes, our cities, our communities and our families. Let it be said of our church, like Jason and others in Acts 17, that we turned the world upside down with the truth. My friend Joey Cook says it best this way, “This generation doesn’t need a new definition of Christianity, but a new demonstration of the Church.”   

His Grace is Sufficient for your Family

9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Cor. 12:9-10 NKJV

This verse has been running through my mind and quite honestly running me over of late. All too often life leaves us searching for answers from within ourselves and in our own strength. I sit guilty of this very thing, trying to do things of my own will and accord. I am wishing and hoping on my strengths, skills and abilities to overcome life’s problems on a daily basis. Does this sound familiar to anyone? 

Paul was dealing with this same issue some two thousand years ago. The LORD spoke to him these words and he recorded them for the same purpose, to get us through times where we come up short for answers, words and works. It is when we come to the end of ourselves, and realize we can’t do it, we don’t have the right thing to say or do, it is at this time God is ready and able to use us. Instead of coming to that point of despair and giving up, He wants to use us. You see I intentionally left off the first part of this passage until now. Verse 8 says, “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.” Paul begged God to remove the one thing he thought was stopping him from really being able to serve God. It was when Paul realized that he couldn’t do it on his own, but that he needed to be weak in order to rely on God. This is true in our lives today, when we are weak and rely on God, then God is made real to those around us.

I am asking fathers and families to engage in spiritual discipleship and training at home. The common responses so far: “I don’t know how to start a spiritual conversation at home”, “I just don’t have time to do those types of things in our house”, “I didn't know that’s what God wanted of me”. These are good starting points for all families in the church. If your heart is set toward God, and you’re not good with words, be confident that His grace is sufficient for you and your attempts to lead your family, remember when you are weak HE is strong. If you feel that you don’t have time to lead your family at home in spiritual conversations, remember the power of Christ rests upon you and your home, and he desires what’s best for your family, if you make time he will honor that, and speaking from personal experience and the testimony of others, if you make Him important and priority in your schedule you will find that you don’t miss out on anything else important. Lastly, this is God’s will and desire for your family that you lead them to Christ and don’t just drop them off at the door, but continue to teach, train and disciple them. If there is any doubt where God talks of spiritual training at home please visit and study these scriptures; Deut. 6:1-9; Psalm 78:1-8, Proverbs 22:6, Eph. 5:22-6:4. Col. 3. 

We all fall short and that’s the point. It is when we fall short, that God steps up and uses us. We have to come to the end of ourselves and rely on Christ, our Messiah, our Savior, His grace, that is sufficient for all circumstances, to do through us what we can’t do on our own. It is when I am weak then I am strong, not on my own but when I rely on Him, His strength and His all-sufficient grace. 

God Bless, 

Bro. Grant

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Col. 3:16-17 (ESV)

I have been reading a fair amount recently. One of the problems that I keep coming across is that I want to share everything that I read to everyone of you. Reading seems to be a lost art in a world of high speed technology, instant gratification, and social media. Why would we read for 20 minutes the account of a biblical story when we can go and watch a 2 hour movie? Ok maybe a bad example, but for example a Christian research firm called Barna Research Group has recently followed this trend so much so that they are catering to this seeming epidemic in our culture today. People don’t feel as though they have enough time to sit down and read anymore. We are so busy that reading doesn’t seem to be a productive enough use of our time these days. Barna Research has started producing books that are no more than 100 pages in length so that people are not intimidated by the premise of completing a book. The purpose of saying all this is simply to say there are some valuable things to be gained by reading today. 

A book that has garnered great attention to me today that I would recommend for every believer in Christ is called, ”Everyday Talk; Talking with your children about God.” by John Younts. You may say but I don’t have children, that may be true, but this is a very practical guide to making God conversations out of everyday life to everyday people. I can’t make you read a book and promise your life will be more fulfilled as a result of it. One of the things that I would say is that there are a ton of resources that good Godly men and women have written that could be excellent tools in your toolbox. One of the key principles in family ministry and it’s future effectiveness at Faith, is our ability to train ourselves and others how to turn everyday ordinary situations into God moments. In essence, every word that we speak, every action that we take should be consumed with speech, emotions, and actions toward God. Hence the scripture reference at the onset of this writing. Sometimes people ask and legitimately so, do you really think we should do this? Does everything we do have to be pointing to God? It is my desire that, fathers in particular, parents especially, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces and church members especially, as representatives of Christ on this Earth, all that we do point to God. Whether we are teaching, admonishing, worshipping, corporately or at home, or really whatever we do, we would do in order to bring God glory. 

How can we do that? Reading resources that equip us to practically turn everyday conversations to God. Seeing God in situations, or circumstances that we ascribe to normal life and turning them around to give credit to God (who rightfully deserves the credit anyway). I would like for us to call these God sightings, and to pursue them in every aspect of our families at Faith, equip students and singles to see them now and highlight them in their future families, and to have our seasoned saints and empty nesters to adopt spiritual orphans (those who have no spiritual influences at home) and teach them to see God in spite of circumstances.

Thanks and God Bless, 

Bro. Grant