Emanuel U21

Don't Be Too Hard On Your Parents

2009-06-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

As Father's Day was this past weekend, I had the chance to think a lot about parenting. Now, I know parents can seem difficult at times, but you have to look at the world through their eyes sometimes to better understand who they are and why they make the decisions they do. 90% or more of the time, parents are simply making decisions they believe are in the best interests and safety of their child. We often forget that. Our sinful nature pushes us to think we should be able to have and/or do whatever we want when we want. Society also encourages this mentality and that doesn't help!

I was fishing in Canada last week and watched a cool parenting scene unfold before me. As we fished in a back bay, a mother moose and her newborn moose came into the bay to presumably get a drink and to cool off in the water. They had gotten into the water a short ways when the mother noticed us in our boat. She watched us closely as she turned around and turned her baby around and led the two of them out of the water and back into the woods. Now, I am thinking, the little moose wouldn't have minded staying in the water a little longer based on his apparent playfulness that we observed. However, the little one obeyed the mother and walked out of the water right away with her.

So, was the mother being mean? Did she make her baby get back out of the water and into the woods where it was almost 90 degrees and full of flies just to be mean? No, she sensed potential danger and moved to protect her young one. Were we a threat, no. But Mother Moose had no idea if we were or not and could not take that chance.

The same thing happens with your parents. What you want or want to do may not actually pose a threat to you, but if your parent is unsure, the most loving thing they can possibly do is say "no" even though to you it appears mean or unfair. So this summer, give your parents a little break when they say "no" to something. Instead try thanking them for loving you enough to actually care and for looking out for you.

Attitudes are contagious, is yours worth catching?

2009-05-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed how attitudes really are contagious? You can catch someone else's attitude faster than you can catch a cold! If you are having a good day and run into Oscar the Grouch, it impacts you and the longer your interaction with the Grouch, the more likely you are to leave the scene a little grumpy yourself. Same thing if someone is all fired up and excited about something, you tend to catch that too. So, since attitudes are contagious, how is yours? Are you demonstrating attitudes that are positive, encouraging, and representative of Christ's love for us? Or have you been doing your best Oscar impersonation? Because what attitude you carry around will influence all those around you. Today, make sure you are a positive influence and hey, have an awesome day!

2009-04-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

It's the end of April and school is almost out and it's about time for summer vacation. Now the fun starts right? Teens everywhere - including most of you guys - will struggle to balance jobs, a full schedule of sports &/or other activities, the youth rally, summer camps, volunteer work, missions trips, and music lessons. None of these things are bad. Really, they're all good things to be involved in. However, it becomes a problem once it eliminates or gets in the way of your time with God, or to relax and refresh yourself, or to do things together with your family. Summer busyness can sometimes get so extreme that time for God, family, & even friends takes a backseat. Make sure that this doesn't happen to you this year. Try instead this summer to live out an "organic" faith.

Erin has gotten our family to really try eating mainly organic food these past few years. At first, I wasn't so sure about it, but it has grown on me. The great thing about organic food is that is has no chemicals - so it is "going green". This kind of food is at it's basic, original, purest form, which also means it has it's God-given flavor, not something caused be additives. It is really just plain good - good tasting and good for you. In fact, after switching to organic milk - a little more expensive, but definitely worth it - I have a hard time even drinking 'regular' milk anymore.

So, what is "organic" faith? It is really no different - it is faith in its purest, simplest, God-given form. There are two things that Jesus said we should do if we wanted to live this lifestyle of faith, and that is to Love God and Love People. This is highlighted for us in Matthew 22:37-40. "Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." The problem is we talk about this often, but rarely live it. The question is will you really try to live it?

Even amid all the busyness this summer, make time for God first, then your family and friends, & after that, then have fun doing the rest of the stuff that will quickly fill up your days.

Thanks to Walt Mueller and Adam Short for your articles that help inspire these thoughts.

2009-04-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

So what is the deal with SNOW in mid-April?!?! This is among the many questions rolling around in my head this week. Another is why do we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway? As I set out to start this blog up, I never promised that all of my thoughts would be very deep!

Anyway, I had the most amazing conversation with someone yesterday that I thought I would challenge you with. The conversation centered around Heaven & Hell, God & Satan, sin & forgiveness, how God was "made", and other deeply spiritual things. It was one of the most amazing conversations I have ever had with anyone in a long time. And here is the most incredible part about it - it was with a 5 year old! This conversation was with my son and, wow, did he have some deep thoughts and questions!

Why is it that as we get older we talk less and less about the deep spiritual questions of life? After our conversation, my son prayed and talked with God about all these things in a very matter of fact way. He thanked God for all we talked about, asked God to "block out" Satan from getting to us, asked God to tell him how He (God) was made because "none of us really know but I want to know and that would be great", asked for dreams about Heaven (which were answered by the way!), and shared how excited he is to someday get to Heaven (with little hands clapping) & that he CANNOT WAIT to meet Jesus and God.

The passion that he has for God is awesome. Why don't we as adults who have had an even greater chance to witness God's love, forgiveness, blessings, and presence in our lives demonstrate that same passion anymore? Too often, we take for granted our relationship with God, "he'll be there later, I don't need to pray (or read the Bible, or go to church) right now" and neglect to strengthen the most important relationship we will ever have. A five-year old gets this, why don't we? We also forget to be thankful and give praise and thanksgiving for all of our blessings. Here in America it is easy to forget what we have as we anxiously await getting whatever it is that we want next. Too often God becomes old news in comparison with our new snowmobile (4-wheeler, car, iPod, Wii, or whatever it may be), our stresses of school, work, or home, our upcoming vacation (or summer vacation in your case), and God gets pushed to the side.

As for me, I am very thankful for the five-year old in my life who helps remind me to remain passionate in my faith and relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ! May you too keep that passion alive everyday, and if you have lost a little of it, I pray you find it. When you do, boy is life exciting and the perspective you can have on everything sure is amazing and uplifting!

2009-04-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

I once heard the acronym (a word in which each letter represents the first letter of another word) F.R.O.G. at a youth group meeting when I was a teen. It stuck like a tree frog to a window. It stuck because of what it meant. F - Fully R - Relying O - On G - God. Cool phrase, huh!?!

Fully relying on God. What an awesome place to be. However, it is also one of the scariest places to be because you realize that you have little to no control at all over whatever you are going through. This can relate to school stuff, relationships, friendships, career/college/job choices or opportunities, money stuff, or pretty much anything we encounter in life.

I am in one of those positions right now in life where I am F.R.O.G. So, what can I do about it? Exodus has an awesome answer in chapter 14, verses 13-14 "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Awesome isn't it?! The Lord will fight for us. All we need to do is pray about, trust Him, and sit back and enjoy the ride!

Knowing this helps, but our human nature is to still worry about things that we have little to no control of. Whenever I have been in one of these spots in the past, I have never ceased to be amazed at what God can/does do! He has amazed me and floored me with responses beyond anything I can imagine. And I am trusting that He will do this again for me, not because I deserve a "bail out" but because He loves me. I pray that for each of you who reads this, you will experience a F.R.O.G. situation in life where you can truly see God, no other explanation possible, working directly in your life.

What are your thoughts on F.R.O.G. situations and have you already had any in your life?