[et_pb_section admin_label="section"] [et_pb_row admin_label="row"] [et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text"]According to sociologist Robert K. Merton, a role model is an individual whose behaviors, traits, disciplines, and examples can be measured up or emulated by others. A role model is someone we can look up to and admire. They are all around us. Role models inspire us, motivate us, challenge us to overcome adversity, and embrace appropriate behaviors and disciplines that we should be aspiring to attain. Nehemiah was a Jew living in Persia who served as cupbearer for King Artaxerxes. But he was more than a man who tasted the king's food and drinks. He wasn't a butler either. He held a position of great privilege as he was cultured and knowledgeable about the king's court. Earning the king's respect and of his constituents, Nehemiah was sought for advice and counsel. He was also handsomely compensated for what he did and offered. It was fair to say that he lived a comfortable life.  Nehemiah was also a caring person. He was a God-fearing and God-following person who though he had never been to his ancestral city of Jerusalem, cared about his heritage, history, and traditions. He cared about those who lived there and those who were on their way back to reclaiming the city and their traditions.  In the Bible, the book of Nehemiah is a memoir. It was written directly by him in the first person. He is telling us his story. At the start, he received word from one of his brothers that things were getting out of hand in his homeland. Hanani, one of his brothers, along with other men, reported to him, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire (Nehemiah 1:3).” In the following verses, we will see that he wept, sat down, and cried for days upon hearing the news. This is how much Nehemiah cared. He refused to eat any food as well. He prayed to God for his people and ancestral land. God’s response to his prayer was as if it was taken out of a Mission Impossible movie. Nehemiah's mission was to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Arrangements have been made to bless the mission, and he even had the paperwork for the journey. As he was a man favored by the king, he had access to the king's forest to supply the materials for this rebuilding project.    Committed and determined   God's message and response to Nehemiah's prayers were for him to set out for Jerusalem. With this command, he was to leave behind his comfort, relationship, and even his service to the king. Upon receiving God’s instructions, he was committed. Nehemiah was all in. He had great determination to take on the rebuilding project in Jerusalem.  In the second chapter, upon arriving in the city, he previewed the site, assembled the crews, and even mapped out the schedule and timeframes. He also secured the necessities to rebuild the wall. This was no ordinary building project. He assembled a wide variety of people to be involved in the project.  “The city officials did not know I had been out there or what I was doing, for I had not yet said anything to anyone about my plans. I had not yet spoken to the Jewish leaders—the priests, the nobles, the officials, or anyone else in the administration. But now I said to them, "You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!”  Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king. They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work.”  –Nehemiah 2:16-18 As with every significant undertaking, there was opposition as well. Other leaders and officials saw the rebuilding as a threat to them. They did not want the walls to be rebuilt. The endeavor threatened them. Why should he stop to meet with the opposition? It was a trap. Nehemiah did not go.  But the opposition was relentless. They did not stop with a simple “no.” They came back with a simple message. They tried and threatened to broadcast false reports about Nehemiah and his project.  They were just trying to intimidate and discourage and stop the work. Nehemiah continued to work with even greater determination. He maintained utmost committed determination. But most of all, before all the efforts in planning and carrying out the work, Nehemiah prayed.   He and his men kept working with great determination despite adversity, distraction, and discouragement. The wall was completed in 52 days. This wasn't any ordinary project or a simple task that Nehemiah managed. The walls were quite tall, 39 ft. high, and extremely thick at 68 ft. It was no easy project. Rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall was a remarkable accomplishment that people stood and took notice. Shouldn't we stand up and take notice as well? Nehemiah wrote:  “When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God.” —Nehemiah 6:16 Nehemiah and his people knew that the wall wouldn’t be rebuilt without God’s blessing. In this historic undertaking, God was involved all the way. But it required Nehemiah to be fully invested in the project. God is in the business of working through people to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. Fifty-two days is not impossible with God's help. For us here in the present, this is the year to revive our commitment to Jesus. In our desire to revive our commitment, we must follow through the nudgings, instructions, and invitations to follow Him. Then, like Nehemiah, we must commit to following Him with great urgency and determination.  Nehemiah never got discouraged. Like him, we can move forward by putting one foot in front of the other. The enemy plots to intimidate us, deceive us, or plant seeds of doubt in us so that we stop. We must start to follow Jesus with great commitment so that we don't keep marching forward and wane in our commitment.    Moving with traction  We see the enemy's hard work in the story of Nehemiah. There was strong and intense intimidation. We are bombarded with distractions every single day. Keep us off focus and tasks at hand. We can't call something a distraction unless we know what it is distracting us from.  We are bombarded with distractions every single day. Keep us off focus and tasks at hand. We can't call something a distraction unless we know what it is distracting us from. The opposite of distraction is not focus or attention but rather traction.  Traction are the actions that move us toward what we really want. It requires great determination and discipline to follow through in getting and receiving what we really want.  Nehemiah was a role model. He never gave up. He was locked in. He was all in to rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and never refused to stop. Even under tremendous pressure, he never refused to stop. His eyes were on the prize. And in the end, the opposition realized that the work had been done with God's help.  Nehemiah’s story was centered on commitment. Let us revive our commitment to following Jesus with great determination.    Three lessons to remember

1. Stop and pray.  

“When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.” –Nehemiah 1:4 Sometimes we're wired to just go and take action. But in Nehemiah’s story we see that the lesson is to stop first and pray. He didn't first strategize and assemble. He prayed to God.  Praying was central to his being. And in the entire book of Nehemiah, there are twelve instances of praying. His dependence on God provided the success in accomplishing God's vision. So what are you being asked to do today that you should drop to your knees to pray before taking action?   

2. With God, the impossible becomes possible.  

Nehemiah faced insurmountable odds. He left a cushy position. He accepted a very risky task. He was attacked, persecuted, threatened. The crews he assembled were threatened but he was determined to plow ahead.  What kind of leader, and follower of Jesus does God want you to be?  Is He nudging you to do something?  Are you attentive to what the spirit is telling you? Do you have a burden for something that requires your involvement?  Commitment is not being a spectator in the stands. It requires rolling up the sleeves and getting after it. God is in the business of working through people to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks.  Martin Luther said, “Faith is a living, daring, confidence in God's grace. It is so sure and certain that a man would stake his life on it a thousand times. “  

3. Talk and walk.  

Determining the commitment in following Jesus requires the talk and the walk. Spend more time listening to Jesus—seek His counsel and advice. Then, take the talk and do something with it.  Jesus reminds us in Matthew 28:20:  “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” If we believe this to be true, let's talk and walk with our Lord more.  Paul reminds us through his letter to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1-2:  “Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.” God has a big task for you. You don't have time to be distracted or to be discouraged. The truth is that God is bigger than your task.  The impossible is possible for God. He can make the mountains move and roll away the stone. There is power in Jesus’ Name. Let us ask Him to revive in us the burning desire to follow Him, to hear His call for us so that we may respond with great determination and commitment.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column] [/et_pb_row] [/et_pb_section]

Peter believed himself to be unshakable in his commitment to Jesus. Yet, just a few hours after he insisted it could never happen, Peter denied even knowing Jesus.   External forces threaten our commitment to following Jesus, as do internal. And as committed as we would like to say that we are, sometimes we falter in the moment, and sometimes our commitment fades over time.  Maybe you can identify with Peter, maybe you’ve gone into a conversation with someone knowing that you wanted to say something about Jesus, and then found yourself shrinking from the moment because it didn’t seem like “the right time.”  Or maybe you’ve experienced the excitement and renewed commitment of a new Bible study, or discipling relationship.  Maybe you met for coffee consistently for a month or even years, but now it’s been even longer since you last met. This is an amazing season to be considering our commitment.  Lent and Easter not only remind us of our own sin, but juxtapose that with Jesus’ commitment to His Father’s will, and God’s commitment to us.  We see the extravagant lengths and creation shattering steps God takes to not only maintain His commitment to us, but to hold up our end of the covenant for us.  God’s love on full display shows our complacency and wavering commitment for what it is.    But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! -Revelation 3:16 Jesus' invitation to us is simple.  “Follow me.”  It is the response, and living it out that we continue to need help with. During April, we’re asking God to revive our commitment to Him.  God sent Jesus to live in our place, to keep His commands since we need help.  God also sent Jesus to die in our place to pay the price for our sins.  We also need God to help us in our commitment to following Jesus.  We’re asking that He revive our commitment to the practices of a household WELL, the practices of following Jesus with every part of our lives.  We’ll have opportunities every week to consider the external forces that threaten our commitment, our fears that threaten to get in the way, Jesus’ focus on the lost and where our focus lies, Jesus’ simple invitation to follow and chances to practice our response.  On May 1st we’ll have another chance to practice as we commit to our financial response on commitment Sunday. “Come, Lord Jesus, revive our commitment to following you. Your commitment to us is for life and our household WELLs get to share that same eternal life-giving water with everyone.  We confess our lack of commitment to you, our fears, our doubts, and our self-focus.  Open our hands to release our grip on whatever we’re holding so tightly.  We need you to help us take the steps you call us to take each day. Amen” 

“You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.” –2 Timothy 2:2 How did you get to be a part of this Body—the Church? How did you get to a place where you believe that when you read the Word, pray, or even as you sing a song, you trust that Jesus is all?  How did you get here?  There is a person or a list of people who took the time and the risk to tell you, speak to you, and share with you the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are people who taught you how to read the Scriptures. Who modeled for you what it looks like to pray, worship, celebrate who God is?  Whose names are on your list? It could be a parent, a sibling, a grandparent, a relative, a friend, a boss, a co-worker, or just a stranger who shared who Jesus is with you. And because of what they have shared with you, the Gospel movement continues.  On and on it goes. Helping people follow Jesus. Passing on everything you have been taught, everything you have learned. You have been shaped and prepared for this moment to entrust this valuable faith and confidence in Jesus to others who are reliable and will pass it on to others. This movement has always been about discipling and following Jesus. Who are you helping get here today? Who are you showing and sharing God’s love to? When we encounter these people, we must share Jesus with them in action and in words, lest we be confused with what we believe.  When we study God's Word, we're not doing it merely to learn, get insights, or discuss. We are to move insight and discovery into action, to help someone know Jesus while there is still time. When we are equipped by the Word, we get that "aha" moment. A response is formed in us that we must go and act on it. The Word never leaves us unaffected. It transforms us.  As we strive to become household wells, we must be committed to compassion, to become witnesses in Jesus. We pastor, and we disciple to multiply. Like fire starters, we are to engage in such a way that God's Word spreads like wildfire. It doesn't have to start and end with one person.    Revive discipling  "Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don't get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor. Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you understand all these things." –2 Timothy 3-7 The Apostle Paul talks about soldiers, athletes, and farmers in his letter to Timothy. He picks these three jobs or vocations for a reason. To be a soldier and an athlete, you must abide by the rules and live with discipline. There is also discipline and dedication required when it comes to farming. As farmers work, the fruit of their labors take care of the food and in their community, in their region, in their own country, and even outside of it. These positions, these jobs are all about lifestyle. They are not necessarily nine-to-five jobs. One must be fully committed and devoted in these fields. We can say the same about discipling. It is a lifestyle. It is not one more thing that we add to our schedule. It is not just one task that we pencil in our to-do lists. Discipling is everything. Discipling is THE thing. Helping others and being helped by Jesus is everything in this life. Paul reminds us to “Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach (2 Timothy 2:8).” Jesus is the Good News that we preach. Our discipling must never be about us or about how we're doing it, how good or advanced we are, or even how needy we are. It's all about Jesus. It always has to come back to Him.  Who are you following Jesus with? Who's on your rope? Who is with you as you wander through the wilderness, navigating uncertain terrain ?As we think about this, let us consider what others have committed to do with each other, their fellow disciples. Let us think of a simple, reproducible, multipliable way of following Jesus with someone else.    1 to 1 to 1  There’s a way to share Jesus with another person. You invite one other person to follow Jesus with you. They do the same. And the three of you follow Jesus together. When you’ve formed a group, start by reading the Gospel of Mark. This book in the New Testament is a good place to start because it's always about Jesus. The Gospel of Mark is also the most straightforward and most attainable documentation of Jesus' life. You can read one chapter a week. You can even read one chapter a day for repetition. Discuss the discoveries with SFP, which we will discuss later. Then, invite another person to your group. If you're not ready to invite, read the Gospel again. See Jesus through the Gospels.   Speak- Form-Promise Pastor Justin Rossow shared with us the SFP, which stands for Standard Following Procedure and for this purpose, Speak-Form-Promise. We will discuss each term one by one.  Speak: Where is God speaking in my life?  For many of us, God can speak to us during our time in church. We receive a message, and He reinforces this to us over the week. A friend's encouragement, something you've read, or something you've heard will remind you of that thing you discovered over the week.  When this happens, ask the Lord Jesus to speak to you. What is He saying to you? As He reveals it to you, pray about it. Keep listening to His voice and reflect on it. In doing this, you would be blessed, encouraged, and see God clearly. When you do this alongside others on your journey, you will see Jesus together.  Form: Holy Spirit, what are you challenging me to do?  Spirit of the Living God, dear Holy Spirit, what response are you forming in me? Listen for His voice, His prompt. As you study His word and soak in prayer, you might be prompted to encourage, ask forgiveness, and even forgive. Your response could be memorizing a passage, so you don't lose sight of God's promises, His truth. Pray specifically about what's been taught to you for your household and neighborhood. Seek Him about the response and the actions you must take.  Promise: What you need to remember Ask the Father, what promise covers my next step? What can I hold on to as I take on this action?  As we continue to disciple, it can be challenging, and it can be difficult to follow through on. It could be doing something you've never done before. Some of us deal with the anxiety that we might not be able to do it. When this happens, let us remember the promises of God. He assures us with His words like "I am with you, I will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6)," "I will give you the words you need to speak (Luke 12:12)," "Don't worry (Matthew 6:25)," I will send someone to go with you (John 15:26)," or "I have redeemed you (Isaiah 43:1)". God gives us these promises regardless of whether you take the first step. God's commitment to us never fails. He promises to be with us to guide us and show us will never be lacking. Let us praise Him for the Gospel privilege that we can be a part of His business while we live on this earth. He has blessed us with His everlasting Presence and deep abiding love.  Lord, thank You for the people that have helped us. Thank You for the faithfulness of the people who taught us how to pray, obey, read, and share, Your Word—those who have impacted our faith, our knowledge of You. Thank you that we can also help others. Thank You for this privilege that we can serve You alongside many others. We commit to do this for Your glory as Your commitment to us never fails. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

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Sometimes relationships develop naturally. Other times, God gives them a jumpstart.
Outside of church, Sophie Tsai and Becky Enright aren’t likely to cross paths:
Sophie is a 15-year-old freshman at Oregon High School and plays volleyball after school.
Becky is 31, mother to 2-year-old Olivia and 1-year-old Theo, and is expecting Baby No. 3 in August.

So, truly, their worlds don’t often intersect.

But last summer at church camp, Sophie learned more about 1:1 discipleship relationships, which the Church describes as, “two Jesus followers meet together on a regular basis to support one another in their walk with Jesus.”

Sophie and her mom asked the Church to match her with someone for a 1:1.
“Really it was Sophie asking and God putting Becky’s face in my head,” Youth Director Emily Powers said. “I knew Becky had worked with youth previously, and her gentle nature and deep faith mirrored Sophie’s desire to grow and Sophie’s own gentle nature.”

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Sophie and Becky meet online at 7 a.m. Thursdays, before the school bus arrives and before two babies need their mommy’s full attention.

“I love checking in with Becky and the kids. It just makes life happier,” Sophie said.
Becky agreed, “It definitely sets up the day for a better day, mostly because it’s Jesus at the start.”

Their conversations begin with them just talking about their lives.

“I feel like (due to pregnancy) I get overwhelmed really easily right now,” Becky said during one of their recent talks. “I’m going to be honest: By probably lunchtime, I don’t know where my mind’s going to be.”

Sophie shared that, after a recent volleyball tournament hadn’t gone so well, her team was amping up its effort.

“I have never physically worked myself so hard at practice that I just come home and I have to go to bed. And then I wake up and I’m still tired after getting a good amount of sleep,” she said. “It’s OK because it’s good for my body.”,

The conversation then segued into a Bible study – and the morning’s topic was particularly apropo.

Sophie read the day’s devotion:
“It is not the boat’s grip on the anchor that keeps the anchor from moving, but rather the grip of the anchor on the sea floor. In our Christian faith, our anchor is Christ. Our anchor is secure because of who He is. We are not dependent upon our grip on our faith, our feelings or even actions. Jesus Christ alone is what secures our faith. We, when we cling to Him, will not waver.”

One of the day’s Bible verses, Hebrews 10:25, especially resonated: “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another — and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

Becky noted that some people love being around others and some people prefer the solitude at home. “And that’s OK. It’s still good to connect, though, and have time with others.”
What does God as our anchor mean?

“God is the anchor and the anchor is where it needs to be,” Sophie said. “But we still have to hold on to the anchor.”

Becky responded, “(If we cling to God), we don’t focus on the storm that might be raging above us. Or in us.”

They closed with a prayer and then talked a bit about how their 1:1 relationship began.
“The consistency was good, knowing that ‘I’m going to meet with this person every week, and they’re going to put in the effort,’” Becky said. “So, I feel like we had a lot of longer conversations at the start, like, ‘What’s your life like?”

“But it really wasn’t too difficult,” she said. “And I think that’s because God blessed us in this connection and He knew what He was doing when he connected us through Emily. Because we are similar.”

Said Sophie: “I think it was really great that we knew we were going to meet the next week, so we were accountability partners before we became, like, friends.”

Are you interested in a 1:1 Discipleship relationship? Find out more at livelifetogether.com/discleship, or contact Amy Meyer at [email protected].

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"Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear."  –Matthew 24:35 One of the ways God ensures that His Word will last forever is through discipling. We see this through the amazing process of being a disciple and making disciples. When we do this, we pass on the Word and his mission while exhibiting love and encouragement to others as we walk with them. Discipling is in our DNA that started at our baptism, which we will have the opportunity to pass on from generation to generation.  Sadly, some of us have never discipled. Some of us have never been in a relationship where we're discipling one another. Others are content to exercise their faith on Sundays or just by themselves when we were meant to let this DNA flow out of us to another. But as long as God's Word endures, there will always be a prophet, a Man, or a Woman of God who will come alongside others to tell what it means to follow God, follow Jesus, to hear His Word, and to respond. As it was in the Old Testament, there will be people who will be like Elijah and Elisha.    Elijah and Elisha For those who have read the story of the two great prophets--Elijah and Elisha--their example might seem larger than life. Amidst the opposition and the unbelief of the people around them, they were still able to show that God is powerful and what He says is true. Elijah and Elisha's example can sometimes seem unattainable for some people because they're so close to God, and the rest of us can't be like them. This is why many dismiss and hide from their calling.  We must not forget that despite their "greatness" Elijah and Elisha are human. We have seen Elijah's human side in the Old Testament—wanting to escape, tired, and angry. But what we have seen in His life is that God is faithful. He will always raise up a prophet to carry out His powerful words.  In the midst of the fiery trials that come with being the Man of God, God instructs Elijah to anoint and mentor another to carry on His work after Elijah is gone. The Word of God is important and will endure even when the people of God ignore it. There will always be a prophet, a Man of God. Because the mission of guiding God’s people to believe, confess, and live will always be vital to the world. As seen in 1 Kings 19 and 2 Kings 2, Elijah and Elisha's friendship provides us a good example of discipling. In Elisha, we see a willing person who wants to follow a mentor's example. In verse 2, the younger prophet says, But Elisha replied, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you!”  On the other hand, Elijah asked Elisha what he could do for him before he's taken away to which Elisha expressed his desire to have a double share of his spirit along with being his successor (verse 9). We saw how Elisha followed Elijah, and how the younger prophet picked up the cloak of his predecessor (verse 13). It was said that the same spirit rests upon Elisha and he was able to do twice as much miracles as Elijah.    Picking up the cloak “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” –John 14:12 The call or the mission to make disciples in The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) was given to individual followers of Jesus—not to the Church as a unit. It is a common misconception that those who are called to disciple are those who have committed their lives to ministry—pastors, church workers, and other ministers. However, we must realize that we are all called to disciple. In other translations of the Great Commission, the word "disciple" is not a noun but a verb. We must all participate in this act as followers of Jesus who are part of His Body, the Church.  We are called to follow Jesus as we go. We're called to neighbor and we're called to disciple. We must live and become a disciple. What is our role? The Church was established to equip, prepare, send, encourage, and support Jesus followers who disciple. This is the Church's role. To prepare you, to send you, to hear your stories as you disciple and neighbor. Why would the Word of God endure forever? Because the mission of guiding God's people to believe, confess, and live will always be vital to the world. It will always be relevant and life-giving. The Gospel is more than us waiting to go to heaven. Rather, it is participation in the greatest mission in the world. Our mission is boiled down to a few words: Connect people to life in Jesus. Let’s apply Elijah and Elisha’s story to our own lives:  Whose cloak are you picking up?  Who has helped you follow Jesus?  And in turn, who will you place your cloak on?  Who has shown a great example to you and is now inviting you to do the same so you can witness the goodness of God in friendship?

By Emily Powers   This is the conclusion of a two-part series on how Christian parents can guide their children through big and scary times, such as invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing pandemic. Part 1 is “Helping Children Process World Events.”    It’s hard to process complicated and scary world events – and that’s doubly true for kids. Yesterday, I gave some tips that I have found useful in talking through these events in an age-appropriate way with my 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, and helping them think and feel their way through all of this.    Today, I want to address how parents can respond when their kids ask a really big question, the one my son asked after we discussed the invasion of Ukraine. “Why does God let people be bad and mean?” It’s a question I think we’ve all wrestled with at some point, right? If God is all-knowing, almighty and all loving, how can He stand by and watch bad things happen? You might be wondering why I brought up such a grown-up topic with my children. It’s a valid question. We live in a world, and a time, when we ourselves are fearful of many things. Our natural instinct is to shelter those we love from pain. As a parent, I am constantly fighting the urge to create a bubble of peace and innocence around my kids. I want to take on their struggles, tune out the bad news and step out of the hard periods of discipline.  And then I look at the big picture, the charge to raise responsible adults who can integrate their faith into the world. The reality is that nothing, outside of heaven, is fully safe. Allowing my children to experience struggles and pain allows me the opportunity to teach them how to navigate those things with grace, compassion and trust in Jesus.  In Luke 18 we hear Jesus say, “Let the children come to me.” If my children aren’t allowed to walk through struggles or process difficult topics and ideas, I am robbing them of the need to come to Jesus. It is in our sin, our pain, our struggles, our confusion, that we see our need for a Savior. It is in uncertainty that we learn to trust our God. It is when we are confronted with ideas contrary to our own that we learn to think deeply about our faith and worldview. When children are confronted with these things, they will have questions that bubble up. They will want help in navigating what it means to follow Jesus while understanding this big world around them. And that is when the discipleship moment happens.  That is what happened when I discussed the situation in Ukraine with my children. My 8-year-old-son had a big question, and I had a discipleship moment. So, I thought it might be helpful to share the conversation I had with my son. Hopefully, this can help you navigate conversations with your own kids.  *** “Why does God let people be bad and mean?” That’s a great question, buddy. It’s a question that a lot of people have. It can be hard to know why God lets evil happen. Do you remember how God created Adam and Eve? Well, when he made people, He let them be able to make choices between right and wrong. We have bad things because Satan is real, and people make bad choices. “But why did God have to let people make choices?” Well, what do you think is a better friendship – one where you are forced to love someone or one where you get to choose to love someone? “When you get to choose.” Right. God was being kind and loving when he gave people the choice to love him or not, instead of forcing everyone to be his friend. God knows that relationships are better when people get to make the decision to be part of the friendship. “So why doesn’t God just squish Satan and get rid of Him?” If God got rid of Satan, he’d get rid of our option to choose and love God. And Jesus DID stomp out Satan. When Jesus rose from the dead he said, “I’m bigger and stronger than you, Satan. I’m in charge!” And Jesus IS in charge. When we are on earth we have to struggle with people having the choice between right and wrong, but in heaven, there is nothing bad or evil. There is only God and all good things that come from God.  “I wish all people could be friends with God so the bad things wouldn’t happen.” Me, too. And that’s our job. We get to help people see God’s love in how we act and help and talk to others. Other people see God’s goodness when we show them. And, when sad and scary things happen, we have another job, too. Our other job is to look for how God’s love is showing up in the middle of the bad things. We can see God working even when evil happens. And we can find ways to be part of the good things that God is doing.   ***   May God bless you as you lead your family through these challenging times. We here at the Church are praying that you are blessed with wisdom, patience and faith, secure in the knowledge that God does, indeed, have the whole world in His hands. If you’d like to discuss Christian parenting, I’m here, and I welcome that conversation. Just email me at [email protected]. – Emily  

This is Part 1 of a two-part series on discussing world events with your kids. Look for Part 2, “When Kids Ask ‘Why does God let people be bad and mean?’” tomorrow. Explaining a complicated and grown-up world to children is one of the most challenging parts of parenting. What do we allow them to know? What is the best response to their questions? How much of a window into the rest of the world do we allow our children to have? This challenge is exaggerated when the grown-up world includes pain, evil, fear and war. This morning, the heartbreaking situation in Ukraine put my mama skills to the test in some new ways.  Before I explain more, I want to share the commitment that my husband and I have jointly made in our home: Our commitment, as a family, is to be a Household Well. This isn’t just because I am on staff at the Church. It is because we believe that our household has been called to be a well where people can access the Living Water. Part of that is also intentionally welcoming Jesus into our home and discipling our children to be able to follow Jesus and participate in sharing His love with others. You can read more about being a household well here. So, back to those mama skills: I have a 6-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son. As early risers, they often are exposed to the news in the morning as they play or eat their breakfast. For the most part, my husband and I let them watch the news, with discretion.  We use it as an opportunity to explain things in kid-friendly language, to incorporate our faith into their worldview as they try to make sense of what they see and hear.  I know that our approach may not be one that all parents agree with. And I understand. Deciding what to expose our children to is part of the daily struggle that parents must wade through. I will try to unpack more of our reasons and perspective in the second post in this series. But for today, be assured that I thoughtfully decided my children were capable of hearing and processing this information while I worked through that with them. This morning, I knew that Ukraine would dominate not only the news, but it would dominate discussions between my husband and I, and possibly discussions our kids could overhear at school or on the bus. I decided to be proactive, framing the situation in a kid-appropriate way and from a Christian worldview, before they had to process the information on their own. And I am so, so thankful that I did.  My willingness to enter into this conversation with my kids allowed space for them to ask vital questions and for us to practice placing trust in Jesus. I’m sharing the insights I learned from my conversation with my kids in hopes of helping other parents as these conversations come up at home. Tip 1: Address tough topics before your children hear about them from others. Before we turned on the TV, I got my thoughts together and pulled out a map. We sat on the couch and I framed the situation in a way that was fact-based and without fear.  Tip 2: Explain world events in a way that is age-appropriate, using language that is familiar and understandable to your child. For my 8 year old, it went something like this: This big country is Russia. The leader of Russia is not a nice guy. He isn’t a kind leader, and he wants to take things that aren’t his to take. He doesn’t do a good job of being friends with other countries.   This country here is Ukraine. It is a smaller country but has a lot of resources that are important to the whole world. They share those resources and want to be friends with other countries.  Ukraine wants everyone to know that they are their own country and have their own leader. The leader of Russia wants to be the leader of Ukraine. He doesn’t want them to be their own country. He wants their land and resources to belong to Russia and not to the people in Ukraine. The leader of Russia has decided he is going to use war to take those things from Ukraine. My son had some questions about what would happen to the people in Ukraine if Russia took over as well as a few other, detail-based questions. I wasn’t completely sure he understood until his sister, our 6-year-old, came out of her room. On his own, he took her to our map and gently explained, with even softer language, what I had just told him. He understood. A bad guy wanted to take things that weren’t his, and people were going to be hurt and scared. Tip 3: Don’t give more information than necessary. I didn’t explain all of the politics behind the situation. I didn’t explain “sanctions”. I did say that our president and other leaders were doing their best to make the leader of Russia change his mind. I didn’t get into Russian history or what a separtist region is or any of the details on how war is carried out.  As adults, sometimes we think the more information we give, the safer children will feel. I’ve noticed in my years of working with children that when they start to be confused is when they start to feel unsafe. Fewer words and more-concrete explanations allow children to process events in a way that they are ready for. If a child needs more information, they will ask. Which leads me to the next tip … . Tip 4: Answer only the questions that are asked. My children wanted to know if people could go to a safe place. They wanted to know if our country was one of the good guys helping Ukraine. They shared some ideas on how to solve the problem. “Can I go talk to the Russian president and tell him he’s making the wrong choice?”  I answered questions concretely and admitted when I didn’t know the answer.  Tip 5: Give space for processing and emotions. Be ready for the heart questions. Earlier I mentioned that I was so thankful that I had this discussion with my kids. Opening up this conversation allowed my son an opportunity to ask what he really wanted to know. I was able to enter into an internal struggle that I’m certain wasn’t a new one for him. It’s the question that we all want the answer to. “But why does God let people be bad and mean?”  This question didn’t happen immediately. We had moved on from our conversation, had the news on in the background, and were laughing over a card game we were playing. All of a sudden I noticed he had watery eyes.  “What are you thinking about, buddy?”  “But why does God let people be bad and mean?” The gate to a discipleship moment was opened, and together we walked through it.   Look for that moment with your child. The moment when you can start talking to their heart. Affirm their struggle and questions. And then guide them to a place where they can realize truths about who God is and His presence in their lives.  (Note: Tomorrow’s blog post will address how to discuss that big question, ‘Why does God let people be bad and mean?’ with your kids.) Tip 6: Model trust in Jesus while empowering children to make a difference. Children are action-oriented. They see a problem and want to be part of a solution. They are often fearless in this determination to see justice happen.  My children want to help the people of Ukraine. So I told them we would look for ways to help. I reminded them that Jesus loves them, and that they are safe. Truthfully, they weren’t interested in my reassurances of their safety. Their concern was for the Ukrainian people.  So we prayed. And as we prayed, their bodies relaxed. They placed their fear at the feet of Jesus and felt empowered as they lifted up the Ukrainian people in prayer. *** Our world is a big place and can feel scary and uncertain. As parents who are committed to discipling our children, we can trust that the Holy Spirit works in and through us. We can help our children look at the world through a Biblical worldview  – with love, compassion, trust in God, and the power of Jesus within them. 

If you've been following Jesus for quite some time, you know some things"But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, 'Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.' Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.'"  –Acts 16: 25-31 Our witness is revived when we can clearly answer the question, "What have you heard from the Lord?" Through the years, we have heard a lot about Him. And if we claim to be followers, we must have also heard from Him. In our daily lives, there are many ways God speaks to us. On a Sunday, we can hear it through worship, reading of the Scripture, or from the sermon. Other times God speaks to us through people and our situation.  We have heard so much to revive our witness. So many things that give us hope and meaning. But we also need to ask ourselves another question: What do we know about the Lord?  , and surely you've heard some things. This means that you are prepared and more ready than you realize to witness, to give testimony when asked, and when the Lord leads you to.  What does a modern-day witness of Jesus look like when immersed in culture and society? How do we give our testimony to those who ask us what we know about God? Here are two simple steps we can take to walk the walk as we prepare to share our testimony.    First: Answer the question you are asked simply "And he brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.'"  –Acts 16:30-31 Paul and Silas knew that God was bigger than their circumstances. The jailer was sure that his life was over. Witnessing that God freed the prisoners of their chains and that they had all stayed, the jailer asks the question. The Philippian jailer's straightforward question merited a straightforward answer from Paul and Silas. They didn't beat around the bush. They gave him the plain and simple answer. Paul and Silas bore witness to what they knew,  As Christians, we are to do the same. Whatever the question is, we must be ready to give an answer. When we don't know, we must humbly admit it and show our willingness to learn.    Second: Share the Word of the Lord  When someone asks us a question about God, we are to share the Word of the Lord and not our opinions or thoughts. We must share the Word of the Lord that is powerful. This is why we must know the difference between what we've heard and what we know. After the jailer's question, the story continues with Paul and Silas in his household.  "Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household."  --Acts 16:32-34 Some of us might be interested to know more about the conversations that happened from prison to the jailer's household. The verses tell us that the two men continued to speak about God's Word to the jailer and his household. Their boldness to impart God's Word first led to the baptism of the household. Paul and Silas' testimony was made even stronger with their knowledge of God's Word.  As we think about our testimony, we can only know what we've heard, what we have learned, what we have read, what we have seen, and what we have received in prayer and the study of His Word. John the Beloved says in his letter, "We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3)."  Let us ask ourselves again: What do you know about Jesus? About God? About yourself?  Lord, revive our witness. Help us to be ready when asked about our faith. Help us when asked why we go to church and why we give money to the church. Help us answer when we're asked, "How do you stay hopeful in such deep grief?" Prepare us to provide an answer and to share what we know. Continue to help us hear Your voice and come to a deeper understanding of who you are. Motivate us not to be satisfied with what we do know. Help us grow so that our witness would be attractive in this culture and in this time. Amen.

Remember the definition of “Revive” that we are using as our theme this year, as we take a closer look at 12 essential practices of Household WELLs? Here it is: Revive…to activate, set in motion, or take up again, to make operative, to quicken, or renew in the mind, to reanimate or cheer… This month as we focus on the essential practice of WITNESS, I’m wondering what that word makes you think and feel. Have you written witnessing off as something you just aren’t good at? Do you think you lack the gift of evangelism, so you are excused from the call to witness? Or does “witness” immediately make your palms sweaty and your heart race, as you think about what you would say to a neighbor or friend if asked why or what you believe about Jesus? I’m wondering how we can practically revive our witness according to the definition above – How can I “activate” or “set in motion” my witness? How can I “renew in the mind” my story? Throughout this month of February, we will be asked four great questions that, if we take some time with them on our own, will receive our witnessing.

• What have you heard?
• What do you know?
• What has Jesus changed in you?
• What have you seen?

What if you took some time and quietly considered those questions and wrote down your answers? Ask God to reveal to you and bring to mind times in your life where you have seen Him at work in you and around you. Think back … How has He provided for you? How has He protected you? How has He been with you? What has He taught you in his word? Where has He shown up for you in big or small ways? How are you different today than you were last year or 10 years ago? After you take some time to be still, reflect and then write down your answers, I would encourage you to share with a friend what you discovered.  Plan a time to share a bit of your story, and give them a chance to share some of their story. I think that one of the reasons we get a little nervous around this practice is because we haven’t practiced.  Just like with any skill, the more time we spend trying it, the more comfortable and confident we become.  Remember, you do not have to have the “right” answers; you just share your story. The woman at the well had not taken classes in how to share her faith or witness to her community. She was just so excited because she met the Messiah face to face and couldn’t wait to tell everyone about him. And I love her approach, “come and see”. It reminds me of the song “My Jesus” that Anne Wilson sings. Take a look at some of the lyrics here: Are you past the point of weary? Is your burden weighin’ heavy? Is it all too much to carry? Let me tell you ’bout my Jesus. Do you feel that empty feeling? ‘Cause shame’s done all its stealin’. And you’re desperate for some healin’. Let me tell you ’bout my Jesus. He makes a way where there ain’t no way. Rises up from an empty grave. Ain’t no sinner that He can’t save. Let me tell you ’bout my Jesus. His love is strong and His grace is free. And the good news is I know that He Can do for you what He’s done for me. Let me tell you ’bout my Jesus. And let my Jesus change your life. Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Amen, Amen. You are more ready than you realize. You have all that you need, because you know Jesus. You have a story to share, because you have evidence of how God has carried you through difficult times, surprised you, forgiven you and set you free. Please, don’t compare your story to someone else’s and say things like, “My story isn’t really anything great to share.”  That is a lie from the enemy, who would like to keep your story from ever being told. Consider the different ways and times that God has been faithful to you over the years, and take some notes. Then practice sharing it with someone you know who is willing to listen. No pressure – actually, delight and excitement!  Why wouldn’t we want to talk about our very best friend, the one who has made us and saved us?!  Hallelujah – Amen, Amen.