Father's and mother's needed!!!

I got to say...being a father to two young boys is not easy!!! Nobody gave me a "Guide to being a good father of a 6 year old" book. I am not complaining about having kids, but I am just voicing my concern as I try to learn (and believe me, I am reading like crazy books about parenting, techniques, praying and asking God constantly)
It is understood that we will get some payback from what we did, but we seldom think about it until we start seeing in our "babies" some similar attitudes and ways of doing things. Yes, it is very difficult to relate to what I am saying for some of you, but for some others, you know that feeling of incompetence, of anxiety, of seeing things not turn out the way you think should turn out with your children...
I have realized lately that I have to be more focused in my parenting, on my "fatherhood" due to the fact that my two boys will take most of my traits, most of my attitudes towards life, most of my ways of handling things, most about my reaction to life. That in itself is a scary responsibility and I pray and pray for wisdom and guidance from God and His word for that. But even then, some days I feel helpless...
Today, after seeing some of the things that are going around in the news, I was confronted with the reality that our world is becoming a "battleground" between good and evil more clearly. It has been that way, but clearly the devil has upped the ante in deliberately putting forth his agenda. What I mean is, the more I see some of the stuff on the internet, tv shows, and social media, I realize that his agenda is getting out there: Sex, drugs, fame and money, disrespect for authority (including disrespect for all things God), and many others.
This thing from the MTV VMA's that some, if not most of you have seen or heard about through internet or TV, has shaking my head. Reading about what Miley Cyrus aka "Hannah Montana" presented herself with before millions of people, I cannot help but be a little fearful. I was reading an interview that surfaced about her dad from 2007 (link here http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/26/does-a-2007-glenn-beck-interview-with-miley-cyruss-dad-help-explain-her-gratuitous-mtv-performance/) and what caught my eye in the interview was about how Billy Ray Cyrus was asked about his role as a father. He said he was her buddy and the mother was the disciplinarian and that's how they worked it out.
I don't want to get on anybody's bad side in regards of how you parent your children, but even if you have that agreement, you still need to be a parent!!! I am friends with my sons, they are everything that God has given my wife and I and we are grateful for that privilege, but even though I want the best for them and I feel that they need to have everything they need, I also feel the responsibility of having them understand and grow in a way that they see the whole picture, not only what they want, but what they need. I know that some of you have it all down and some of us are still working through some things, but my point here is that I need to recognize that I AM A FATHER first, and a friend second!!! You can work it however you want, but for me, I will sometimes deny my sons ice cream if they do not deserve it (specially after they threw a fit). I will not allow them to watch their veggietales if they did not pick up their lego's...I will not allow them to throw a fit in the middle of the store if we did not buy them what they want...I have to be a FATHER FIRST...
I sometimes receive their replies ("daddy, you are mean") but I can take it and move on because I know I love them so much that I cannot just be their buddy. I can listen to those words and maybe they will hurt a little bit, but in the big scheme of things, I am responsible for them and I know that in the future, with God's help too, they will see what I tried to teach them...Now, don't think that I do not buy them stuff or things like that, but there is a time, there is a process, there is ways for those things.

My point here is, that after hearing about Miley, and by the constant media barrage on things that are not productive or against God's principles, and after working with youth fully for the last year and seeing their struggles and their fight to survive in this world, I can only come to the conclusion that the family unit needs to be there. Father's and mother's are needed to help their children wade the troubles that await them. They are needed to encourage, to lead and to reprimand if needed. They are needed to teach their kids about what is right and what is wrong. They are needed to guide their children to Jesus. Without parents, very few adults will even care for others as we live in a very self centered world...

Father's, mother's, you are needed!!! Step up, pray and ask God for wisdom to help you with your precious ones. For one, I will pray for you and I ask you pray for me as we try to do this!!!

The reasons behind volunteering

I wonder sometimes why do we do the things we do. Yesterday I had the opportunity to work alongside a group of volunteers from all over Texas at our summer camp in Lake Whitney. We were given the task of doing maybe what others may call menial tasks and there was not timetable on when we were going to finish. Just set up bunk beds, carry mattresses to them when done and insulate the cabins... In a day that turned out to be hotter by the hour and with some dust flying around, these volunteers basically gave it their all until they were done, 11 hours later.

And so, I started thinking, what moves people to serve and others to decline? Is it the kind of work? Is it their availability? Is it their desires? I know that some are really busy that they probably could not make the trip to the location. Some others maybe had something scheduled that they could not come. Some others may just say no and that is it... But what makes one accept invitations to volunteer and work hard for more than 10 hours and do it gladly?

I know that the mission of the call can be a very convincing reason (you have committed to the church, to an organization and you just simply feel compelled to do it because that is what you have signed for). Another could be vision (you believe in the cause and will do anything you are asked not because you have to but because you want to and support everything that comes from that vision). Another would be peer pressure (you know, you just do it because you were invited and everyone is volunteering so it seems that its the right thing to do at that moment, but maybe if your friends are not there, maybe you would not do it).

So, why did these volunteers do what they did? I believe is the nature of our vision that comes straight from our Master Jesus Christ. Let me show you:

²⁵ But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. ²⁷ And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28

Service for a Christian is supposed to be second nature!!! We many times forget that we are followers of our Master and think that we should "lord it over them" and we "exercise authority over them". We forget that and spend time thinking of ways to avoid service, maybe dreaming of a day when someone would just do everything that we ask them without us moving a finger to help. Many of us forget that we are called to serve, to walk the extra mile, to turn the other cheek, etc...We don't want to do that, because our nature and our culture say that we need to be served...it is a "me, me, me" attitude that does not have service in mind!!!

Service for a Christian, follower of the Master Jesus Christ does the kinds of things that happened yesterday with this group of volunteers. A group of them even mentioned that if more was needed, they could come again and do more work!!! They would sacrifice another day and their time and work and help again if called upon!!! Now, that is a servant!!! 

Why do we volunteer/serve then? Think about it for a moment and ask God to help you as you meditate on the meaning of being a servant...

Forgotten

So it's been close to 4 years since I used this blogspot and I feel guilty about it. I have done so many things and things have changed so much in that span of time that I feel like I should have kept up. But another side of me thinks that not telling everything to the world is ok. Yeah, this blog was forgotten for a while, but I will just continue to post periodically about my ministry and what is going on.

And there is a question that has ringing in my head for the last few days. I started/continued to read a book by Simon Synek "Start with WHY" and it has opened a few thoughts. One of them is the question, "why do I do what I do?".  I usually know WHAT I do and HOW I do it, but many times I tend to forget WHY I do in Youth ministry.

I know that many would say that that is a dumb question, but really, think about it. Many times we forget WHY we do things because WHAT we do becomes the theme and the topic of discussion that it becomes so normal to not talk about the WHY!!! I know that I do what I do because I want people, young people to come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. But WHY? Because I believe that Jesus is everything they need or will ever need. And by knowing Jesus they will find happiness and love and acceptance and they will in turn change the world in the right way!!!

It's also known that people who know the WHY of their call are more effective in reaching and moving others, not because they are extremely good, but because their WHY speaks louder than whatever they are doing.

So, what is your WHY for what you do?