The Honor Clause

Since 2006 our church has attended, sponsored, and endorsed Lake Ann Camp (LA) in northern Michigan. This past weekend we attended our 4th Freeze Out (FO) Winter Retreat for J. High and High School students. Each FO there is a time of winter fun, friendship, and most of all Faith. This year the camp had added times where each church could get together with their own youth you talk to the hearts of the their kids. Leading up the FO I felt God was laying on my heart to talk about "Honor".

Growing up I had the idea in my head that "honor" meant to obey; I believed the two were synonymous but after studying it in preparation I realize it has nothing to do with each other. They are related, but not the same. Exodus 20.12 says that we are to "Honor [our] father and mother that we may have long days in the land that God has given to you." The traditional view of this verse is that it means we have to OBEY mom and dad. Though we should obey them (Eph. 6.1), it does not say to obey, it says to honor. The definition we used at FO was this: Honor: Willing obedience, defending reputation, and benefiting someone else. Let me explain...

Willing Obedience: When we honor someone we are obeying them, but when we are obeying, we are not necessarily honoring. I explained it this way: "You are talking with your best friend at school and make plans for them to come over later that night but when your mom or dad come home they say, "Lets just have a quiet night tonight. We are not having anyone over but just staying in and staying low-key." You have a choice of your response when you call your friend, you can say, "You can't come over! My is so stupid! I told them that you were coming over they said no just because they are tired! So what! What a stupid rule!" or you can respond, "Hey, it isn't going to work out tonight. Mom/dad is pretty tired and just wants a quiet night here. We'll try again another time." Which one is honor? You get the point; both obeyed, one honored.

Defending Reputation: Honor is not done for our self (we will talk more about that later). In the military there is a lot done in the name of honor. Why? Because it is about defending the reputation of America. America is known for being a strong and independent country; we command respect by the world and it comes down to the pride we are have in it. Just a soldier defends the pride and lifestyle of our country, we must honor our parents by defending what they have worked for. A child can ruin the reputation of a family. How many times have we been in a public place and heard a child that needed some serious discipline and we say, "Why don't the shut that kid up!" Or you see on TV a juvenile who begins to have a string of petty crimes under their belt and who is blamed... the parent. Some studies who that in more cases than not it is the teenage kids that can ruin the reputation of a family more than the parents. In the case of honor we must take pride in the family we are in because we see it as a gift from God and therefore are willing to defend it even if we don't agree with it. Again, the analogy of our country; we don't agree with everything that goes along within it but we honor it just the same in word and deed. Side note: One teen said, "See it is our fault when our parents get a divorce." NO! This is not talking about marriage, this family pride while we respect and honor it.

About Someone Else: Honor is taking the essence of pride and directing it somewhere else. When we have pride, especially self-pride we do anything to promote it and defend it. Honor redirects that motivation and puts it on someone else. How many times have we heard that phrase: "yada yada... in honor of John Doe." What does that mean? Something was done for the benefit of someone else. At our meeting time I gave the example that if one of the teens along were to have a horrible accident which landed her on her death bed that day, and she looked at me in her last breath and said, "Pastor, as my last dying request I want you to go down the tubing hill in only your boxers." Do you know what I would try to do that night? Yes! I would try to go down the hill in my boxers! Why? Because I would do all I could to honor her last request! Certainly it would not be about my own pleasure, but to please someone else. The same is true with our parents; our actions is not about us but about them. It also must be pointed out that Jesus did make a last request when he left (Matthew 28.19) to go and make disciples of him. Are we going to honor.

In our last meeting together I asked the athletes these questions; Does your coach have the right to tell you what time you get up? What do eat? What to wear? What time to be where? That you need to improve? etc... They answer for all of them was "Yes". My next question was, "Why?" To which they said, "To improve your game". When I asked the exact same questions but changed it to "Does your mom or dad have the right to...?" They all said "no!!!". I also repeated them with "Does God have the right...?" This was a great eye opener to many of the as we revealed that they were focused more on honoring the wrong people in life but that the same reason our parents set standards for us to follow is the same reason a coach sets standards for their team... to improve you.

We returned from FO on Sunday afternoon. I was very excited when after the evening service I had already heard from parents who wondered what had happened to their kids at FO because they were like a different child. When they would have fought over an issue the teen was respectful! Praise God!

Becoming a Gladiator

Monday nights is Gladiator night; regular athletes get to take on a breed of seemingly super-humans in an arena that is designed to press your limits. Thousands show up to see this in person and millions tune in via television. We are fascinated to see limits pressed and effort given. Most of us sit on the couch being the bench warming coaches we've becoming, telling the contenders exactly what to do and how they "should" be doing things when they are likely doing better than we ever could.

June of 2008 my family had our first family vacation ever and enjoyed every minute of it. We took our churches teenagers up to Lake Ann Camp in Lake Ann, MI, and stayed the week ourselves in a beautiful log cabin on the camp's grounds. We did not have much interaction with our teen campers but did see them from time to time. One such occasion was as they were scaling "Goliath". Goliath, named after the giant whom David overcame but the hand of God, is a Gladiator style 4o' tall climbing course that is straight up. You begin on the ground and climb a 10' rope ladder to a swaying 4x6 beam held by cables between two trees. Above that beam 4' is another beam, then another at 6' above that, and another at 8' above that. Above the top beam by 10' is a bell hanging just waiting to be rung. All of this held together by cables and is swaying at every breath of wind. 4 people at a time would scale this behemoth and attempt to ring the bell at the top; but there is more to it than that.

Lake Ann makes it a point to show the campers that God is in every part of our life, and every part of our life should reflect God. So what does "Goliath" have to do with God?

Before climbing a goal was set. Each group had to determine what there level of completion would be, how much were they going to conquer; would they sell themselves short or press themselves all the way? This is paralleled to the issues we face in life and temptations that try to get us to sell short in our walk with God. The course was assembled so that you could not complete it on your own, even if you were an American Gladiator; you had to rely on the people around you. Team work and trust were key elements to reach the top and have 100% completion, just as it is in our Christian walk. We can try to run a strong Christian walk all alone, but that is not how God designed it, we are a body and must work as a community to encourage and support each other to reach for God and draw closer to Him. So, where is the "God" in this Goliath thing? Each person had to strap on a harness before climbing; there's God. See, no matter how bad the climbers may mess up and even fall, they would be caught. Yes, they may lose some ground and have to re-climb some areas they had already conquered, but they were safe and secure in the harness. (The boole' rope holding the harness was also held by other teen campers on their team, talk about trust.)

Such is true in our walk with God. We watch others around us and tell them how to run their Christian walk just like we sit on our couch and tell the contenders how to compete with the Gladiators, when we are the one on the sidelines, and they are the ones in the action. We must take the step to begin climbing the "Goliath's" in our lives and realize that there is support and encouragement around us in the body of Christ, and that God will be there to for us in case we may slip and lose some ground. Remember, "Not succeeding because you are afraid to fail is failure also. Begin to overcome the Goliath's in your life today.

And for you who are thinking I am just a sideline couch for Goliath and couldn't have done it myself... While I was watching our group the camp director told me they were one person short for the next group and asked if I could do it with them. I did.

Mentors being Mentored

One of my passions in the ministry is training up a new generation to continue the cycle of godliness in the midst of darkness. At the current time I am the Sr. Pastor doubling as the Youth Pastor also which makes thing very busy but also has its rewards.

Last week end I was the adult male sponsor for a winter retreat at Lake Ann Camp called Freeze Out. Going into the trip there were some concerns about some of our youth spiritually. Everything from Salvation to sanctification was consuming my prayers for the weekend. Thankfully we have an amazing God that hears our prayers and likes to see people get closer to him as well.

The theme of the weekend was building a Faith of Virtue. All were encouraged to look past your salvation, and make a life and lifestyle commitment to godliness. On saturday night the focus was on salvation, but also taking a stand. Two areas which are fimiliar to teens were highlighted: Teens from divorced homes, and teens who are the only one who go to church in their homes. The youth workers of each church were asked to pray over all the teens fitting that description within our group. We had 9 kids in our group, and 7 of them fit in that group along with one sponsor. Looking around the chapel some churches were in blank stares because no one in their group were in those situations, but we were and that time was there just for us. It was through that that we saw a girl get saved, and several opened up emotionally and let God take over their bittnerness and anger that had been bottled up for years. Following the service we all met in the dining hall to challenge us to be accountable to each other, not just God, because we are part of a body and have encourage our brothers and sister to stay true to God and stand up for what is right.

Freeze Out is a weekend that is designed for teenagers, but it hit me where I needed it. No, I didn't come from a split home, nor was I the only person in the family that went to church, but it taught me a valuable lesson. Many time we take the areas in life that we feel lost in our out of control in, and since we don't know how to handle them we put them in our pockets and think they will go away. They don't. We must take these things out of our pocket and lay them on the alter before God. If something is out of our control it is in God's. It is not our fault, it is our opportunity to be blessed and be a blessing.

For the first time in nearly 3 years knowing some of these teens I saw them praying for each others and helping each other through difficulties by the Word God, and communication with God.

Some of the teens went just expecting to have fun. They did, but God had more instore for them. You and I might we doing things just becasue they are fun, and if they aren't we hide them in our pockets. I Peter 5.7 says we are to cast our cares upon him... why? because he is madly in love with you and cares for you. Don't forget that. You are never too old, too rich, too wealth, too health or too see the grace of God... but you might make yourself too stupid. Don't. Open your eyes and bask in the light of God's grace.