Archive for March, 2008

One nation, under God, with Liberty and Justice for all.

A Lesson That Should Be Taught In All Schools

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten.

On the first day of school, with the permission
of the school superintendent, the principal and the building
supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there
were no desks. Looking around, confused, they asked, ‘Ms. Cothren,
where’re our desks?’ She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you
tell me what you have done to earn the right to sit at a desk.’ They
thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’ ‘No,’ she said. Maybe it’s
our behavior.’ She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behavior. And
so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third
period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms. Cothren’s classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom.
Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.’

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her
classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in
uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school
desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they
would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last
soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to
understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the
right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, ‘You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you.  They placed the desks here for you. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’

This song challenged hundreds of Christian adults and students at Bible Quiz Nationals last year and the Spirit led 75 to the altar and me to tears of conviction. It must be relevant that in our weak faith, at best, we feel as if we are all alone. Many times we live like we are all alone. We must believe and trust and know that He is with us! I hope you will take the time to watch this video in its entirety as it shares the courageous story of Martin Luther King. It encourages and inspires my heart every time I see it. Jason Upton sings this amazing song leading into a powerful time of worship!!

Coffey has a great testimony and ministry and I appreciate his songs. I especially like this one!

Life house did a great job with this drama! It has actually become quite popular among local youth groups. I know of at least one youth group who is using it as an evangelistic tool to win teens to Christ. Every teen can relate to this one! If they have not been there, I guarantee they know someone who has!These are the very battles that this generation is fighting. I could tell you story after story of teens who struggle in these areas. Even many Christian teens end up in bondage of these very sins. You may think why would a “Christian” do these things? Usually it is because they are more connected to their friends, schools, music, sports, and televisions than they are to their churches or to Jesus. Not that those things are always bad. It is just that the term “Christian” doesn’t have much to do with Christ anymore in a lot of youth groups.It is also ultimately a spiritual battle between good and evil.

The Bible says…For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12

We have seen satan destroy many teenagers. Like in the video the pull of satan on their lives is so strong. Some of the students that I know who have dabbled in cutting, eating disorders, drugs, alcohol, sex; one sin just led to another to the point that they were no longer interested in anything that had to do with God. This last week, one student we have been ministering to was sent to a mental institution for threatening to shoot up his high school. In another instance, some girls we know from a local middle school were sent to the hospital after overdosing on methodone during school. Teen pregnancy is almost an accepted norm in high schools. One local high school has over 20 moms and expecting moms this year. Immoral relationships are everywhere among junior high and high school students. (Christian or non-Christian) You can’t walk through the public schools without seeing girls and boys all over each other in the hallways.

I also know of at least 5 openly gay students. One boy where’s feminine jewelry clothes and lots of makeup to school. Other students claim they are bisexual because it makes them seem wild, unique, or shocking. I have sat down at lunch time to visit with kids who were in the middle of reading books about witchcraft, vampires, and curses. One girl, a preacher’s daughter, all of the sudden started dressing gothic, dying her hair black and dressing in all black. When I ask her why she was doing that she said she was “experimenting with her identitiy”. I tried to explain to her as a Christian her identity is IN CHRIST. She has been bought with a price and is supposed to be a child of God. But she told me she “liked the way it shocked people” and “it made her heel like she had power over them”. This was a girl raised her whole life in church.

Lord help us reach these students with the Gospel and bring them the TRUTH and hope of Jesus Christ, before it is too late for them!!!

This is the book that we have chosen to study this summer for the SYO GRACE Summer Girls Bible Study 2008. It compares culturally based lies versus what the Word of God says. I did this same book in a Women’s Bible Study format 4 or 5 years ago and now it has been rewritten for “young” women. I think it will help us to sort through the world’s and Satan’s lies and ultimately find the truth from God’s Word. I am really excited to dig into this study with the girls this summer!!!

Check out a promo for the book here!

Tonight at SQ632, our outreach event for 7th through 12th graders, we watched parts of Passion of the Christ. Whenever I see this movie or the parts where Jesus is being mutilated, I am tempted to turn my eyes away at the gruesome parts. But fighting back the tears I force myself to watch it. I have to force myself to watch it so that I can remember just how incredibly awful it was for Jesus and what a huge price it was that He paid for me and for you because of our sin. That way maybe it will leave a lasting enough impression in my mind to truly be thankful and humble to the one true God, who UNDERSTANDS and has experienced the very worst pain and suffering.

After SQ632 is over there is always a chance for students to respond to God and pray with a counselor. Tonight 2 out of the 47 kids responded in prayer. I was so blessed to pray with a 7th grader named Destiny. She goes to church fairly regularly but for the first time was understanding the magnitude of the sacrifice that Jesus made and that her life was not where it should be and so she prayed for this Jesus to be her Lord. I am looking forward to building a friendship with Destiny and keeping in touch with her. I see her every Monday and Tuesday at her school when I volunteer there and then she comes to SQ632 on Monday nights. Please pray for her!

If you have forgotten how great the love of God is you might pick up a copy of the movie “Passion of the Christ” if you don’t already have it and watch it especially now with Easter coming. Then spend a little time in prayer afterwards. Watch it and REMEMBER Jesus!!! Remember the sacrifice, remember how God hates sin, remember the cost, and most importantly remember the LOVE of GOD!!!!

A quote form Peter Kuzmic…

“Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future; faith is having the courage to dance to it today.”

I like this one a lot! (Thanks Jack!)

Question to ponder…..Are we merely hoping in Jesus or do we have FAITH in Him…faith to dance today, right now, for Him???

Let’s DANCE….by faith…in obedience….because of love…..for the glory of God….through the atoning sacrifice and resurrection power of Jesus Christ!!!!!

There’s somebody out there,
With arms open wide,
Who longs to embrace you,
Dry the tears from your eyes,
He’s hope for the hopeless,
He’ll carry the burdens you bear,
When you don’t have a prayer,
There’s somebody out there!

This is an SYO drama performed this last week at SQ 632 and also at our church, MVB, on Sunday morning. The students who played the parts also shared testimony of how they could relate to the parts. Broken families, divorce, abused children, drugs and alcohol, and suicide are all too common in our world today. The good news is there’s SOMEBODY out there. His name is JESUS and HE is HOPE for the hopeless!!!

It has been a really neat day as Aaron has brought up God several times. He asked me some great questions while we were driving down the road tonight. He knows a lot about Jesus thanks to his school, his Sunday school teachers, our church and ministry involvement, and us talking about Jesus a lot. Tonight we talked about how it is a lifelong commitment that we make to follow Christ and it is not easy. We also talked some about why we need forgiveness to go to Heaven and what the purpose of baptism is. Most of which he already knew, you know cause 7 yr olds know it all…right? It was most certainly a precious moment tonight when Aaron said to me, “Mom…if something ever happened to you and you died, I would be okay because I know you will be with Jesus.” I guess because there have been several people we know this year pass on. He also said, “Man, it is gonna be cool to see John the Baptist, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus’s family there too, cause they will all be there too right?” I love the way his mind works! I can see the wheel’s turning in his head…he is planning for the party in Heaven and who will be there. I think we should all spend some time thinking about this simple yet profound idea. Who is gonna be there? Wow!!! There is a reason why God wants us to have childlike faith….

And He said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Matthew 18:3

I told Aaron that when he knew and when he was sure that he was ready to make that commitment to accept Jesus and give Him his life, to come to me and we would talk more and pray together. As I was putting Aaron to bed tonight and tucking him in, Aaron and I each prayed together as we usually do at bedtime. Aaron prayed something like this…
“Dear Jesus, thank you that we got to got to Wal-mart and get groceries and stuff and thank you for my family and Jesus would you come into my heart because I want to go to Heaven and be with you. Amen

Then I prayed over my beautiful child and told him goodnight. My favorite part is when he told Jesus “I want to BE with you.” Please pray with me that Aaron grows in his understanding of what it means to be a Christian and to follow Jesus. Though sometimes I wander if, in his young mind and heart, he might just get the simple truth of Jesus that we adults sometimes make out to be so complex!

Paul Washer is one of my favorite preachers. His messages are sure to offend many for the sake of Christ. It is also clear that he speaks the truth out of a genuine love for the “Church” of Jesus Christ! Please watch this 11 minute sermon piece and consider the message. I also recommend the Paul Washer sermon called “Shocking Message” which can be found at Godtube.com or on my facebook profile.