D6 Conference IMPRESSions--Day 2

I've been back from D6 Conference for about five days now, and I'm still processing all the wonderful input I received while there. God has been showing me some ways that I can start applying some things, fairly immediately, which excites me! Below, I'm going to share some of my highlights from the second (and final) day of the conference. It was another day filled to overflowing with great speakers, great insight, and great worship!

• I would be completely remiss if I didn't share what a blessing it was to have Shane and Shane leading us in worship. Such authenticity and intimacy with the Father. It was apparent that the Lord was their focus and their primary audience, and they had such a wonderful way of making you feel like you were worshiping with them...nothing even hinted at it being a performance or "show." My personal favorite song (which has stuck with me since I first heard it last week) is called "That's How You Forgive." Check it out here.

• Les and Leslie Parrot started out our morning on day two. Their primary focus was how to fight a good fight in marriage! It was a well-received presentation. :-) "Round 1" dealt with "Why we fight," and "Round 2" dealt with "How to Fight a Good Fight." There are two main reasons couples tend to find themselves in arguments: perceived threats (critical, judgmental, controlling, demanding) and perceived neglect (selfish, uncaring, uncommitted, neglectful, disengaged). When we feel that we are on the receiving end of any of those "threats," we can end up fighting. The "take-away" I got from that session was, "Conflict is the price we pay for a deeper level of intimacy."

• Rob Rienow was up next, and he took a look at ministry patterns and challenged us to consider whether or not we follow those ministry patterns that have been set up in the Bible. He's a proponent of having children (all ages) stay in the sanctuary for the entire service. He proposed that age is the only demographic we use to separate the Church family. (We don't separate based on salary, race, etc.) The big impression I got from Rob is something I'm still rolling around in my mind. The issue of kids who come to church without parents was raised, and he asked us as ministry leaders to consider getting the Christ-following families in your church at a point where they are well-focused and well-equipped, which will free up your time a little more to focus on outreach and evangelism. Our church has a number of wonderful outreach opportunities already in place, and there are many children and families involved. So I'm praying for clearer direction on how to proceed!

• Dave Stone had a great message about the three gifts you can give your kids: Value, Grace, Love. He had a number of statements that resonated with me:
• "We need to have concern for the Church of today so there's a Church of tomorrow."
• "Keep the dust off the high chairs." (He shared a story of a dying church whose high chairs were in storage and covered in dust...if you want a thriving church, keep the high chairs full!)
• An idea for a nighttime prayer from a parent to a child: "Oh God, I can't wait to see how you're going to use ___________ for your glory."
• "We get so wrapped up in the work of the Lord that we forget the Lord of the work."

• Robert Morgan shared some insight into what he calls a "Grace Cycle," something that often comes out of grief. He specifically related it to parents who might be dealing with a prodigal child in their lives. He authored a book called Prayers and Promises for Worried Parents.
• Pain
• Prayer
• Patience--everything has a built-in maturation process
• Peace--a heavenly carelessness knowing that God is in charge
• Praise--even when things are't like we want them

• The final session of the day and of the conference was from Dr. Timothy Paul Jones. He took a fascinating look at the History of Family Ministry in Five Drawings (You'll be glad you checked this out!) He also challenged us to look at the story our lives are telling. He also told us that the story of our ministries needs to be bigger than me and bigger than my ministry. "Jesus didn't die for my ministry, He died for the people in my ministry." I wrote this in my notes as my one big impression, "I'm tired of trying to write my own story." Ultimately, Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, and if He's writing it, I can be assured that the story is going to be good!

Pray Like Jesus

Our church is embarking on a summer series called "Pray Like Jesus," and we are anticipating some wonderful fruit to come from this time together learning to pray in the same way that Jesus instructed His disciples. Parents at MSBC, here is some information you will need to know as we dive into this time together:

• Have each of your children bring a single subject notebook or drawing tablet along with crayons/colored pencils each week. (It would be fun if you made it “dedicated” for the summer series. I’ve attached the logo for the series, in case you’d like to also incorporate that in some way.) Each week the kids will be given an “assignment” to do during the message portion of the service which will be incorporated into the following week’s service. Be sure to come for all the details!
• Each month, our Sunday school has committed to $40 in support for the girls at Strong Tower Orphanage. We will still be collecting that offering during the summer. If you have anything to contribute, place that offering in an envelope marked “Sunday School STO” and it will get to the right place!
• We will be having communion on July 7th. Sometime this week, I encourage you to have a conversation with your child about what communion is all about. This blog post will help you with some ideas on how to have that conversation: http://shootsnrootsministry.blogspot.com/2013/01/kids-and-communion.html

Above all else, my prayer is that through this series you will find wonderful opportunities to talk with your children about prayer, to actually have great encounters of prayer with your family, and to continue to train your children in the way they should go.

Pass the Faith

Perhaps one of the saddest phrases in the Bible is found in Judges 2:10. "And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD..." This is referring to the people of Israel who had an "on again, off again" type of relationship with the Lord, and it had apparently gotten to the point where one generation had completely died off, and the next generation did not know the Lord. Does that grieve you like it does me?

Those who know me know that I'm impassioned about making sure that the next generation DOES know the Lord, and you know whose responsibility that is? Yep, my generation's. Your generation's. Generational discipleship is how God designed for His commands and His character to be passed along. What a privilege we have to carry the message of God and of His Son to the children of today, so that they in turn will grow up to know the Lord and to pass along His message to the next generation.

You know something I realized? We're all influencing the next generation. The question then is HOW are we influencing? As Christ followers, are we encouraging the young people of today to live a life sold out for Jesus? Or are we teaching them how to succeed at being a mediocre Christian with no sacrifice and no pain? Are we teaching them that Jesus is worth EVERYTHING to follow? Or are we teaching them to hold onto the things of this life as more precious than anything Jesus could offer? Are we making disciples? Tough questions, aren't they?  Here's one more...

When our generation has died, will the next generation know the Lord?