A Great Team For Ministry

I am approaching my five year wedding anniversary. I have had the blessing for the past five years to be married to by best friend. While marriage has it's ups and downs, I can look back over the past five years and thank God for what an amazing gift He has given me in my wife.

For the past five years, my wife Melissa has been the most consistent and encouraging supporter of my ministry. She not only cheers me on, she also pulls up her sleeves and volunteers for many hours each week on top of her regular work hours. She does this mainly in service to God, but also because she wants to support me.

Recently, I've been able to put in some extra volunteer hours for her area of ministry with the infant ministry at Meck. I was able to help her with an infant dedication that took place at our church (if you have a newborn or are expecting you should definitely look into this). I was able to help with some art, printing, set-up, and a few other tasks. The dedication was a huge success and went very well. We were eating lunch afterwards, when I was just overwhelmed in thinking about our lives together. I looked at her and said, "we make such a great team for ministry." And we do. We support each others passions. We build each other up. We encourage each other. And we are able to accomplish so much more together than we could ever possibly do on our own.

The reason why I am writing this is because in our new series we are talking about being a part of something bigger than ourselves. Melissa and I feel called to be a ministry team to do the work that God has put before us. God has also given you a team. He's given you a family, and together you can achieve things that you couldn't possibly do on your own.

I want to encourage you this month to see your family as a team for ministry. Get your family together and see how you can encourage each other towards deepening your faith and applying God's truth to your lives. Hebrews 10:24-25 says "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 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."

Whenever we are able to work together as a team it is amazing how much we can accomplish and how much are drawn together. This month, think about a project that you and your family can do together so that you can be a part of something bigger than yourselves. If you regularly give to Meck or a charitable organization, join as a family and talk about the significance of your gift. If you give of your time in service, think about doing it as a family and encourage one another in the process. Find something this month that you can do together that can show your family that you make a much better ministry team together than individually.

And if you are looking for some options, you may want to consider checking out one of the Serve Days at Meck. Check out our Upcoming Events for more details: http://mecklenburg.org/upcoming.asp.

Not Everybody's Doing It

At REALife we have just finished our second installment of "The Battle Within" where we are talking about the topic of temptation. I was sitting in a small group of teenage guys last week when I asked them what were some of the biggest temptations they faced as high school guys. One of the top three things that they told me was the area of sex (pornography was second and "fitting in/peer pressure" was third). These are big temptations facing our students, but they are also areas where we can encourage them in their fight against temptation.

I've recently stumbled upon a report from the Center of Disease Control that studied sexual activity among teenagers in the United States (CLICK HERE to download the pdf). This report was eye-opening to say the least. I'll encourage you to check out the whole article if you have time, but here is one major highlight:

53% of boys and 58% of girls between the ages of 15-17 have never had a sexual encounter (including oral, anal, and vaginal intercourse)

Now let's re-visit my conversation with our high school guys. They're tempted by peer pressure to do what they think they have to do in order to fit in. They hear or assume that everyone in high school is having sex. So they are tempted by their peers (and maybe a little bit of hormones) to have sex. These temptations are very real and very strong. And this is where we can throw some encouragement at them.

Not Everybody's doing it. More than half of high school students in this age range are not having sex. Most students are waiting and holding out for sex. The biggest reason, as given by the report, for abstaining is on grounds of morality or religion. There are students just like them at their schools who are wading through the sea of temptation trying hard to follow the path that God wants them to follow, and a majority of them are staying strong.

We need to encourage these teenagers to continue to pursue God in this area of temptation. We are promised in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." God provides a way out when we are tempted. He is there for them in their times of greatest challenge, and as adults and parents of these teenagers we should be willing to lend a hand as well. Talk to your son or daughter about this article. Ask them if they are experiencing the pressure and temptation to be sexually active, and give them the encouragement and support the they need to resist temptation in their lives. Who knows... you may be the "way out" that God is providing for your son or daughter when they are facing temptation in their lives.