GandalfTheWise Posted March 14, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 24 Topic Count: 40 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 1,459 Content Per Day: 0.61 Reputation: 2,377 Days Won: 2 Joined: 08/23/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted March 14, 2018 On 3/12/2018 at 5:27 PM, Sal Robinson said: I was running a bible study of young people, and he said the biggest things on his mind were his dirt bikes and that that was in the foreground and Jesus was in the background. We hear the same thing with others, tv shows, personal dramas, relationship dramas, these all take the foreground while Jesus is in the background. Have any of you had challenges with your children or young people you know, praying that they put God first but the things of things world swallow them up… In your experience what drives people away from Jesus, i.e too much time on facebook, Netflix, what have you found? And what have you found to be helpful in dealing with this Thank you friends Sal I think we need to clarify what it means to have Christ first in our lives. Does it really mean that every waking thought consists solely of prayer, praise, and singing, and that our entire day is meant to be spent doing explicitly religious and spiritual things? I doubt it. I think rather that it means that we are conscious of God's presence in our life on an ongoing basis. God has created some of us to be artists, dirt bikers, scholars, builders, and many other things that are part of how we individually are meant to reflect His glory. Here's reality, in the process of doing some of these things, our mind will need to be focused on those things as we are doing them. It does not mean that we have forgotten about God, but rather that doing these things is part of who God made us to be and to enjoy doing. Being a Christian is about being that person who God created us to be and walking alongside of Him on an ongoing basis. It is about being aware of His abiding presence in our lives and being transformed into who He has created us to become. It is not about spending the correct amount of time doing prescribed activities. The problem is that when our reason for being becomes those things that we are doing. When we do those things purely to escape problems, to glorify ourselves, to act out our frustrations and anger, or for any other of a host of unhealthy and unspiritual reasons, that is when those things become a stumbling block to us. I've run into Christians who have let ministry and spiritual exercises become stumbling blocks to them. I've met Christians who measure their value and fruit as a Christian (and other Christians' fruit) by the time per day that they spend praying, the number of pages in the Bible they read per day, the number of hours per week they spend at church, the number of doors they knock on and hand out tracts to, etc. etc. Instead of measuring our fruit on the basis of how Christlike we are becoming, how much we are being transformed into the person God created us to be, and how much we are glorifying God as the unique person He created us to be, we become sidetracked with spiritual sounding manmade measures of "dedication" to God. We need to help young believers learn to understand the motivations of their heart and why they are doing things. The young dirt biker might love dirt biking for unhealthy reasons (such as escaping bullying, getting away from family, being alone because he hates people, showing off and getting glory, or danger-seeking for an adrenaline rush) or he might be a person God created to love flying through the air, bouncing around, and being physically active. When this young dirt biker can learn to see dirt biking through a healthy spiritual filter, it might become something that God intends for him to enjoy doing or it might be something to give up as an occasional recreation. Young Christians need to be shown how to consistently walk with God in the daily lives as the person God created them to be. Instead, they are often given a list of rules and activity lists to follow instead so that they can keep busy doing what they've been told that they are supposed to do as Christians, and then made to feel guilty when they don't walk with God exactly the same way that someone else thinks they should. When we do less of what we should be doing, we will weaken spiritually. When we do more than we should, we will stagnate and burn out. We need to learn to walk with God in the way that is spiritually healthy for us. We need to learn to teach young believers how to learn to walk with God for themselves in the way He is guiding them to walk. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neighbor Posted March 15, 2018 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 18 Topic Count: 940 Topics Per Day: 0.35 Content Count: 13,412 Content Per Day: 5.02 Reputation: 8,957 Days Won: 6 Joined: 12/04/2016 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/03/1885 Share Posted March 15, 2018 On 3/14/2018 at 3:26 PM, GandalfTheWise said: I think we need to clarify what it means to have Christ first in our lives. Does it really mean that every waking thought consists solely of prayer, praise, and singing, and that our entire day is meant to be spent doing explicitly religious and spiritual things? I doubt it. I think rather that it means that we are conscious of God's presence in our life on an ongoing basis. God has created some of us to be artists, dirt bikers, scholars, builders, and many other things that are part of how we individually are meant to reflect His glory. Here's reality, in the process of doing some of these things, our mind will need to be focused on those things as we are doing them. It does not mean that we have forgotten about God, but rather that doing these things is part of who God made us to be and to enjoy doing. Being a Christian is about being that person who God created us to be and walking alongside of Him on an ongoing basis. It is about being aware of His abiding presence in our lives and being transformed into who He has created us to become. It is not about spending the correct amount of time doing prescribed activities. The problem is that when our reason for being becomes those things that we are doing. When we do those things purely to escape problems, to glorify ourselves, to act out our frustrations and anger, or for any other of a host of unhealthy and unspiritual reasons, that is when those things become a stumbling block to us. I've run into Christians who have let ministry and spiritual exercises become stumbling blocks to them. I've met Christians who measure their value and fruit as a Christian (and other Christians' fruit) by the time per day that they spend praying, the number of pages in the Bible they read per day, the number of hours per week they spend at church, the number of doors they knock on and hand out tracts to, etc. etc. Instead of measuring our fruit on the basis of how Christlike we are becoming, how much we are being transformed into the person God created us to be, and how much we are glorifying God as the unique person He created us to be, we become sidetracked with spiritual sounding manmade measures of "dedication" to God. We need to help young believers learn to understand the motivations of their heart and why they are doing things. The young dirt biker might love dirt biking for unhealthy reasons (such as escaping bullying, getting away from family, being alone because he hates people, showing off and getting glory, or danger-seeking for an adrenaline rush) or he might be a person God created to love flying through the air, bouncing around, and being physically active. When this young dirt biker can learn to see dirt biking through a healthy spiritual filter, it might become something that God intends for him to enjoy doing or it might be something to give up as an occasional recreation. Young Christians need to be shown how to consistently walk with God in the daily lives as the person God created them to be. Instead, they are often given a list of rules and activity lists to follow instead so that they can keep busy doing what they've been told that they are supposed to do as Christians, and then made to feel guilty when they don't walk with God exactly the same way that someone else thinks they should. When we do less of what we should be doing, we will weaken spiritually. When we do more than we should, we will stagnate and burn out. We need to learn to walk with God in the way that is spiritually healthy for us. We need to learn to teach young believers how to learn to walk with God for themselves in the way He is guiding them to walk. Well written, articulate point of view, made without including personal attack of any kind. Lots of material to consider, work with, and compare as well as question. All of which may be used for one's own improvement and benefit. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shiloh357 Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 A good book to read along these lines is, "The Juvenilization of American Christianity" by Thomas Bergler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sal Robinson Posted March 18, 2018 Group: Members Followers: 0 Topic Count: 9 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 38 Content Per Day: 0.02 Reputation: 21 Days Won: 0 Joined: 03/11/2018 Status: Offline Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 On 3/15/2018 at 6:26 AM, GandalfTheWise said: I think we need to clarify what it means to have Christ first in our lives. Does it really mean that every waking thought consists solely of prayer, praise, and singing, and that our entire day is meant to be spent doing explicitly religious and spiritual things? I doubt it. I think rather that it means that we are conscious of God's presence in our life on an ongoing basis. God has created some of us to be artists, dirt bikers, scholars, builders, and many other things that are part of how we individually are meant to reflect His glory. Here's reality, in the process of doing some of these things, our mind will need to be focused on those things as we are doing them. It does not mean that we have forgotten about God, but rather that doing these things is part of who God made us to be and to enjoy doing. Being a Christian is about being that person who God created us to be and walking alongside of Him on an ongoing basis. It is about being aware of His abiding presence in our lives and being transformed into who He has created us to become. It is not about spending the correct amount of time doing prescribed activities. The problem is that when our reason for being becomes those things that we are doing. When we do those things purely to escape problems, to glorify ourselves, to act out our frustrations and anger, or for any other of a host of unhealthy and unspiritual reasons, that is when those things become a stumbling block to us. I've run into Christians who have let ministry and spiritual exercises become stumbling blocks to them. I've met Christians who measure their value and fruit as a Christian (and other Christians' fruit) by the time per day that they spend praying, the number of pages in the Bible they read per day, the number of hours per week they spend at church, the number of doors they knock on and hand out tracts to, etc. etc. Instead of measuring our fruit on the basis of how Christlike we are becoming, how much we are being transformed into the person God created us to be, and how much we are glorifying God as the unique person He created us to be, we become sidetracked with spiritual sounding manmade measures of "dedication" to God. We need to help young believers learn to understand the motivations of their heart and why they are doing things. The young dirt biker might love dirt biking for unhealthy reasons (such as escaping bullying, getting away from family, being alone because he hates people, showing off and getting glory, or danger-seeking for an adrenaline rush) or he might be a person God created to love flying through the air, bouncing around, and being physically active. When this young dirt biker can learn to see dirt biking through a healthy spiritual filter, it might become something that God intends for him to enjoy doing or it might be something to give up as an occasional recreation. Young Christians need to be shown how to consistently walk with God in the daily lives as the person God created them to be. Instead, they are often given a list of rules and activity lists to follow instead so that they can keep busy doing what they've been told that they are supposed to do as Christians, and then made to feel guilty when they don't walk with God exactly the same way that someone else thinks they should. When we do less of what we should be doing, we will weaken spiritually. When we do more than we should, we will stagnate and burn out. We need to learn to walk with God in the way that is spiritually healthy for us. We need to learn to teach young believers how to learn to walk with God for themselves in the way He is guiding them to walk. I love your words friend, so helpful, this message needs to be preached! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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