PHIFF

I got PHIFF. Do you have it?

Recently, at a retreat, I got to witness 4 students make first time decisions for Jesus Christ. It was an amazing thing! Just the other day, I met with one of the girls who made the decision. Her parents wanted me to talk with her more about what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (which is really great!). I told her that knowing Christ is a guarunteed ticket to heaven with him forever and there is no changing that (Rom 8:38-39). But I also wanted her to know that it is so much more than that. After talking to her, I came up with a little acronym to show what happens to someone after they are saved. I call it PHIFF.

PURPOSE: Knowing Christ gives the believer a purpose to life. What was our purpose before Christ? Well, the truth is that whatever our purpose was, it is nothing compared to the new purpose and meaning to life. A believer knows that they are living to glorify God in all they do, to obey him, and to keep eternity in mind. (2 Timothy 2:21)

HOPE: A believer has the hope of eternity. The believer no longer just puts their hope in the next best thing that is going to happen in their life, but instead puts their hope in the only thing that lasts forever, eternal life. This means that no matter how many bad things happen throughout the course of the believers life, they will still have hope...a complete hope. (John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

IDENTITY: The believer also has a brand new identity. Once someone is saved, he is a new creation. That person belongs to Christ. The believer no longer is identified by the way they look, the friends they have, or how good they are at a certain sport or instrument. Those things all come in a very distand second to the fact that they were purchased by the blood of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

FREEDOM: Freedom is given to those who know Christ. Many people think that following Jesus means that you have less freedom because you have to follow a lot of rules. Not true. True freedom comes from being free from the power of sin. No longer is the believer a slave to sin. Sin is not freedom but only slavery to that sin. Christ's death liberated us from the sin that owned us. (Galatians 5:1)

FAMILY: The believer also gets a brand new family. That person still has their immediate family, but now the believer just made their family a lot bigger. There is now a special bond among other believers. You are on the same page, you have support, love, and accountability. We were made to have community with other believers...we cannot do this life alone. (Acts 2:42-47)

While this is not an exhaustive list of everything that happens to a believer, it is really important to share these things. Knowing Christ is so much more than just a free ticket to heaven...you get purpose, hope, a new identity, freedom from sin, and a new huge family in Christ. You get PHIFF!

Walls

I have been listening to this song lately called True Love, by Phil Wickaham. It's all about the love of Jesus in death that broke down the wall of sin that seperated us from God. It's amazing! All of us are a part of putting the wall up between us in God...every time we sin...but in one amazing and miraculous event in history, the God of the universe destroyed the hideous wall by dying to pay our debt of sin. As I work with middle school students, I want them to realize their part in putting up the wall of sin and more importantly Christ's part in destroying that. It's the most important thing they could ever know...i hope you will join me in this! I found this video that shows this so much better than I could explain. Remember the unfathomable love of Jesus, today!

Life is hard.

This week, I saw many middle school students impacted by their first real tragedy. A Hudson Middle School teacher who also attended our church was arrested for showing an inappropriate video to a middle school boy. This teacher was so devastated that a few days later, he took his own life. Most middle school students cannot wrap their minds around such a tragic series of events with someone they knew and looked up to. I had the task of ministering to students impacted by this tragedy. My job, as their pastor, was to help them by responding biblically, but the bottom line is that this is terrible. For the first time, middle school students began to realize that life is hard. It's so important to remind them that Jesus himself said, "In this world, you will have trouble." I mean Jesus has given a ton of incredible promises throughout Scripture, but this one is not so easy to swallow. The truth is...life is hard and this won't be the last tragedy some of these students experience throughout their life. Let's not lie to them...let's not tell them following Christ equals an easy life. They must know the truth. But let's also make sure we finish Jesus words in John 16:33. It says, "In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Followers of Jesus live with a hope that all terrible things in life will come to an end because Jesus has overcome it all.

Walk with Them

Just this week, I met with a student whose dad is dying of cancer. This is something that no 13 year old boy should have to deal with. After all, being 13 is difficult enough. This day in age is the hardest it's ever been for middle school students. On top of dealing with peer pressure, popularity, puberty, and sexual issues, they are faced with family deaths, parental divorces, single parent homes, illnesses, violence, abuse, and the list goes on. My heart goes out to them, but my mind keeps going back to how vital it is for every student to have an adult to walk through the teen years with. Someone who is not their parent. Someone who will listen. Someone who will care. Someone who will be there. Someone who loves them with the love of Jesus. If not, who will be there through the tough times? And most importantly, how will they respond to death, divorce, and illness? In my ministry, it is our goal to make sure that each student has an adult they can turn to. Someone to walk through life with. While we have not completely accomplished our goal, I love watching students form relationships with adults who care. It is happening in our ministry and we are looking for more of it. This particular boy whose dad is dying didn't have that person in his life, but his mom pursued one. Does your middle school student have that? If not, I strongly suggest you find someone. It can make all the difference.

An encouraging Christmas Trend

Christmas for middle school students has always been a discouragement to me, especially because most of the students I know come from wealthy families. It seems like they always get what they want and more for Christmas (a lot like my life in middle school), which usually leaves them more selfish and ungrateful than they were before Christmas. BUT...I am seeing a growing trend among many parents this Christmas which has been an encouragement to me. More parents are giving fewer gifts to their children. More parents are focusing on teaching their children the true spirit of this holiday...giving. I have even seen some parents giving to charities or missions in their child's name. I think it's great. I think it's exactly what Jesus would want his birthday to look like. You see, Jesus' life was all about you and me. He was born in humility, lived his life with humility, and died the most humiliating death. All for you and me. So let's teach our children that Christmas is all about Jesus and all about others. That is the true spirit of Christmas. That's why we celebrate. So when Christmas morning comes around this year...let's make it about Jesus and others...not sure how you will do that...but we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, people. Jesus.

Fingertip Porn

Now that I have your attention, let me explain. Pornography has never been more accessible as it is right now. I would say that 70% of the middle school students I know have cell phones and texting capabilities. That means that any of them at any time can receive pornography via text messaging. It blows my mind to think that pornography is being passed around, even during the school day. Don't believe me? Check this out. And this. This is scary stuff, especially for parents.

So the big question is what do we do about it? Cell phones are really convenient for kids to have. I agree with this statement, but at what point does convenience need to take a backseat to safety. I am not saying that we have to start taking cell phones away completely, but I am saying that middle school students should not be entitled to any kind of privacy with these phones. It's for their own good. Most importantly, our students need to be educated about pornography and its pitfalls. There will come a day (if it hasn't happened yet) where parents will not able to protect, and students have to make their own choice about pornography. Therefore, its more important to warn and educate then just restrict.

What is most troublesome to me are the teenage girls that are sending nude pictures of themselves via text message to their friends. These girls are driving on a dead end street. So the education is for both girls and boys...and its the responsibility of parents partnering with the church. Parents, let's not bury our head in the sand about this...it's happening, and most likely your kids know all about it. Talk to them.

More information and practical action steps for parents.

What about me?

I am continually challenged by middle schoolers pushing boundaries to see how far they can go. This is a common trait that we like to say is "typical" of middle school children. As I thought about it, I was convicted to think about my own life and what boundaries I like to push. They are different boundaries then the middle schoolers, but boundaries none the less. We all like to push boundaries in some way or another. I think if we as adults were better at showing middle schoolers the right way to live and stopped telling them the right way to live we would have a mucher higher success rate. I am tired of saying "do as I say, and not as I do", with my actions. No, I never really say that verbally, but I fear we send this message on a regular basis. I will give you a small example. I regularly engage in conversations about appropriate music with my students. Did you know that as a parent, if it is on your ipod, they think that means it must be appropriate for them to listen to. That is the rational I often hear, "Its on my dad's ipod!" Ouch, that it difficult for me to hear, because anything I say from there on out does not matter to that student, dad has already "endorsed" the music. Or even worse they might ask if it is on my ipod. Am I saying that as adults we need to live by the same standards that we hold our middle schooler to? Only if we want our middle schoolers to really accept that standard and make it their own.