Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Col 3:20 NIV

Lately I have been challenged by the verse that follows which says:

Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Col 3:21 NIV

This is a challenging statement and it is telling that it comes immediately after telling the children to obey their parents.

As parents we have a huge responsibility for our children

God wants us to teach our children to love Him and His truth.

We need to teach our children that they can talk to God through prayer and can have a personal relationship with Him.

We are to teach them contentment with what God provides and excitement for what God has planned.

We also need to teach them that they have value in God’s eyes and that God has a plan and a purpose for their life.

While teaching and discipling our children in the way of the Lord we must also not embitter them.

What can embitter our children?

• Destructive criticism
• Overprotection
• Showing favouritism
• Not teaching and showing them that they have value
• Setting unrealistic goals
• Not showing affection
• Not meeting their needs
• Not having standards or boundaries
• Showing indifference or neglecting them
• Disciplining out of anger and not love

If I am honest with myself I can admit that I stuff up, a lot, as a parent. I look at what it takes to raise children and I can feel overwhelmed sometimes by the enormity of it all. They aren’t tasks or projects, they are people. They are created in the image of God, a God who has a plan and a purpose for their lives, and a God who trusted them with me as their Dad!

As parents we can always get better at what God has called us to do. We can read books, compare notes with other parents, and try harder. We can also pray.

God can give us grace and wisdom if we ask for it. This, above all other things, gives me hope for my children’s future…

Some more reading about Colossians 3:21:

• God’s Word for Parents- Union Church
• Precept Austin – Col. 3:21

Don’t get me wrong, I know that God has called me to be a missions communicator to tell others about what God is doing in Youth With A Mission around the world. I am not questioning God’s call on my life, I love what I am doing and feel very blessed to be able to do it. The team I work with is great, even though they are on the other side of the world.

Despite knowing God’s call on my life I’m still struggling. One of the articles that I read recently had the following quote in it that really spoke to me:

The real battle is when the lie comes: “There is no point to what you are doing, you are not making a difference”

The audio recording that you can listen to above probably describes better what I’m thinking than my writing does. In talking with others both inside and outside of YWAM I am not the only one involved in communications feeling like this.

Your prayers for renewed vision and passion would be appreciated…

Related Links:

• What is My Job?
• The Importance of Communications Teams in YWAM
• Why YWAM Needs Communication Teams
• The Desk Missionary
• Oh Yes, we struggle! Confession #2: What’s the point?
• Pastors on ‘Burnout:’ We Forget We’re Human

5. Facebook, Twitter and Students…

With social media, especially Facebook and Twitter, so pervasive in the lives of people it’s important that we look at what kind of affect it has on students. The Discipleship Training School (DTS), and other second level schools in Youth With A Mission (YWAM) have previously been completely immersive experiences mainly because of the difficulty and cost of communication. Read the full article…

4. Lego, Why do you Spurn Canada?

Caleb spent the better part of two years saving up to buy himself a Lego Cargo Train Set. When he finally went to purchase the set we found that the set was almost $100 more in Canada than to purchase it in the USA.

In the end Caleb purchased the train set in the USA and had a friend pick it up for him. Read the full article…

3. Debt and Missions – A Toxic Mix

This is one topic that I have gotten more passionate about as I have spent time in missions. I have seen people removed from the missions field or prevented from entering the field because of personal debt.

As a missions agency we need to be asking ourselves what are we doing about this? Not only personal debt, but also what are we doing about ministry debt? Read the full article…

Teaching Personal Finance and Financial Stewardship in Missions

Although not in the top five blog posts this article was my follow up article to my debt and missions article.

In the article I explore a few different ways that we can help the staff and students in Youth With A Mission deal with their personal debt. Two options I look at are Dave Ramsey’s Generation Change and Lazarus at the Gate. Read the full article…

2. Using What You Know in Missions

Something that frustrates me is when missionaries abandon the skills and knowledge that they have developed before entering missions. Often these things are God given talents that are intended for use in God’s Kingdom. Often though because they don’t fit into the mould of a “young missionary” the talents are dismissed as being not “spiritual” enough for the missions field. What a travesty. Read the full article…

1. Explaining Idiots to our Kids – The Vancouver Riots

The number one article is the one that surprised me most.

Caleb came home from school talking about the riots that had occurred in Vancouver after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins. He was asking why people would do that and I tried to explain to him why, and also tried to get some advice from others about what causes people to act like that. Read the full article…

#FunFactAboutMe my life long goal is to become a missionary in Africa.

or maybe something like…

#ithink, being a christian missionary would be a great job!

or…

#20FactsAboutMe 17.) when I’m 18 I wanna do Christian missionary and go to Uganda and china and help build schools

or…

Dear sweet baby jesus, if you get me through this shift today I’ll become a missionary.

Okay, maybe that last one was a joke, but you catch my drift…

Are Christian Missions Groups Active on Social Media?

The question though is are Christian Missions groups using social media to connect with people who are expressing an interest in missions?

Are you active in social media?

Is your group or agency active in social media?

I’m not talking about broadcasting your message using social media and treating it like any other traditional marketing media. What I’m talking about is actually connecting personally with people who are interested in pursuing missions.

You need to listen online, not just talk.

If are are not using social media to connect with people interested in Christian Missions then you are missing out on a potentially huge way to connect with people who are interested in missions and may or may not have a plan on how to get there…

Gary Vaynerchuk has made his mark in business largely through the use of social media. He has leveraged the web and social media to connect with potential customers in ways that have never been possible before. I recommended his book Crush It - Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion on the latest YWAM Podcast after listening to it and being inspired to try to put into action with my role in missions.

Gary did a keynote speech at a recent convention where he talks about how he uses social media and why it works. It is probably the first YouTube video that is over an hour that I have ever actually sat through, and is well worth the time. Here it is:

(be aware though that Gary uses “colourful” language at points in the video)

The new book that he refers to in his keynote is The Thank You Economy. As I write this I currently have the audio version on hold at the library and am eagerly waiting for it to become available. If it’s anything like Crush It, I know I won’t be disappointed.

So if you took the time to watch the video, and I would highly recommend that you do, then how are you going to connect to potential new missionaries? Are you going to use these ideas, or let them slip by, along with the many new potential new missionaries that are out there looking for a  way to connect with what God is doing, and how they can be a part…

(image by Nathan Colquhoun)

Among the many Christian movies made though there are some that I think stand out as pretty good movies that I always enjoy watching.

Favourite Adult Christian Movies

The first “Christian” movie that I saw is still one of my favourites, and that is “The Ride“, produced by the Billy Graham Foundation.

Unfortunately the trailer looks kind of cheesy, but it’s a fun movie with some great bull riding scenes.

Another more recent movie that Tamara I and both enjoyed is Fireproof by Providence Films.

Good movie, with a great message.

Favourite Kid’s Christian Movie

Children’s movies are one area that you can often find high quality content in. Two of our family favourite Christian kid’s movie series are the Veggie Tales movies (yes, I finally caved and even enjoy them myself) and the Hermie the Common Caterpillar series.

My favourite Veggie Tales movie is The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. Lots of fun and a very catchy tune to go with it…

Max Lucado does a great kid’s book series that has been made into a video series called Hermie & Friends. The first book and movie is Hermie A Common Caterpillar.

Both of those series are great stories for kids, and also teach good messages for the kids to learn.

Christian Movie I Want to See Next

The next Christian movie that I want to see is also by Providence Films and is their latest movie, Courageous.

What are your favourite Christian movies? What movies would you recommend for my wife and I, or for our kids?

Are virtual staff something that you are using with your ministry?

YWAM Ships is one of the first YWAM ministries that I have seen actively seeking volunteer staff to work with their ministry “virtually”. They first posted their desire to do so on their Twitter account:

ywamships: Why not create a base where the back office roles are virtual. – interfacing as a team by video conferencing. #YWAM #YWAMSHIPS #Logistics

They have also put a post on their web-site asking for:

Virtual Volunteers

If you have skills that work well from home and you are unable to join us on site we could still use your help.  If you have “back office” skills such as data entry, graphics, web, IT/programing, registrar, admin and office type skills we could do with your help.

I think that this is a rather unique way that a ministry can look at filling a staffing need. The needs that they are specifically looking at fulfilling virtually are the kinds of needs that can often be done remotely and even part-time. Being part-time roles even opens up the possibility for YWAM Alumni or Associates to perform those roles, while still maintaining a full-time job elsewhere.

Advantages of Virtual Staff

With virtual staff there are many advantages that your ministry can experience:

• No office space – With virtual staff you do not need to allocate physical office space
• Not location dependant – Your staff can be literally anywhere in the world, even in a completely different time zone
• Not time dependant - This is especially beneficial for a part-time role as the staff does not need to fill 40-hours a week
• Wider pool of potential workers - Since you don’t require your staff to possibly relocate to your location you increase the number of potential volunteers and staff
• more…

Challenges with Virtual Staff

In addition to all those advantages there are also many challenges working with virtual or remote staff.

I have been working on a remote basis with the YWAM International Communications Team for the last 2.5 years. In addition to the communications team in the United Kingdom I am tied in with a local YWAM Ministry here in Calgary. I must admit though that it is a huge challenge not working in the same location as the rest of my team.

Some of the challenges that I have personally experienced are:

• Isolation – It is hard not being around and having a “personal” relationship with the people I work with in ministry. Although we are friends and have spent time together “in real life” not having that interaction each day is a challenge.
• Bouncing ideas off others – Something that I miss is being able to turn around and ask someone for an opinion on something I’m working on or thinking about. For me to get an answer to a question to a member on my team normally takes a day or more via e-mail.
• Lack of Focus – As much as I love the work that I do in YWAM it can be hard to stay focused on the work when there is no one else around me doing the same or even remotely similar work.

Do We Need A Virtual YWAM Office Pool?

Here is a question for you, should YWAM have a virtual “office pool” of admin and communications people to fill these needs that are previlant and common at almost all YWAM locations?

I remember a few years ago when the “YWAM President’s Gatherings” started up one of the initiatives that they had talked about was the larger YWAM Centres “adopting” some of the smaller ones around the world. The goal of the larger bases adopting smaller ones was to assist them in growth and fulfilling the things that God has desired for them to do. The President’s gathering was for the largest 40 YWAM Centre leaders to attend. I wonder how many of those centres actually partnered with smaller centres to assist them?

Here is a question directed at YWAM Centre leaders, are you willing to allow your staff to work one day a week for another ministry location to assist them in their administrative or communication needs? Is YWAM one large organisation or tribe, or are we all trying to build our own little kingdoms?

My friend commented:

The point of this picture is that we who have two cars, a roof over our heads, free health care, food in the fridge, flat screen tv’s, computers, ipads etc. are a privelaged elite. We are in the top 3% of the world in terms of wealth. I’m not interested in listening to people complain about a mortgage when they’ve never gone hungry a day in their life or never had to choose which child to feed today. The citizens of the US and Canada are not entitled to a stress-free life.

My response to the photo was:

In the horn of Africa they are expecting about 750,000 to have died from the famine there by the end of the year. I seriously feel like slapping those guys down at Occupy Calgary and telling them to wake up!

After a bit more discussion on the topic one of the other commenters decided that I am a “Misinformed Redneck”. While the redneck part is quite possibly correct, I got a little irate at the full implication. Here was my response…

One of the things that the occupy people was proud of what that they don’t have solutions, but they know there is “something wrong”. They include people from the Arian Nations, to the Communists, (source) to everyone in between. I’ve some people say that if you support some of what they stand for, then you should stand with them! That’s rubbish.

I don’t disagree that something is wrong. Corporate influence in the Canadian government is too strong and unfortunately, even though I voted for them and would again, the current government is increasing the amount of influence private corporations have in government with the removal of public financing for parties based on number of votes. I was originally in favour of this move as it decreases government spending, but it allows greater influence of outside donors, and they are never bias, whether it’s the unions or it’s corporations. This was a bad move. (source)

I think that the occupy movement, as it has developed, is going about it the wrong. In the US it’s being co-opted by the democrats and Obama is doing his best to turn them into his foot soldiers. Obama is in bed with the corporations and will say anything he needs to in order to get re-elected, but he won’t change anything. This supposed “jobs bill” is a farce! If read in it’s entirety the majority of it has little to do with jobs for the people and will, as usual, benefit Obama’s major donors (source).

As for solutions for Africa…

How about we change our spending habits? In 2010 Christmas related spending in the US was $584.3 billion (source)! That is more than the GDP of 197 of the worlds countries (source). US AID to the Horn of Africa for 2011 is $650 million (source), or about 0.1% of the Christmas spending, can we see how messed up priorities are there?

In our household we are talking about where we want to donate money to this year for Christmas rather than spending it all on ourselves. Our kids are looking forward to it and our 9-year old son talks about it quite a bit. If people decided to make the choice to put their money where their mouth was it could make a big difference in the world, and to people like those starving in Africa…

There have been many times that I can recall coming down into Caleb’s room a few hours after putting him to bed and his light is still on. Like me he can get completely lost in a book and completely lose track of time (I know it’s especially bad when the sun starts coming up and I’m still reading a book I started when I went to bed…).

An interesting thing has happened lately though. There is a new reading program at school for Caleb. It is set up so that at the end of the year a student gets a prize for completing 20 x 15-minutes reading sessions a month. I think that it is a great way to get students to read who don’t have a passion to read. The program makes it into a competition, with a prize at the end for the students who finish.

The incentivised reading programs has had an interesting affect on Caleb’s reading habits though…

Since the reading program started it actually feels like it is harder to get Caleb reading. I think that it has changed something that is fun, into something that is more of a chore! He seems to have lost some of that “passion”.

Unfortunately I think that this is yet another way that my son is like me, sorry mate…

When a Passion Becomes a Job

Recently I’ve actually started to do some paid freelance writing in the areas of social media, web-site development and marketing. These are areas that I am quite active in with my full-time volunteer role in Youth With A Mission. They are things that I am passionate about because I can see how they can be used to communicate what God is doing in and through the mission, and how people can get involved.

Writing about it though is hard…

Most times when I sit down to write it feels like I have permanent writers block. Articulating things in written form has never been something I’m strong at (just ask any of my high-school English teachers). I remember when I went to do a communication school in YWAM in 1999 one of my students laughed at the thought of me doing “communication” ministry.

Writing for this blog is relatively easy compared to the freelance writing that I do (even though I am approaching the 2-hour mark for this article). A lot of what I write about is similar, but getting the motivation for the freelance writing is much more difficult than for my own sites. I can still get it done, but it certainly takes a lot more effort do it…

Why is it harder?

When I write for this site I try to write from the heart, usually about something that I’ve been thinking about or mulling over for a while. Often it’s something I’m passionate about, like my using what you know in missions series and personal finance in missions, or topics that have come up in my YWAM work, like how to connect with potential missionaries. Sometimes, like this article, it has to do with experiences that are going on in my personal life.

Of course, my struggle to do paid writing could also be a sign of my own lack of maturity! Nah, that can’t be it…

How about you?

Are you motivated by passion or by external rewards?

How do you respond to external motivation?

It’s a relaxing atmosphere with no set agenda other than some good food (hopefully, since it’s pot-luck you never really know) and good fellowship.

The gatherings are open to anyone connected with Youth With A Mission and happen every Tuesday from 12:00 – 2:00 in McKenzie Towne, South East Calgary.

Last week was my turn to share so I lead a bit of a talk about Thankfulness. We made this video talking about what we believe being thankful means, and then what we are thankful for…

If you are interested in joining us for our weekly meetings, or finding out what else Youth With A Mission Calgary is up to, you can do so at the YWAM Calgary web-site, www.ywamcalgary.ca.

The fact that no one was prosecuted for the bank failures (in fact most bank CEOs got huge bonuses from the bailout money) and that both political parties are in the pockets of the banks and corporations (Ron Paul being one of the few exceptions) should frustrate Americans. There needs to be changes to the system (bring back Glass-Steagall so that a bank is a bank, not an investment engine?), but very little has changed, which again should frustrate Americans.

Since the protests started though they are looking much more left wing (socialist) in their leaning. They have been co-opted from their original intent and looks like the socialist uprisings we saw in the US in the early and mid 1940s. All we need is to see the unions start to strike and it could dramatically change the direction the government is taking in the US. (listen to this episode of the hardcore history show to hear more about “the Red Scare”).

Occupy Canada

Given that Canada has largely avoided the financial and banking crisis that is hitting the US though I am a bit confused about the Occupy Calgary protests that are happening today. Alberta has an unemployment rate of only 5.4% and plenty of opportunity.

Photo by freestylee