end of an era

Choose Life

Tomorrow is my last day as a youth minister at Avondale Estates First Baptist Church. As I prayed tonight about what should be my final words to my students, I turned on my phone's recorder and just started talking. The words the Holy Spirit shared with me are worth sharing with you.
-mo
P.S. The Old Testament quote is from Deuteronomy 30.

spiritual war

I am convinced that this church is in the midst of a spiritual war. Regardless of our intentions, the longer we continue to bend and sway with the ebbs and flows of our offering plates, the closer we come to allowing evil to defeat good within these walls.

The Bible, in Ephesians 6, gives us a recipe for victory as we struggle against "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." This recipe calls us not to scramble for shelter when financial winds blow but to "STAND FIRM!" And we are to stand firm fully suited in a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, battle shoes crafted from the gospel of peace,  a shield of faith, a helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.

Donning this equipment may cost more than the soldier has, but he would never even consider walking into battle without it. Instead, he trusts his commander to provide for his protection as he stands firmly where the commander has placed him.

And get this! Verse 18 of chapter 6 really is the kicker: the faithful soldier stands with the FULL support of his commander and not only can but should continually make all kinds of requests of the commander.

As God's soldiers at Avondale Estates First Baptist Church, should we cut back on ministry opportunities or the fundraisers that make them possible? By no means! If, instead, we will trust Him enough to follow His command, standing firm in ministry with Him, He gives us the right to make all kinds of requests. Let us, then, stand with Jesus, holding forth our shields of faith to block the blows of financial woes with our trust in a God who is able to provide above our wildest imaginations.

Prayerfully and Faithfully Standing,
-mo

ministry

11th grader S has been a part of our youth group for several months. He accepted Jesus as his Savior in November and joined our church the following week excited about serving as a full-fledged member of aefbc and the larger body of Christ. Before he has even been baptized (which is scheduled for a couple of weeks from now), he has been looked down upon, chastised, and just plain insulted by adults who have a problem with the fact that he wears shorts and a hat to church. I could not be more disappointed, hurt, angry that they have so attacked MY student with their petty lists of dos and don'ts. And I could not be more proud of S for continuing to live out his faith in the face of such contention from within his own church.

What does the Bible say about worship attire? Well, when it comes to shorts, nothing. And on the issue of hats, men are told to uncover their heads whenever they prophesy or pray. (for the record, S has never prophesied, and he does remove his hat whenever we pray.) BUT, the overwelming message of scripture is that God's focus is on the heart. I can almost guarantee those adults could learn a lot about respect and reverence from S if they'd just pay attention to his heart.

This kind of picky, prejudicial criticism from church members is completely inappropriate and intolerable. Our students are young and otherwise unchurched. Teaching them appropriate respect and reverence is an ongoing process that requires that we first earn their respect and then lovingly introduce them to our Savior, which will, in time, itself lead to a natural awe of and reverence for who He is. But to criticize them with legalistic lies about how worship is "supposed" to look or feel is unbiblical and inexcusable and does nothing to point them to Jesus.

The call of the Church is NOT discipline; rather, the call of the Church is discipleship.
-mo

greatness awaits us now in eternity

thankful for Mr. Tom's legacy of Christian service and stewardship. Thankful for his heart of love for aefbcYOUTH. Thankful for this great member of the GREATEST generation.

my first 5k

This happened yesterday! Amanda and I ran with some of our students from aefbcYOUTH.