1. Tools for Parenting Teens

SUCCESS or FAITHFUL?

His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!" -Matthew 25:21

Success is what most people strive for. Products promise instant success in everything from weight loss to financial freedom. Schools promise success in producing well-educated students who will succeed in college and the working world. In fact, there is a promise that if you are successful in work, business, education, sports or the arts, you will have lived a successful life. Great! Sign me up!

Unfortunately, this idea of success has infiltrated the church in almost all aspects. A successful church is often measured by the number of members, by Sunday morning attendees, by the number of staff members, or by the number of people who prayed at the altar on a given Sunday. I would like to offer the idea that the church is not called to be “successful” in the way success is measured today. Instead, we are called to be faithful.

Jesus told a parable about three servants who have been given responsibility over differing amounts of money or “talents.” Two of the servants used what they were given by the Master and made some profit; however, one servant, out of fear of the Master, buried his talent in the ground, returning only what he was given when the Master returned. The servants who invested their talents and brought a greater return were described as “good and faithful,” while the one who hid his talent was described as “wicked and slothful.”

Some would describe the first two as “successful.” Jesus, however, described them as “faithful.” Are the two completely separate? Not necessarily. Faithfulness sometimes brings earthly success, but more importantly, faithfulness brings eternal reward. Does that mean we should not strive to be successful in our ministries? Perhaps the better goal is to strive to be faithful. Jesus calls us to excellence, and to invest whatever we have been given, as a church and personally, for His kingdom. When we are faithful, He can bring about whatever type of success He desires.

GOING DEEPER:

1. In your own life, how do you determine if you are successful? Do you consider yourself to be spiritually successful? Why or why not?

2. How can faithfulness –as opposed to success – be a better measurement of the state of your spiritual life?

2. Learn Their Lingo

Frenemy = An enemy disguised as a friend.

Kind of a big deal = A term for a person who is facetiously joking about how important/cool/awesome they are.

3. Movie Reviews for Parents

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Based on the popular kids’ book, the movie version is a very different experience from that charming story. Wildly inventive, colorful and funny, it will…
Read Review:
http://www.realworldparents.com/movies/review/cloudy_with_a_chance_of_meatballs/

I Can Do Bad All By Myself

Tyler Perry has quickly become one of our most successful filmmakers. His usually urban stories lean toward the melodramatic, walking the line between comedy and…
Read Review:
http://www.realworldparents.com/movies/review/i_can_do_bad_all_by_myself/

4. Links to Learn From

Smacking Makes Children Naughtier [Telegraph U.K.]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6188692/Smacking-makes-children-naughtier-research.html

Reading and Writing Must Be a Priority [SmartBrief.com]
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ascd/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=1EFBA3A0-48F5-4FAF-9FA2-7968350229B3&copyid=6DE78BF4-3E0C-44B9-AC50-91CE01674BBD

Study Shows Teenage Girls Attracted to Deep Voices [Physorg.com]
http://www.physorg.com/news172304097.html

5. Deeper Thought

Revival: Poured-out Devotion

Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me. --Philippians 2:29-30

That many Christians in our day are lukewarm and somnolent will not be denied by anyone with an anointed eye, but the cure is not to stir them up to a frenzy of activity. That would be but to take them out of one error and into another. What we need is a zealous hunger for God, an avid thirst after righteousness, a pain-filled longing to be Christlike and holy. We need a zeal that is loving, self-effacing and lowly. No other kind will do.

That pure love for God and men which expresses itself in a burning desire to advance God's glory and leads to poured-out devotion to the temporal and eternal welfare of our fellow men is certainly approved of God; but the nervous, squirrel-cage activity of self-centered and ambitious religious leaders is just as certainly offensive to Him and will prove at last to have been injurious to the souls of countless millions of human beings. The Size of the Soul, 81-82.

"Lord, give me that 'zealous hunger for God,' that 'avid thirst after righteousness,' that 'painfilled longing to be Christlike and holy.' I want to give myself in 'poured-out devotion' for Your glory. Use me as Your servant, for Jesus' sake, Amen."

6. A Little Encouragement...And Humor

Where there is love, there is pain.
- Spanish Proverb