It’s time again: We’ve got a five15 BIG MEETING Saturday. This is for all high school and middle school students and their parents.

If you’d like to begin preparing your heart for Driver’s Ed, Part 6–No U-Turn: Proverbs on Words, you can read Proverbs 25:11-12. Please pray that we would experience the full range of the Holy Spirit’s work in our meeting: illumination of God’s Word, conviction of sin, serving one another through spiritual gifts, and so on.

Please consider coming early to pray with Zach and the others. 6pm, Room B01. Other than the preaching of God’s Word, there will be nothing more important happening on Saturday night than this.

As usual, pizza & ping-pong at 5:15pm, the meeting starts at 6:30pm. See you there!

Categories: Drivers Ed, five15 blog
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I saw a lot of you at the Questioning Evangelism Class last night; thanks for coming! If you didn’t make it, I’m sorry you missed it! The MP3 is available here! And you can get a much more thorough explanation in Mr. Newman’s book by the same name.

I so appreciated Mr. Newman’s class last night, because I thought: here is evangelism that even I can do. I confess: I’m an evangelistic chicken (I think that was how he described us), and so this class of “evangelism for non-evangelists” was just right for me. And it is so helpful because most evangelistic encounters these days aren’t about “closing the deal”, but are simply about building relationships and helping people move one step closer to “Z.” (If this doesn’t make sense to you, download and listen to the message!)

I particularly liked the four principles and four helpful questions:

1. Some people aren’t even awake. Most people don’t like to think deeply. In the words of Screwtape: “Give him jargon, not argument. Reason moves him onto the Enemy’s ground.” They need a question to wake them up, like: “Really?”
2. Some things can’t be true. Some things just don’t stand up to reason: how can all religions be saying basically the same thing? Use a question to lead people to the truth: “Can you explain that to me?”
3. Some questions aren’t sincere. They may be attacking. Listen for: “Are you telling me that anyone who disagrees with you is going to hell?” Create a question to point that out their insincerity: “Do you believe in hell?”
4. Sometimes a partial victory is best. Use questions to move things along: “Do you ever think much about spiritual stuff?” ” Isn’t it possible…” “How do you know that?”

Our assignment is to give this a go before the next class. Are you up for that? I am. If you want some examples of how this stuff can work, check out Mr. Newman’s second book, Corner Conversations.

We do it again on Thursday night, February 8!

See you then!

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Parents,

For today’s Thursday Thoughts, I can’t do better than to steer you to Dr. Al Mohler’s blog post yesterday entitled, “Dumbing Down Literacy–Do Your Kids Read Books?”

Dr. Mohler opens with an insightful analysis of a recent Washington Post article, profiling the changes in modern student literacy. The article explains how the modern approach to literacy doesn’t necessarily connect to reading:

The buzzword in the trade is “information literacy,” a misnomer, because what it is really about is mastering computer skills, not promoting a love of reading and books. These days, librarians measure the quality of returns in data-mining stints. We teach students how to maximize a database search, about successful retrieval rates. What usually gets lost in the scramble is a careful reading of the material.

Some parents will argue, “so what?” Times are a-changing, right? Electronic media are replacing older forms. Old with the old, in with the new, they say. What’s the problem? Dr. Mohler goes on to explain why Christian parents should put the brakes on book-abandoning:

Librarians and secular educators have ample reason for concern, but Christians must look at this reality with an even greater concern.

Reading is an important Christian discipline. Further, growth as a Christian disciple is closely tied to the reading of the Bible, as well as worthy Christian books. This is why the Christian church has championed the cause of literacy. It is why the Reformers fought for the translation of the Scriptures into vernacular languages.

A loss of literacy and respect for the book amounts to grave danger for the Christian church. The transmission of Christian truth has been closely tied to scrolls, codices, and books throughout the history of the Church — a legacy inherited from the Jews, who often protected the sacred scrolls with their lives.

The electronic media have their places and uses, and I am thankful for the accessibililty of so much worthy and important information through digital means. Nevertheless, the electronic screen is not the venue for lengthy, thoughtful, serious reading. The vehicle for serious reading is the book, and the Christian should be a serious reader.

Do our own young people read books? Do they know the pleasures of the solitary reading of a life-changing page? Have they ever lost themselves in a story, framed by their own imaginations rather than by digital images? Have they ever marked up a page, urgently engaged in a debate with the author? Can they even think of a book that has changed the way they see the world . . . or the Christian faith? If not, why not?

Does Dr. Mohler have your attention? Is there a solution here? A way forward? I think perhaps there is. A few suggestions:

1. Kids will follow their parents. Is reading a part of your life? A priority that can be demonstrated to your teen? If they can follow your passion for reading, they will be more likely to pick up that book as well.
2. Reading is a learned art. It may take time. Make it a part of your family dinner, or a regular weekend event. Or schedule daily time to just sit and read together (unplug the TV and the computer!).
3. Kids will read if they are inspired by the subject material. Choose books for your teen wisely, tracking interests and selecting topics appropriately.

Let’s get reading. The future of the Church’s love for God’s Word is at stake.

Categories: Thursday Thoughts For Parents, five15 blog
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We got a healthy dose of Fellowship 101 yesterday from the Kenneth Maresco. Looking at 1 John 1:5-7, Kenneth helped us see that:

1. Knowing God is the beginning of fellowship (verse 5)
2. Fellowship with God affects the way we live (verse 6)
3. Fellowship with God shapes and defines our fellowship with other believers (verse 7)

Then he gave us some very helpful practical advice. Maybe the most helpful part was the addendum he didn’t get to. Some of the questions are especially helpful for teens to ask their parents:

• Do you think I humbly pursue your input?
• Am I easy to bring observations to?
• Am I consistently confessing sin that you would be unaware of?
• What steps can I take to cultivate change in this area?

Great news from this message: “the Christian who knows God and walks in his truth will experience fellowship.”

Categories: Monday Matters, five15 blog
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Saturday night was a ton of fun. I hope you enjoyed our expert panel discussing the transition from five15 to Crossroads. For some of you, this is only a few months away. Some of you are looking at years until you are in college. Either way, I hope this served you to know how to make “the best use of the time.”

Two weeks ago, at our BIG MEETING, we looked at Proverbs 6:6-11 and learned how to not be a sluggard: be like the ant, doing the right things at the right time. Saturday night, Katherine, Ashleigh, Kristen, Daniel, Andrew, and Mike told us what they learned about making the best use of the time during the transition from high school to college.I’m not going to type everything up here (listen to the recording if you missed it), but I do want you to have their advice about moving into the college years:

Katherine: Ask God for help being humble. In every relationship, every conflict, be humble.

Mike: Listen to your parents. They are far wiser than you realize, and they are a gift from God to you to guide you through life.

Ashleigh: Be content in your circumstances, but don’t be content in your spiritual life. Trust God for where you are, and then strive to grow.

Andrew: Remember Ephesians 5:15-16. Make the best use of the time, because it is gone so fast and once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.

Kristen: Enjoy the place that God has put you in. Remember that he is good and wise, and has prepared this just for you.

Dan: Read your Bible. Get to know your Bible. Form habits of getting up early and reading your Bible every day before you hit college.

What did you learn Saturday night?

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My peeps,
I made this announcement at the last BIG MEETING, but I want to remind you:

Since we are not going to Mexico this year, we are considering a service project to a nearby church that could use our help. Guilford Baptist Church is basically a church plant in Sterling, VA by our friends from Capital Hill Baptist Church. Guilford is pretty small, and they are pouring all their resources into evangelizing their community. In the meantime, their (150 year old) building could use some attention. That’s where we come in.

We’ve got skills, time, and energy. Guilford Baptist Church is doing a great job serving their community, and we can serve them by throwing our muscle into doing some work on their building over Spring Break (April 2-5).

I want to know who is interested, so I want to invite you to an interest meeting tomorrow evening (Saturday, January 20) at 5pm in Room 102. We’ll be talking about what skills we bring to the table, what kind of work we might do, and how this will all fit together.

This is genuinely an interest meeting: coming to the meeting doesn’t mean you have to commit to participate in the service project. Stay tuned here for more information…

FINALLY: I know some will ask if Middle School students can participate.  The answer is YES.  Come to the interest meeting tomorrow night and learn more.

See you at 5pm tomorrow night!

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PARENTS,
I mentioned recently that I am reading Piper’s short biography of William Wilberforce in The Roots of Endurance. There is a lot in this short bio that is worth reading, and the following quotation struck me as particularly helpful for parents. Describing the moral decline of his day, and the drift towards moralistic legalism, Wilberforce wrote:

The fatal habit of considering Christian morals as distinct from Christian doctrines insensibly gained strength. Thus the peculiar doctrines of Christianity went more and more out of sight, and as might natually have been expected, the moral system itself also began to wither and decay, being robbed of that which should have supplied it with life and nutriment.” (Piper, The Roots Of Endurance, 120)

Wilberforce is describing a culture in which the emphasis has shifted from the gospel itself to the conduct that the gospel should produce. As the focus moves from gospel content to gospel conduct, the vital core of the Christian life is eroded, leaving only a shell of external behaviors. Soon, the pressures of life, the allure of the world, or the enticements to sin crush the moral shell, leaving behind broken and fragmented remains that were once thought to be genuine faith.

While this is true on the macro level (such as in wider culture of Wilberforce’s day), it is also true on the micro level, in the day-to-day choices of our parenting and our interactions with our children. I think the lesson here is to beware moralism. While God requires us to require obedience from our children, we are concerned with more than outward forms. We want to help our children internalize the gospel: own their faith for themselves so that they begin to live for Christ rather than for themselves or for Dad and Mom.

How do we do this? Glad you asked. Stay tuned…

Categories: Thursday Thoughts For Parents, five15 blog
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We were well taught on Sunday: CJ helped us understand from James 1:22 why application is so important.

It’s important because we are simple people and growth is gradual. We forget 95% of what we hear in 3 days. So the path for change is to connect a little bit of scripture to a little bit of life (see the Powlison quotation below).  More on this soon, but in the meantime, here are the quotes:

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to lose it.” Al Mohler

“No matter how extensive one’s scriptural knowledge, how amazing one’s memory, it is self deception if that is all there is. True knowledge is the prelude to action, and it is obedience to the word that counts in the end.” Peter Davids

“Just as we don’t change all at once, so we don’t swallow all of truth in one gulp. We are simple people. You can’t remember ten things at once. Invariably, if you could remember just ONE true thing in the moment of trial, you’d be different. When you actually remember, you actually change. In fact remembering is the first change…” David Powlison

“This article will consider one small part of the answer. It is an important part, however. Learning this has made a huge impact on how I live and counsel. In a nutshell, connect one bit of Scripture to one bit of life…Apply one relevant thing from our Redeemer to one significant scene in this person’s story. Bring one bit of the Bible to one bit of life. You can’t say it all at once…You can’t deal with it all at once. Scripture never does. Ministry, like life, goes one step at a time…But a timely text brings truth down to consumable size. Think of it this way. When you get to know a person well, you come to know both the panorama and the details. But change walks out in the details….Our lives work as stories, running in a series of scenes. Like a novel or movie, big themes work out in small scenes. This is how God made it to be. This is how He works. This is something that would be counselors often don’t get. It is something that preachers who do not counsel – and counsel well – often don’t understand. When you counsel (or preach) in great and good generalities, people will nod, but they rarely change.” David Powlison

“Appreciate the patience of God. Think how he has borne with you, and still bears with you, when so much in your life is unworthy of him and you have so richly deserved his rejection. Learn to marvel at his patience, and seek grace to imitate it in your dealings with others; and try not to try his patience any more.” J.I. Packer

“I have been thirty years in forming my own views; and, in the course of this time, some of my hills have sunk, and some of my valleys have risen; but, how unreasonable within me to expect all this should take place in another person; and that, in the course of a year or two.” John Newton

“If the expositor finds himself out of sight of Calvary, that shows that he has lost his way.” J.I. Packer

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I think I’ve mentioned before that I love maps. Maybe twice. I’m not sure why I do; I guess it is something about knowing where I am, what’s nearby, and how to get where I want to go. In the last week or so, I’ve learned of two cool new map features.

First is BibleMap.org. Using the incredible Google Maps resources, this site links the cities, regions, and geographic features from Scritpure wiht an actual map. Maybe you’re reading through Genesis 12, and you learn that Abraham left Haran to travel to the Promised Land. Where is Haran? Navigate to the verse and click the name of the city to find out. (HT: Justin Taylor)

Second, I was looking for a way to use Google Maps to plot the distance of my running routes. Something easier than driving around the block in the car. I found it in Google Maps Pedometer. Pretty sweet: find your house, start the pedometer, and mark your route. It figures the mileage for you. Probably would be useful for road trips, too.

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Check out the New Attitude Promo Video.

Seniors, you’re going to have a great time.

Categories: Announcements, five15 blog
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