Petition for Prayer

As I was thinking about what to share with you in this month’s article I heard the Lord say, “ask for prayer.” So I am being obedient and asking all the parents of our ALCF KIDS to pray for the children’s ministry but also to pray specifically for our summer events.

Every year (for the past 5 years) we have done kids camps and VBS and very year we have seen GOD do awesome things. We have seen it grow and become almost overwhelming that GOD would allow us to be a part of what HE is doing. What I mean is that every year we see God save dozens of kids, every year we see more teens and adults have a new desire to be involved with kids, and ever year we are just thankful to be able to serve Christ.

I never want the children’s ministry of ALCF to be “my ministry”- I have always desired it to be totally “God’s Ministry”! I am jus a vessel for the work of the Holy Spirit as are all the people who faithfully serve with the kids. I know in order for this ministry to continue to grow and flourish it must always be GOD’S Ministry!

I am asking that you would pray that GOD would take over this summer at VBS, kids camp, and on our Mission Trip to South Carolina.

I am so excited about the new opportunities that God has given me as a minister but probably even more exciting is when God opens doors to allow our young people to be involved in ministry and I can simply encourage them along the way. That is what we will be doing in South Carolina. This is a new adventure for us and new door that God has opened. We are walking through by faith with a team made up of mostly of 5th and 6th graders.

I appreciate your prayers for our kids while they move forward onto new ground in their walk with Christ. I believe with all my heart that they will never be the same!

  

Time for Returning

Do you ever think about the way things used to be? Do you ever wonder if those ways were better? I know I think about it, and maybe I’m the only one… but I doubt it. I believe that the Church was more powerful and more effective in the early days. The Apostles were constant in prayer and study, the people (of the church) gave all they had, and the Holy Spirit was healing and saving people by the thousands on a daily basis.

What about our country? Was their not a stronger moral fiber sewn into the fabric of the average American than today? I believe that there was a pride that was common in American people that drove them to excellence. There was a love of God and country that is rare to find in today’s selfish society.

Do you ever think about parents who were strict and disciplined their children without a blink? The older generation was raised by parents who knew you had to work hard for every penny you earned. They knew that there are no real “free-rides” in life and most of them knew that you would have to pray your way through life’s storms.

What has happened to the hard working, strong parenting, prayer warriors who loved God and raised their kids to do the same? Some still exist, and I pray that you are one of them. If so, you are the great minority. I want to encourage you to keep on doing the right thing. This country and our children need it!

This is what the prophet Jeremiah said to people who had forgotten the “old way”… 

Jeremiah 6:16-17 

“This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’
¹⁷ I posted watchmen over you who said, ‘Listen for the sound of the alarm.’ But you replied, ‘No! We won’t pay attention!”

As a parent of 3 small children, I do not want to ignore God’s warning to walk in HIS way. Not only as a dad, but in every way of life. Especially in spiritual ways; prayer, worship, and Bible study. I challenge you also, return to the old Godly way!

You are on a great team!

   Have you ever felt totally alone in your efforts to raise your kids "God's Way"? Do you try to share scripture with your kids and feel that you are getting no where? Do you wonder if you are just not the person that should be trying to teach your kids the Bible? Well, you are not alone.

   I was inspired to write this blog because a good friend of mine shared on her facebook that she was trying to share scripture with her son and he didn't seem to be receiving it. Have you ever felt that way? I believe anyone and EVERYONE who has ever tried teaching the Bible has felt that their listeners were not getting it. If your audience happens to be kids then you have a lot working against you. Kids are highly distracted, their attention span is very short, and to make matters worse they are the most media-driven generation that has ever lived. But don't be discouraged. Even when kids don't seem to be understanding everything you are teaching they are likely retaining much more than you think. Kids are used to learning, they are learning everyday at school, they are sponges of information. Not only that, but the Word of God has the Holy Spirit at work in the minds and hearts of our kids to help their understanding. If you do not see immediate fruit from your efforts, be patient, don't give up!

   Lets look at what the Apostle Paul said, "After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. ⁶ I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. ⁷ It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. ⁹ For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building."              (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)


   So, you are on a great team! You are teaching the Bible to your children. You probably have a pastor, or children's pastor, or Sunday school teacher who is also teaching (watering) the Word. The best part is that GOD is the one who is causing His Truth to grow inside the heart and mind of your little ones! You cant have a better teaching team than that. JESUS CHRIST is on your teaching team!

Don't Give Up

Hey Parents! I just wanted to share this one verse with you today... 


Galatians 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."


As Parents, our success and the success of our children depends totally on moving forward. No matter what. We must move forward. We must keep praying. Never stop believing. Never lose hope. Don't give up.


But how, I mean sometimes life (and the devil) just throws us so many blows that we feel like we can't even stand anymore? Sometimes, we feel that the harder we try to do right, to pray with our kids, to be more patient, to have them in children's church, and do everything we know to do the harder it gets. (That is the devil by the way). 


Here is what we have to remember as parents and just as Christians. We CANNOT do it on our strength! That is the key. How do you keep from becoming "weary in well doing"? You ask GOD for His strength and move forward. There is a cliche' that is so over used but so true... "If it was easy, everyone would do it!"


The truth is, every person who claims Christ is not a great parent. Because Jesus is not a badge that you put on that makes you perfect. He changes you through the Holy Spirit and He starts on the inside. That is why you must put your confidence, as a parent, in the person of Jesus Christ living in you.


Remember, "in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." That is the reward of knowing that we depended on God's strength, not our own, to raise our kids in HIS WAYS. I just want to encourage you... Don't give up... your kids are worth the struggle and your GOD is worthy to be glorified!

“Who is the Iron in Your Life?”

Let’s just be honest fellow parents, we have a lot of pride when it comes to our babies. Don’t agree? Well, think about the pictures she used to draw for you when she was four years old. Would you have hung anyone else’s picture of a blue and purple…uhm... whatever that was on the fridge? How about the first time he actually hit the ball with the bat? Of coarse, these are proud moments in our lives, and they should be. Its not a bad thing.

But, very often this innocent pride in our young children transforms into something else that isn’t healthy for us or our kids. We all seem to form a blindness to our own kid’s mistakes. Instead of dealing with them we justify them. Instead of helping them, we make excuses in our minds and to others.

This is where we need to change, we need to admit that our daughter is too interested in boys or our son is just plain lazy. Sometimes we don’t know what to do about it though, so we do nothing. We ignore it and hope it changes; we hope it is just a phase and that they will grow out of it.

When we face situations with our children that we don’t know how to deal with we are NOT alone! God has given us great resource that we can tap into at anytime. Its not professional counseling or some deep spiritual truth, it is very simple. God gave us friends.

One of the greatest resources that parents have is their Church Family! Listen to them! There will always be people around you who have been doing this longer and know more about raising children than you do. The problem is that we don’t want to let anyone tell us how to raise our kids… that is sinful pride. (different from the pride we talked about earlier)

The Bible says that true friends will sharpen you, they will make you better like “iron sharpening iron” - that is the kind of friend you need and the type of friend that you need to listen to.

My thoughts today...

Hey Parents, How are all of you doing today? Just thinking of you (Parents of ALCF) I hope that all is well in your lives and in your children's lives. I was just thinking about how difficult it can be at times as a parent. You can try to do all the right things and it still seem like you fall short in your effort to be loving, teaching, encouraging, disciplining, and training your kids in the way you know you should. I know that I certainly have days that I just don't feel like "Super-Dad"! But we have to remember that we are NOT perfect and we are not going to be, but we serve a GOD who is perfect and HIS perfect Spirit lives in all of us who know HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST! We must do our very best as parents but at the end of the day remember that our best isn't 100% perfection but when we do what we can do, GOD will do the rest. When we fail our children, we are teaching them that we are not perfect. But this gives us the opportunity that there is ONE who will never fail; HIS love us unfailing. There is a GOD who NEVER leaves nor forsakes, HIS name is JESUS. Pray for me as I pray for you in this journey of victories and failures as we grow closer to the ONE who is Holy and Righteous and living inside of us! I love you all. God Bless! - Elder Dave Brabham

“PEACE” The Treasure of a Godly Home

While in prayer today God impressed on my Spirit this simple but greatly needed truth... What most American families need is peace. If there were ever one word that would describe what families need most across this nation it would have to be peace. Why? Well, here is my #1 reason why I know that peace is missing in many homes… DIVORCE

“Among adults who have been married, the study discovered that one-third (33%) have experienced at least one divorce. That means that among all Americans 18 years of age or older, whether they have been married or not, 25% have gone through a marital split.”  - BARNA GROUP

   Because there is a lack of peace in the home, even among Christian families, divorce is an evil that has run its coarse of turmoil and destruction in our families. Whether or not you come from a broken family you know probably dozens of people who are experiencing life living in a home with little to no peace.

   So, what can be done about this problem? How can parents restore peace into the fabric of their family culture? The only way to solve this epidemic is to restore the “Prince of Peace” who is JESUS CHRIST back to the throne of your family values! Once JESUS is in control of your family, the One who gives peace will restore and heal the need for peace in your home.

Proverbs 17:1 says, “Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting - and conflict.”

   The American Culture that has invested so much time and energy into money, success, and building kingdoms of self has poisoned the American Family. There is no peace when we serve the god of “me”! That is what the wisest (and richest) man who ever walked on the earth, King Solomon, was saying by the leading of the Holy Spirit… You can have the money, material possessions, and success but if there is no peace in your home, you have nothing.

   What it boils down to is this, our priorities are way out of whack! You cannot put God, the Church, family, Bible study, prayer, tithes, and obedience to GOD on the backburner and expect blessing. What some people believe to be a blessing is actually a curse! Jesus set straight our jumbling of priorities when HE said, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

(Matthew 6:24)

In John 14:27 Jesus said, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

 

The peace that we all desire and need in our homes, in our marriages, and in our kid’s lives cannot come from the world. The peace that JESUS gives is called “the peace that passes understanding” - it is a peace that is supernatural. We will still have trouble in this life, we will have situations that will try to rob of us our peace. JESUS says, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

   If we truly desire peace within our own souls and in our family then JESUS is the ONLY WAY! We must learn to desire God’s direction above our own. Our plans will fail us and the Bible says they end in death. But God’s plan is for a future and a hope! God’s future for us is complete, total, and perfect peace. When we are in heaven we will see the PRINCE OF PEACE in all HIS glory!