Tag Archives: help

Sep 15 2012

How To Lose a Parent Biblically

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After my parents had a house fire (to where they pretty much lost everything) last week while they were at home, I had to face the feelings of life one day without them. At the same time, one of our amazing small group leaders (Ron Mize) lost his mom to a hard-fought battle with pneumonia. They say the only thing worse than losing a parent in this life is losing a child. I have been through my share of teenagers losing a parent and I want to do everything possible to help them through that unbelievably difficult time. Ron handled his mother’s death in such a biblical way that I wanted to honor him by detailing how I saw God help him through it all. So if you’re a teen or adult, I pray you can use this article whenever facing such a tragic situation in your life or someone elses’s.

1. Love. It was obvious how much Ron loves his mom and family because he spent so much time with her while she was in the hospital. I’ve heard you spell love T-I-M-E. You can say you love them, but do you give them your time? I’ve also heard it said that the more you love someone the more you’ll miss them when they’re gone. True, but also the more you love them, the more you’ve spent time with them, and the less you’ll have regrets to live with. The way to lose a parent most biblically is to love them, spend time with them, and honor them while they’re here…whether well, sick, or dying.

2. Wisdom. Ron and his family had to make many difficult decisions while his mom was in the hospital. Decisions I don’t even want to think about having to make. But they had to be made, and I know he is a very godly man who makes decisions based on God’s Word and prayer. In James 1:5, God promises He will give His people His wisdom. Making decisions based on God’s Word and wisdom leaves you with no regrets. That is necessary to losing a parent biblically. Continue reading →

Mar 5 2012

A CBSM Parent’s Honest Testimony (Colossians 2:6-15)


My Parenting Testimony & Colossians 2:6-15

Why Am I Writing This?
Legalism is as deadly to parenting as it is to all other areas of Christian life. That is why I am writing this testimony–I pray that you will learn from my sins. Legalism is a destructive force in families that masquerades as good discipline, consistency, or even “good parenting”. Legalism is probably embedded in family traditions and culture. The concept of legalism I am using is simple: living with an emphasis on rules over God’s grace. God’s grace is his unmerited favor. His favor toward us appears in all of our lives, for instance, in the air we breath, the food we eat, and in the families, jobs, and homes that we have. God’s special grace on those who follow his Son appears, for instance, in the spiritual gifts he gives to Christians and of supreme importance his favor appears in the gospel of Jesus Christ and in giving his Son to die on the cross to pay for our sins so that by this amazing grace, through our faith, we may be saved from hell and live eternally with God in heaven. (ESV, Ephesians 2:1-10) If you have not placed your sincere faith in Christ, that is the first thing you can do for yourself and for your children, to the glory of God.

How are grace and rules related? Understanding and embracing God’s grace, in all its forms, and keeping Christ’s sacrifice at the forefront every day, motivates us to want to please and honor God. Isn’t that the attitude you want for your children!? Living by grace, we voluntarily seek to please and honor our Lord with every thought, word, and deed. We voluntarily seek to expand the ways we please and honor him. In doing so we freely live within an ever expanding universe of love for Jesus Christ and for his ways and for his thoughts. Because God is infinite, and we seek to live in his universe of righteousness, we have infinite freedom. Living by rules, though, we seek to know only the boundary established by the rules so that we can exploit every bit of space allowed by the rules. Our freedom is limited by the rules because rules are finite and rigid, and so only by exploiting all the space within the boundary can we maximize our freedom. In practice, we either edge as close to the boundary as possible–which is foolish(!), or we set up more rules to be sure we stay away from the boundary–which further reduces our freedom. Living by rules we find ourselves asking, “Am I allowed or required to do this?” instead of, “Will this please and honor my Lord?” Living by rules, we impose on everyone around us our personal interpretation of the rules. Living by grace, we know that God sheds his grace differently on each person and therefore we are humble, understanding, forgiving, and loving toward others. Can you see the implications for parenting? Continue reading →

Feb 14 2011

CBSM Sermon Video: “CBSM on Suicide: The Let Hope Rise Movement”


We have had a devastating week with two teens in our area ending their own lives by suicide. There have been at least two other teen suicides in the past two months, and statistics tell us that there are another 100 attempts for ever suicidal success. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP! So we’re going to do everything we can at CBSM to start a movement on spreading the hope of Jesus Christ. We did our best to hit the topic of suicide head-on last night and talked straight-up about why it happens, how to help, and where hope can be found. Feel free to check out and use all of our resources for your life and ministry dealing with suicide as well.

Feb 10 2011

CBSM on Suicide: The “Let Hope Rise” Movement


Free downloads for youth pastors and small group leaders:
Suicide (mp3)
Suicide (handout).pdf
Suicide (ppt).ppt
Suicide (outline).doc
Suicide (small groups).doc
Suicide (service).doc
.
Service Intro Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7piEIaJvIo&playnext=1&list=PLC4151AC193407BC6
We have had a devastating week with two teens in our area ending their own lives by suicide. There have been at least two other teen suicides in the past two months, and statistics tell us that there are another 100 attempts for ever suicidal success. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP! So we’re going to do everything we can at CBSM to start a movement on spreading the hope of Jesus Christ. We did our best to hit the topic of suicide head-on last night and talked straight-up about why it happens, how to help, and where hope can be found. Feel free to check out and use all of our resources for your life and ministry dealing with suicide as well.