Change your world from right inside your home - use these four ideas to help you focus your energy, even when you're stuck at home.
(1) Change your world starting with yourself. Study the Bible. Read some devotionals. Examine your attitudes, desires, thoughts, and goals. Have time with God.
(2) Change your parents' world. Show your parents you care. Ask for their advice, then listen. Help clean, cook, manage your siblings, care for the pets...whatever. Respect them, respect their opinions, and trust them.
(3) Change your siblings' world. You have no idea how much your younger siblings look up to you, or how much it means to your older siblings when you respect and value them. Spend some quality time learning from and teaching your siblings - they'll always be there for you.
(4) Change your friends' world. Text, e-mail, or IM someone you haven't talked to in awhile. Contact someone who's going through a tough time to let them know you care. Look up Bible verses to tell someone who has drama in their life. Send an annonymous Dayspring e-card. Brighten someone else's world.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Honoring God Where You Are
Want to change the world? Stuck at home for the summer? Still want to change the world?
You're not alone. In fact, you're surrounded by the world. "Change the world" somehow aquired a connotation with "change somewhere other than where you are." That's not the case. Africa is no better than America, and Moscow is no better than [insert your hometown here].
Yes, there are things to be done in the slums of Africa and the alleys of Moscow. They are things that should be done by those who have had those tasks assigned to them by God. As for you, well, you'll feel most fulfilled when you're doing what God is calling you to do, where He calls you to do it.
Where is God calling you? If you can't leave for a mission trip, or if you feel that God is calling you to stay home this summer (note: this is not the same as being xenophobic), ask God how He wants to use you in your community.
You can start changing your community for Christ immediately. Immerse yourself in the Word. Live the Word. Those two simple things can make a huge difference, and they are always a part of God's will for you.
How will you change your world - starting in America - for Christ?
You're not alone. In fact, you're surrounded by the world. "Change the world" somehow aquired a connotation with "change somewhere other than where you are." That's not the case. Africa is no better than America, and Moscow is no better than [insert your hometown here].
Yes, there are things to be done in the slums of Africa and the alleys of Moscow. They are things that should be done by those who have had those tasks assigned to them by God. As for you, well, you'll feel most fulfilled when you're doing what God is calling you to do, where He calls you to do it.
Where is God calling you? If you can't leave for a mission trip, or if you feel that God is calling you to stay home this summer (note: this is not the same as being xenophobic), ask God how He wants to use you in your community.
You can start changing your community for Christ immediately. Immerse yourself in the Word. Live the Word. Those two simple things can make a huge difference, and they are always a part of God's will for you.
How will you change your world - starting in America - for Christ?
Summer jobs and poor kids
Summer! Warm days, no school, ice cream, hanging out with friends, swimming in the pool, flip-flops..."it's the most wonderful time of the year," right?
That is, until you remember that many poor kids have not warm days but burning hot days (with no air-conditioning). Others face biting cold every night and lack the means to keep themselves adeuqately warm. These are kids who may never get to go to school, never learn to read, never have an education to fit a job that could pull them up from poverty. Ice cream is a luxury when you're trying to feed a family on less than $2 a day in a third-world country, and the neighborhood pool is a natural body of water that may also serve as a bathtub or drinking water source. Flip-flops? No way. Callouses do the job for children who can't afford a single pair shoes.
Suddenly, summer looks a little different.
Many highschoolers look for summer jobs as a way to earn money for themselves. Babysitting, flipping burgers at your local fast-food place, and bagging countless groceries are just a few of the ways students pay for things they "need": a ticket to the newest movie, that cute pair of shoes, a brand-new skateboard.
It's not bad to want shoes. It's not bad to want to look good. When you buy your hundreth pair of shoes and a dozen pairs of jeans that you don't end up wearing, when a child in another country goes another day without the shoes and clothes they need to stay healthy (things you are capable of providing) - that's when materialism gets out of hand.
Why not spend your summer money with a more eternal perspective?
My favorite shopping location: ChildrensHungerFund.org. Ten cents can place Gospel literature in a Children's Hunger Fund FoodPak, filling both the stomach and the soul of someone in need. Provide soap, shampoo, toothpaste, a toothbrush, shaving supplies, and more to a person who can't afford it for only $16 (that's about two hours of work at minimum wage). Shoes for someone in need are just 20 cents, and a backpack is just $7.
For students with already "tight" budget strings, that's a great place to start.
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