Just Called to Talk

A few weeks ago I received a call on my cell phone while sitting at my desk in my office at work. The caller ID read “Home” and I answered anticipating to hear my wife on the other end. However, it was my five-year old son saying, “Hi, daddy.” I jumped in the conversation with “Hey big dawg, how was your day?” “Good,” he replied. We went back and forth a few times and then I paused giving him an opportunity, because I assumed he was calling to either ask me if he could do something or buy something. After a short silent pause I asked him a couple of more questions about his day and then paused again, giving him another shot at asking for my permission for whatever it was he wanted to do.

After a few moments of silence I said, “Luke, did you call me because you wanted to ask me something or did you just want to talk to me?” He replied, “I just wanted to talk to you.” Oh man, my heart was touched. At that moment he could have asked me for anything and my answer would have been “yes” because he just wanted to hear my voice and talk with me.

On my way home from work I was reflecting over the call I received from my son earlier in the day, feeling both loved and proud he was my boy. Then it was like the Lord gently said me, “When was the last time you spoke with me, not because you wanted to ask me for something, but just because you wanted to speak with me?”

How much more would a God who owns all the cattle on a thousand hills want to bless me out of His abundant riches if throughout the day/week I prayed to Him not because I wanted to ask Him for something, but just because I wanted to talk with Him?

Thank you, God for using children to teach me what is most important in life. "...Let the little children come unto me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matthew 19:14).

Sustaining Christian Education

Upon receiving the Zig Ziglar Servant Leadership Award from Prestonwood Christian Academy, Franklin Graham said “Christian education is the last great wall in America.”

In 2014 we saw increased liberal attacks on Christian education, both higher education and K-12. I’m afraid these attacks will increase, but that should only strengthen our resolve to take a stand for Jesus Christian and Christian education.

There are many ways you can help Christ-centered educational institutions. The most important and powerful way for you can make a difference is to pray for Christian colleges/universities and K-12 programs. Pray that God will give His wisdom to the leaders, teachers, and support staff at Christian educational institutions. Pray for God’s hand of protection over our Christian schools. Pray that our Christian schools will not give in to cultural and social pressures that are contrary to Scripture and that they will remain faithful to the teaching of Jesus Christ. And pray that the students will gain a deep understanding of God’s word and develop a sincere relationship with Jesus Christ.

I recently heard that in the next 30 years there will be 2 types of Christian schools: 1) those that are endowed and 2) those that are closed. Another way you can make a difference is to make a financial gift to a Christ-centered educational institution. Establishing and giving to endowments at Christ-centered educational institutions is a great way to ensure your donation will give in perpetuity and the Christ-centered institution will continue to teach the truth of Jesus Christ for years to come.

Let’s make sure there are more endowed Christian schools than there are closed 30 years from now. Join me in making a gift to a Christ-centered educational institution.

Exactly What I Needed

I was 20 when I made a decision to fully follow Jesus Christ. My friends and girlfriend at the time weren’t ready to make the same decision for their life. After a couple of weeks of falling back into old sinful habits, I knew I needed to get myself away from these friends who were a bad influence on me. Otherwise, I would never become the person God wanted me to be.
1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV) says, “Do not be misled, bad company corrupts good character.” I needed to begin surrounding myself with sincere Christians that would help me and encourage me to live a Christian life.
It was lonely for a while because I didn’t have a lot of Christian friends, but I knew who I hung around in college would determine who I would become over the next few years. Did I want to go back to the person I was before Jesus changed my life? Or did I want to rise above and become a better person in Christ? I had the desire to become better, but unless I put myself around others that were on the same mission as me, striving to be more like Christ, I may not get there.
Over the next few months I did begin to develop some Christian friendships. Including a guy that was in BYX at Texas A&M. He told me about BYX and I was impressed. While on a campus visit to Houston Baptist University that summer, I noticed a BYX flyer on a bulletin board and was excited to know HBU had a BYX chapter. I called and left a message for the president of the chapter at that time and he called me back and told me about the chapter.
After I moved on campus that fall, I decided to go through Greek rush. I was exposed to several secular fraternities and was almost persuaded to join one of them, but I had been to their parties and knew that if I joined this particular fraternity I would fall right back into the lifestyle Christ had saved me from. There was a part of me that said “you can be a witness to these guys if you’re a member,” but I knew the likelihood was greater for them to pull me down than for me to pull them up so I didn’t pledge.
That next spring I pledged BYX, and it has turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made because I built God-honoring, lifelong relationships in BYX. I don’t have to look back on my days at HBU with regret because I put myself around great people. I saw how the secular fraternities negatively influenced some of the men who went through Greek rush with me. One of the guys that I would have been a pledge brother to was kicked out of the school for some of his actions.
I’m not saying my brothers in BYX were perfect. We all had our struggles, but we were trying to get better and helping one another out. We are all in this Christian life together. We need brothers we can count on and look to for support, encouragement and inspiration.
This recent photo (right) is of me with two BYX brothers that I still look up to. They both had a strong impact on me while in college. The one on the left is Justin Pankow. He was the president of the BYX chapter at HBU when I arrived at HBU and the first person from BYX that made contact with me. While I was not a good student starting off, Justin encouraged me to make good grades in school. His encouragement and example inspired me.
On one occasion in the men’s dorm computer lab, which was notorious for viruses, Justin was on one of the computers and an inappropriate image popped up. He quickly turned his head and jumped up out of his seat. We looked to his monitor to see why he jumped up and someone closed the image on the computer.
It was actions like this that made the rest of us look at him and say, Justin is a man of God. He made a covenant with his eyes. Some people may not have been shocked by the image, but because Justin worked to keep his mind pure he had not become desensitized and was shocked. This is the type of person I needed to be around and model myself after.
On the right is Ross Shelton. Ross was another man I looked up to both spiritually and academically. He became president of HBU’s BYX chapter after Justin graduated. Ross and I also became roommates and his good habits rubbed off on me.

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” -Proverbs 27:17 (ESV)

Both Justin and Ross inspired me to be a better student and Christian. I thank God for these men and I thank BYX for giving me the opportunity to meet them and build a relationship with them. This is what BYX is about; brothers unifying to grow in faith, character, and Christian leadership. I didn’t see these qualities among the leadership of other fraternities on campus.

“Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” -Psalm 133:1

Please don’t get me wrong, BYX wasn’t like living in a monastery. We had a lot of fun, some of the most fun I’ve ever had. In fact, I’ve had more fun living my life for Jesus than I ever did trying to live for and please myself. But I didn’t get in trouble and I never had to deal with guilt or shame after hanging out with my BYX brothers.
My point is that BYX attracts and helps develop men striving to follow Jesus Christ. If you are a college student wondering what group to join look no further. You will never regret joining BYX. If you are an alumnus, grateful like I am for having had the opportunity to be in BYX, find a way to support your chapter and promote BYX by posting stories of your experience on social media so others will know about the great fraternity and impact of BYX.

*I wrote this post for The BYX Blog posted on June 9, 2014. Here's a link:
http://betaupsilonchi.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/alumni-spotlight-exactly-what-i-needed/

Top 10 (Plus 5) Reasons to Earn a College Degree

There are plenty of reasons why you can’t achieve your dream of earning a bachelor’s degree, but you only need one reason why you can. Focus on that reason and don’t allow negative thoughts to steal your future. Five years from now you’re going to be five years older, with a degree or without. If earning a degree is one of your goals do something today towards making it happen. Go after your dream! You will have the rest of your like to enjoy the benefits.

Top 10 (Plus 5) Reasons to Earn a College Degree

(In no particular order)

1. Bucket List – Earning a degree is a personal goal lifelong goal and you just want it for self-satisfaction.

2. Set an example for your kids – Great reason. Studies show that children will either meet or exceed the education level of their parents. If you want your children to value hard work and an education model it for them.

3. Reinvent yourself – Perhaps you are tired of your current career or lifestyle and want to make a change. One way to do that is to earn a degree in a new field.

4. Earn a promotion at work – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told by different adult students that they are back in school because they were passed up for a promotion for not having bachelor’s degree and someone younger with less experience was given the position because they had a degree. 

5. Build confidence – There is a certain level of confidence gained once you’ve earned a degree that money can’t buy you. The satisfaction of knowing you accomplished this great milestone in life and no one can take it away from you. This intangible benefit will spill over into every area of your life.

6. Gain respect – People that earn a bachelor degree share a mutual respect for one another and those that don’t have a degree admire those that do. Additionally, one reason employers look for applicants with a degree is that they know degreed applicants have the perseverance it takes to stick with a goal through to completion and stick-to-itiveness is a characteristic worthy of respect.

7. Expand your mind – Challenging yourself at an educational level will help develop your mind to deeper levels of thinking including the esteemed ability to think critically.

8. Prepare for unknown opportunities – While we may not know exactly what the future holds for us we should always be preparing for the future. Abraham Lincoln wisely said, “I will prepare and one day my chance will come.” We might not be able to see what doors could open up for us if we prepare, but we never will if we don’t.

9. Expand future choices – Without a degree your choices and opportunities will be limited, but with a degree your entire life could change by the opportunity of one additional choice. You never want to live with the regret of - if only I had completed a degree 10 years ago I could take advantage of such and such opportunity today. One of my favorite quotes is by an unknown author and reads, “The future is that time you’ll wish you had done what you aren’t doing now.”

10. Build a larger network and increase resources – Not only will you meet people in class that may become lifelong friends and even professional colleagues, but you will forever be a part of an alumni network of an academic institution and enjoying the benefits such camaraderie affords.

11. Have more control over job opportunities and your life – A degree will give you more control over what type and level of job you are able to interview for and can open the door for jobs in a specific field or industry for which you lack experience.

12. Stretch yourself – Discover what you are able to accomplish and push the limits of your threshold. You can increase your mental and physical perseverance when faced with scholarly and rigorous academic adversity.  You will be amazed at what you can achieve when stretched.

13. Separate yourself from competition – Make yourself more marketable and desirable to potential employers. All things being equal the applicant with a degree will get the job.

14. Recession Proof – While a degree does not provide complete immunity during a recession, you may survive a layoff given that those without a degree are typically the first to go.

15. Become a professional – Occupations as a lawyer, doctor, psychological counselor, university professor all require graduate level education. The stepping stone for such careers is the bachelor degree. 

If you’re an adult looking for a flexible degree completion program I recommend DBU’s College of Professional Studies.

Shake Your Booty at Satan

Praying with my children every day is one of my greatest joys in life. It’s a commitment my wife and I made early in our parenting. Each night before bedtime we read from the Bible and then get on our knees as a family to show our reverence for Christ and take turns voicing a prayer to God. My middle child demonstrated great insight last night in commenting that “when we get on our knees and bow our heads to God we show our booties to Satan and when we pray it’s like we shake our booties at Satan.” Well, Satan sure doesn’t like it when we pray to Jesus so when we get on our knees in prayer I guess it kind of is like mooning Satan. I’m not sure that’s Biblical, but I think it’s good theology for a 7 year old and we should all practice it more.

If you’re not praying with your kids each day you are missing out on one of the biggest blessings you could ever experience. You get to hear the tender hearts of your children expressed in prayer to the Lord and you will learn a lot about what is going on in the life of your child. You will learn about their struggles and what they are most thankful for. There have been times my wife and I have been so touched by the precious sweet prayers of our children that we get choked up and teary eyed. On other occasions we’ve been so tickled by some of their innocent yet humorous remarks and struggled to contain our giggles. We’ve also come to understand what Jesus meant by a childlike faith and some evenings feel we learn more from our kids than we’ve taught them. Maybe sometimes the prayers God enjoys hearing the most are the honest prayers of children. 

If you aren’t spending time each day praying with your family I want to encourage you to start today. Starting a prayer time doesn’t have to be perfect. Trust me, I know evenings can be a crazy time trying to get your kids ready for bed. Some nights it’s a victory if you can just get them all in the same room. Keep in mind that conditions don’t have to be perfect and you can always come up with an excuse as to why you should start tomorrow. Just start today and make praying together a priority for your family each day. Don’t worry or get frustrated if your kids get distracted or the prayers are perfect. I can promise you they hear everything and there prayers will develop as their faith matures. Just do your best to model for them what a prayer should sound like. Likewise, don’t be afraid if your prayers aren’t perfect. You prayers will also develop and deepen over time. If you’re not sure where to start begin with the model prayer Jesus left us with in Matthew 6:9-13. The important thing is that you’re spending time together as a family praying and helping your children develop a relationship with God. Before long praying with one another will seem very natural and through praying together as a family you will see your child's confidence and security increase. So start shaking your booty at Satan today!