Men want to control their lives – It’s our training and our nature. We are raised to be independent.

 Most men are taught to “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps”. “Be a Man! Life is what you make of it”! We’re told. We are taught early-on that we can author our own destiny; we can be the captain of our soul, the master of our fate—Wrong! Flawed teaching. Men want to control their own lives. To “be a man”. Even if we were not taught to seek independence, which most of us were, our own human nature gravitates in that direction. We want the freedom to chart our own course. We want the power to shape the events of our lives. These are the hallmarks of our desire to be independent. But too often in our effort to be self-reliant, we move away from God and go our own independent way. There is a marked difference between taking responsibility for our lives and trying to live independently from God. We are to take responsibility for our lives—no one will go to work in our place, in most instances, no one will continually pay our bills. The difference is this: responsibility fully recognizes our part and God’s part. Our part is to trust God and faithfully fulfill our duties. God’s part is to provide for all our need and well-being. Independence rebels against the influence of God, thinking it can meet its own needs.

 The independent man thinks, “I want to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, wherever I want to do it, with whomever I want to do it. I want to be in control. I want to satisfy my ambitions. I don’t want to be dependent upon anyone. People let me down. God will let me down. I can make it on my own. With independence, I am in control of my life. I have the power, whether through money or influence, to have my way”. The opposite of desiring to be independent of God is to trust Him. The Apostle Paul states it so well:   “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring” (Acts 17:28).

 Be blessed, Brethren, as we live responsible, yet dependent upon Him, lives.

Pastor J. Amos Jones

It is easier to build strong children than it is to repair broken men.  This vision statement adopted for the Youth Church is a recognizable reality, but it is also a Biblical Principle.

 The Word of God commands children to:  “Honor thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee”  (Deu.  5:16).

 Moreover, children are commanded to listen to what parents teach.  “Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old”  (Prov. 23:22).  As children treat their parents with honor, due obedience and courtesy, they are more teachable.  Children are a precious gift from God.  “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Ps. 127:3).  We know that God can only give good gifts.  A good child brings joy to the father and has been promised long life.  As parents realize that children are a gift from the Lord, there is also the realization that in matters of discipline and instructions, that too should come from the Lord.  Children are never an impediment, a hindrance to living the “good life”.  Jesus tells us most emphatically not to despise children for they have a “heaven connection”

(Matt. 18:10).

 On this Children’s Annual Day, let us recommit to Godly discipline and Godly instructions for our children.  Teach your children about the Lord and His way.  “Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.  And ye shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deu. 11:18-19).

 Two things about discipline:

 Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul (Proverbs 29:17).

• The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame (Proverbs 29:15).

 This Pastor is very proud of, and grateful to God, for both our children and their parents.  (Remember, the Word works, if you work the Word).

 Pastor J. Amos Jones