Ever since those days, I have longed to pass along that same legacy to my sons.

Tomorrow Warren and I embark on a cross-country trip to San Diego.  Crazy, I know, but I couldn’t be more excited! I am blessed to work for Randall House and to get to go to some cool events.  This week I am headed to Children’s Pastors Conference – San Diego, CA where I will meet up with my other partner in crime, Randy Walser.

As we head out tomorrow our first destination is Tulsa, OK.  We leave mid-day, so it will be a long one!

In addition to the pure adventure of traveling across country with Warren, there is an even greater adventure going on: He and I will “begin” having so Pre-Adolescent conversations.  He is 7 now, and 7 will soon turn into 9 then 11, then 17 and he’s gone!  It’s hard to believe he’s already 7 as it is!  I am looking forward to these talks together.

My prayer for this trip is that our relationship will be strengthened even further, and that Warren will have yet one more layer of understanding as to what it means to be a young man in the pursuit of the heart of God.

Walking in Grace,

Matt

http://daddy4ms.blogspot.com/

http://keepingupwiththekingskids.blogspot.com/2009/09/d6-conference-day-1.html

http://mainely-me.blogspot.com/2009/09/time-in-texas.html

Dear D6 Attendee,

Many of the conferences I have enjoyed the most have had smooth and efficient on-site check in and registration systems.  The D6 Team is working overtime to give you the fastest, friendliest registration experience possible: one that is so efficient you will not have to wait in a single line!  This is what led us to develop our own FastTrack on-site check-in system.

It’s really pretty simple. If we have your completed registration profile by September 1, we will ship your lanyard, name tag, and info card ahead of time!  This way, once you arrive, all you have to do is come by the FastTrack station to pick up your conference program and turn in your info card!

In order to qualify for the FastTrack Registration, we need the following:

Individual Registrations:

For questions or for more information, please contact info@d6conference.com or call 800.877.7030.

Thanks,

The D6 Team

- Chuck Colson

Brian Haynes is a voice of reason, wisdom, and authority on this topic and I am becoming more and more impressed with him and what I see coming out of Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy, TX.

I was thrilled to see that Children’s Ministry Magazine chose to do a story on Brian, the Legacy Milestones model, and his church.  It’s in the June/July issue if you have not read it.

I also would like to recommend Brian’s blog and his churche’s Legacy Milestones website.

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Last night the boys, Katie, and I were watching one of my favorite DVD’s, Planet Earth (the Fresh Water episode) and I saw one of the most interesting encounters I have seen in a long time.  A family of otters took on an 11 foot crocodile…and the crocodile backed down!

Have you ever watched otters?  They are not the most threatening creature in the animal kingdom, but when it comes to standing up against a giant predator, they seem to have no fear.  I was really impressed with this…it sort of gave me a little more sense of pride for being high on the “otter scale” on John Trent’s Leading From Your Strengths assessment…but that’s not the point.

Anyway, what really intrigued me (as someone who spends a great deal of time thinking about family, parenting, and what the next generation will look like) was the power of a united family of otters.  As a group, they had power and authority.  As a family, they had confidence to take on the hostile environment around them.

Forgive me for offending (sometimes the truth can be hurtful for all of us…I know it can be for me), but I see far too many Christian families who are just going through the motions, doing little to nothing intentional to raise up spiritual champions for Christ.  If we are not intentional about helping our kids see a clear division between what is going on in our culture and the kingdom that is in the next world, then we stand a great chance of losing them.  How can we expect our families to stay tight and united in Christ when we do little to nothing to disciple our children at home?  If parents are not leading their kids spiritually at home (conversations, talks, teachable moments, faith breakthroughs, spiritual milestones…a whole mixed bag of opportunities to impress Christ on the hearts of our kids), then why should we expect them to be passionate about following Christ as an adult?  What do they see in you? Why would they follow you if it’s not important enough to you to take time to talk about your relationship with God at home?  Why would they grow up to be a Christ follower if it’s not important enough to you to plan time to invest in them spiritually at home?  This is the breeding ground for lukewarm/nominal Christianity.

I know what I see in me.  I see a whole lot of failures.  I am not the parent nor the person I need to be…growing in Grace, but not who I want to be as of this very moment.  Thankfully I am on a journey.  However, the journey does require responsibility out of me.  It requires me to have a plan.  It requires thought and action.

I am writing this because I feel a huge amount of responsibility. I have read a decent amount in the last two years about this stuff.  I have had many conversations with some people in this area who know their stuff, and what they are saying is essentially “our generation of parents must show our kids a clear distinction between the ways of the world and the love and hope of God because the messages of the world are so loud, strong, and dominating, that without a plan of action on the part of parents, we are very likely to loose our children to the world.”  I know that sounds so harsh, but I keep seeing it all the time.  It manifests itself in the way that we spend our time, the things we watch, the entertainment we consume, the lack of compassion for others.  It appears from my perspective that mainstream Christianity has become so consumed with the world, and less consumed with Christ.  Perhaps that is why Barna’s book Think Like Jesus says that only 9% of evangelicals have a true Christian worldview.

Again, I am sooooo far from being a perfect parent.  I stink really badly some days in my role as a father…just ask Katie.  However, we do have a loose plan.  We do faith talks/teachable moments with our boys.  We take them on dates to talk about eternal matters.  We read the Bible as a family and at breakfast.  We read “Bible books” most nights before bed.  We have car talks about life truths and challenges.   We talk about choices and how choices have consequences. We have mapped out spiritual milestones that have been and will be celebrated and memorable.

I do not know if my boys will own faith in Christ as their own when they are flying solo.  I hope they will.  Katie and I pray about this nearly every day.  Ultimately the choice will be theirs to follow Christ and to walk with him.  But in the mean time, I will continue to build out a plan based on Deuteronomy 6:5-7 which is my commandment.  Note: commandment not suggestion.

Do you have a plan?  Are you working on one?  Building one?  If not, today is your day to begin…there is too much at stake.  Sit down tonight and based on God’s word, map out what you want your children to look like (inner character…not job, career, or performance).  Once you know what your goal is, what is it going to take to get there?  What changes do you need to make in your life to raise up a champion for Christ? What can you do differently in your family to implement good interaction with your kids?

No family is perfect.  There is no perfect model because all families are made up of imperfect people.  God wants to work with your family where you are now.

Dear Friends,

In the past few days, the intolerant nature of the homosexual agenda has been on open display. This time that intolerance has been exposed for what it is by one of our Focus on the Family® events.

Orchestrated Attempt to Undermine Our Efforts
We are hosting a “Love Won Out” conference Saturday in Grand Rapids, MI., to help Christians
in that area manage the issue of homosexuality in
a Christ-like manner. Over the last 10 years, these conferences have equipped thousands of Christians to become voices of God’s love and liberty to homosexuals.

As often happens wherever these conferences are held, gay activists spare no invective as they denounce the idea that Christ can help someone struggle free of unwanted homosexuality. Just two days before our conference, Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids hosted a seminar entitled, “Religion and Homophobia: Spiritual Violence in our Community.” (Doesn’t that sound tolerant?). The conference was stacked with gay activist speakers, and it was held under the auspices of–are you ready for this?–the Vice President of Inclusion and Equity, Dr. Jeanne Arnold. So we phoned Dr. Arnold and we asked to have one of our speakers included in her conference.

bet you can guess how the “Vice President for Inclusion and Equity” responded to our request to be included! For more on this latest tribute to the intolerance of the homosexual agenda, watch the newest Focus Action Update video.

The Goal: Imposing Their Agenda And Suppressing Opposing Ideas
It’s becoming more and more obvious that the homosexual agenda isn’t really about tolerance after all. It’s about imposing a radical agenda on our society and using nasty rhetoric and the force of law to suppress opinions that oppose their agenda. Anyone who dares to stand for Biblical notions of sexuality will face the intolerance of homosexual activism.

Well, we will stand! And I am encouraged that you are standing with us. Your prayers and your financial support are a great encouragement to our team. May God richly bless you as you bless our nation by the stand you are taking.

For faith and family,

Tom Minnery
Senior Vice President, Government & Public Policy

2. It doesn’t matter how stinkin’ dirt poor the town is, it will have one kickin’ football stadium.  I drove through a town today where each of the houses looked worse than my neighbors shed. Few business existed, and the ones that were still standing were falling apart and sold livestock feed.  The local school was in bad shape.  However, just at the edge of town was a brand new high school football stadium with plush, artificial turf.  The turf alone values more than the entire fiscal county budget.

3. Every few miles there is a Ranch.  “What’s that off in the distance? Is that the gate to a new subdivision?  Nope, just another ranch.”  In TX, a ranch is not the place where Michael W. Smith goes to spend the weekend to write music…it’s the real deal.  A way of life.  I’m talkin’ real, live animals!

4. Two lane state highways in TX are the equivalent to the German Autobahn.  The posted speed limit is 70 mph.  The average, actual driven speed (I kept a tally) was about 80 mph.  Now this, I can get used to.

5. Storm clouds in TX really are larger, closer to the ground, dark black, and totally wicked (in the traditional sense).  I saw a tornado firsthand (no joke).  UPDATE: read in the news paper that what I saw was rotation but not a tornado.  I stand corrected!

6. All TX men who live outside of the city limits of a major city such as Dallas, Austin, or San Antonio are required to where coyboy hats.  I almost stopped to buy one our of pure peer pressure, but since I was driving 80 I felt as if no one should notice me.

7. Cars have recently been outlawed in TX rural counties, for I did not see a single car after I left the Austin city limits (which is on PBS on Saturday Nights at 10 PM Central, BTW).  Good thing Hertz gave me an Explorer.

I look forward to learning even more on my drive from Abilene to Dallas on Friday.