Advice For The Kids

Jesus

  1. There is no darkness in God. God hates sin and evil but loves people. The only values in Him are peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness. Stay away from the dark stuff in our culture. Christians aren’t into this stuff. Learn to draw lines on the media you consume (ask “Does this glorify God?”, “Is this good for my mental health?”, “Is this something God wants me watching or listening to?”).
    • Horror/Dark Themes – These movies put dark ideas into your head that affect your thinking.
      • Probably OK to watch
        • Light Halloween/Horror – e.g. Ghostbusters and Hocus Pocus
        • Detective Shows from the perspective of the detectives – CSI, NCIS, or Will Trent. The general idea is catching bad guys not becoming them.
        • Gray Heroes – The Mask of Zorro is a good example. He is a vigilante and seeks revenge (not good things) but the overarching theme is that he fights for the poor and oppressed (good things).
      • Not OK
        • Hardcore Horror – e.g. Texas Chainsaw
        • Crime shows from the perspective of the criminals (e.g. Peaky Blinders or Sons of Anarchy).
    • Rock & Metal Music
      • Much of Metal and lot of Rock has you worshiping the devil with hand gestures, imagery and lyrics. You will be judged at the end – it would be wise to stop listening to certain artists.
      • Typically if it is on the radio it is OK. But this is not always true. Alien Ant Farm is a good band but makes the hand gesture (watch the “Movies” music video). I stopped listening to them. Another example is Papa Roach’s ‘Lovehatetragedy’ album cover. This is serious stuff. A good line to draw would be – soft/clean vocals, non psychotic guitars and absolutely no satan.
    • Rap Music
      • One group I can think of has a satanic name (Three Six Mafia). Some artists make the satanic hand gesture (Lil Uzi Vert) – probably wise not to listen to these groups or artists.
      • Running a crime gang, pimping, and songs about graphic porno are probably not something God is into. I’m not talking about sex, love, or being upset at the state of the world.
    • Halloween
      • Stay away from dark Halloween – God probably isn’t big on serial killers.
      • Captain America, Iron Man or a silly costume (not mean/offensive) are OK examples.
  2. Taking the Lord’s name in vain – our culture makes the usage of this seem almost like a figure of speech. It is a sin and disrespectful to God. You get used to saying it casually, then you use it in anger and you are cursing God for your problems. Here are some alternatives that would be good to make a habit of using (find one you are comfortable with):
    • Oh my gosh
    • Oh man
    • Oh wow
    • Whoa
    • Jeez
  3. Loving God and Loving people are the two most important commandments.
  4. Once you see something it is very hard to unsee it and forget it. Less is more with curiosity. Consuming dark media content does warp your mind and moves you away from God.
  5. Less is more on the internet. There are all kinds of things on there that will warp your mind in negative ways. Stick to education for work, learning how to do things in life (e.g. cooking) or light entertainment.
  6. Read the Bible – instruction manual for life (God’s Wisdom). Try the Sermon on the Mount to see who Jesus is.
  7. Stay in Church, and pay attention in Church. There is always a lesson that will help you in life.
  8. The good guys help people and the bad guys hurt people. God asks you to deny yourself and do the hard thing. Helping people isn’t easy but you will come to find it is very rewarding.
  9. Christian Communication with others
    • No lying
    • No Gossip behind a person’s back
    • Jokes are fun & silly – not mean and cruel. If the joke isn’t there, we don’t make it – rather than saying something that risks hurting someone.
    • There are times where we have to describe something negative – not everything in life is positive and you do have preferences, so make sure it is true, helpful and kind. An example would be “X culture food isn’t my favorite”. Words matter and they do hurt people so the intent to be kind when you do have to describe a negative is very important.
  10. God’s way is through peaceful and non-violent protest with democratic reform to enact change. War is for defense only.
  11. Maintaining your relationship with God requires discipline and routine. It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle in our busy society.
    • Church every Sunday
    • Prayers
    • Offering
    • Volunteering
    • Donating to Charity
  12. Be wise and stay on the straight and narrow path. God will judge you at the end of your life.
  13. Sins come in thought, word and deed. Words and deeds are obvious. Thoughts are also sinful – what you think can easily come out and hurt someone. So just as “If you don’t have anything nice to say, we don’t say anything at all” – we also should have “We only think good things – things that are true, helpful and kind”. “Is this something God would want me thinking about?”.

Who He Is

Here is a clip from The Chosen – a show that does a great job of depicting a biblically accurate Jesus and gives you a good idea of who He is.

This clip is the Sermon on the Mount (which starts at 10:00 in the clip if you just want to listen to His sermon – Matthew 5-7).

Bright Music

These are all songs about Him that I found listening to Bright FM (FM Radio). They are all positive, uplifting and awesome. I am truly blessed to have found this.

This is a great song about His grace, love, and ability to forgive. A song about how He is always there no matter what you have done – waiting for you to come back.