Advice For The Kids

Church

  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?” – see the Media page for more detail). While everyone’s art is beautiful and part of God’s creation, we need to make sure that what we create or consume is respectful to both God and other people.
  2. Loving God and Loving people are the two most important commandments. Loving people is the Golden rule. Loving God is being respectful to God but also obeying God and His commandments (abiding).
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Read the Bible – instruction manual for life (God’s Wisdom). It will teach you how to be happy and how to be a good person (walking in His ways).
  6. Stay in Church, and pay attention in Church. There is always a lesson that will help you in life.
  7. Speaking to the badass, bad boy, bad girl thing in our culture – the good guys help people and the bad guys hurt people. It is that simple. Make sure you consciously know what team you are on, there are only two teams. I used to think that girls were into bad boys. This isn’t true – the guy/girl you want will be into your kindness.
  8. 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. Maintaining your relationship with God requires discipline and routine. Good habits are CRITICALLY important. It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle in our busy society. I used to always put work first and wanted to sleep in on Sundays. Below is what I like to call “The Church Game”. I used to lift weights. Sometimes you had 2 sets left but were tired and didn’t want to do them. Do them. I now use a calendar to make sure I show up for God consistently and get my “sets/reps” in on a regular basis.
    • Church every Sunday
    • Prayers
    • Weekly Offering
    • Volunteering
    • Donating to Charity
    • Verbal confession of sins to a priest
  11. Be wise and stay on the straight and narrow path. God will judge you at the end of your life.
  12. 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?”.
  13. Social Justice – God’s way is through peaceful and non-violent protest with democratic reform to enact change. Violence is a last resort and for self defense only. While the status quo cannot persist, we must be patient and have faith in God rather than succumb to extremism and violence. MLK’s work in the civil rights movement is a great example of how a man enacted real change through peaceful means. The story of his life is also an example of true bravery.

A photo of MLK persevering and getting the Civil Rights Act passed:

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.