Parents Letter 2009

Dear Parents,

I just wanted to take a little time to chat with you about the youth program we have at Mt. Auburn. I intended for a parents’ letter to come out just after the first of the year but as always time gets away from me, as I’m sure it does for many of you. But I believe that God has a reason for everything, so I’m sending one to you now. If you would, please allow me to take the next 10 minutes of your time to tell you a story and relay my thoughts about real successful ministry.

On Monday, January 5th, my father was diagnosed with “incurable” renal cell cancer that began in his left kidney (20 years ago) and has now resurfaced in his spine and right lung. He was hospitalized immediately in fear that the cancer in his spine would cause too much pressure on his spinal cord and cause paralysis. He spent the whole week in the hospital for radiation treatments, biopsies of the cancer (which caused his right lung to collapse), and general observation. Naturally, during all of this I spent each day with him in his room so as to be updated on all new information by the attending doctors.

On Thursday of that same week, I was in his room and working on my January Youth Newsletter. My father looked at me and commented, “I’m proud of you Trav… I like what you’re doing over there… You do a good job”. Immediately, I stopped writing and the thought came to me, “How do you know? How do I know if I’m doing a good job?” Do I look at numbers and see if they are increasing? Do I monitor the youth’s enjoyment level and restructure accordingly?

My father’s statement forced me to take a step back and evaluate my ministry. So I asked God in prayer that day how to do my part in guiding the youth of Mt. Auburn. God answered, “Tell them the Truth.” Now, obviously I always try to teach the truth, but sadly the truth is sometimes hard to hear. The Gospel can be offensive and it does take faith to accept as truth. That’s why topics like Heaven & Hell, Selfishness & Selflessness, Salvation & Damnation make some people a little uncomfortable.

At one time, the Disciples actually told Jesus “This is a hard teaching…” and the Apostle Paul himself tells us:

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” -1 Corinthians 1:18

And

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” -1 Corinthians 1:25

We learn from these verses in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 that the Gospel doesn’t make any sense to those who don’t believe it; to those who don’t receive it in faith, it's just silly. But Christians believe the Bible is true!

Jesus began his teaching time and time again with the simple declaration of, “I tell you the truth…” So let me follow his example and say:

I tell you the truth, Your Child’s faith will suffer without you.”

The truth is that your kids are quickly growing up… The truth is that culture today forces all people to see things they shouldn’t see, listen to things that they shouldn’t listen to and to laugh at things that make God sad. In a world that views the Gospel as foolishness, our children's faith is constantly under attack and can be crushed under the opposition, so they need all the help, support and guidance we can give them in Christ.

In 2009 I want so many things for our youth group. I want our friendships to be strong and encouraging. I want our kids to reach others for Christ and grow numerically. But most of all, I want our youth to deepen their own faith and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ… because loving the Lord with all your heart is what constitutes a real successful ministry.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother- which is the first commandment with a promise-“that it may go well with you that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”
–Ephesians 6:1-4


Your Ministry starts in your home…
Talk about your faith with your kids…