Hello teens, and anyone else who may stumble across this. First off, let me apologize for the lengthy silence. The last post I made was about Brooklyn being born. I guess you can see the impact that has had on my life. I haven’t been back on here for 6 months. However, this is one of the many areas I want to improve on this new year.

On New Year’s Eve, I had the privilege of preaching at our church. The Lord laid on my heart the thought of being a “second mile Christian.” Matthew 5:41 says “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain (two).”

The Persians and the Romans both had a rule that they could stop you, no matter what you were doing or where you were going, and make you do a mile’s worth of work as long as it was the kings business. The people hated them for it.

Imagine how inconvenient that would be. You are in a hurry, you have something to get done and you are running out of time, and suddenly you are grabbed by a Roman Centurion and told to do a specific job. Drop everything you are doing, and get busy or you can be put to death. You can imagine how much the people hated it and wanted Jesus to get rid of the rule.

Teenager, Christian, friend, you need to understand the attitude that Jesus commanded his disciples to have. Jesus said I want you to be willing to go two miles. I want you to have the attitude that you will do double of that which is required of you. That is what Jesus expects of us as Christians. We are different, and our attitude should show it.

In the home, workplace, school, church, I want to challenge you to be a second mile Christian this year for the Lord. Have the attitude that you are willing to go the second mile for Him. The church (in general) is full of 1/2 mile Christians. Christians who want the Lord to bless them just for showing up and taking their place in the pew. However, they have no desire to talk to the Lord throughout the week; no desire to obey what He commands in His word; no desire to seek His will for their life.

Jesus wants us to go two miles. That is my challenge to you today. Here are 3 specific areas you should go the second mile:

1. Reading your Bible – its amazing what picking up the Bible and reading it can do to your day and your life. The busier you are, the more you need to take time to read your Bible every day. It gives you direction, wisdom, and understanding for what God expects from you. Make time right now on your calendar to read your Bible every day. You will be glad you did.

2. Encouraging others – I hope you will do your best this year to be an encourager. Go the second mile in this area. Your words are powerful, and they can be used to lift people up or tear them down. It is possible to say more and talk less.

3. Asking the Lord for direction – so many young people are just wandering through this life with no direction or purpose. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom and direction for your life. It’s not to early to pray for where you should go to college, or if you should go to college. Pray for your future spouse (seriously). Seek the Lord’s wisdom. You have so many big decisions coming your way in the next 10 years. It’s time to be calling out to God for His direction.

Obviously this list is just the beginning. I hope you will pray and ask the Lord to help you be a second mile Christian, and then get busy about doing it. Let’s have a great year and thank you for taking the time to read this.

Brian

Hello teens and church family. Nearly 72 hours now removed from the birth of our second baby girl, Brooklyn Elaine McClure, I have had some time to reflect on the magnitude of it all. I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but having kids is a BIG deal! What an awesome experience it is to say the least.

As I reflect on these last 3 days, there are some lessons that I have learned from the birth of a second child. I hope these lessons will be a blessing to you (or at least put a smile on your face).

1. Witnessing the miracle of a birth will never get old.

One might think that after the first child, it just becomes rather routine watching another child be born. That couldn’t be further from the truth. There really aren’t words to describe witnessing the birth of your child. It’s terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. You want to scream at the top of your lungs and cry like a little baby all at the same time. Like the commercial says, it’s priceless.

2. Being stuck in the hospital for a few days is not a bad thing.

There is a myth out there that hospital food is no good, but whoever started that has not experienced Hendricks County Hospital food. It is delicious! Tiffany and I ate like champs for the 3 days we were there. So for a few days, we have no responsibilities, no cares in the world, along with great food and friendly hospital staff. I think I’m ready to have a 3rd child.

3. God is so good

To think that just a few short years ago, Tiffany and I were wondering if children were even a possibility for us. We had tried for some time to have a child, and were starting to wonder if there were complications that we needed to look into. Here we are a few years later, and God has blessed us with two awesome girls. One who looks just like her daddy (kind of scary), and now one who it appears will look like here mommy (thankfully). Like the song says,  “God’s been good, in my life, I’ve been blessed beyond my wildest dreams…”

4. Daddy has a lot more work to do

It has become very clear to me after being home for only 1 day now, that my work load at home has picked up big time. Although I have the best wife in the world and she complains about nothing, she will need daddy to step up and help out more. I thought having the summer off meant I had all this time available to get everything I wanted accomplished (like conquering the world) but it appears that might not be the case. Changing diapers, giving baths, playing outside, and watching Mickey will be my main accomplishments this summer (and I’m ok with that).

5. I better intensify my praying for wisdom

My goal is to pray for wisdom every day. I need wisdom for that particular day and I need wisdom for the future. Having children has a way of reminding you of the awesome responsibility you have to lead and guide your family. I have a wife and two little girls who God has placed under my care, and I don’t want to take that lightly. I need God’s wisdom and direction in my life now more than ever.

6. Enjoy every stage of their life because they grow up so fast

You don’t realize how fast your kid is growing up until you have the chance to start over with another one. Kaylee just seems so old and advanced now that we have Brooklyn. It seems like she has grown up so fast. God has reminded me in the last few days that while I’m out there trying to conquer the world and keep up with a non-stop schedule, make sure that doesn’t come at the expense of family. My ministry is only as strong as my family. If I lose my family, then I have essentially lost my ministry.

Well, those are just a few of the lessons that I have learned here in the last few days. No doubt I have a lot more to learn along the way. What a great joy it is to be a father and to serve the Heavenly Father.

Teens, it’s almost that time. As I write this, we have one week of school remaining and then it is summer vacation. I have to be honest with you, I might be more excited about this summer break than any of you are. I have decided not to work at the park this year, which means more time with my daughters (plural) and lovely wife, and also more time in the office doing the work of an assitant pastor/youth leader.

I recently attended a banquet for athletes in West Central Conference who qualified to make the all conference team. The athletes are recognized for their achievment, and all in all it is a fun night. This year they had a guest speaker to open up the evening. Now I have been to several occasions where you really would like the speaker to hurry up and sit down. In this case, this speaker had everyone’s attention.

Kris Huffman is the basketball coach at Depauw University. She led the Tigers to a 34-0 record this season, including a National Championship. She was also recently inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. When she took the podium, she had the attention of the crowd. And what she proceeded to say was right on target for the athletes in the room.

“Every morning you and I have an opportunity clock.” We have an opportunity to get up and be productive this day, or we can hit the snooze and give up our opportunity. She asked the athletes in the room this question, a question she asks her players; “Do you deserve to be successfull?” Given the amount of time and energy you have put into your sport, do you deserve to be successfull? The best teams are the teams in which the most talented players are the hardest workers. Sometimes that is the case, but many times it is not.

As Kris Huffman spoke to the athletes and coaches that night, I couldn’t help but think of the Christian life. Ask yourself this question teenager, “Do you deserve to be successful in your Christian life?” Based on your effort and energy, do you deserve to be successful? In other words, thinking about the time you do/don’t spend with the Lord in your Bible reading, the time you do/don’t spend in prayer, in fellowshiping with the Lord, would it be a shock if you were successfull or would it be expected?

This summer, many of you will not have a schedule that demands your time as you do during the school year. You may not have a certain time that you have to be in bed and a certain time that you have to get up, but you will have an opportunity clock that will go off each morning. Each day you will have the opportunity to be productive for the Lord. What are you going to do with that opportunity? Hit the snooze and roll back over, or make the most of the day God has given you?

Here are just a few suggestions on making the most of your summer as you grow in the Lord.

1. Schedule daily time with God – make sure you have time spent with God every day. That time should include reading your Bible and talking to the Lord through prayer. Clear out daily time for this.  Your schedule is changing, you have much more free time than usual, make sure your time with God doesn’t slip through the cracks.

2. Set goals for productivity – be determined to not waste your summer. Yes you should enjoy the fact that you have no homework and no teacher telling you to study for an upcoming test. But don’t allow that to let you get lazy. Set goals for being productive. I personally have a goal to read 2 or 3 books this summer (that is a lot for me). By setting time each day to read so many pages, I hope to accomplish this goal. You can do the same.

3. Set boundaries – some of the most dangerous times for a teenager (or adult for that matter) are idle times. The devil loves to tempt us when we have our guard down. Set some boundaries in your life. Hopefully your parents have some already in place for you, but even then you may have to set some yourself. Set boundaries on how much TV you watch, who you hang out with alone, the music you listen to, etc. Doing this will show great maturity on your part, and will help guard you from slipping into sin this summer.

Again I pose the question to you teenager, “Do you deserve to be successful in your Christian life?” I encourage you to start with these simple suggestions today and watch as God blesses and grows you this summer.

As a way to encourage you teens to read our blog, I will offer another prize. This prize will go to the first person to text me with a goal they have for this summer. My number is on all of the outlines that I hand out in class. First responder gets the prize. Have a great day!

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” – Psalms 19:14

Hello teens! I am excited about our new website and logo. One feature of the website that I am really excited about is this teen blog. Just so you know up front, I am not a writer. Sentences may be gramatically incorrect and words may be mispelled (not sure if I spelled that correct), but I just want to share with you what is on my heart.

In the coming days I will share more. I have some thoughts about this upcoming summer, which we are all excited about. But for now I just want to see who is checking the webpage. So, the first teenager to tweet me, @mcclure24, the word “blog” will win a prize. If you don’t have a twitter account, now would be a good time to set one up and follow your youth pastor. You can also follow the church on twitter, @FBCCunot.

Have a great day!

Youth Pastor

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” – Psalms 19:14