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January is here along with a host of New Year’s Resolutions from people all around the world. January 1st seems to be a catalyst for people to examine their lives and focus on improving themselves through some type of life style change. If humans are nothing else, they can sure be fickle. People who study such things tell us that by the end of January, most new year’s resolutions are long forgotten. Old habits are hard to break. It’s like the old story of the man who wanted to make some changes in his financial habits. He called his bank to pay off his Master Card account and asked, “Do you take VISA?” The problem with turning over a new leaf is after we’ve done it for the second time, we’re right back where we started. For believers in Jesus Christ, change is a part of our EVERY DAY lives. Romans 12:1,2 spells it out, Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. We are called to be “Living” sacrifices and we must be transformed by God by “the renewing of your mind.” We are supposed to be renewed and resolved everyday, not just on January 1st. I’m excited about what God can do through a church full of transformed people. May your 2019 be a remarkable time of daily transformation and renewal! Blessings, Dr. Joe

In Deuteronomy 6:6-9, the LORD instructed Old Testament Israel, "And these words that I have command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. As Christians, how do we apply the concept to ourselves - to use every one of life's circumstances to point our children to the God who created us and redeemed us through the work of His Son, Jesus Christ? How does this biblical idea actually work in the busyness and chaos of your family's life? Splink is a simple way to invest in your family's spiritual growth.. Through free weekly emails, Splink gives you ideas to engage your family in everyday conversation. Whether it’s making memories or having fun together, this resource helps you capture teachable moments to impress spiritual truths and life lessons on your children. Sign up at https://d6family.com/splink - and get started! Get connected to this tool NOW, so that you can start 2019 empowered with a new resource and focus for your family.

Merry Christmas to all my Lawndale family! Thank you for bringing the story of Christmas into the hearts and minds of our community and beyond throughout the year. In our secular human world many people do not understand the significance of Jesus’ first coming. There are those who believe that Jesus’ main mission was to serve as an informational instructor. If that was man-kinds greatest need, God would have sent an educator. Others believe that Jesus’ main mission was to show us how to live a happy life. While that is partially true, if our greatest need was pleasure, God would have sent an entertainer. And still others believe Jesus’ main mission was to show us how to share our material resources with others. While Jesus did teach on that subject, if our greatest need was financial, God would have sent an economist. Scripturally speaking, the meaning of Christmas is far greater than any of these elements. The true meaning of Christmas is found in the wonderful story of God sending His Son into the world to address our greatest need. Our GREATEST NEED of course, being, FORGIVENESS. So God sent a SAVIOR! He IS THE GIFT OF CHRISTMAS. Luke 2:10,11 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Blessings, Dr. Joe

Every parent has a never-ending list of tasks and goals for raising your child. There are never enough hours in the day or days in the week to get it all done. At the same time, modern parents are bombarded with distractions - some of which are essential to life while others are empty wastes of time. Because of our busyness and own sin problems, parents all too often feel guilty for not living up to how we know we should lead our children. In the midst of a parent's hopes and failures, the ultimate goal is to help your child discover the God who made them and loves them beyond anything they can imagine. So in every parenting interaction, we want the love and purpose of Jesus to shine through the immediate situation or challenge. That's the reason that Brian Housman wrote How You Always Meant to Parent: Setting Aside the Distractions of Today to Focus on Your Legacy of Tomorrow. How do you pursue a lifelong spiritual journey with your children - guiding them through success and failure while keeping their focus on Jesus? It takes intention and work, but the effort is worth it!

In England, during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, thousands of orphaned children ran tattered and torn through the filthy streets of overcrowded cities. Due to their desperate circumstances, hungry, homeless children often resorted to a life of crime to survive and bore little hope of ever rising out of their hopeless conditions. A man of prayer and great faith, named George Mueller, knew something had to be done about the plight of the orphan. In 1836, he and his wife opened their hearts and home to one orphaned girl. By the end of his life he had fed, clothed, educated and spiritually nurtured over ten thousand children through his orphanage in Bristol, England. Interestingly enough, Mr. Mueller never asked anyone for money to support his work with the orphans. He simply asked God in prayer to meet the orphans’ needs and trusted Him to provide. Mueller recorded in his journals over 50,000 answers to prayers and God channeled what would be over half a billion dollars through his hands in today’s money. Join us as we step back in time and experience the sights and sounds of an orphans’ Christmas with Mr. Mueller and the residents of Ashley Down.

Did you know that there are over 130 passages of Scripture that relate to the subject of thanksgiving? As we approach Thanksgiving Day 2018, I would like to share a story from my thanksgiving file about a man named Dr. Robert Hill. Dr. Hill was a prolific writer and authored dozens of books. While visiting Thailand, he was invited to a special celebration given by the King and Queen. A young Thai man was sent by the king to drive Dr. Hill and his wife to the festivities. During their journey, the young man asked Dr. Hill where he lived. “Richmond, Virginia,” he replied. “Oh, you are a rich man?” asked the young man. Dr. Hill laughed and told him, “No, he wasn’t rich.” As the conversation proceeded the young man asked Dr. Hill if he owned a car. “Yes,” he replied, “we have two cars in our family.” More questions followed. The young man wanted to know about Dr. Hill’s house. “It’s rather a simple house with ten rooms.” The young man was amazed. He and his family lived in just two small rooms. When asked about his family, Dr. Hill told him that he had four healthy children, two in college and two still at home. The young man was silent for a moment. Then he replied, “You ARE a rich man.” They laughed, but Dr. Hill knew the young man was right. “We were rich, but were we thankful?” It is often very easy to forget to be thankful. We can focus upon the wrong things and get sidetracked. We must remember that an attitude of thankfulness is God’s will for our lives everyday of the year, regardless of our circumstances. For God’s Word tells us, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:18. We ARE rich in Him! Blessings, Dr. Joe

How do you talk to your children about the dangers of pornography? We avoid it because it's awkward or because we think "my child would never..." From young ages, our kids are at risk of exposure and addiction. As parents, we must engage the issue directly - using more than a simple technology filter. In Every Parent's Battle, Dan Spencer discusses the widespread pornography problem in our sex-obsessed culture. He also offers tested strategies and concrete ideas for parents to discuss God's good plan for human sexuality and intimacy. The book offers six strategies for success and a blueprint for action. It also contains checklists and resource compilations related to prayer, family health, accountability, and purity. Do you have a family plan to help your child resist pornography and the long list of lifelong challenges that come along with it?

This year's Fall Spectacular is Wednesday, October 31. This annual event reaches out to around 5000 people - giving Lawndale an opportunity to connect with families and to share the hope of Jesus Christ. All normal Wednesday night activities will be on pause for the week so that our whole church can get involved. We need you! 1) We need volunteers to help run games. Shifts are 5-7pm and 7-9pm. You can serve as an individual, with your family, or with a group of friends. 2) We need candy donations - no peanuts or peanut butter. You can drop them off at the church at any time! If you would like to volunteer, call or text me at 336-580-2506 - or email at jjackson@lawndalebaptist.org. It's a night of fun for the whole family. We hope you will join us!

Did you know that many recent studies show the age of first-time exposure to pornography is 8? How about that around 80% of children’s unsought after pornography exposure occurs in the home? Did you know that statistics show pornography addiction is becoming more prevalent among girls and women than ever before? And that neural changes observed in the brains of regular pornography users are similar to the changes seen in cocaine and methamphetamine addicts? As we assess the current cultural landscape and seek the Lord for how we might respond, we have planned a wonderful program that will be a great beginning of a layered response to a war that has been waged on our children, grandchildren, and all of us. The infiltration of pornography and the fact that it is just a click away has ushered in a problem that does not just affect those outside the church … we are all vulnerable! We hope that you will mark your calendar, invite others, and attend this two-week program entitled “Pandemic Pornography – What does the church do now?” It will be offered at both 9:15am and 10:45am on October 14th and 21st. On the 14th, we will take a deep dive into the problem itself, look at research and statistics, the emotional, psychological, spiritual, and even physiological consequences of porn use. And then we will talk about how social media and popular communication apps are used for sexting and porn access. On the 21st, join us as we discuss how to “porn-proof” your home and what to do if you find that your child or grandchild has been exposed to and/or using pornography. This program is designed to be informative and helpful for parents, grandparents, childcare workers, teachers, and anyone who recognizes the problem of pornography and wants to work toward a solution. We encourage every church member to attend one of the sessions on each Sunday!

Perspective is vitally important. Human perspective, however, is wrought with many limitations. Often, we miss ‘today’ by conjuring up problems that we think will exist ‘tomorrow.’ Just think about the apostles perspective before the resurrection of Jesus. They were self-absorbed. They were seeking power and position through Jesus. They wanted to become masters not servants. They were egotistical. They were jockeying for the title of which one of them was the greatest, Mark 9:33,34. Fortunately, their perspectives changed along with their previously held man-made expectations. We are on a journey of faith. More importantly, we are on a journey of faith WITH GOD ALMIGHTY! There are times when we feel that we are in the middle of God’s will, yet things don’t seem to be coming together. At those times it is important to remember God’s track record. He always has our best interests in mind. Remember, Joseph was in prison the day before he became the second most powerful person in the Egyptian empire, Genesis 41:41-43. No one saw that coming back in that day. No one that is, except God. That’s why He tells us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD,” Isaiah 55:8. Sometimes we need a perspective and expectation adjustment. It will save us from ourselves and cause us to live with heavenly values. Isaiah 55:9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Blessings, Dr. Joe

Looking back on the last decade of life and ministry, the smartphone is the single most significant difference maker in our lives, routines, habits, and expectations. At all times, we have information, entertainment, temptation, connection, and distraction only a second away. Tony Reinke's 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You helps us begin to understand just how significantly a cell phone impacts the everyday life and decisions of a Christ-follower. And if it impacts you, it impacts your friends, coworkers, children, and grandchildren just as much. The changes in our lives due to smartphones can be good or bad. They can be opportunities or detriments. They can help open up your world or begin the process of having your world crash down around you. We cannot ignore it. We cannot gloss over it. We cannot wait for someone else to address it. Do you control your phone - or does your phone control you?

Unbelieving educators have infiltrated our universities and school over the last half century. As you know, the very first sentence of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, has been under attack from a host of professors, teachers and institutions. A couple of generations of students have been indoctrinated with a Satanic lie that God had no part in creation. In essence, this makes us creatures of chance, not the creation of an Almighty, loving God. However, while the Bible is not a science book, it does contain wonderful scientific information. Are you familiar with Job 26:7? It says, He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. The Bible revealed that the earth floats in space thousands of years before that fact was discovered by science! And while the Bible is not a science book, it contains scientific data that has preceded scientific discovery by hundreds and thousands of years. And while the Bible does not have to have the approval of science, it can be said that good science and the Bible are not contradictory. “He suspends the earth over nothing.” And that same power has preserved His dependable Holy Word, the Bible. Blessings, Dr. Joe