Description
FAMILY RE-UNION
Business Plan
August 29-30, 2009
Ed Young
For any organization to run smoothly, accomplish its goals and reach a level of excellence, there must be a plan in place. It’s true for businesses; it’s true for families as well.
But unlike in the corporate world, the family plan doesn’t require an MBA to master it. All it takes is a willingness to open God’s Word and follow the plan provided.
In this message, Ed Young shows us that God has developed a clear and simple plan to help families. And when we follow God’s family business plan, success is within our reach.
Outline
Family Is All About Business
What’s Our Business / How’s Business?
What Role Do You Play?
REITERATE
Ephesians 4-6
Parenting:
Teaching And Training Our Children To Leave.
(Deuteronomy 6, Proverbs 22, Genesis 2)
DEMONSTRATE
Love Is The Fuel Of The Family
Reconciliation and Forgiveness
Sin
Romans 6:23 (NIV)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Exodus 20:8 (NIV)
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”
Exodus 20:12 (NIV)
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
COMMUNICATE
Know God’s Word To Speak God’s Word Into Our Children
Bible, Kid CEO, The Creative Marriage Books
Parent Rap
It’s Through The Family of God
That God Works Through The Family
DELEGATION
INVESTIGATION
ELEVATION
FAMILY RE-UNION
Business Plan
August 29-30, 2009
Ed Young
People sometimes ask me when I do a series of talks, where I get my material from, or where I get the research from, etc. Lisa and I have been married for 27 years. We have four kids. We’ve written extensively and spoke extensively about today’s subject matter. We’re talking about relationships. Specifically, we’re talking about families. And there are a couple of books that I’ve written. This one is in its fifth printing. It’s probably been one of the best sellers we’ve ever done called The Creative Marriage. If you want to know more about marriage, what it means to keep the marriage as the main thing, I challenge you to pick this up and to share a copy with somebody.
Also, something else I want to draw your attention to, again, if you want to get into more detail, more in depth – Kid CEO. This is about the fact that a family is a company. It’s a fact that the parents run the show. Not the kids.
Anyway, today we are talking about the family. We’re talking about the family. The family. The family. When I say the words “family reunion”, what do you think about? What comes to your brain? Probably long car rides to the middle of nowhere. Maybe some casseroles and as you eat the casseroles, you’re wondering, “Wow, is this going to make me sick?” Stories, weird uncles. All sorts of things come to mind when we think about our family reunion. And that is a family reunion on one side of the coin.
On the other side of the coin, though, I’m going to talk to you about a true family reunion. Because throughout the pages of Scripture, the family is used as one of the most common metaphors for the church. The Church is called, the what? The family of God. And your family and my family should be a small scale representative of the family of God, which is a community of believers.
When you look at how God has worked throughout the ages, how he’s worked by and through getting his message across, so often it’s through the family. It’s not necessarily through nations or cultures. Yeah, you could argue that. It’s through the family. So your family and mine should mirror the family of God and the family of God should mirror your family and mine.
And the great thing about talking about the family is the simple fact that every one of us, every single one of us is a member of a family. If you’re 92, 32, 52. If you’re single, if you’re whatever, whenever, a student, a child, you are a part of a family, and so am I. It is time that we understand what the family is about.
We understand the information about what family is so we can have the application about what a family should do. Because I want to give you the 4-1-1 so you don’t have to call 9-1-1 later when you’re like, “Man, what’s up with my family? My family has gone straight-jacket, ha-ha-house crazy!” Because that’s what’ll happen. It really will unless we do it God’s way.
Now some of you are going, “Well, wait a minute Ed, are you telling me that I cannot have meaningful relationships if I’m not a part of the family of God, if I’m not a follower of Christ?” I’m not saying that. Because you can have meaningful relationships. No doubt about it. But if you want your relationships to achieve the kind of elevation and the kind of status that God has for them, the only way to do it is to come to a point in your life where you allow this cosmic transaction to take place. You’ve got to allow God to do business in your life so you can do business within your family. Because the family is a business. That’s right. Your family and my family, the family, is a business. Say it with me. The family is the business. We’re also going to see that a family is a hospital. There’s a family clinic involved in your family and mine. Also we’re going to find out a family is a training center. It’s a fitness center. So we’re going to go into some great things about this institution that mirrors the family of God. There’s no way, I’ll say it once again, that my family can really do business unless God is doing business in my life. Families. Two questions about your family. Number one, what’s your business? Number two, how’s business? What’s your business? Maybe you’re a father, a mother, a grandparent, an uncle, an aunt, brother, sister. What’s your business? How’s business?
Those are great questions. Deep questions. Because if we could see the trajectory that God has for the family, your family and my family, we wouldn’t believe it. All of us are a part of the family. We have a huge role to play. When we do it God’s way, I’m telling you, greatness is the result. “Well, Ed, what happened to the family? I mean, why is the family fragmented? Why is the family kind of messing up? Why are so many families getting freaky and the divorce rate and the struggles of single parents and kids going in wayward directions. Why all that? Why is it so difficult to parent? I mean, my teenager is wearing me out! My husband is like a Disneyland dad and I have to be the disciplinarian. I mean, why, the turmoil, why the stress?”
Those are questions I think we’ve all asked, haven’t we? Ha. You know why? I mean really, let me give you the answer why. This will help us answer these questions: what’s our business and how business is, what’s our business and how’s business. The-the reason that everything is so funky is sin. Yeah, yeah, sin. S-I-N.
What does it mean to sin? We’ve been talking about it recently. It means to miss the mark. It’s an archery term. If you go back to sin, if you go back and look and see when sin started, that’s when the family started getting freaky and funky and crazy. What’s the result of sin? Well, the men here have this desire, because of sin, to rule over women. Husbands, you have this desire to dominate your wife. Ladies, what’s one of the results of sin in your life? To usurp your husband’s authority, to manipulate him.
It always gets so quiet whenever I talk to women. When I talk to men, the women are like, “Ha-ha-ha, yes he’s that way. He’s so selfish. He’s a control freak.” And I say, “Ladies have a tendency to manipulate.” All the guys. “Wow. Did he really say that?” And it also caused children, and we’re all children, we’re all children, there’s adult children. I’m an adult child, right? It also called children, it also led to children and our rebellion.
Sin, that’s what we’re dealing with. That’s what we’re talking about. So, again, I would argue that there is no way your family can elevate to the level that God wants them to unless you’ve allowed God to do business in your life. When God has done business in your life, then you can do business in the family. And then your family can be a small scale representative of the family of God. Sin. That’s what we’re talking about. That’s what we’re dealing about. But the great news is, we have a power, we have an energy, we have a purpose that the world doesn’t have.
Several things I want you to consider. Three things about the family. Just write these down right quick. Number one. Over this series, during this time together, we’re going to reiterate the supernatural structure of the family. We’re going to reiterate the supernatural structure of the family. I’m telling you, the family structure is supernatural.
Several years ago I was in a meeting with some of our staff. We were throwing around creative ideas, you know, batting them forth – bong – bong – bong –bong. You know. And we were talking about structure and things like that. And families. And suddenly, Preston Mitchell, who’s one of our pastors at Fellowship Church. I noticed he was reading the Bible while all of us were in this discussion about this and that. And Preston goes, “Hey!” We all looked at him. He goes, “Hey! The structure for the family is right here in the book of Ephesians.”
The New Testament book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 5, and Ephesians chapter 6. We’re like, “Wow.”
He said, “Check it out.”
It’s about God, then it’s about marriage, then it’s about parenting, then it’s about kids, then he talks about occupation. I’m like, “That’s brilliant! That’s totally from God.” We go, “Preston, you’re not that smart to come up with that.” Of course Preston is smart, we were just joking with him, you know. But that’s true. Do you want to find out the authority structure, the supernatural structure of the family? The world is not going to tell it to us. Because they don’t even know. The world is confused. They don’t realize they were confused. If they knew they were confused, they wouldn’t be confused. They’re confused. They are outside of the family of God. They are on the edge. Where as those of us who have been enlightened, those of us who had received this transaction, this forgiveness, this grace, we see the supernatural structure as big as Dallas, it’s right there in front of us.
Number one, God. I’ll say it. God is God. Am I getting too complex? God is God. Football is not God. An extra-curricular activity is not God. Skiing is not God. Wake-boarding is not God. Antiquing is not God. Watching television is not God. God is God. We’ve got to understand that. God is God, I’m not. It sounds so simple. That’s the first priority of the family.
The second is, are you ready for this? Marriage is marriage. Marriage is marriage. Marriage is marriage. We’ve got to do business in our marriage. We wouldn’t even have a family if there hadn’t been any business time in marriage. I thought you’d get that. It took a while. Because of business time between you and your spouse, you’ve got a family. So, it’s about marriage. Marriage is marriage. Marriage is the main thing. I’ve an opportunity to talk to a lot of people about family and relationship issues. And when Lisa and I travel and do that, one of the main questions we’re asked goes something like this. “What’s the best thing I can do as a parent?”
And they’re ready, like, for 4 or 5 things, you know, that will rock their world. We always go, “Have a great marriage.”
“No, no, no. I’m talking about parenting.”
“Have a great marriage.” Build a great marriage. Because the definition of parenting is: teaching – Deuteronomy 6, and training – Proverbs 22, your kids to leave – Genesis 2. Spouses stay, kids leave. If you want to have a great marriage, you’ll have to work at it. You’ll have to build it within the context of marriage. And it’ll be the best thing you’ll ever do as a parent. Because when kids are young, parents, they pretty much do what we tell them to do. When they grow and mature, they do what you do. Have a great marriage. Work on your marriage. Build a great marriage. God is God. Marriage is marriage. Kids are kids. I like this. Kids, ha, that’s right, ha, kids are kids. Once a parent, always a parent. You’re a parent? You’ll be a parent until you die. Yeah, your season changes. It develops. But a parent is a parent.
Parents, you’re not your kid’s friend. You’re not their buddy, their homie. You’re not. That’s not your deal. You’re a parent. You’re a leader. And marriage, it’s the main thing. It’s not the kids. And our culture says, “Oh, it’s about the kids, the kids, the kids. Let’s worship the kids. Let’s give the kids the presidency of the corporation. Let’s give the kids the corner office. It’s all about the kids, the kids, the kids. I do anything for my kids. It’s all about the kids.” [buzzer] Parents. We give our lives for our kids, but it’s not about the kids. It’s about the marriage, and then the kids. Spouses stay, kids leave.
So God is God, parents are parents, right? Kids are kids. But again, before the parents, marriage. Marriage is all about the marriage. A family has got to be a marriage driven deal. That’s a supernatural structure. So we got God, we got this union between a man and a woman. We got the responsibility of parenting and we’ve got the kids. That is God’s supernatural structure. We’ve got to reiterate that time and time again. So what do families need to do? We need to reiterate God’s supernatural structure.
But something else we’ve got to do too, the second thing. We need to demonstrate God’s supernatural love. We got to demonstrate it. God is a God of love. He speaks the truth in love. And we’ve got to love one another. In the family, Love is the fuel that makes the whole thing go. Where’s the love in your family? You gotta have love, right? You’ve got to experience the love of God – that’s the business of God. Love within the marriage. Love from a parent to a child situation. From a child to a parent thing. It’s got to be love. It’s all about love. God’s supernatural love. God speaks the truth to us in love. As parents, we’ve got to speak the truth to our kids in love. We love them enough to tell the truth. God loves us enough to do what? To tell us the truth. We’ve got to be in the business of forgiveness. We’ve got to say, you know what, “I messed up. Will you forgive me?” There should be a place of grace. “Don’t let the sun,” the Bible says, “set on your anger.” The most beautiful sunsets in the world are in Texas. That sunset should remind you of reconciliation. There’s no way your family is going to go to the elevation that God wants unless you have this love flowing and going and moving and grooving.
So a family is all about reiteration. We reiterate God’s supernatural structure. We demonstrate God’s supernatural love. And also, too, we communicate. We communicate God’s supernatural word. The Word. That’s right. The Word. We’re under the authority of the Word. If you want to go up, get under the authority of God’s Word. We can’t share the Word unless first of all we know the Word. So we’ve got to feed on the Word, and give out the Word. I can’t give you guys the Word unless first of all the Word is spoken to me. Are you doing that? Are you doing that?
I’m not talking about superiority here. I’m talking about equality in the family dynamic. God has given all of us different responsibilities. The Bible says, just categorically, to men, you guys lead. That’s what the Bible says, you lead. Some of the women are going like, “wait a minute, is that…” No, no. it’s equality, but your function is unique. You’re equal in form, different in faction. The man is to be the head of the household. Some of the ladies are like, “well, I’m the neck and I can turn that head.” I understand you can. And men, women are smarter than we are. Many of them allow us to think we’re leading, but in reality we’re not. That’s a whole nother message. But the 4th and 5th commandment talk about the family. You ever thought about that? The structure of the family. This whole responsibility thing. The fourth commandment says that men are to lead out in worship. Men are to lead out in honoring God. Men. So, wives should not try to manipulate their husbands into coming to church. “Honey, if you get up for church, we’ll get some donuts early right before we go to church.” No, no, no, no. it should be, as a man, before God, I see the supernatural structure. I see the supernatural love. I know the supernatural word and I’m going to lead my family as we go to worship. But as a believer we don’t go to worship, we go worshipping to worship.
We gotta demonstrate this, men. We’ve got to communicate this. We’ve got to reiterate this. This supernatural word of God. We’re commanded collectively to come together and hear the word of God. The fourth commandment, guys, it says, ‘Lead out in worship.’
The fifth commandment, you know what it says? Children, hey kids! Obey your parents. Some of the translations say: Honor your father and mother. What does that mean? You honor your parents, God will honor you. You want to be honored, by God, you want to be blessed by God? I do. Honor your parents. “Well, you don’t know my parents. Man, my father is so unfair, my mother is this or that.”
You know, I don’t know. But I do know this. God has placed them there, even though they’re imperfect, to mold and shape and hone you and me into the kind of people that we are. God has placed them in authority over us for a reason. We’ve got to understand if we get under their authority, then we’re going to go up. We go under their authority and God will elevate our lives. So any time we rebel, anytime students rebel, we are getting out from under the authority of God. Now, I know there’s some exceptions now and then. You have abuse now and then, you have parents telling their kids to do things that are outside the will of God and the ways of God. That’s a whole nother subject. And that is a very-very-very-very-very small exception. But you’ve got to understand something, kids. Your parents know more than you know. They are fellow strugglers. And the responsibility that God has given them is a huge one. As a parent, I still have a lot of questions. I still have a lot of doubts. I still make a lot of mistakes. Your parents will too. But kids, get under their authority and realize that God has placed them there in his supernatural structure to demonstrate the love and also to live out the word. And when you do it, I’m telling you, you will elevate. But every time you rebel against Mom or Dad, you know what? You’re rebelling against God. And in the Old Testament, and of course we have New Testament, in the Old Testament, if you disrespected your parents regularly, they would take you out and stone you. I’m not talking about smoking weed, I’m talking about taking rocks and they would just take you out. That’s how serious God is about the family.
That’s what the family is. That’s what the family should do. We reiterate, demonstrate, and communicate. But parents, I want to give you some homework. I want to give you some homework. Because this is a parent company, right? We’re talking about a parent company. We’re talking about a company that really does business. Here is your homework. And kids, listen to me very, very carefully, because I’m going to give you some stuff to do as well, all right? Ok.
The first thing, and this is one of the most challenging things that parents do. And parents, when I say this word, you’re going to be like, “Oh, man, Ed, you are so right.” The biggest thing that I do as a parent, as the CEO of God’s family corporation, are you ready for it? You better write it down. Delegation. Delegation. I didn’t say relegation. I said delegation. As a parent, as a single parent, we should be about delegation. What is delegation? It’s off my plate, out of sight, out of mind, vwoom-vwoom-vwoom. I delegate. But delegation is not relegation. It’s not like, “Ok, I’ll give you responsibility, I’ll give you a task. Here’s the situation, see ya.” Boom. That’s not delegation, that’s relegation.
Delegation is difficult. Because yes, when I delegate, I do give them responsibilities. At surprisingly young ages, pick up your toys. Don’t throw food, you know. And we give them more and more stuff. And wise parents say, all right, “I’m going to delegate this to you, I’m going to draw the line in the sand, I’m not going to be an etch-a-sketch parent, you know, Ah-ha, fooled you, fooled you!” No, no. some of the old-school people don’t remember etch-a-sketch. Some of you are like, “etch a what?” don’t worry about it. I’m talking to the parents now.
We draw the line in the sand, keep the line and tell them if you step over the line, there will be consequences. “Ed, where did you come up with that?” Supernatural structure, supernatural love and the supernatural word. Right there. That’s how God deals with you and me. The Bible says God disciplines those he loves. We’re not punishing our kids. We don’t do that. Jesus took the punishment on the cross 2,000 years ago. I’m talking about discipline. When you discipline, you teach-Deuteronomy 6, you train – Proverbs 22, them to leave – Genesis 2. With great trajectory. I’ll say it once again. Spouses stay, kids leave. Delegation. Are you delegating? Now here’s the fun part.
So, delegation is number one. Parents, number two, it’s going to get tough now, the plot will clot, it will get very, very quiet. People will look for the exit signs. People will break out in cold sweats. There’ll be nervous laughter. Investigation. Delegation is all about investigation. Delegation without investigation is an abomination. What is investigation? Whoo. You draw the line in the sand, and kids want to know where the lines are. Ah, man, here’s a football field. You mean, you mean there’s no hash marks? You mean there’s no end zones? Where is out of bounds? What kind of game would football be like that? Can you imagine a company with zero structure? It’d be the worst. You got delegation, you got lines in the sand. Here are the parameters, the guidelines. You step over the line, there will be consequences. That’s investigation, and that is tough! That’s why parenting isn’t for cowards. It’s not. It’s hard. It’s simple but it’s hard.
EJ, our son. “Clean up your room.” That’s my command. EJ, if you don’t clean up your room, there will be consequences. I spelled out the consequences. You know, EJ, who is now 17, over the years, he struggled with keeping his room clean. Is that a shocker? I walk by the room. I told him 30 minutes ago to clean his room. I look and his room is still a wreck. “[sigh] EJ!” I have a loud voice, “I told you,” this is what not to do, “to clean up your room! Get in here and clean it up! EJ!” then I’ll start this. “One” I’ll start counting. “Two” What’s up with that? “Three.” That’s pitiful. And then I get louder and louder and theatrics. Uh, that’s terrible. Here’s what I’ve started doing. And here’s what a wise parent would do and should do. A biblical parent. Not that, you know, non-biblical for me to say ‘clean your room’ whatever. But a wise parent’s going to say, “Ok, clean your room. If not, there’s going to be consequences.” Walk by EJ’s room 30 minutes later, the room is still a mess. You told him once. No counting. It’s not “One-two…” no, no. just your word. Jesus said let your yes be yes, your no be no. Your word. Clean your room up, EJ. Clean it up. If not, there will be consequences. I walk by the room 30 minutes later, it’s still atrocious. Vwoom. I just file that away. Let’s say it’s Friday. EJ, when he was younger, he had a two word mission statement for his life. Get Pizza. Get pizza, get pizza, get pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, get pizza. Get pizza, get pizza, dominoes, dominoes, dominoes, dominoes, I fratelli, I fratelli, I fratelli, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, he loved pizza. A couple of hours go by. “Hey Dad, I wanna call for some pizza. And we can like watch a movie and have pizza. I want to get some pizza.”
You know what I do? I just smile confidently and say, “EJ, we’re not going to get pizza tonight. We’re not going to order a movie.”
“What?”
“You remember the room, you remember what I just told you, EJ? Clean your room. If you don’t, there will be consequences.” These are simply the consequences. Now, parents, it gets really tough, doesn’t it. Kids are manipulative. They are smart. They’ll use your words, you know, against you. “Ok, Dad, I’ll go clean it up right now, I’m up there!” [multiple noises…] “It’s done, it’s done. Dad, Dad, I’m sorry. I really am. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. You mean so much to me. You’re so caring. I’ll never do it again. Never. Let’s get some pizza.”
“EJ. No, nuh-uh. We’re not getting pizza. We’re not going to see a movie. And we’re just not going to do it because of what happened.”
“Dad, will you forgive me? I mean, you’ve done a series on forgiveness. You’re a preacher. It’s all about redemption.”
And here’s where they really test you. You gotta say, “No. no.” there’s a million, squillion things you can do. You tell your daughter, “take the trash out.” One time. “Take the trash out.” She doesn’t do it. The next week. You’re handing out allowance. Maybe you give her lets say, $5 a week. Well, instead of giving her $5. You take the $5 and give it to her younger sister who took the trash out later. There’s a crime, there’s a consequence. God never removes the consequences. He forgives us, he cleanses us. Parents, we have got to do this. And I’m telling you, when we do this, we’ll teach responsibility, we’ll teach discipline, we’ll teach character, and we’ll teach the huge and important and positive principle of pain. Pain is good. Pain is not bad. We have to experience pain so often to change. So sometimes as your family goes through pain, as EJ goes through pain with no pizza and no movie. Guess what, the next time I say, “EJ, clean your room.” Boom, he’s going to do it. No counting, no coercing. And then, see, I don’t come and rescue him. “Oh, it’s ok, I do forgive you. And let’s order 17 pizzas and invite all your friends over and have 17 movies too.” No, no, no, don’t do that. Parents. You’re not your kid’s friends. I mean, yeah, there’s a friendship factor, but you’re a parent. Sometimes when your kids talk back to you, just turn into a rapper. Parents, years ago I wrote a rap, and I’ve got to give it to you again. This is huge. I don’t know if you – I don’t know if you realize this or not, if this is your first time at Fellowship Church but I’m also a hip-hop artist. And when your kids start, you know, talking back to you, or disrespecting you. Instead of counting, “One! Two!” or going off or screaming. Sometimes, I’ll just bust into a rap. You want to hear it? I’ll teach it to you. They’re coming back at me? Yes, even happens at our home. They’re disrespecting me? It sometimes happens in our home. I just say:
I’m the parent, I’m legit,
There’s no use arguing, you might as well quit.
You can roll your eyes and say it’s not fair,
You’re telling God you really don’t care.
So do what I say, all the time,
Then your life will have serious rhy-m, all the ti-me,
Yours and mine, peace of mind!
Parents, lets stand up, let’s do it together, stand up, parents, come on, no one leave, this-this is, this is important. This is important. We gonna be rappers. Kids, you remain seated. Kids, you better get ready. Because your mom and dad, they’re like hip-hop artists.
[boom-box noise…]
I’m the parent, I’m legit,
There’s no use arguing, you might as well quit.
You can roll your eyes and say it’s not fair,
You’re telling God you really don’t care.
So do what I say, all the time,
Then your life will have serious rhy-m, all the ti-me,
Yours and mine, peace of mind!
Thank you very much! You were incredible. Just rap. Just rap. Write your own. You can do a lot better than that. Use the supernatural structure. Use the supernatural love. Use the supernatural word and wripe your own rap. Write your rap. Rap, rap, rap, rap.
Delegation. Investigation. I’ll talk about investigation. Let me tell you something else, parents. We’ve got a couple more minutes left. I want to give you some great advice. Buy your kids as young as possible, buy your kids a cell phone. When they can barely even walk, buy them a cell phone. Now here’s the key. Buy them a phone that you want, because you’ll get it very, very quick. And I’ll tell you how you’ll get it. But give it to them. Give it to them. Because it’s a phenomenal disciplinary tool. You talk back, you misbehave, you step over the line, the phone is mine. So I bust out some kind of iPhone, whatever the best, I just buy that for them. They’ll only have it for a couple of days, vwhoom, you take it back. It’s yours now. Look at all these apps, incredible. I’m texting my friends, you know.
Now parents, I hope you know this, because remember, I’m giving you the 4-1-1 so you don’t have to dial the 9-1-1. If your kids have a phone or a computer, it’s not theirs. It’s yours. It’s yours. And your kids will be, uh, like, your kids will say, “well, man, I don’t want my parents in my business. It’s my business. What about privacy?” Privacy? Privacy? Who owns the house? Who makes the money? If you’re old enough to live on your own, you can buy your own phone and computer, but their phones aren’t their phones, they’re your phones. So, regularly, check their phone out. Read their texts. You ever heard of Facebook? You better know about Facebook. Take a look at Facebook. Read that stuff. “What about my privacy, man. That’s my business.” I understand there’s some sort of privacy. I’m the parent, I’m legit, right? Because we’re teaching and training them to do what? To leave. So read that stuff. That’s the great thing about social media. You can know who you’re kids are hanging out with, talking to. Take a look at Facebook.
A friend of mine here at this church does something that is phenomenal. I learned a great parenting tip from him just recently. Parents, you might want to write this down, do, this is brilliant. Our twins went over to his house because they have, you know, daughter about the same age, to spend the night. And this wise parent, this is great. My twins said, at 9pm, this guy has a lot of kids, like we do, at 9pm, our twins said, this father walked around and collected all the cell phones and computers [vwoom-vwoom-vwoom], carried them to his room. 9pm over. 9pm, lights out. Hey kids, 9pm, its business time for Mom and Dad if you know what I’m saying. Go to your rooms. Collect that technology. Technology is wreck-nology, what-the-heck-nology. Take it from them. I’m telling you, this is-this is-this is huge. This is huge. All these people wired up, connected, oh. It’s unbelievable.
These are – these are great tips. These are hot tips. Man, this is fresh stuff. Delegate. And investigate. Investigate. Match the consequence with the crime. Give the command once, no counting, and discipline. It’s what God does to you and me. Third thing, it-it’s the final thing, the fun thing – elevation.
So see, delegation, investigation, elevation. Delegation, investigation, elevation. I go to the elevation that God has for me when, as a parent, I’m doing these things like God does for me, and when, as a kid, I’m getting under the authority of mom and dad. Because if you want to go up, get under.
The final thing I want to leave you with, families, is this right here. Ok, Ed, what can I do as a parent? I’ve told you some things about the family business which is a parent led company. Parents, you’re CEO’s, you might want to go home and fire your kids if they’re in the corner office. But I’ll talk about that a little bit later. It’s a parent company, right, we talked about the things we need to do, all right, all right. But here’s the last thing that you need to do. You need to unashamedly, like Lisa and I have done, now for 27 years, unashamedly partner with the only, with the only institution that supports and highlights and underscores those transcendent values given to us by the God of the universe. You’ve got to partner with the family of God, I’m talking about the local community, I’m talking about the church. You’ve got to partner with the church if you want your family to go to the kind of elevation that God has for them. If you don’t partner with the church, it will not happen. It’s not going to happen. You will not reach your potential. So how can I say it? Mom and Dad, or single parent. Take your kids to church. Take your kids to church. Take them to church. Take them to church. Take them to church. Whether it’s raining, snowing, whether it’s triple degree Texas heat, take them to church. Take them to church if they say my friends aren’t there. Take them to church if they say I’m not in the mood. Take them to church. Take them to church if they cry. Take them to church if they throw a tantrum, take them to church, take them to church, take them to church. The church is the body of Christ. The church is a change agent. The church is the only institution that supports the family. Take them to church. Because when you do, you’ll discover what the family business is all about.
Let’s pray.