Tag: Next Generation

Posted on

YOU ARE AN OVERCOMER

blog-banners-001(Snippets from Carol Mkize’s message at the Every Nation World Conference 2016 Day 3)

Ukunqoba is a word that means overcomer.
You are an overcomer because God abides in you.
Intimacy with God will drive you to continue when you are no longer with other people.
You will overcome because God’s word abides in you.
Chaos is fertile ground for Christians.
Everything we learned we can now apply in the campus.
1 Samuel 17:38-40: Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
To (Spiritual) Fathers:  
What God used for you to overcome, it might be time to put it down.
The armor you used may not be the armor the next generation will use.
To the Next Generation.
Try it on first.
Don’t deny it right away.
Obedience and submission are not out of the question.
Don’t assume first that it will not work.
We have to walk with this God our fathers walked with.
Posted on

INVESTING IN THE NEXT GENERATION

If we don’t invest in the next generation, someone else will.

CBS News reported a few years ago that advertising budget that was poured into marketing to the next generation grew as the years went by.

In 1983, it was a mere $100 million.
By the time 2007 hit, it ballooned to a whopping $17 billion.

Advertisers and companies seemed to think it was worth their money because research tell us (www.globalissues.org) that teens spend about $160 billion for their gadgets, clothing, food, games among many other things. Those who are in their “tweens” (8-12 year olds), spend about $30 billion. Those who are under 12, influence their parents to spend about $670 billion per year.

If Nike, Xbox, and Mcdonalds see this, why can’t we?

We obviously don’t have the billions they have, but we have a gospel that is powerful to make a difference not just for a game or two, or for a year or two, not even for a decade but for all of eternity.

Hannah prayed to have a son and God granted her request in 1 Samuel 1.

What can we learn from her story?

1. Pray for the next generation.

Hannah prayed to the Lord for Samuel.

We need to pray for the next generation. With all the bombardments from all sides, growing up in this environment these days can be challenging.
We need to pray that they will hear meet God early in life and desire to live for Him the rest of their lives.

2. Prepare the next generation.

Hannah waited until Samuel was weaned.

Time will come that we will have to release the next generation to fight their own battles.
We cannot always be there and we should not even try.
Not letting them fight their battles will end up emasculating them.

Our goal is to see them become less dependent on us and more dependent on God.

3. Mentor the next generation.

Hannah found someone who can mentor Samuel with her – Eli.

We need to see the value of multiple anchors.
It’s nice to dream that our kids will always hear what we say.
But input from others in invaluable.

I’m thankful for David, Rich, Joey and Joe who have mentored my son Nathan all through these years.
I’m grateful for Rica, Dar, Carla who have taken time to impart faith and life into the life of my daughter Janina.

Raising the next generation is so much better when we have partners who can help us.

Oh another thing, it is also great to bring our children into an environment where they can encounter God, hear the gospel of Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior.

Our kids ministry at Victory Fort recently had their Camp Equip for the pre teens and it was absolutely powerful.
Watch the video below.

 

Posted on

WHY GO TO THE NEXT GENERATION?

Why do we need to go to the next generation?

Joseph Bonifacio, in the closing session of the Every Nation World Conference, shares his thoughts.

“Our God is a multi-generational God.”

God’s promises are multigenerational.
God’s commands are mutligenerational.
God’s plans are multigenerational.

And that goes with His very nature. When you look at the Trinity, you see the Father in adoption, the Son in redemption and the Holy Spirit in sanctification.

Because God works multigenerationally, this gives us an example to follow.

“I am nobody without my dad. I don’t resent my father because he casts a big shadow. I thank Him for the shade.”

We have thousands of preachers but very few fathers.
We have 10,000 podcasts but few fathers.

That’s why when someone approaches us for correction, we end up getting offended. Offense alienates us.

There are those who don’t like correction. They end up with an independent spirit saying, “I’ll just go do my own thing.”

However, correction is critical. People who are not corrected, they are called something – orphans.

The prayer? As Jesus prayed in John 17:20, “may they be one as we are one.”

Why do we need to go to the next generation? They need to be fathered. And those who are fathers need the zeal, input and freshness of the next generation.

Posted on

SNIPPETS FROM THE WORLD PRAYER ASSEMBLY

Quick thoughts and quotes from the World Prayer Assembly Indonesia.

Here are some of the snippets.

To see what you’ve never seen, you’ll have to do what has never been done. (Ed Silvoso)

God has given us the mission mandate and the prayer mandate.
The mission mandate —> Matthew 2818-20. Go and make disciples of all nations.
The prayer mandate —> Matthew 9:38. Pray … to send forth workers… 

This generation has become a fatherless generation.
Today’s modern day orphans are those that are being parented by iPads, cable TV and Facebook. (Jerome Ocampo) 

 

Posted on

KEEP SOWING THE SEEDS

I got an email yesterday that made my day.  I’ve always believed in reaching the next generation – that it’s never too early to talk to them about Jesus.  As we plant the seed, someone else waters, ultimately, it is God who makes it grow.

To all those who teach in Kids Church and reach out to the next generation, I hope you will be encouraged by this email.

Hi Pastor Paolo:

Last Saturday, one of my nieces approached me (she’s currently in her 2nd year in college taking pharma) and she asked me about our Sunday services. I was surprised (but happy inside) that she asked me that question and so I told her all our Sunday services and the different locations of Victory where she can visit just in case she decides to attend one someday. Then she asked another question…another question…and I began to realize that the questions that she was throwing at me were all about the church. And so I began to use it as an opportunity to minister…then invite. I told her what happens in a service, how long does a service go,etc. Then I told her that we have this thing called Youth Service that is very appropriate to her age. As I began to describe to her what a youth service is, her other aunt (Mae Pearl) and I decided to invite her to this week’s Ignite Conference of which she is excited to go to with her friend. 🙂

We were already trying to call some friends and fellow staff from EN and Victory asking if there’s an extra 2 tickets that we can still get for our niece when my niece said, “Tita, remember you used to bring me to Kids Church? Kung nasaan nandun pa nga si Princess Punzalan? Naalala ko pa nga si Pastor Paolo Punzalan..sabi mo magkapatid sila.” And it was at this time na ako ang nagulat! 🙂 I can’t even remember that, yes, I brought her several times in Kids Church before when she was still a little kid. 🙂 Sabi ko sa kanya..”oo nga! dinala na nga pala kita before!” Now I remember, Pastor Paolo, that after the Kids Church service, she would show me the prizes na pinamimigay natin sa kanila noon. 🙂

I know you might have heard similar (more) stories like this before but I just want to share that indeed your labor is not in vain. She was around 7 or 6 years old at that time, and now she’s in her 2nd year in college and she still remembers your name and even ms. Princess’. 🙂

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. (2 Corinthians 3:7)

Posted on

IGNITE YOUTH CONFERENCE

If you are in high school, college or you have a heart to reach out to the next generation (or even just ‘feeling’-youth), you can’t miss out on this conference.

Ignite 2011 is on May 26-28, 2011.

See you there!

Posted on

NARCISSISM AMONG YOUTH

“Believe in yourself.”

“Have faith in yourself.”

“Let the children express themselves and discover the good inside of them.”

These are some of the statements you’ll hear these days.  The intention is pure yet statistics show that this hasn’t been the healthiest trend.

“Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all…” may not necessarily be a helpful statement.

Andrew McAffee wrote an article for Harvard Business Review recently talking about how young people today are getting more narcissistic.  Read his article here.

He mentioned a book by Jean Twenge and Keith Campbell entitled “The Narcissism Epidemic” and quotes an excerpt from the book.

“”We found that… college students in the 2000s were significantly more narcissistic than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. The Boomers, a generation famous for being self-absorbed, were outdone by their children. By 2006, two-thirds of college students scored above the scale’s original 1979-85 sample average, a 30% increase in only two decades… The upswing in narcissism appears to be accelerating: the increase between 2000 and 2006 was especially steep.”

Twenge and Campbell present a lot of evidence that “overconfidence backfires” and that narcissism does not equip people to succeed in today’s competitive world.  They really make good solo performers and make great entrepreneurs because of their high tolerance for risk.  But in most contexts, narcissism is a handicap.  It makes them less valuable professionals and less valued collegues.  In a world of increased team play, the one man show syndrome is not highly valued as we thought it would.

Jesus was right when He said that “to be the greatest, you have to be the least.”  He also said that to lead, you need to serve.

As parents, we need to teach our kids to learn the value of team and serving in that context.
As leaders, we need to exemplify the team spirit and realize I don’t have to be the know-it-all.
As citizens of a nation, lifting others up and putting their needs first may be an ultra revolutionary concept that will take this nation around.

“Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Jesus made it clear that our confidence, our strength and our source has to be Him and Him alone.