We began a new series at North Side today called “Satisfaction.” The picture of Mic Jagger says it all:

Mic and the Rolling Stones have been singing that song since 1965. And he is still singing it today. He still hasn’t found satisfaction. And so many of us are in the same boat. We look to find satisfaction in so many different arenas in our lives but we always come up short.

We started today talking about people who look for satisfaction in Worldly Pleasure.  In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon confesses that he tried everything he could find to find satisfaction, but he couldn’t find it.

I prayed today that this message hits home with me.  I pray it hits home with my friends.  I know so many people who keep stumbling in the same areas.  We keep making reolutions and make them the next year too.  We keep making promises to our family and even God that we can’t even back up.  People who try to find satisfaction in more money, more booze, more pleasure, but they just can’t find it.

If you keep coming back in the following weeks, we are going to go through Solomon’s book.  We’re going to look at how he tried to find satisfaction but only found it in one thing.  So come on back next week and bring some friends.  We are going to be talking about “Never-Ending Work.”

We worshipped today to the following songs:

• Everyday – Hillsong United
  
• Everything – Chris Tomlin
  
• Marvelous Light – Charlie Hall
  
• Jesus Paid it All – Kristian Stanfill
  
• Make Me Holy – Travis Agnew

Here’s another section out of the upcoming book, Freshman 15.  Hope you like:

When I was in elementary school, all of my friends used to play a particular game during class.  You would diagram different columns into who you would marry, what job would you have, where would you live, etc.  This game had one important rule: you had to give four good options on the list and one bad option.  For example, you would provide four names of people you wanted to marry, and then provide one name at the bottom of someone you did not want to marry.  You would do that in all the columns.  You would then get a number where you would start marking out each column by that number until your entire life was figured out on that small piece of tablet paper.
Wouldn’t it be great if it were that easy?  It would be simple if our life decisions could be discerned through this simple process especially in the area of dating.  Most people come to college and are excited about the dating possibilities.  You come into contact with all these people that are ignorant of all of your previous drama.  They don’t know if you were in a relationship for your entire high school career.  Word hasn’t gotten out on campus that you’re a playa who struggles with commitment issues.  Maybe they don’t even know that you actually didn’t date at all in high school because you were too socially awkward.  Whatever your case is, when you enter into college, you have this amazing chance to start anew.
In your first few weeks of college, it’s easy to get overwhelmed at the amount of prospects and possibly the greater amount of rejects for you to date.  Some of the people begin to perk your curiosity.  You sit behind someone in biology that actually makes you look forward to going to class.  You go to an organizational meeting and in one of the cheesy icebreakers you meet someone and you swear you hear light rock love songs playing in the airwaves around you.  Or maybe it’s that person that you seem to run into all the time around campus that you are attracted to but you just haven’t gotten the nerve up to say, “hey, I see you all the time, in the halls and in my dreams, and I was wondering if you are carrying any major relationship baggage with you that would be scare me off from asking you out?”
The scary thing about dating in college is that you know you must at least start thinking long-term.  Even if you don’t see yourself getting married right after graduation, you realize that every date in college has a heavier weight attached to it than it used to.  To be honest, you can’t be too serious about your dating decisions in college.  Even if you are accident-prone when it comes to relationships, there is a good probability that if you start a dating relationship in college, it could actually lead towards marriage.  Even if it doesn’t lead to marriage, the issues that develop from your relationships during this time will significantly impact your relationships to come.
The dating warning in college is this: if mission does not define the relationship, then the relationship will determine the mission.  When I speak of mission, I am talking about your particular purpose for why you are on this earth.  Unfortunately, mission cannot be to marry a rich doctor and have two point five kids.  That may be a goal, but your mission is something that transcends you.  It’s not something you came up with.  Your mission is something that is given to you by God.  And if mission does not define the relationship, then the relationship will determine the mission.

Just a reminder: Shane and Shane, Starfield, and David Nassar are coming to North Side on Feb. 24. Tickets will go on sale as soon as I get them from the Shanes’ manager. I will post it on here as soon as they become available so keep checking back!

Here’s a clip of Shane and Shane for those of you who may not be as familiar with their music:

How your baby’s growing:

Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound.

His skin will continue to appear wrinkled until he gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his head and body is now visible. His lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath her gum line. His eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in pl

ace, and his pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.

I’m still waiting to feel his first kick. Amanda is feeling it all the time, and she says he does these weird rolls from time to time. But everytime Daddy gets near, he doesn’t kick big enough for me to feel it.

Stubborn boy. He’s already like his dad.

Don’t drop your kids off at church, bring them home to it.

On Sunday, Jeff and I tag-team preached on the issue of the family. You don’t have to browse too much on my blog to see that I’m pretty excited about my baby boy that is on the way. What I don’t say often enough is how scared I am for him to get here. I’m not scared about sleepless nights, limited freedom, uncontrollable projectile vomit, or deadly diapers.  I’m scared I might not be a good dad to Obadiah.  I want to do right by him and I only have one chance at raising him.

That’s part of why we went in that direction on Sunday.  We truly want to equip parents to disciple their children.  We have witnessed a growing phenomenon in the church – more and more parents are dropping their kids off at church but never bringing the topic of God into the home.  We expect trained “professionals” to spiritually raise our kids since we are uncomfortable with the task ourselves.

I think what was so great about Sunday was the response I got from many parents.  Many of our parents understand their biblical role, accept that task, but they just have no clue where to start.  Hang on – help is coming!

A couple of reasons I was concerned about preaching that message:

1. Misunderstanding – Often people will hear things in messages that were never intended to be communicated.  By Sunday’s message, we were by no way saying we are going to cut back on children and youth ministry.  They will actually improve in the coming months!  But we love your kids too much to just solely rely on those methods.  The programs are going to improve, but we are going to focus on our best shot at raising your kids – you!
2. Regret – Some empty-nesters may feel regret because they didn’t intentionally raise their kids to love God.  Here’s a word for you: just because your child has grown, does not mean that God doesn’t still want to use you in their lives.  I think one of the greatest testimonies for your child to see is the dramatic difference that Christ has made and is currently making in  your life.  So you may not have been the best parent years ago, how much impact will it have on them when you turn your life around and start telling them how Jesus changed you?!
3. Neglect – I am worried that some parents in the room were thinking, “gee, I hope so and so over there is listening.” It is so easy to see specks in others’ eyes and not notice the log in our own.  Evaluate your own spiritual growth.  Evaluate your home.  Ask tough questions like: When was the last time I talked to my kid about my personal spiritual walk (not church, but personal)?  When did I lead our family to grow together by serving in a ministry?  This Christmas, did I talk to my kids or grandkids more about Jesus or Santa Clause (don’t even get me started on this one…)
4. Problem-Solving Mode – If your home is not what it needs to be, don’t expect an outside source to correct the problem.  Don’t rely on a minister, a program, or another person.  The best help for your kids is you!  Your relationship with them speaks volumes to their understanding of God and helps shape their theology.  Don’t try to put a band-aid on something that needs surgery.  Don’t look for the quick fix.

Please pray for us.  You and I are made to worship – and we are going to do everything at North Side to help equip you to evangelize and disciple your children.

To listen to the whole message, go here.