Download the form below and register for AWANA at Blue Ridge Bible Church! Just bring the completed form with payment to the first night of AWANA on September 12. We look forward to seeing you there!

AWANA 2010-2011 Registration Form

Learn more about AWANA at Blue Ridge by following this link.

The 2010/2011 year begins on Sunday, September 12th! Registration begins at 5:30 pm. Our registration costs have not changed in several years. Dues are $25 per clubber with additional costs for supplies. This cost covers the ENTIRE year! We meet for a total of 29 weeks so it is less than a dollar per week to train your child to know God better and love Him more.

Our leader training will take place on Sunday, August 29th from 7 to 9 pm for Sparks/Cubbie Leaders and Friday, September 10th from 7 to 9 pm for T&T/Trek Leaders. If you are feeling the Lord tugging at your heart to participate in this dynamic ministry which reaches boys and girls with the Gospel of Christ and trains them to serve Him, please contact Earl & Geni Hall (earl@phc.edu, genihall@aol.com).

We also have an opportunity for youth to lead. Leaders-in-Training is for clubbers age 14 to 18. We have an LIT program that trains tomorrow’s leaders today. Each week, the LIT’s get practical training working as a leader and modeling their Christian walk to younger clubbers. In addition, the LIT’s are required to complete the 24/7 Bible curriculum which helps keep the LIT’s grounded in prayer, Bible memorization and scripture reading. This is an excellent program for the older teens who feel called to lead the next generation in their spiritual training. Attendance at the Leader’s Training meeting on August 29 or September 10 is required.

For the fall, we will be working on three songs from the Young Musicians 4.2 album. We will be working on the following songs:

1. He is the One
2. There is No Greater Joy
8. Come Let Us Worship

These songs are available for purchase on iTunes for $0.99 each. I will not be purchasing CDs and songbooks at this time, so if you’d like to listen to the songs at home, you can do so by purchasing them from iTunes.

I’m looking forward to a great year of praise!

-Christy Shipe

High Seas Expedition Vacation Bible School at Blue Ridge Bible Church

July 12‐16, 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Ages 5‐11
(VBS classes available for VBS workers children ages 4 and younger)

Cost: $15 per child to cover t‐shirt, crafts, snacks and supplies

DVD’s of VBS music will be available for $5 each

Registration starts on June 20th

Look for our High Seas Expedition float in the Purcellville 4th of July Parade

UPDATE: We had a tremendous show Friday night! If anyone has photos please send them to us! Hopefully we’ll have a video that we can put up at some point. Thanks everyone!

Any parents, grandparents, teens, tweens, or young adults out there looking for a way to meld the hip and pop culture of 3D technology with the tried and true values of faith? Then hold the date of Friday, May 7, and show up at BRBC at 7 p.m. for our children’s musical called “Under God’s Sea in 3D.”

Join the cast of Jonas P. Joppa and the rest of the God Squad from Alleluia Aquatic Academy as they venture out in a submarine to learn more about God through His underwater world. Under Professor Gill’s direction, the students learn to navigate the sometimes murky waters of life by seeking God’s Word daily. Once they ask God to open their eyes, ears, and hearts, they begin to realize the depth of God’s love for them. The song “Joyful Noise” features innovative 3D animation and is bound to make a splash with the entire audience from 1 to 91.

Children’s music director Christy Shipe is directing a choir of 56 singers and 8 actors in this action packed musical. Enthusiasm exudes from Christy each week as she leads the children in learning numerous songs that they perform for the congregation at Blue Ridge Bible Church. But she says this 50-minute musical “raises the bar for what we do in choir.”

She says the musical lets people see God in three ways: through creation, the Bible, and a changed life as one of the actors learns to depend on God to help him with his attitude. Preparing to teach the songs has already affected her. “The song ‘Open the Eyes of My Heart’ has helped me to want to reach out to those who are lonely and hurting,” said Christy.

“We are going to do this with excellence,” said Christy to a room full of parents committed to building sets, serving refreshments, and creating costumes. She is teaching the children the message of Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.”

There is no charge for admission, so bring the whole family out to enjoy “Under God’s Sea in 3D!”

Families with children in the musical “Under God’s Sea in 3D” need to order a t-shirt for each child using the following form. T-shirts will cost approximately $2 to $3 each. Please sign up by Wednesday, April 14.

T-Shirt Info: Every child who is participating in the musical needs to order a t-shirt except for the six children on the submarine. The t-shirts tend to run small, so plan to order to the next size up from what your child usually wears. We will distribute the shirts and collect payments during the week of the musical.

Fish Info: You may use this form to sign up your child to be a fish in the musical. The fish will miss the first song of the musical but have a fantastic entrance on the second song, if that makes a difference to your child. They will be onstage for two songs and then rejoin the choir for the rest of the musical. I’m looking for approximately 15-20 children ages 7-9 to be the fish. Also, I’m asking all the moms of fish to help make their child’s “costume” (it will be a posterboard cut-out) on the afternoon of Sunday, April 25 at the church. Your child will be able to create their own fish within reason (think dolphins, sea turtles, starfish, seahorses, etc.). Even if I’ve already told you that your child could be a fish, please use this form to sign them up so I have a record. Thanks!

We are getting excited about preparations for our new Children’s Choir musical Under God’s Sea in 3D scheduled for performance on Friday, May 14. Although there are no auditions needed to be a part of the choir, we will be holding auditions for speaking roles and solos Sunday, March 21 (12:30 – 1:30pm–after Worship Service in the quad room) and Wednesday, March 24 (6:30 – 7:00pm / 8:00 – 8:30pm–before and after choir rehearsal). Auditions will be videotaped and evaluated by a panel of judges. Results will be announced by Wednesday, March 31. Please continue reading for more important information regarding the musical and auditions.

About the Musical

This full-length musical play (about 50 minutes long) will be performed with full sets and costumes and will highlight the entire choir. No audition is necessary to be a part of this exciting performance. The entire choir will be singing nine fantastic, high-energy songs that speak God’s truth in a powerful way.

The musical centers on five students of the Alleluia Aquatic Academy who are completing their final exam by diving under the sea in a supersonic submarine to explore God’s creation. Along the way, they learn important spiritual lessons, including God’s forgiveness for sin and offer of salvation.

The spiritual truths taught in this musical can best be explained by Celeste Clydesdale, composer of Under God’s Sea in 3D: “The idea for this musical came from several verses in Scripture about asking the Lord to open the eyes of our heart. (Eph. 1:18, Psalm 119:18, 2 Cor. 4:18) Once we become a new creation and the eyes of our hearts are opened, I wanted to teach that there are three ways the Lord reveals Himself to His children. First of all, creation itself communicates volumes to us. (Rom. 1:20) The song “Joyful Noise” teaches this truth. Another way God reveals Himself is through His word. (“Daily Diving Deeper” is the song that emphasizes this point.”) I want our children to know that when they open the Bible, God will speak and reveal Himself to them every time! Finally, I heard someone say once, “Show me your redeemed life and then I will want to meet your Lord the Redeemer.” There is nothing we can do to glorify Christ more than to let Him reign daily in our lives. “Call on Jesus” teaches this truth.”

Auditions

Auditions are only necessary for the 7 speaking roles (the five students on the sub plus two more on shore), the role of Jonah, and several solos that are available. The five students on the sub have speaking as well as singing parts in the show.

Speaking and Singing Roles
All students who try out for one of the following five roles must successfully demonstrate both acting skills and solo singing ability. The following descriptions give information on each character along with the material that should be prepared from the choir book for the audition.

Jonas P. Joppa (boy)
Bright but rebellious, Jonas is the captain of the God Squad; he secretly plans to break the rules and pursue his own adventurous pursuits. Prepare page 25, 70, and 98-99 for acting audition; Solos 1, 2 and 3 from “The Test” on pages 27-28 and solo on pages 104-105 from “Call on Jesus” for singing audition.

TJ Fretmeister (boy)
Loyal, always anxious, TJ mans the underwater video camera and finds himself drawn into Jonas’ secret plans. Prepare page 25 and 87 for acting audition; Solos 1, 2 and 3 from “The Test” on pages 27-28 and solo on pages 101-102 from “Call on Jesus” for singing audition.

Casey Bickerman (girl)
The non-identical twin sister to Taylor, she shares her sister’s tendency toward argumentation; she is assigned to the sub’s periscope. Prepare pages 24-25 for acting audition; Solos 1, 2 and 3 from “The Test” on pages 27-28 and solo on pages 38-39 from “Open the Eyes of My Heart” for singing audition.

Taylor Bickerman (girl)
The non-identical twin sister to Casey, she naturally shares her sister’s quarreling nature; she is assigned to the sub’s sonar. Prepare pages 24-25 for acting audition; solo on page 39 from “Open the Eyes of My Heart” and solo on page 105 from “Call on Jesus” for singing audition.

Waldo Pointer (boy)
Often lost but possessing a true inner compass, Waldo ably mans the sub’s computer GPS radar. Prepare page 24 for acting audition and Solos 1, 2 and 3 from “The Test” on pages 27-28 for singing audition.

Speaking Roles

Amber (girl)
Successfully directs transmitter station one on shore. Prepare pages 26 and and 95 for audition.

Jordan (girl)
Successfully directs transmitter station two on shore. Prepare pages 26 and and 95 for audition.

Non-Speaking Acting Role with Solo

Jonah, in the song “A Whale of a Tale.” Prepare solo on pages 80-81 and be prepared to mime some of the story contained in the song.

Solos

“Open the Eyes of My Heart” – page 43, Solo 1, Solo 2, Solo 3

“Daily Diving Deeper” – page 59-60, Solo (may go to one person or be divided up among up to three people)

Non-Speaking Acting Roles – no audition needed

fish, jellyfish, coral, whale puppeteers

Here is the order form you should fill out if you’d like your children to be a part of our spring musical, “Under God’s Sea in 3D.” It’s an exciting musical that teaches children about how God reveals Himself to us through His creation, His Word, and His people. Children ages 7 to 13 are welcome to join us for our rehearsals from 7 to 8pm each Wednesday night. The order form is below.

I was recently inspired by an article I read by a well-known pastor and his wife on parenting and the Sunday morning church service. In the article, they shared a vision for making the Sunday morning service meaningful for children rather than just an experience to be endured. They gave many practical tips to help parents mentor their children into a richer understanding of the service.

One of the ideas they shared was for parents to encourage their children  to  take notes during  the sermon.  My  first  thought was how hard  this would be  for my kids  (who are ages seven, nine, and ten) because it’s hard enough for me! But I decided to give it a  try.  I  gave  them  some basic  instructions  and  encouragement and we tried it out.

The first Sunday of note taking was a little rough. I had to remind them a few times to keep it up during the sermon, and they had trouble knowing what to write. Like I said, note‐taking isn’t easy. But one thing I did notice was that for the most part, they were paying attention during the whole sermon.  It felt like a small but significant step forward.

The  next  thing  I  did  that  really  helped was  create  a  one-page, note-taking form for them to use. The form  includes boxes that hopefully get them thinking about what to look for in the sermon. The boxes give  them  special places  to write down the main verse, other verses, big  idea or main point, what I should do, words I don’t know, and extra lines for additional notes.

As an  Easter gift  to  our  kids, Christy made them each a decorated three-ring binder in which they can keep their sermon notes. They loved the binders and are excited about writing down things on the form each week.

We’ve been using this form for a couple months now, and I’ve been really impressed with the results. It is incredible to me how quickly they’ve been able to learn this skill and how much they are able to write down. The other significant thing is they are doing their best to pay attention to the sermon now. Some weeks are better than others, and sometimes they give up or get frustrated, but we’ve found that they are really growing in it and
making  progress. They are learning important life skills in listening and note taking, and I want to deliberately help them grow in these areas.

Another great benefit we’ve found from the note taking is it gives us an opportunity to talk about the sermon as a family. At dinner on Mondays, we all get out our notes and walk through the  sermon. Christy and I help the kids fill in parts that they missed, and we explain the parts that were hard for them to understand. This also reinforces the big ideas for Christy and me too!

In the May newsletter, Jack talked about worship “preflight” and how important it is to get ready in advance to worship. That pre-worship preparation is important for success in teaching your children to take notes.
Ultimately, our family goal is to teach our children about the incredible value of worship and learning in a community of believers. As a parent, I also need to teach my kids through my actions about the exciting opportunity we  have  on  Sunday mornings  to  corporately worship our God and Savior. My kids need to see me truly excited about worshiping God in order to fully incorporate this lesson into their lives.

Download the pdf here:

Please use the form below to order BRBC Children’s Choir t-shirts for your child(ren). Orders must be placed by Thursday, November 5, 2009 so that we will have them in time for our November 20 production of “Lighthouse Fire Station.”

Here are the results from the Children’s Choir auditions for “Lighthouse Fire Station”:

Actors:

• Fireman Fred – Liam S.
• Caleb – Emma S.
• John – Suzanne B.
• Riley – John R.

Solos:

• Get Down Verse 1 – Amanda G. & Eleanor B.
• Get Down Verse 2 – Rachel & Rebecca Z.
• The Good Fight 1 – Rachel S.
• The Good Fight 2 – Allie S.
• The Good Fight 3 – Natalie G.
• The Good Fight 4 – Anna T.
• I Believe – Addison G.

Non-Speaking Actors:

To be determined

Our performance of the mini-musical “Lighthouse Fire Station” will be on Friday, November 20, 2009. We will be performing at the church as part of a special night of worship. Since the date has been pushed back from our original October date, I have decided to also push back the auditions in order to give more time for the children to prepare. Auditions will be held on Wednesday, October 14 from 6:30 – 7:00 pm and on Wednesday, October 21 from 6:30 – 7:00 pm.

There are four speaking roles available (each role can be either a boy or a girl) and several non-speaking acting roles as well. The non-speaking roles will consist of a soldier dressed up in the armor of God as well as the kids who will help “dress” him in the armor. If your child is interested in any of the acting roles (speaking or non-speaking), please have him or her audition for one of the speaking roles so I can get a sense of their acting ability. I’ll be asking the kids at the time of auditions which role they prefer.

There are also seven solos available in the mini-musical: two solos in “Get Down”; four solos in “The Good Fight” (we’re splitting each verse into two solos rather than just one); and one in “I Believe.”

Anyone in the choir is welcome to audition for any role or solo. Children may audition for both an acting role and a solo. However, each child will only receive one part in the musical in order to allow as many children as possible to play a special part in the production. And please keep in mind that ALL the children will be a part of the musical by singing in the choir! The choir as a whole is the main “star” of the show.

We usually have quite a few children audition for each production (usually 20+), so many children may not get a role. However, one of the reasons we hold auditions is to help children develop their performing abilities by performing solo in front of the choir. The process of auditioning itself is very beneficial in advancing singing and acting skills and in conquering nerves. I truly believe everyone who auditions will benefit from the experience. Can’t wait to see the auditions!

Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed!!

Our first Awana meeting will be on September 13th. Our leader training will take place on Sunday, August 28th from 7 to 9 pm and Saturday, September 12th from 7 to 9 pm. If you are feeling the Lord tugging at your heart to participate in this dynamic ministry which reaches boys and girls with the Gospel of Christ and trains them to serve Him, please contact Earl & Geni Hall (earlwmhall [at] aol.com, genihall [at] aol.com). We also have an opportunity for youth to lead. Read on for more details!

Leaders-in-Training is for clubbers age 14 to 18. We have an LIT program that trains tomorrow’s leaders today. The female LIT’s work closely with our Cubbies program. The male LIT’s work with the Sparks. Each week, the LIT’s get practical training working as a leader and modeling their Christian walk to younger clubbers. In addition, the LIT’s are required to complete the 24/7 Bible curriculum which helps keep the LIT’s grounded in prayer, Bible memorization and scripture reading. This is an excellent program for the older teens who feel called to lead the next generation in their spiritual training. Attendance at the Leader’s Training meeting on August 30 or September 12 is required.

While you are out back-to-school shopping, keep in mind we will be doing Operation Christmas Child again this year. This is a perfect time to pick up extra inexpensive items to put in your shoe box for the holiday season. In this tight economical times, it is nice to save pennies where we can! Just wanted you to have a heads up in your shopping to plan ahead for the shoe box ministry. For more information, check out the How to Pack a Shoebox page on the Samaritan’s Purse website.

Here are two new songs we are learning in Children’s Choir. The mp3 that for some reason is titled “A Wise Man” is actually a song titled “I Will Do My Best For Jesus.” Please have your child listen to this song as much as possible as we will be performing it in only a few weeks, on October 18 in the worship service. It is the second sound clip below. The other song, “Half a Million Reasons,” is tentatively scheduled for a November performance.

Our children’s choir is starting up again on Wednesday, September 9 from 7:00 – 8:00 pm, and we’d love to have your elementary-age children join us! Children ages 7 to 13 as of January 1, 2010 are welcome to participate. No previous musical experience is necessary.

We’ve got an exciting year planned for the choir with several musical productions in the works as well as regular performances planned in the worship service. Our first production–a mini-musical entitled “Lighthouse Fire Station”–is tentatively scheduled for a special October performance. This musical will teach children about the reality of spiritual warfare and the importance of maintaining a close relationship with the Lord in order to fight the battles that are sure to come. Stay tuned for announcements on auditions for acting roles and solos available in this production.

For all the details on children’s choir–including information on rehearsals, costs, policies, and how to sign up for the choir email list–please go to our choir homepage.

When:
August 3-7, 9am-noon (kids will perform in the Sunday morning service on August 9th at 11am)

Where:
Blue Ridge Bible Church

Who:
Kids who have completed Kindergarden‐5th grade (Ages 5‐11). Youth Helpers must be 12 years old to assist at VBS. We will have nursery available and a class for kids age 3‐5 for VBS Workers.

Registration:
Will be held on Sunday mornings in the lobby starting July 19th. Cost is $15 per child for ages 3 and older (This covers a t‐shirt, crafts, supplies, and snacks)

Online registration form coming soon!

Acts 16:6-10

Sermon May 3, 2009

From the Praise Night on March 13, 2009.

Whisper to a Roar hosted their first full concert at the church this evening. Everyone had a great time and Jeremy Horn was great. They put on a great show and it was a very worshipful time of enjoying good music and praising God. I look forward to the next Whisper to a Roar event!

Good job Andre for the whole event and Tom running sound and Carter on the the lights. Read on to see a good sample of Jeremy Horn’s music.

Everyone is encouraged to attend a Blue Ridge Night of Praise on Friday, March 13, 7:00-8:00 p.m. The children’s choirs will be presenting the mini-musical “Heaven’s Kitchen,” and there will be a great time of fellowship and praising the Lord through music together with our worship team. It’s for the whole family. Childcare will not be provided.

The Children’s Choir is working hard on our next musical production titled “Heaven’s Kitchen.” We will be performing this mini-musical as part of a special praise night event at the church on Friday, March 13. Solo and acting parts have been decided as follows:

Top Chef – Corrie Bozarth

Krista – Addison Gossage

Franklin – Carlos Fernandes

Paul – Caleb Gossage

Silas – Joel Tigges

Jailer – Matthew Kirkwood

Crowd – Beto Berry, Rebekah Mickahail, Tuyin Powell

Jailhouse Rock solos
Solo 1 – Anna Tigges
Solo 2 – Emma Shipe
Solo 3 – Suzanna Bozarth
Solo 4 – Natalie Garvis

Fruit That is Rooted solo – Amanda Garvis

Dancers
Chloe Chambers
Catherine Fernandes
Renee Garvis
Alandace Gossage
Amelie Kirkwood
Skylar Powell
Allie Shipe
Rachel Shipe
Hannah Thomas

Due to inclement weather and road conditions, Children’s Choir has been cancelled for tonight, Janary 28. The second round of auditions for “Heaven’s Kitchen” is rescheduled for Wednesday, February 4 from 6:30 – 7:00 p.m. Please see the choir calendar on the choir homepage for a complete schedule.

Auditions for parts in the upcoming BRBC Children’s Choir mini-musical will be held on Wednesday, January 21 and 28 from 6:30 – 7:00 p.m. each night before regular rehearsal begins.

CDs of the musical are available for $5 each. Also, children may borrow the book that contains the written music and speaking parts in order to prepare for auditions. However, they must bring the books with them to each rehearsal and return them to the church at the completion of the musical. You may keep the CD.

Every effort will be made to give unique roles to each child who auditions. With 23 parts available, we should be able to accommodate the vast majority of those who try out. Although each child is welcome to try out for multiple roles (i.e. an acting role and a solo), each person will only receive one part in the musical.

AUDITION INFORMATION

Here are the parts available for the musical (titled “Heaven’s Kitchen”):

Speaking Parts (Total: 3):

• Top Chef – older boy or girl
• Franklin – boy
• Krista – girl

Non-speaking acting roles (Total: 6):

• Paul – boy
• Silas – boy
• Jailer – boy
• Crowd – 3 people, boys or girls

Note: All actors should try out for a speaking role. Non-speaking actors will be cast based on their audition for one of the principal speaking roles. Each child will be asked at the audition which part they prefer.

Solos (Total: 5):

• Jailhouse Rock! – 4 solos available
• Fruit That is Rooted in You – 1 solo available

Dancers (Total: 9):

Dancers do not need to audition. They will be selected from those who audition who do not receive another part and / or randomly from a list of interested children during regular rehearsal.

Children’s Choir rehearsals resume this Wednesday, January 7 from 7pm – 8pm. We will be working on a mini-musical entitled “Heaven’s Kitchen.” It’s a musical about praising God no matter the circumstances and includes four very fun songs–my kids can’t stop singing them! We will be using a CD and book to learn this musical. The book has been purchased by the church, but the CD will need to be purchased by each family in order to take one home. The CD is $5. You will only need 1 per family, and you get to keep the CD.  There are actually 3 mini-musicals on this CD that we will be using in the coming months.
Because we are working on a musical that has acting parts, we will NOT be holding our regular Sr. Choir rehearsal from 8 – 8:30 pm. Instead, we will use that time to rehearse speaking roles once we audition for those roles. We will be holding auditions at the end of January. Until then, the whole choir will rehearse from 7 – 8pm with no Sr. Choir rehearsal.

Through a simple gift-filled shoe box, Operation Christmas Child brings the excitement of Christmas and the good news of God’s love to children in desperate situations around the world. An amazing 7.6 million shoe boxes were shipped to more than 100 countries last year. Over 600 of them came from BRBC! Everyone can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project. The national collection week for the shoe boxes is November 17-22. BRBC again will be a collection center (Monday-Friday 5:30-7:30 p.m. & Saturday 9-Noon). For more information, or if you would like to volunteer in the collection center (16 & up only), please contact Courtney Shipe (allshipesandsizes[at]gmail.com).

Auditions for a child’s solo available in the upcoming Christmas play will be held next Wednesday, November 5, from 6:30 – 7:00 p.m. in the choir room before regular choir rehearsal begins. The solo is in the song “Son of God”, and everyone who is interested in auditioning should have already received the written music to take home. Please contact Christy Shipe [clshipe at gmail.com] if you have any questions.

Here are some recordings of the BRBC Children’s Choir performance at church on October 19. The choir did a fantastic job! The song that the seniors sang, “Come, Christians, Join to Sing” was arranged for them by Christy Shipe (original lyrics: Christian H. Bateman; traditional Spanish melody; new lyrics & melody: Christy Shipe) and the accompaniment track was performed and recorded by Tom Gossage and Christy Shipe. Thanks to all who worked to make this song a unique performance at Blue Ridge Bible Church!

The song that the whole choir sang, “By Faith,” was written by Dan Whittemore, arranged by Joseph Linn, and published by Lillenas Publishing, Co. Special thanks to Katie Gicker for live accompaniment on piano!

Everyone is invited to the Tigges home for a great time of outdoor activities, food, music, games for all ages, costume contest (nothing spooky, please). The cost is $5.00 per car and the fun starts at 6:00 p.m. Check out our website or the October newsletter for complete details or contact Jon Tigges (jon.tigges[at]gmail.com) to find out how you can sign up to lead or create contests and games.

I’ve enjoyed being a part of the Wednesday morning men’s small group at Jon Tigges’s home where we are going through “The Quest for Authentic Manhood” by Robert Lewis. The format is watching a presentation by Lewis on DVD and then discussing the material among the men present.

Side note: “The Quest for Authentic Manhood” and getting together with other men has been a fantastic time and if you can work it into your schedule I encourage you to make a commitment to it. I hope to see you there!

Something that struck me this morning that I wanted to share are five things Lewis listed as being what every son wants and needs from his father. This aspect is just part of his larger point which I won’t share here but the points on fathering sons was excellent.

Got a son? Read on …

1. Time Together – Lewis said that “Memories are the markers of life.” Every boy wants that time where it is “just me and dad.” He wants to go out and throw the ball and pretend they are in the Super Bowl together or put together that model or just hang out and laugh. Proverbs 17:6 in part says that “the glory of sons is their fathers.”

2. Life Skills – Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Robert Lewis described “life skills” as the stuff we need to know to get by in life. It might be practical skills like how to change a flat tire, or the oil in your car, or how to tie a tie. Popular Mechanics pubished 100 Skills Every Man Should Know that might be a starting point for the practical stuff. But there are also emotional and spiritual life skills that need to be taught. For example we men generally have a hard time understanding our emotions and how to share from our heart. Sharing from your heart and understanding your emotions is an important life skill that fathers can help train and teach to their sons. Other life skills… How do I treat a woman? When is it appropriate to laugh and goof around or to be serious?

3. Direction with Solid “Why” Answers – Lewis described this as the philosophical stuff of life. “What is really important in life?” “What is life about?” “What is my ultimate purpose in life?” It could be described also as our convictions about higher truths. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says “These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.”

4. Convictions Through Modeling – This is the influence of your words plus your convictions lived out in what you model in life. This point in equation form: Your Convictions + What you Say + Your Model in Action = Your Integrity. It is showing him through the model of how you actually live your life. The son knows the real father and not just the veneer or what he says. 1 Thessalonians 2:10-11 makes this point very well, “You are witnesses, and so is God, as to how holy and righteous and blameless our conduct was toward you who believe. As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his own children”

5. Dad’s Heart – Lewis said this is what sons need most of all from dad. It means that the son is loved and affirmed by his dad. He said there are three things every son wants to grow up and leave home with confidence having heard from dad: 1) I love you, 2) I’m proud of you, and 3) You are good at _____ [fill in the blank]. Lewis said even today as a grown man “I wish my dad would come out of the grave and tell me these things.” Jesus the Son recieved these things from God the Father. Check out Matthew 17:5 how God says all these things about Jesus: “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my one dear Son [I love you, son!], in whom I take great delight [I'm proud of you, son!]. Listen to him!’ [hey everyone, my son has something good to say!]“