It’s Fall, and school is back in full swing. Footballs are flying, pom-poms are pomming, volleyballs are volleying, the smell of homework is in the air, and that can only mean one thing—it’s Proxy time once again. That’s right, Proxy is back at the LC starting Wednesday, October 1.

We’ll be starting a little earlier this season, at 5pm and going to 6:30pm. At 5pm we will gather for a little food and fellowship, and then dig into God’s Word together, pray together, and share life together. Why earlier, you ask? Praxis will also be happening on Wednesday evenings at the LC beginning at 6:30pm. We want to encourage our students to engage and participate in the community life of our campus at every level. Therefore, when appropriate, Proxy guys will be encouraged to attend our Real Men events, Proxy gals will be encouraged to attend the Ladies Night, and all will be encouraged to attend the Family Nights (a.k.a. All-Church event) the fourth Wednesday of each month.

The earlier time also allows for extended fellowship over coffee, bubble tea, etc after Proxy while still getting students home at a decent hour.

Proxy at the LC is for Junior and Senior High school students who want to learn what it means to be disciples of Jesus—not just learning, but living as image bearers of God, living lives of worship, loving each other and serving the Body, loving a world that doesn’t know Jesus and sharing the Gospel with them. Join us!

“Today’s parents are frustrated and confused.  Children don’t act like they should and parent’s don’t understand why.  Many have concluded the job is impossible…You can raise children in godly ways at the beginning of the 21st century.  You need not—indeed, you dare not—cave in, concluding that the task is impossible.  Experience may tell you failure is inevitable, but experience is an unsafe guide.  The only safe guide is the Bible…God’s ways have not proved inadequate.”

Those words from the introduction of Tedd Tripp’s book, Shepherding a Child’s Heart, resonate with many of us as parents and potential parents.  We want to raise our children in a God-honoring way—kids who love and follow Jesus, who honor their father and mother, who make good choices, who leave the nest with a biblical worldview and can defend and articulate their faith, who are salt and light in a world of decay and darkness.  We want children who are not only a blessing to us, but are a blessing to everyone who encounters them.  I won’t lie to you.  That kind of parenting is a huge responsibility and a monumental task, but there is hope and there is help.

On September 19th & 20th, Dr. Tedd Tripp will be leading the Biblical Parenting Seminar at MHC.  In the midst of a sea of parenting philosophies and resources Dr. Tripp offers sound, practical, and biblical help for parents.  He focuses not on controlling external behavior, as so many parenting approaches do, but on addressing the heart—the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23).  “When parenting short-circuits to behavior we miss the opportunity to help our kids understand that straying behavior displays a straying heart.  Our kids are always serving something, either God or a substitute for God—an idol of the heart.”

It is my desire to see you as parents and future parents equipped, resourced, and encouraged to disciple your own kids—to partner with you in reaching children for Jesus and helping them live transformed lives that live for Him.  The Biblical Parenting Conference will be a foundational equipping event for parents with children of all ages.  If you haven’t already, let me also encourage you to pick up Dr. Tripp’s book, Shepherding a Child’s Heart, and his newest book, Instructing a Child’s Heart, which focuses more specifically on helping our children build a biblical worldview—a way of interpreting life through the redemptive story of God.