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Family Devotion 2.19.25

“He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” John 3:30

We all have dreams when we are young of being someone famous who has lots of money. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a sports star. I loved playing all sports, but I really loved basketball. I dreamed of being a pro in basketball. I practiced hard every day in hopes of achieving that dream. 

This dream of becoming a professional basketball player was not to be. Instead, God had bigger plans for my life. He had been preparing me all my life for so much more. 

God had birthed me into an incredible home with loving, Godly parents. He had used my parents to live out His Word in front of me. This extraordinary God that I love had birthed me into what the world would call an ordinary home.

As my adult life began to unfold, I began what I believed was an ordinary life of family and work. All the while, our extraordinary God was preparing me to be involved in His work for my life. I still look back and wonder why an extraordinary God would choose me to serve Him in ministry.

I struggled for years trying to find God’s will for my life and wanting to be used of God. In 1991, God spoke to my heart in a way that I could only describe as life changing. It was then that He gave me life verse of John 3:30.

It was then that I knew that He must become the focus of my life. I knew then that God wanted to live in me and through me and that my priorities, my dreams, and my desires would no longer be important in terms of me. I knew that from that day forward that all those things were to be about Him.

In the years since, God has put me in positions of leadership serving Him in ministry. I have been blessed over the years to see God use ordinary me to lead extraordinary ministries. More than anything, God has shown me that the key to becoming a good leader is understanding that I must become less, and He must become more.

I still struggle with getting too big for my britches, but I love that God continually reminds me that I must become less. I pray that the truth of john 3;30 becomes a life reality for all of us as believers.

 

Have a great day!

Rick Calloway

Family Devotion 2.12.25

“Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions?” 1 Kings 18:21

We all have those moments in life when we are faced with what seems to be a difficult choice to make. In making those choices, what should we rely on to make the right choice? The far safer choice is to choose the option that has the best possibility of an outcome with some element of certainty. Most people are more likely to go with something or someone that you can count on in a pinch.

This is essentially the same situation that the prophet Elijah spoke about in 1 Kings 18 when he challenged the people of Israel to make a choice about who they were going to serve. He is asking them why they are vacillating between the one true God and other substitutes who have no real power.

If we are not careful, we can spend our lives chasing things that have no real power to satisfy our soul. The urgency of our jobs and the desire to chase the American dream can have us wavering as Elijah described. The things of this world will never be what we need in times of difficulty and crisis when we need someone or something to count on.

The truth is that most of life is lived in the valley and not on the mountain top. In the valley, we quickly discover that wavering in our faith is of no comfort. During those times, we find peace and comfort in serving the one true God. All of this begs the question then of why we do not just make serving God the priority of our lives.

Why not trust Him in both the good times and the bad times? Why waver on a God who can be trusted? I love how Deuteronomy 7:9 describes how faithful God is to those who choose to love and follow Him.

“Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commands.”

We all need someone to count on in this life. There is just no need to vacillate any longer. I pray that we will boldly step out in faith and trust and serve God with every bit of our lives. As Deuteronomy 7:9 says, He is a God who keeps His Word and “lavishes His unfailing love on us.”

What more could we ask for than to serve a God we can trust and one who loves us unconditionally?

Have a great day!

Rick Calloway

Partnering Together: Protecting our Children

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23 

The words of Solomon in Proverbs 4:23 are such a powerful statement to all of us as believers. He told us to “guard your heart above all else.” I believe that this advice is not only for us as individuals, but I have also always believed that as a parent it was my job to protect the hearts of my children until they were of age.

I also believe these days the internet and social media have made the job of protecting our children’s hearts even harder. What do we need to do to protect our children’s heart in this age of technology?

One of the areas that our kids need help and accountability in is that of social media. Social media has created a secret world in which our children will leave a digital footprint that could follow them the rest of their life.

Social media allows our children to create connections and interactions that are not altogether healthy. Research tells us that an online predator can capture the attention of a teenager in 8 minutes or less. Please don’t doubt the dangers of this as we regularly see these stories played out in children and teenagers being lured away by these predators.

Also, students do not often realize the consequences of what they are posting in what they believe is their own private world. This past spring, 10 students who were previously accepted to Harvard University had their acceptances rescinded because of their online social media behavior. Colleges are indeed looking at students’ social media footprints and most students do not realize it.

In addition, the idea of being secret and not accountable has also exploded inside the social media apps called Snapchat and Tik Tok.  Many of the ideas being promoted on Tik Tok are not healthy or wholesome.

The Pew Research group has found Snapchat to be a primary venue for sexting and cyberbullying amongst teenagers. Parents need to understand that kids enjoy these apps, because “it is one of the only apps that is relatively private, or so they think.” Even parents who do have access to their children’s Snapchat are unlikely to see the messages sent and received through the app as they disappear.

So, how do we guard their hearts in these areas of social media?

1) Make sure that your student is old enough and mature enough to handle a social media presence. 

2) Make sure as a parent that you have access to all their accounts and can see all that they post and who messages them.

 3) Finally, do not allow them to have apps such as Snapchat where they can be involved in things you cannot see.

Have a great day!

Rick Calloway

Family Devotion 2.5.25

“Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love.”
Francis of Assisi 

One of the greatest influences that a follower of Christ can have is to live for something bigger than themselves. It is easy for all of us in this human condition to get solely focused on ourselves.  

The truth is that everyone wants to be loved and deep down we do care what other people think about us. I am not saying this altogether wrong. It becomes a problem when it drives all aspects of our lives and consumes us.

How can we keep that from happening? What should we focus on instead as followers of Jesus? Francis of Assisi above begins to answer those questions with the idea of seeking to love others more than we seek to be loved.

I believe that God’s Word gives us clear direction on what we need to do this idea of loving others and not focusing our lives on ourselves. I want to share some of those with you.

1)     It’s Not About Me It’s About Jesus - Our lives should be about living for Him and bringing Him honor and Glory! “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” John 3:30
 

2)     It’s Not About Pleasing People It’s About Pleasing God - We need to live in such a way that the aim of our life is to please God and not be so focused on what others think. “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” Galatians 1:10
 

3)     It’s Not About Pleasing Me It’s About Serving Others - God is calling us to make a difference in others. He is commanding us to love others more than ourselves. “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” Philippians 2:3-4
 

The world desperately needs to see and experience this type of Christ followers. Ones that love Jesus and it is evident. Ones that think of others more than themselves and passionately love and serve others. 

I pray that these three thoughts from Scripture will not only bless you today but change our thinking daily!

Have a great day!

Rick Calloway

Family Devotion 1.22.25

“Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

We live in such a me-centered world it seems. Everyone is looking out for themselves. I have discovered something incredibly fun, inspiring, and purposeful about life that I want to share with you. It is what gets me out of bed in the morning.

That discovery for me is that I have learned to live life with a purpose a whole lot bigger than myself. That purpose is to live to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. What do I mean by that? I mean that I want to live and serve King Jesus in all that I do. 

As I have pursued that goal in life, I have seen my focus change from me and what I want to how I can make a difference in the lives of others for Jesus. Now don’t get me wrong, I have not arrived, and I have my moments of selfishness. But my heart and my daily desire to live for that purpose that is so much bigger than me. 

I love Dr. King’s question above that says: “What are you doing for others?" I would add: “What are you doing for Jesus? What do we really live for? I know how hard life can be and how easy it is to get caught up in things that steal our time and rob our joy. I know how easy it is to get consumed with the demands of this life.

My prayer is that we all might stop for a minute and look at our lives and consider whether we are living for a purpose bigger than ourselves. Are we living on a purpose in relationship with God and serving Him?

As a child of God, 1 Peter 2:9 reminds us of who we are and what our focus should be. 

“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

Don’t miss this verse!! I love the intensity of this verse. We are His chosen people!!We are His possession. We shouldn’t be like other people! We should be different. We should love people and realize this life is not about us but living for Him.

And because of all that God has done for us through the cross and His love for us, we should be showing others the goodness of God! We are the light that needs to shine through the darkness of this culture to give others the hope of Jesu Christ!

So, I leave you with Dr. King’s question. “What are we doing for others?” I pray that the truth of 1 Peter 2:9 would set our hearts on fire again to live for God and pursue a life of following Him and showing others the goodness of God!

Have a great day!

Rick Calloway

Rev. Rick Calloway
Head of School


 

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