11 minute read
FAMILY DISCIPLESHIP: JETTS
FAMILY DISCIPLESHIP
WITH THE JETTS
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BY CHRIS AND KATIE JETT
When Chris and I were asked to write an article on parenting, we laughed a little bit.
So much of our life right now is nothing like the intentional nightly devotionals and godly play activities my type-A self loves.
It looks more like a husband with a demanding job and three kids (David, 7, Andrew, 5, and Caroline, 4) who are accumulating activities at a rapid pace. We are in the car and on the ball field a lot. We went from the years of diapers and feeding babies in high chairs to the years of feeding our big kids in the back seat of the minivan between sports practices.
I, (Katie) like structure and schedules and routines. I make a bucket list for our kids each summer. During the Covid quarantine I was one of those optimistic parents that made a daily schedule and thought I would follow it. You know, 6:15: wake up, 8: Bible story over breakfast, 9: get dressed and clean rooms, etc. I’m great at this practical side of parenting. However, an intentional, biblical life is often not lived in schedules and routines. It happens in the last minute questions in carline before they hop out for school, at bedtime when we are at the end of our patience, and in all the other cracks and crevices of life. What they are learning about Jesus is less in my morning Bible story time and more about how my life looks. They are learning about Jesus when we include them in our pain and joy and heartfelt prayers, when they watch us turn to God in times of difficulty, and when I ask for forgiveness for losing my temper (again).
My husband is gifted differently than I am. He is eternally patient with our kids and uses each spontaneous moment to speak truth and God’s love into their lives. He really listens and gives thoughtful answers even in the most inconvenient times. He asks them questions to help shape their own thoughts. This balance of personalities and gifting has been something that only exists in our marriage through God’s grace.
A perfect example of this blend is that I sat down to write down my thoughts about years of parenting privately and Chris decided to gather our kids around the computer and ask what we have taught them about God over the years. Below are the highlights of another beautiful, spontaneous conversation that Chris had with our kids.
Kids: God made everything
Chris: We try to acknowledge God in the good times in life and in the mundane. We try to point out the beauty of God’s creation, how he has gifted people to imagine and create, and how he has entrusted us to be stewards of his creation.
Kids: God loves no matter what
Chris: We try to teach our children that Love is at the core of who God is and that we were created out of his love, and to be recipients of his love, and to show his amazing love to others. The best times that we are able to demonstrate this is when we are hugging and loving on our kids. We tell them “Do you feel all of this love? God loves us so much more than this, we can’t even imagine how much he loves us!”
Kids: Prayers
Chris: Like many families we pray regularly before meals and before bed. We also have begun including our kids as we pray for wisdom, guidance, or provision from God. Sometimes when the kids pray it is awkward and forced, but sometimes it can be the most wonderful encouragement to us. We can often picture God looking down on them with such joy (and we picture ourselves and how God takes joy in our simple prayers as well). Our neighbors once told us a story about when their children were little. The younger one did not want to pray and they couldn’t convince her to do it. So the older sister sat up in bed and said, “You need to pray, Jesus wants to hear from you!” We have stolen that one… Kids: Praise God
Chris: Technology has been a good addition so far in our house. We utilize our Alexa to have praise music going on Saturday mornings and when we are cooking dinner. It has been fun to sing and dance in our kitchen while praising God! This is something from which we have gained as much as the children have.
Kids: Trust the Bible no matter what
Chris: We have used The Jesus Storybook Bible to help teach our children the lessons of the Bible. We love that particular book because it does a great job of showing how every story in the Bible points toward Christ. We have also tried to instill in our children that the Bible is the ultimate source of truth, and that it is the primary way God communicates with us.
Kids: God provides for us
Chris: We have been blessed far beyond what we could hope for with health, friends, physical needs, and the ability to enjoy good things. In our family, we try to always acknowledge that all good things come from God and that without him nothing good would be possible. We also try to show that we can lean on God and trust him in difficult times as well. God is the same in the good times and the bad.
Katie: Our kids watched Chris and I go through a particularly challenging season this past Spring with job changes and a move across states. We discussed at length how to include them in this process because they are still so young. Chris made the comment during that time and it has really been formative for me. “We aren’t here to shelter our kids from every hard thing, we are here to teach them how to trust God when things are hard.” Hopefully by seeing us rely on God for timing and provision, they will learn to do that for themselves as they grow older.
Kids: God forgives
Chris: This is a cornerstone of our faith that we have tried to instill in our children at an early age. This oddly enough has been one of the easier lessons for us to teach, because we have to ask for forgiveness so often. As with all humans, we often fall short and our kids have seen this often. We have used these times to share with our children why we need forgiveness and that, thankfully, God is willing to forgive.
Kids: How God opens hearts
Chris: Salvation is such a wonderful thing, but it is difficult to describe. One thing we can for sure tell our children though is that God will one day knock on our hearts, and when our hearts are open to him, he will change everything about us. The Bible is full of stories about how God “opens people’s hearts,” and there are stories in our lives as well. We are so excited to see the Lord work in the lives of our children. But then we are reminded that they are his children, and we are so humbled to be able to watch him draw them to himself. And then full circle, how beautiful it is that he has done the same for us.
Paul David Tripp
DIALOGUES, DOCTRINE, & DISCIPLESHIP
A RECAP OF THE COLLEGE MINISTRY’S SPRING BREAK 2022 TRIP TO SALT LAKE CITY
BY KATIE GRUBBS
In the south, most people identify as Christians. In Utah, less than two percent of people claim to be evangelical.
I have never been in the religious minority in an area, but I learned that living as an evangelical Christian in the minority is a draining calling. On Sunday, before our dialogues, we went to Mosaic Church. After talking to members of this church plant, we learned that many of the congregation had moved to Salt Lake City to make disciples and live life on mission. I was amazed by their faith and dedication to God’s calling. Many members of Mosaic Church expressed how encouraging it was to meet Christians from outside the valley and be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
After church, we hiked Ensign Peak. This is where Brigham Young entered the valley when he decided to move the Latter Day Saints church to Utah in 1847. As we looked out above the Salt Lake Valley, I was struck by the volume of lost souls. It is devastating to look out and see over a million people living right here in the United States dedicated to a false doctrine. I could not have anticipated the spiritual heaviness that would be in Utah and my heartbreak only grew during the dialogues with LDS students.
Going into the dialogues, I was told of the dedication of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). LDS members believe that to reach the highest level of heaven they need both God’s grace and a series of works and sacraments; they bear the heavy burden of participating in securing their salvation. As I entered these dialogues, I expected them to seem like a debate, but there was a genuine sense of curiosity and respect from both parties.
The first dialogue was at Utah Valley University. Going into the dialogues, my prayer was for God to be glorified through the way we shared truth. Morgan Hill and I were paired with three other LDS girls from UVU. I thought that our cultural differences would play a bigger role in our interactions, but in our few hours together, we covered four main topics: personal testimonies, atonement, the relationship between grace and works, and the afterlife. When we discussed grace and works, our more significant doctrinal differences arose. Morgan and I were able to talk freely and openly about our struggles and doubts in our daily lives. Our vulnerability struck a chord with the students and one mentioned that she was amazed at our openness. We explained that we don’t believe that we earn salvation by our works, rather, we live in the freedom of Christ’s work on our behalf. Further, we shared that although our works do not impact our eternal status before God, we strive to live a holy life out of loving obedience to Him. They were surprised that actions held any weight in our faith. They collectively explained that their works were central to standing before God in the afterlife. Hearing them explain the pressure they live with was heartbreaking.
In the second dialogue, we went to Brigham Young University. I was in a group with Landon Wallace and Ross McKnight and three BYU students. Students came and went during this dialogue because many were headed to class, so we ended up speaking with five students total. The first three students we spoke with were more doctrinal than the second. We discussed our differences concerning authority. LDS believe that their highest authority is the prophet who is given new revelation from God, while evangelicals believe that God’s word is our highest authority. With the last two students, our conversation was more focused on our personal faith. One student asked each of us to explain why we wanted to fly out to Utah and talk to LDS students. All three of us gave different answers regarding our motivations. I explained that if I truly believe what the Bible teaches concerning salvation, I have no choice but to share it with others in hopes that they might one day participate in the eternal praising of God. Our vulnerability and honesty opened the door for us to have such candid conversations with them.
Throughout my few days in Utah, my perspective was changed. I became aware of a large religious group in my country that claims to follow Christ but has not truly experienced His freedom. I came in pride wondering how people could believe something so bizarre. After speaking with these students, I heard their sincerity but was saddened to see their faith placed in man-made doctrine. Often on this trip, Matthew 7:21 came to mind: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” My prayers will continue to be for their salvation and for the Christians living on mission in SLC to be protected and encouraged by the power of our God to redeem all souls.
Psalm 24:1
