All Five/7 students and their guests are invited to join us this Friday in the LWFC Warehouse for a Friday Night Jam! Celebrate the start of summer, come and hang out and play some basketball, ping pong, or show of your dance skills in Just Dance! There will be a few door prizes, some live entertainment, and some other surprises!

Bring a few bucks along for food – in addition to our regular selection of drinks, we will have candy bars on sale, and we will also have pizza by the slice for $1 or Chick-Fil-a chicken sandwiches for $3 as long as they last!

The doors open at 6 PM and the party starts in earnest at 7 PM and goes until 10 PM. Look forward to seeing you there! If you have any questions, give me a call at 919-270-1329 or e-mail matt@five7.org. – Matt

P.S. We are still looking for a few adult volunteers to help us run the cafe and manage general safety and security for the students during the party. If you are interested in helping out, please contact me using the information above before the party starts on Friday.

I wanted to take a minute and recommend a book that I just read. That book is “Start Here: Doing Hard Things Right Where You Are” by Alex and Brett Harris. “Start Here” is the follow-up on “Do Hard Things”, which Alex and Brett Harris released in 2008.  Alex and Brett Harris are teenage twins, who by the age of 17, had interned for the Alabama Supreme Court and ran multiple political campaigns, as well as starting a blog about teenagers who would “Do Hard Things” for God. The book ”Do Hard Things” described a teenage rebellion against low expectations, that they could be an example to believers described in 1 Timothy 4 . It tried to explain to teens, particularly Christian teens, how society had come to expect so little of them, but when we look to history, and looked to what God has called them to be, that they are able to break this self-fulfilling prophecy of low expections.  As teenagers began to break free of these low expectations and began to “Do Hard Things”, they faced a variety of obstacles and had trouble knowing where to start.

“Start Here” is the follow-up to “Do Hard Things” and is a great how-to guide on how to overcome common obstacles and offers many practical suggestions on what to do – taking the first step, putting an idea into action, handling change, keeping God in focus, perseverance, moving against the crowd, and how to finish strong. I recommend this for all young Christians (even if they may not technically be teens yet). It can be read by itself, or in combination with “Do Hard Thing” to give them the motivation and knowledge on how to go out and do those hard things that God has called them to do.

– Matt

More information about the book and a link to purchasing it through Amazon.com can be found here.

Congratulations to Five/7 student Coy Parrott, who recently won an award for character at his school, North Raleigh Christian Academy. Coy won the award for the character trait of deference, defined as “respectful or courteous regard for the will of others”, which was given because he had volunteered to help a sick student without being asked.

When his mother sent me the detail of the award, two scriptures came to mind, James 4:10 – “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.” and Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  When we do those things that God would want us to do, even if they are only in the sight of God, then we open ourselves up to be blessed.  Our recognition may sometimes come from others, but that serves only to raise our level of influence so that we may proclaim the glory of God, which is most evident in the actions of his people.  Great Job, Coy!

An excerpt of a letter written by John Quincy Adams in 1811, who went on to be the President of the United States, while serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, to one of his sons:

I advise you, in whatever you read, and most of all in reading the Bible, to remember that it is for the purpose of making you wise and more virtuous. I have myself, for many years, made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year.

In your infancy and youth, you have been, and will be for some years, under the authority and control of your friends and instructors; but you must soon come to the age when you must govern yourself. You have already come to that age in many respects; you know the difference between right and wrong, and you know some of your duties, and the obligations you are under, to become acquainted with them all. It is in the Bible, you must learn them, and from the Bible how to practice them. Those duties are to God, to your fellow-creatures, and to yourself.

Just thought I would share. — Matt