| TheSource4YM.com | |
 | Jonathan’s Resource Ezine |
Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry
Tuesday, July 25, 2000
| In This Issue |
| If you aren’t a subscriber of this EZINE and would like to subscribe – it’s free – just pop on www.TheSource4YM.com and sign up in the upper right hand corner. |
| Accountability |
July 25, 2000
In my recent conversations with Supertones’ Jason Carson, with Youth Builder’s Jim Burns and with Geoff Moore, one subject has come up repetitively: accountability.
After Jim Burns’ interview I received several e-mails asking about accountability. “What is it?” “Why is it being talked about like it’s such a necessity?” “Does everyone need accountability?”
I’ve helped run the young couples group at our church for the last few years, and I’ve found accountability to be critical, especially for men. So I thought I’d address it.
Eccles. 4:9-10 states:
- “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: [10] If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”
God loves relationships. When anyone asked Jesus what it all came down to, Jesus always answered the same answer. “Love God . . . and love your neighbor.” The most important things to God are your relationship with Him, and your relationship with others. God commands us to do something really cool . . . FELLOWSHIP. That means HANG OUT WITH OTHER BELIEVERS. Encourage each other. If one person is blowing it, HELP HIM UP. (Notice it doesn’t say slap him while he’s down there- make him feel dumb- or make yourself look better).
Proverbs 27:17 reads:
- “As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.”
2 Tim. 2:22 says:
- “Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. Follow anything that makes you want to do right. Pursue faith and love and peace, and enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”
God wants us to pursue that which is right. And he doesn’t want to do it alone. We can help each other along.
James 5:16
- “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.”
In short, accountability is regular meetings with other Christians of the same gender to encourage one another and hold each other accountable to our actions as we continue to become better followers of Christ. There are many different types of accountability groups. One extreme would be a group of men who ask each other tough questions about their time with God, whether they were tempted in any areas in the past week, whether they failed, whether they looked at any pornographic material (readily available today), and sometimes ending with the question, “Is there anything that we should be asking you about today?” The other type of group is just a group where people meet together and share “how it’s going.”
I meet every Tuesday afternoon with three other guys that I TRUST (that is important). We mainly share our hearts and encourage each other. But we also ask each other how our relationship with God, and our wife is doing- and if we’ve done anything to hinder either. My wife meets regularly with a women’s Bible study where they share “how it’s going,” pray and encourage each other.
Don’t do it alone. God wants you to enjoy relationships- it’s his plan- and he knows what’s best.
| Next Week: Interview With Geoff Moore And check out who else is coming up! |
Next Week: Check it out. Geoff Moore has been doing music since I was in high school (A LONG TIME) It was great chatting with him, getting to know him personally, and listening to him share how he makes God the center of his ministry. I’m excited to share it with you.
I told you last week that we’re going to be adding a new Page to Jonathan’s Resources. The Interview Page. This page will contain interviews from Christian people you want to hear from. It’s great to hear from people that we can learn from . . . and people that are just plain fun! We’ll add the page next week when the newsletter comes out. It will start with the Jim Burns interview and the interview with Geoff Moore. Every first week of the month, Jonathan’s E-newsletter will feature an interview that will then go to the interview page. So look for them.
Upcoming interviews: Geoff Moore, the Supertones, and Michael W. Smith.
Jonathan McKee
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.