I love our "You Asked For It" series.  It is always interesting to see what topics people want to learn about and what the Bible has to say about them.

But God just doesn't want us to just have the knowledge, He wants us living out what His Word says. 

If we trust that God is for us and that He has a great plan and purpose for our life, we will obey Him.  

So let's not just ask questions to ask questions, let's do what God tells us to do.

This week I spoke on Biblical Parenting. 

Really, parenting is leadership.  Where are you leading your kids?  Can you say follow me as I follow Christ?

You can watch the sermon here.  You can also check out this past sermons on parenting here and here.  

If you feel like you need help knowing what the Bible has to say about parenting, we will have C3 Connect Groups on Biblical Parenting in the fall.  If you don't go to C3 Church, check out your church's connect groups to see if they...

On June 7, 2019 my son Caleb Fry married the love of his life Emily Floars.

Caleb and Emily grew up together at C3 Church.  Both grew up serving and being involved in connect groups and student ministry.  Both have been on international mission trips.  After a trip to Africa, they started dating.  (Get involved in church, you might meet your spouse.) 

We were so proud of Caleb and how he honored Emily's parents.  He asked Kevin and Janet if he could take Emily to coffee, then asked if he could date her, and finally asked if he could marry her.  

Our families have known each other for years.  So it is fun to not just be friends, but to now be family.

It was an awesome day full of God's hand of blessing on it.  He held off the rain and it was not too hot.  It was beautiful.

Ephesians 5:31: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

The...

On June 2, 2019 my dad, Ted Wilbanks, was completely healed and moved to his permanent home in heaven.

My dad was born on May 10, 1940 in Oklahoma to the late William Edwin and Opal Lacefield Wilbanks.  He was an ordained minister and pastor of music ministry.   

Survivors include my mom, his wife of 55 years, Kaye Thomas Wilbanks; children, Martha and Matt Fry of Garner, Gina and Ken Witcher of Baltimore, Maryland, Amie and Rod Gray of Cypress, Texas, Thomas and Niki Wilbanks of Raleigh; thirteen grandchildren, Gloria Fry, Caroline Hale and Christopher, Caleb Fry and fiance', Emily, Levi Witcher, Austin Witcher, Phelicia Whitcher, Caelan Whitcher, Chase Whitcher, Jacob Sloan, Will Wilbanks, Finley Wilbanks, Owen Gray and Olivia Gray; brother, Bobby Wilbanks of California; several nieces and nephews.

Friends and family from all over came to celebrate his life.  And one theme that was spoken throughout the whole funeral was, "He loved his family."  His...

This past month I had the privilege to travel with a team from C3 Church to Guatemala on a mission trip.  We partnered with World Help and Hope of Life. 

Anisa Larson was our team leader and it was such an honor to watch her lead.  I remember when she first came to C3, lost and searching.  Now to see God using her to lead mission trips with such passion and excellence shows us the power of a transformed life.  I love it!!

We are excited to now be able to sponsor a child in our village Tres Marias through World Help.  If you attend C3 Church, you can stop at the info center to pick up a packet.  Or you can contact Anisa Larson for more information: anisa@c3church.com   

 5 Benefits of Going on a Mission Trip

1.  God can use a mission trip to change you. 

On a mission trip, our eyes are opened to seeing God in ways we have never seen before.  A mission trip is one of God’s many ways to...

This is our final blog post in our parenting series of love languages of children.

I hope that these post will help you connect with your child.  

Understanding your child's love language can revolutionize your parenting and really make your child feel loved.  Filling your child’s love tank allows you to teach and discipline them in a healthy manner.  

How can you find out what your child's love language is? 

• Go HERE and have your child take the 5 minute quiz

If quality time is your child’s primary love language, you can be sure of this: Without plenty of quality time and attention, your child will feel as if you do not really love them and may even act out in an attempt to get attention from their mom or dad.  To them negative attention is better than no attention at all. 

How do you make a child who's love language is quality time feel truly loved?  You start by giving them your undivided attention.  ...

This week we are talking about the language of physical touch.

And I know every guy is like, "This is my top love language."  (wink wink)

But it is talking about non-sexual physical touch. 

This is towards the bottom of my love languages, so I have to be intentional to love with hugs, back rubs, a touch on the shoulder, etc.  Some of you are even uncomfortable even reading about physical touch.

In a world where we can have millions of friends on Facebook but never be in close proximity to people, it is even more important to be intentional with healthy physical touch.  

If you have a child whose love language is physical touch, hugs, kisses and cuddles are the most common way of speaking this love language, but there are other ways, too.  For example, a dad tosses his son in the air or spins his six year old daughter round and round, and she laughs wildly or a mom that reads a story with her four year old on her lap. 

When a child’s...

Last week I had the honor of preaching during The Cross Series.   

Matt asked me to speak about Mary.  I loved the research and what Mary taught me. I shared what I learned in my sermon.  I believe one of the biggest things we can learn from Mary is humility.   

James 4:6 says, "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."

I don't want God to oppose me, so I want to live with humility. 

If you are not living with humility, then likely have pride in your heart.  I listed 10 (there are many more) things to help you know the difference between pride and humility.  

You can watch the sermon here. 

Pride vs Humility: 

A prideful person complains against or passes judgment on God.  You blame God for everything bad in your life.  Why don’t we blame Satan? 

A humble person acknowledges who God is and trusts Him. He can even praise God...

A pack sour gummy worms may seem like a small gift, however to a child with the primary emotional touch of gifts this feels like winning the lottery!  An impromptu gift can feed a hungry heart with love.  It says to your child “when we were apart you were on my mind in a special way.”  Not only is the gift itself important, but customizing the gift to that specific child is vital.  Don’t worry, the gifts don’t have to be extravagant, it’s the thought behind the gift that resonates the most with your child.

Loving with gifts is

• Impromptu
• Meaningful
  
• Specific to your child’s personality

Ways to show your child love through gifts:

• Going to the dollar tree and buying a simple “I’m thinking of you” gift
• Creating a photo album for your child of their friends/family
• Gifting the supplies to create something together (Legos, paint, cooking supplies, etc.)
• Buying a shirt that represents a tv show, movie, video...

 1 John 3:18 (NLT) states “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”  John’s saying that the best way to communicate love is through the unity of TRUTH and ACTION.

One way to do this is to understand your child’s primary emotional touch point (also known as a love language).  An emotional touch point a way to effectively communicate love to one another.  The incredible notion is that when we understand how to love with biblical love, we are able to “walk as Jesus” or in other words “walk as LOVE.”

This week we want to look at how we can love our children with…

Words that Affirm

Verbal exchanges are fundamental to our everyday life, but how many of those words are intentionally given?

To a child with affirming words as their love language, these verbal exchanges are critical to their understanding of biblical love.  Biblical words of...

It’s a tale as old as time and true as it can be….that understanding your child can be a parental rollercoaster. We all love our children, obviously, but do you know what it means to make a true love connection with your son or daughter? Today we are going to delve into the words of apostle John so we can truly understand how to strengthen the love connection with our children.

Flipping to the back of the Bible, 1 John 3:18 (NLT) states “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” John’s saying that the best way to communicate love is through the unity of TRUTH and ACTION. One way to do this is to understand your child’s primary emotional touch point (also known as a love language).

An emotional touch point a way to effectively communicate love to one another. The incredible notion is that when we understand how to love with biblical love, we are able to “walk as Jesus” or...