Generations of Virtue

In view of the upcoming Christian Retail Show, I’ve been reading up on all the new titles. I am convinced that publishers are running out of creativity. So I’ve come up with a few titles I think are creative and fresh, have a little shock appeal, and are sure to catch your eye.
So here is my sample book list. I feel these titles have major potential and would impact the Christian retail market like no others in history.

-Sassy, Single, and Desperate: The Savvy Woman’s Guide to feigning Contentment
-Evangelize at Nordstrom - Overcoming your Over-Spending guilt
-Be Thou Controlled: Learning to please the difficult people in life
-Every Chauvinist’s Battle
-I’m thankful for my receding hairline! + 101 misfortunes you never thought you’d give thanks for
-No Nonsense Wooing: Walk down the aisle in 7 days or more - Guaranteed!
-A little Puppy after God’s Own Heart – A 60 Day Devo for your Favorite Pet
-Boundaries in Cooking
-The Art of War – Updated and Revised: For today’s Christian Businessman
-I Kissed Frosty Goodbye: The answer to commercialized Christmas
-Isolation: Cut off your romantic feelings in 30 days or less
-Manipulation: What everyone needs to Succeed
-Purity and the Jonas Brothers - How just one ring will make you famous and loved by girls
-Get Your Tattoo Artist Saved in 5 Easy Sessions

if you have anymore to add, let me know. I’m currently drafting a letter to the most prestigious of publishers.
Now don’t be surprised when you see these titles featured in your local Barnes and Noble, or your local Christian Bookstore.  And possibly the New York Times Bestsellers List.

Katherine

Copyright Katherine Lockhart 2008

We recently did a conference in Portland, OR where we got to minister to parents one-on-one at our booth. In addition to providing resources at the conference, we also presented our talk “Information Technology 101: Understanding Your Child’s Internet World” for parents. On the way in to Portland, we had the opportunity to visit Multnomah Falls. It was one of the most beautiful things we’ve seen all year. The falls consist of an upper and lower cataract, which are separated by a small pool. From its origin on the top of Larch Mountain, Multnomah Falls measures 620 feet and is fed by underground springs from the mountain.

Seeing the falls reminded me that God has created everything to point us back to Him. Whenever we see something beautiful or just or true we should give thanks to the Lord because He created that particular thing to show us about His good nature. I was definitely reminded that God is beautiful when we visited Multnomah Falls and I’m so thankful we were able to see it. Praise God for His creation!

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.” Psalm 27:4 (AMP)

Practical Happiness Review

We recently picked up a new book by Bob Schultz called Practical Happiness. As you may know, we read all our books before we recommend them to anyone. A friend of ours with two sons reviewed this book, and from what I heard from her about it, I knew it was a message I needed to hear! I really enjoy Bob’s down-to-earth style and relatable stories. As a carpenter and dedicated believer, he takes a lot of his material from what the Lord has shown him through his work and the experiences he’s had walking with the Lord for 20 years. Even though the book was written for young men, its message extends to anyone who has ever struggled with being content. The running theme of the book is that God is more interested in our eternal well-being than He is with our temporary happiness.

This is not to say that God is cruel or never wants us to be happy; on the contrary, God knows that the only thing that will make us truly joyful is an intimate relationship with Him. Our flesh gets in the way of our relationship with God, so in order to grow closer to Him, we have to give up our flesh. The truth is that we will never experience absolute freedom or contentedness until the prisons of selfishness, anger, and bitterness are demolished. We have gone about the pursuit of happiness the wrong way: It’s not our situations that determine how happy we are, but our attitude toward trials, relationships, and God that determine our happiness. What a revolutionary thought that is! Our earthly situations do not determine how happy we can be. Our culture has lied to us by saying that if only we were better-looking, smarter, wealthier, more popular, in a romantic relationship, respected by other people, etc. we would be happy. This is a lie. None of these things can bring us joy or contentment. The extent to which we flow with the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives determines our level of contentment.

These are some of the issues Bob Schultz discusses in his latest book. Considering the nature of our self-driven society, I’d say this is a very relevant and timely book for anyone frustrated with discontentment.

Hey all! Sorry it has been a while since we have written! The team has been traveling all over the US spreading God’s message of purity to thousands of parents and teens. Our schedule has been very intense, and our founder, Julie, decided it’d be a good idea to have an afternoon of R&R, so she took us to this indoor rock climbing facility just outside of Rochester, NY. (Rock Ventures; it was great! Ask for Gil) One look at this place and you’re inspired. I felt just like Bear Grylls.

The day begins with small climbs, and gets progressively more….um…lets say interesting as you go along. After you have “mastered” climbing, you get the opportunity to climb blindfolded up these monstrosities. Now, the girls will tell you, I’m not always the bravest of the bunch, but Katherine and I piped up and tried it out first. Here’s where it gets interesting: climbing blind folded was so much easier than when I could see. I had the entire team directing my every footstep and handhold. I suddenly was not concerned whether or not I could reach that next crevice or if my foot could fit on that ledge- my team was telling me to go there, so I went. I trusted them totally- I knew they’d get me to the top or not.

As we reached the top and removed our blindfolds I was amazed at how far I had gone- much further than my two previous attempts with my eyes wide open. As Katherine and I repelled down together, the Lord started impressing a valuable lesson on my heart. Totally trusting God- whether you can see the next step or not, will always be better than performing within our own strength. We will get so much farther if we cling to, rely on, and trust Him alone. He will not let us fall- and just like rock climbing, He will send mentors and friends to come alongside us and help us see the path when we cannot see it ourselves.

Blessings,

Kelsey

To My Spiritual Fellow Soldiers:

I am more and more convinced that this battle for purity in our culture is a spiritual battle. The Generations of Virtue Team has been on the road since January this year at conventions, conferences and speaking events. We are right there in the trenches with parents fighting the battle for the purity of their children and it is only getting more intense.

I was reading in Nehemiah 4 and could see where our battle parallels with what Nehemiah was having to deal with.

17 They which built on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.

23 So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.

We need to be accomplishing the work that God has assigned us in our lives but also be so aware of the spiritual battle we are waging and have our spiritual weapons in hand at all times. Especially the Sword of God’s Truth, the Word of God, which is the only thing that can renew our minds and combat the lies of the enemy that deceive us.

~Sara

Hello Everybody! Some, well most of you must be wondering who the GOV girls let be part of their team for 6 weeks.

That would be me. My name is Jayla and I am from upstate New York. I am just finishing my second week with Generations of Virtue, and oh my what a two weeks this has been! I’ve done some conventions with my parents, but I had no idea what went into a two-day convention.

Take, for instance, the Indiana convention. It took 6 of us 6 hours to set up, and no one was ever just standing around! My day job is somewhat demanding, but I now have more than a healthy respect for what these ladies do almost every weekend. Well, every weekday, too.

I am so excited to see what God has in store for me. Already He has shown me a multitude of things. One verse in particular is Psalms 84:10. Just how wonderful God’s house is that just one day is better than having one thousand to do what I want. That to me is the ultimate call to His side.

~Jayla

Hi, my name is Sarah Beth and I am an intern here at Generations of Virtue. God has been so good to me during this whole process. Never in my wildest dreams did i think I would be accepted as an intern and here I am! I can just feel God with me all the time, giving me strength when I need it, and always there when I need someone to talk to.

This has been a great growing process for me as well. Just being able to learn things, like having a good attitude when I’m dead tire, sharing personal space, being flexible, and to drink tons of water (literally!) when in Colorado or you’ll suffer from altitude sickness! It has been such a great example to be around older girls who can give so much advice and ideas as I continue to grow in the Lord.

Finally, I have just learned so much about God so far during this internship. Especially when it is God’s will for you to do something, He will provide. I was able to see this so much in how I was able to raise support, and how comfortable I am here. So when God wants you to do something, it is so amazing to watch him work it out.

~Sarah-Beth, Intern with Generations of Virtue

I recently listened to a talk by Joshua Harris called “To Date or Not to Date”. If you haven’t heard it, you might look into it. It’s done by Focus on the Family and it’s a recording of Joshua Harris addressing a group of young people in Wichita, Kansas. One of the points he made that really resonated to me was the following: “The timing of most high school dating relationships is a lot like going shopping when you don’t have any money.” I believe we could slightly change this phrase to say:

“Dating when you’re not ready to pursue marriage is like going shopping when you don’t have any money.”

This phrase really got me thinking not only about not being in the dating market (ie actually going on a date, etc.), but also not advertising yourself as being on the market. I’m mainly thinking about flirting here. If we’re serious about waiting on God to bring us our spouse, we can’t act as if we would be willing to date or get involved with someone. It’s one thing to be in the market for a relationship, but it’s quite another to decide “Ok, I’m not going to date, but I could lead someone on. I could toy with someone’s emotions and make them think that I was interested. But as soon as this person gets an idea about relationship, I’ll stop. I won’t cross the line of being in a full-fledged dating relationship.”

Does this sound familiar to anyone? It’s like we’ve decided to not date, but we still want to have fun. We want to walk right up to the edge of the “line” between dating and not dating and camp out. This stance is akin to hanging your toes off the edge of a cliff. What happens when you flirt and flirt and flirt with someone and then he or she wants to take the relationship a step further? Do you say “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t date.” I’m assuming that the other person is going to be pretty mad at you.

So, in summary: If you are officially not on the market–don’t make them think you are on the market!

~Megan