Thinking about children's ministry

I'm thinking that when it come to children's ministry I'll just aim lower, think smaller, give up, and have a cup of coffee (even though I don't own a coffee maker and rarely drink coffee anyway). Before you criticize me, please watch this video. -- Brian

"Do You Hear What The Children Are Saying?"

I can remember in high school an advertisement on the television asking parents, "It's 12 am, do you know where your children are?" Most of the time I'd laugh and say to a friend near me, "I'm at a church youth fellowship and yes my parents know!"

Well, it's 4:56 am and I'm the parent. I had a visit from a very tired 2 1/2 year old at 1:30 am who was complaining that the music was off (we have CD players in their rooms that play classical or children's music to them as they drift off to sleep). I escorted him back to bed and turned the music on for him. I, however, could not easily be guided off to the realm of dreams.

So, I am here and God's Word is with me. I flipped through the pages until I reached the first book of the New Testament and over to page 1039 (for those not able to see my Bible right now the passage is Matthew 21:1-16). On that page, I began to read about the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I read, and of course, I was drawn in when I read about the children. They very innocently were caught up into the festive nature of the procession and proclaimed, "Hosanna to the Son of David," all the way up to the Temple grounds. This didn't set too well with the religious leaders who were not happy with Jesus in the first place. They asked Jesus, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" Of course, these are religious leaders, so Jesus referred to the only authority they should not refute -- Scripture (specifically Psalms 8:2). Long story short, the religious leaders had no problem with Scripture, they just hated that this song of praise by David was being used for a descendent of David as a proclamation of Messiahship by almost everyone including children.

I regress. The eye catcher for me in this passage is the words of the religious leaders, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" Obviously, someone was not listening! As a father, I trip up sometimes and do not really hear what my children are saying. This is really a detriment when they are bringing a concern about waste management. Sometimes, my listening is too good and I hear my children say things that they shouldn't. However, recently my hearing has been excellent. You see, from praises by my two older boys, who are Christians, and the testimony of my daughter's six year old friend, I had the opportunity to lead my daughter to Christ. I'm so glad I was listening.

Children are amazing in that they never relent when they hear something good and want to tell you about it. My oldest will be celebrating his 9th birthday and he's never missed a day of telling us what he wants and why. A child is also honest in that what comes from their lips is what is in their hearts (Matthew 12:34). The question is, are we actively listening to what we are saying? It is so easy to be negative, but really with a God who loves us and can provide for us why do we waste our words? Read Philippians 4:10-13 if you want some encouragement. My hope is that when the devil whispers, "Do you hear what Brian is saying?" that my Lord is saying back, "All I hear is praise."

Little Ones

As many of you already know, I am a father of six children. I make it a practice every day to raise up my children to the Lord for His blessing on their lives as they grow. I mainly do this because even though it is my job to work to take care of their needs, I have to acknowledge the fact that I cannot do that sufficiently without the Lord's blessing. If I try to do this under my own power, I may fall under the example of many who work all day and feel that a paycheck alone is caring for their children's needs. These parents end up never knowing who their children really are. I could also be a parent that is involved in every aspect of their child's life and end up seeing my children drift away because they are tired of looking at me. All of this to say that I can't be everything for my children, but as a parent who loves and serves the Lord, I must acknowledge that He can be everything to them. I admit that I need the Lord's help when it comes to raising my children.

In reading Matthew 19: 13-15 and Mark 10: 13-16, I find that there are various perspectives that can be taken concerning the parents bringing their children to Jesus. It is easy to look at the disciples and become indignant in their refusal to allow the parents to bother Jesus with their children while He is teaching. In Mark 10:14, even Jesus became indignant about that. We can look at the perspective of Jesus as He sees an opportunity to teach about how to come to the kingdom of God and write a whole entire book, but I want to focus on the perspective of the parents.

As a parent, we want what is best for our children. We search out the best schools. We shop for the best clothes. We try our best to give our children what we know that they need, and these parents in the Bible knew that a blessing from Jesus was one of the greatest honors that they could provide for their children. I would like to think that when Jesus talked about the faith of the children being the key to the kingdom that there may have been a moment when he looked at the parents and smiled. I firmly believe He knew that they had the faith of a child to bring their children to Him for His blessing. I would love to recognize these parents who knew that they were not sufficient enough to give their children everything but sought the Lord's blessing knowing that through Him, their children's needs could be met.

My desire is to pursue our Lord in ministry to children, and as I pursue it, I am always trying to find ways to provide an opportunity to reach out to them with the message of Christ. However, I have to heed the warning that comes from the disciples' example. If I find that what I do in ministry prevents an opportunity to holistically meet the needs of an entire family, then woe to me for stepping in the Lord's way. An example of this would be to plan out a marriage enrichment activity and not provide anything for the children to do at the same time. What a great opportunity and testimony a ministry could have when the parents have trust that in their search to understand God that they can place their very precious treasure, their children, in the hands of people who will be a blessing from the Lord to them. As a minister, I can't help but to look at these parents who desire the best for their children by bringing them to the Lord, and wholeheartedly let them come into His presence by providing opportunities to care for the whole family and not just focusing on the needs of one or the other.

Jesus taught the disciples that the only way to enter His kingdom is as a child. This is a faith that we tend to lose when we focus on our own personal needs and not on the big picture of reaching to others. The disciples had a lesson in this earlier when they argued over who was the greatest in the kingdom, and Jesus corrected them by using the example of a child. Once again, they failed to listen and could have very well disillusioned a group of parents who desired to reach out to the Lord on behalf of their children. Jesus saw the faith of these parents and the actions that they were taking and knew that this was probably one of the greatest teaching moments available. When we acknowledge our inability to meet our needs, and look to Him as the one who can sufficiently meet our crucial need which is a relationship with God through Him, that is when we show faith as a child and truly see the way to salvation. When we come to Jesus Christ knowing that we have a debt due to our sins, and acknowledge that He can forgive us of our sins and establish a right relationship with Him, we have the faith of a child, and we can become a part of the kingdom of God. What are we doing today to allow "little ones" to come to Christ? Are we gearing our ministries to meet one particular need or are we focusing on the fact that our Lord wants us to reach out completely and holistically when it comes to ministry to children and their families? -- Brian