Tag: Children

Categories
Family

Honor your Grandparents

This past Sunday, my church celebrated Grandparents Day. Grandparents Day took on new meaning for me this year. With so many children today being raised by their Grandparents, I was forced to alter my perspective on this all-important day.

I can’t help but wonder if Grandparents Day has become the new Mothers and Fathers Day. Mothers Day and Fathers Day will always be important. However, many children do not know their father or mother or don’t have good relations with their father or mother if they do.

If you are a God-honoring, Christ-centered family making disciples of Christ out of your children, Praise God! You are following the instructions of Christ. Unfortunately, it seems you have become the exception rather than the rule.

I have ministered to children and youth for many years and am used to seeing students come from single-parent homes. Unfortunately, the trend has become worse over the years and I am all too often now seeing students come from no-parent homes.

Grandparents are the backbone of our society and our churches. We honored our Grandparents on Sunday by giving them a hand-crafted gift and by thanking them for their service.

Proverbs 17:6 says, “Children’s children (Grandchildren) are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.”

Many parents today think that children are a nuisance and look for ways to dispose of their responsibility. However, Scripture teaches that children are a reward from God and happy is the man whose quiver is full of them (Psalm 127:3, 5).

Church, we need to take care of the widow (many are grandparents) and the orphan (many are grandchildren) and they are supposed to be taking care of each other. Here is a verse you don’t hear much anymore: “But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God” (1 Timothy 5:4).

One day, we will look up and our Grandparents won’t be there. Mine have already passed. But while they are here and are steadfastly serving the Lord by taking care of their own, let’s honor them. They may be the only mother or father their grandchildren have ever known.

“But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children (Psalm 103:17).”

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4).

Categories
Next Generation Ministry

Go, Fight, Win with NGM!

Those of you know me know how passionate I am about the game of basketball.  I love to watch football but the sport I enjoy playing the most has always been basketball.  My favorite basketball player growing up was none other than #32, Earvin “Magic” Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers.  While most of my school friends were infatuated with a guy by the name of Mike, I stayed true to the Magic Man.  Back then, I would argue back and forth with my playmates that Magic was better than Jordan.  Of course, that was before the tongue-waving, nike-wearing Jordan went on to win more titles than Magic.

I always liked Magic because he constantly exuberated a smile, truly loved the game, worked harder than everyone else, got his teammates involved, made everyone around him better, and was the on and off court leader of the team.  People gravitated to Magic.  It wasn’t just because he had an infectious smile that could light up a room or because he made passing en vogue and contagious with all the assists he dished out.  It was because people genuinely felt he had their interests at heart.  Philippians 2:3–4 speaks to this Christ-like attribute called humility. 

Now granted, Magic had his faults and we are all aware of his licentious lifestyle, but on the court, Magic was a sight to behold.  His dazzling array of passes, change of pace tempo, and unparalleled vision with eyes in the back of his head made Showtime run!  All the Hollywood stars and all of LA lined up nightly to see this new kid on the block — and from his first game in 1979 to the very end of his career — the fans never left disappointed.  The fans were guaranteed a show and the fans always got their money’s worth.

What does Magic Johnson have to do with next generation ministry?  Well, there’s always a rising star in the background who seemingly follows in the footsteps of those who came before them (the next generation).  This past Saturday, I watched a kid by the name of Lorenzo Ball play a college basketball game against Ohio St.  Lorenzo plays for the UCLA Bruins (what are the chances its in LA again) and has been compared to Magic.  UCLA is now undefeated at 12-0 and everyone knew this player and his team were special after they won at Kentucky in the famous Rupp Arena. 

Lorenzo is like Magic in that he makes the game fun for his teammates, is a humble kid, and is an unselfish pass-first point guard.  But what you do not understand about Lorenzo and what you may not understand about Magic is the quality that makes players like these great.  It’s the same quality found in guys like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.  It is the insatiable desire and will to win at all costs.  Winning drives these men.  Winning can always be taken too far, but for these guys, the refusal to lose is at the core of their being.  What makes us want to watch guys like these bounce a ball up and down a court like a puppet on a string is one simple fact: They are winners!

Don’t miss this!  Don’t just skim over the word winner without giving thought to what it takes to win.  All the sweat, blood, and tears that one exerts to make themselves great while no one else is looking.  All the sacrifices and suffering incurred that end up making the difference between a win and a loss.    

I think Donald Trump, who “wants to make America great again,” was right when he said in his campaign that America doesn’t win anymore.  We’ve forgotten how to win.  What made America great in the past was its wins!  USA didn’t play games.  If American went to war, they won.  As a nation, we were feared.  Of course, back then we knew our strength came from the Lord and not from our military.  Our trust was in God’s might more than man’s strength and we knew He was sovereign in all affairs. 

I recently heard that John Lennon once said, “win the children, win the country.”  I have not been able to find the quote, but I do agree with it!  Next generation ministry is about winning the children of this country to Christ so we can win the world to Christ.  We have to figure out how to win again — in basketball, in this country, and in ministry.  I am convinced we can!

 

   

Categories
Next Generation Ministry

NGM: Knowing is only half the battle

My favorite toy to play with as a child was GI Joe.  I also loved the cartoon.  As a boy, I would take a beanbag and figuratively speaking turn the bag into a mountain.  Using all of the bag’s natural crevices, I would station Joe’s on one side of the mountain and Cobra’s on the other.  From that point on, it was all-out warfare between the forces of good and the forces of evil.

Over time, God has blessed me with many good friends who have served in our nation’s military.  I have always had a profound respect for the service men I personally knew (not all are still alive) and would glean as many insights and lessons as I could to implement in my own life.  The Bible speaks of a soldier’s discipline (2 Tim 2:4).  The apostle Paul was well-acquainted with spiritual warfare (2 Cor 4:8-12).

I think the terms “spiritual warfare” and “war” are apt descriptions of the Christian life.  As Christ-followers, we are always on call.  The war never ends this side of earth, though the victory has already been won.  We never get a break.  24-7 for 365 and do it all over again the next year.  For the Christian, life is war.  I have always appreciated John Piper’s call for the Christian to “make war.”  The status quo, games as usual, go with the flow, ho-hum Christianity just isn’t good enough in a time of war.

But there are so many battles to fight.  Where do we start?  And why?  A great general or commander knows whom, when, and how to fight.  A great general also knows where the battlefront is.  The battlefront must be defined because the army who controls the battlefront often wins the war.  We could just as well ask the question, “which hill are we willing to die on?”

Do we die fighting against gay rights, abortion, gambling, porn, immoral media, or a host of other cultural and political travesties?  No, we don’t (Barna would say).  We know Satan is the enemy and we know the gospel is of upmost importance.  But still, where do we begin and what hill are we willing to die on?  I think George Barna was right when he wrote, “the battlefront is found in the minds, hearts and souls of our children.”[1]  Barna continues, “Ever the strategic mastermind, Satan knows well that if you destroy the character and hope of children, you rule the world!”[2]

We must do everything we can to help the next generation obtain a biblical worldview.  If we can train children to love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, Barna says we won’t have to invest time battling over moral and spiritual issues (see above) because the culture will have been shaped from within.  Barna reiterates, “The cumulative effect of their character and beliefs will redefine the contours of our culture” and we will not need to then “worry about how to motivate people to read the Bible, how to encourage people to attend worship services, how to raise enough money to maintain the ministry and how to get believers to pursue the Great Commission.”[3]

If we could produce a world where we won the entire next generation to Christ, I know Barna would be right.  In that kind of world, we would experience spiritual utopia.  But realistically, this isn’t going to happen either (read the Bible).  There is always another battle on the landscape and we are told to put on our spiritual armor (Eph 6:10-20).  All moral and spiritual issues are worth fighting over because they all encapsulate what we would call the biblical worldview.  Suffice to say, however, I think Barna is onto something the church has all too often missed:  Battling over the next generation should take priority.

Yet actions prove where priorities are when church leaders are unaware of the spiritual content children in the church are learning, the only thing that matters is babysitters (oops, I mean leaders) are in place, leader training and recruitment is minimal if not non-existent, and “less than 15 percent of the average church’s ministry budget is allocated to the needs of children’s ministry.”

Next generation ministry is about prioritizing students in both word and deed.  Let’s not just say children are a priority.  We know that they should be.  Let’s show them they are!

[1] Barna, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, 50.

[2] Ibid, 51.

[3] Ibid.

Categories
Great Commission

When is the best time to reach the next generation?

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I have shared with you the what, where, how, and why’s for reaching the next generation. To reiterate “the why,” I will just say because soul-winning is the most important thing, because hell is real. If Tom Petty, who has a great voice and sang the lyrics, “you can stand me up at the gates of hell and I won’t back down” could stand at the gates and feel the heat from hell, I do not think he would back down. I think he would try to back up. The only problem is that the time for backing up would be too late.

Today, I want to share with you the “when?” When is the best time (age-range) to reach the next generation? It is always a good time to share the gospel and sharing the gospel with any age-group is good, but I have become convinced that churches and families must make a concerted effort to evangelize children. It was revealed in the 2015 Bridge Preteen Conference by George Barna that a “child’s moral foundations are set by age 9. A child’s worldview, theological foundation, beliefs, and religious practices are in place by 13. Only one-third of preteens have accepted Christ.”

A popular notion has arisen, a term originated by Dan Brewster, which has been labeled the “4/14 Window.” The notion is that 85% of all Christians in the USA and anywhere from 60-80% of all Christians in the world come to Christ between the ages of 4 and 14. The 85% statistic comes from a survey completed by the International Bible Society in the 90’s. Research compiled by Barna Group shows that children between the ages of 5 and 13 have a 32 percent probability of accepting Jesus. It has been said that the 10/40 Window and 40/70 Window are about where missionaries should go, and the 4/14 Window is about whom missionaries should focus on. Awana is an international evangelical organization directing such ministry efforts towards children. I happen to know the Regional Ministry Director for the Caribbean Islands and he himself would be considered a missionary. However, you can be a missionary to children right where you are!

I want to re-emphasize that all generations are important and that you should not neglect telling a person of any age about the love God has for him or her. But I do agree with Barna that churches and families should strategically target or prioritize evangelism efforts toward children (focusing even more on younger children). We cannot afford to lose a generation. If we do, we will follow the footsteps of generations found in Old Testament narratives such as the storied relationship between David and his son Absalom or the time in between the various judges who served the nation of Israel. Space does not permit me to write what Jesus or the New Testament has to say in reference to the generational transfer of faith. We just do not want to reach a point in time where a generation forgets what the Book of the Law is or where it may be found (remember Josiah).

I have been serving the next generation the last fifteen years of my life. I have coached eight years of middle school basketball (boys and girls) at four schools, ministered to students at five churches, taught students at three schools (public and private), and served as a counselor at three YMCA’s. In my early years of youth ministry, I would often hear about or read the expression, “Youth are not the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today.” The expression originated from Saddleback Youth Pastor Doug Fields at about the time his Pastor Rick Warren’s book Purpose Driven Life was gaining in popularity.

As much as I have always loved Doug’s expression, it is beginning to wear thin. Today, we must begin to verbalize a new expression, “If we don’t let students be the church of today, they won’t be in church tomorrow.” Whereas Doug’s mantra required a mind-set shift from the church in mental assent, the new mantra requires a missional mind-set shift from the church necessitating mobilization from students and resulting in action or service. Perhaps this is why servanthood-evangelism is gaining traction.

As we await the upcoming World Series, let me provide you with an example of children on mission by referring to the sport of baseball. How many children do you know of that play baseball? I, myself grew up playing Little League baseball and may have even batted against Jake Westbrook, a pitcher from my hometown who pitched in two World Series. What if we trained, equipped, and released children with missional mindsets to engage the culture, in this case, their baseball teams with the gospel rather than just hand children a trophy and hope they are happy. In other words, what would happen if we provided children a purpose and issued children a calling higher than the goal of obtaining a .300 batting average. We might not only witness a mind-shift, but a culture-shift! God, may we the church allow our children to be the church today so there will be a church tomorrow!