Praying WITH Your Children

Every once and a while, I feel like I'm a complete failure as a parent.  Have you been there?  Are you there now?  Have you ever felt like there are times when you just can't do anything right?  We get these great ideas and plans, try implementing them, but every single one of them seem to fall flat.  Our kids ignore us and seem completely complacent to what we are trying to teach them; especially when they become teens!  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that we are always like this, but let's face it; there are times when we consider if we are accomplishing anything as they grow physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Well, this week has been one of those weeks for me.  Maybe it's because some kind of a bug has been going through our house and we've all been under the weather.  Maybe it's because we're still getting into the school routine.  Maybe it's because I have a 15 year old!  Maybe it's politics, the economy, the weather or all of the above. Either way, I don't think the reason is half as important as what I'm beginning to see as the solution.  It's something pretty obvious, pretty simple and I have to admit, pretty neglected in our home lately.

Praying with the kids in our lives is probably the single most important tool that we have at our disposal as parents, ministers and teachers.  Note that I said praying WITH your kids.  I know it feels uncomfortable sometime, especially when they see you screwing up all the time, right?  But the power of prayer in their lives is immeasurable as they learn to journey through this world and it accomplishes a lot more than you might think.  And they need to see it from you!

Here's four things that praying with children accomplishes:

1.  They receive the power of your prayer.  When you pray with them and for them, God's Spirit unites you with them and they receive the reality of Matthew 18:20 as the two of you come together.  Prayer is power!

2.  Praying with a children teaches them to pray, and here's the important point of this one.  Just be yourself!  Don't worry about being the "grown up" and having to have all the perfect words!  Just pray for them.  It teaches them the importance of just approaching God as they as.  Prayer is simple!

3.  Praying with children teaches and reminds you how to pray in general.  Praying with a child helps you realize that ALL of us are God's children and He wants us to come to Him just like that: a child.  Praying with kids helps you see that sometimes we need to simplify our spiritual lives and just be ourselves with God.  Just talk to Him.  That's all He asks from us in prayer.  Remember Matthew 18:3?  We need to be more like them!   

4.  Praying with kids helps to reveal God to them.  Many of the children that cross our paths have no concept of who God is.  We are in the midst of almost two generations of kids that are getting further and further away from the idea of who God is, what He is and how He works in our lives.  Most generations before, including mine, always had God incorporated in some aspects of life, culture and society.  Not so much anymore.  It's becoming rare that we see God connected to the everyday world.

Now go pray with your kiddos!  

Peace & Blessings!          
      

Creativity and Kids

I'm convinced that kids need to have as much freedom as possible to creatively express themselves, while they are learning and growing within God's framework. When we stifle creativity in kids, in many ways we are essentially stifling the working of God in their lives.  For whatever reason, whether intentional or not, when we place unnecessary restraints on kids, it makes their sphere of imagination and creativity much smaller.  And unfortunately, I think this is what happens to most of us.  When we were young, we looked at life with endless wonder and endless imagination.  Through a broad filter, we could create almost anything that our minds conceived.  Boxes became spaceships, gardens became battle fields, bathtubs became oceans and empty fields became sports arenas.  Creativity and imagination is limitless within the mind of a child, and essential to their understanding of God.

Faith in God is not finite, manageable or easily definable.  Faith is different from one person to the next, not always explainable or easy to concretely understand.  The older we get, the more barriers we construct that affect our faith in God.  Life becomes more rational and less imaginative.  We limit ourselves because we begin trying to rationalize faith and God in general.  When Jesus confronted this way of thinking He responded with, "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Mark 10:15  Basically, what he was saying is something like, "Stop trying to rationalize all of this!  Accept faith for what it is and be blown away by the mystery of it all!"  Kids get it!  We don't!   

When we begin to look at God and faith through a much simpler perspective, we open the limitless door of imagination and creativity and in essence, this expands our view of God.  Let's face it.  God is not tangible.  He's not easily figured out.  As hard as we try, He won't fit into the compartmentalized boxes that we build for our lives.  Only with great imagination can we begin to grasp that which is so incredibly difficult to grasp with our limited minds.  Kids see the world through eyes of wonder, and if they are going to build a healthy view of the wonderful world around them, they have to see Him with wonder as well.  Let us not allow ourselves to limit the imagination and creativity in the minds of the kids in our lives.  And if we pay attention, we might learn something from them as well.      

The Catechism & Teaching Kids

If you're anything like me, when you hear the word "catechism", it instantly conjures up thoughts of the Roman Catholic Church.  I grew up Catholic, and the catechism was, and still is the main method of teaching children that grow up in the faith.  It's not uncommon to categorize the catechism method of teaching as a "Catholic thing".  But did you know that as far back as the early 1500s, Protestant Churches began to use their own versions of a catechism in the education of children as well as adults?  Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists alike, all had a formal catechism that was used as a vital part of their discipleship.  In fact, there are literally hundreds of different versions of the catechism to choose from depending on denomination and even variations within each church.  

Basically, the word catechism comes from the Greek word katecheo which means to “instruct” or “teach”.  The word is derived from two roots: "kata", which means "down, and "echein", which mean "to sound".  Literally, this means "to sound down" to the ears, creating the image of speaking forth to the learner.  This is where we get our English word “catechize.”  It simply means to teach Biblical truth in an a structured and orderly way.  Generally this is done with questions and answers accompanied by Biblical support and explanation.  One could look at the catechism as somewhat of a handbook for particular beliefs.   

Over the years, the use of the catechism in most protestant churches lost popularity, especially within the modern era.  As people began to seek a simpler and more efficient life, the formality and time commitment of the catechism made it difficult for church leaders to promote as a main teaching method.  The rise of the Sunday School format also contributed to the loss of interest.  Many began to look at the catechism as too methodical, systematic and boring to be an effective encouragement to those new to the Christian faith.

In recent years, we are seeing a resurgence of interest in the catechism method of teaching.  Why is this?  Well, with the rise of post-modernism, we see a generation that seek a deeper and more substantial spiritual experience than many of their modern predecessors.  Younger people who grew up with the somewhat superficial faith of the seeker sensitive movement of the 90s are now as adults and are asking, "What do I believe?  What should I believe? Why do I believe what I believe?"  Many churches are beginning to use forms of the catechism to answer these questions in a very methodical and clear cut manner.

Personally, I've used a couple of different catechisms within my ministry and my own family and re-written certain parts to coincide with my particular beliefs.  Especially for my two boys, after completing the program they now have a document to call upon when they have questions about their faith.  They have a simple answer as well as supporting scripture to show how that particular belief was derived.  Of course, this never replaces personal interaction, teaching and one on one discipleship from parents, pastors or other leaders, but it gives you an outline to begin with and a point of reference to begin with.

I've thought a lot about this over he last few days and came to a few realizations.  There's nothing particularly wrong with modern methods.  As we evolve as human beings, our methods of teaching and learning evolve as well.  Change is something to be embraced, but only if it moves us forward in the Kingdom of God.  Change for the sake of change can not only be non-productive, but counter-productive as well.  As I see it, the catechism teaching method is a very simple and straight forward way of teaching the basic tenants of Christianity without some of the frills that confuse and get us off on tangents.  But with that said, don't cut the nose off to spite the face.  If you consider using a catechism format, it can easily be incorporated with other modern teaching methods or used as an outline for main teaching principles.  At the very least, take a another look at the catechism and see what works best for you.        

Below are 2 links for the catechisms that I've used.  Feel free to check them out and use them as a starting point if you've never been exposed to the catechism teaching method.  Most importantly, find a catechism that is as close to your personal belief system as possible.  If you are a member of a mainstream denomination, chances are there is a formal catechism available.  You can probably find a printable copy online, or you pastor may have some resources for you as well.

Soujourn Community Church Catechism for Girls and Boys

A Baptist Catechism - Desiring God            

Be Kind. Rewind.

Most of us have heard the story of Noah's Ark hundreds of times and probably all have similar memories. We picture this cute little boat, floating on a calm sea, the sun shining in the background and fluffy animals poking their heads out of the windows. Noah sits atop the ark, smiling as if everything is alright with the world. The ironic thing is that everything was not alright with the world.

Think about it. God had just destroyed the world and millions of people were killed. God's judgment had just been poured out on humanity and only a remnant (Noah's family) were spared. The Bible says that sin became so great that the heart of humanity was "evil all the time". Needless to say, things had gotten pretty bad! This is a far cry from the cute Sunday school stories that we remember!

I've meet many folks that don't believe in God. One of the arguments that I hear revolves around the story of Noah and the flood. Some people feel that God must be evil, or at least have the propensity of evil, in order to wipe of all of humanity; including little children. Understandably, the feel that a god that would commit this kind of act could not be good, but only vindictive and angry. I've heard some argue that this story only proves that God is not perfect. After all, being all knowing, did He not know that man was going to rebel against Him? Did He not know that He was going to have to resort to wiping out the majority of the population? That's a pretty big oversight! I mean, why did God create man in the first place?

But after listening to objections, and trying to understand where folks are coming from, I've realized that these false conceptions are just because most people don't understand the nature of God.  Was God angry? I'm sure He was. And can we blame Him? But was His anger any different than a Father and a child, when the child disobeys and really screws up? Being a father myself, I can relate to this paradox. In one moment we can be so angry with our kids that we want to explode, and the next second want to hold them in our arms and makes things all better. And I think that is the essence of this story. Yes, we get glimpse of a God that was angry, and the judgment that followed. But we also get a picture of a God that had His heart broken and although the pinnacle of his creation, His children, slapped Him in the face, He gives us another shot.  A divine "do over", if you will.   

This story is not a happy story filled with warm fuzzys, when you think about it. Don't get me wrong. The story ends with hope, redemption and the love of God granting humanity a second chance. But the story also focuses on God's judgment of a rebellious people. He rewinds the tape, edits the movie and starts it over again.

So, those of us that are parents, and those that work in children's ministry, we have a tough job. How do we teach kids the story of Noah's Ark, include the fun images and still get across the essential theme of God's judgement? How do the two go hand in hand? Do I have the answer? I'm not sure. But I think a good starting place is teaching them about who God is. God is God, and when we use that as a starting point, the other elements seem to fit into place. A God of judgement is still a God of love.  If not, He would be something less than God. Less than a Father.  There's no real conflict here when you think about.

Ancient Jenga

Have you ever played the game Jenga?  Awesome game, and the quentisential game for kids!  Build towers and watching them crash!  what could be better?  I used to keep one in my office when I was a children's pastor for the occasional group of kiddos that come down to hang out. Actually, this is one of the first games that my wife and I bought for ourselves when we were first married. We played it quite often, and the competition became pretty intense! Most of all, we just had a lot of fun and it was a great way to unwind after work.

A few weeks ago, I was reading the story of the Tower at Babel in Genesis 11, and you guess it!  The first thing that crept into my mind was "Jenga". You know, a lot of people have traditionally thought that the people of that time, wanted to build a tower in order to literally reach heaven. That was definitely an underling aspect, but there is something much deeper going on here. You see, the people wanted to build a massive monument of recognition for others to see and praise them for. People from all over the world would see this great tower, and as with Jenga, the people of Mesopotamia wanted bragging rights for the tallest standing monument.  In essence, they were attempting to make themselves appear more important than God. They were depending more on themselves, rather than on the God who just recently miraculously saved Noah and his family. And get this! Noah was probably still alive to witness this! Can you imagine his reaction?

Well, as you might know, God quickly put a stop to this, scattered the people, made up some new languages and the rest is history. The people stopped building their monument, but notice one very important point. God did not destroy the partially built tower. For centuries, the tower remained outside of Babylon as a reminder of who really is in charge. I think that's cool. Kind of like a monumental "tatoo" that you have to live with.

You know, at first glance, when we look at the story of the Tower at Babel, it seems hard to understand what the big deal was, doesn't it? I mean, we live in a culture that values hard work, ambition and extreme competition. We constantly fight to build the highest tower, and when they crash down, we question our worth. We question our standing within society and we question our faith in the God we serve. If you think about, we have not changed all that much since the days of Babel. We are still trying to finish the tower, and what's worse, we are teaching our kids to pick up the legacy and pick up where we left off.

God doesn't want our self-sufficiency. He wants complete dependence on Him. Sure, sometimes He has us build towers, but they stand for His glory and not ours. After all, He created us for His glory and that alone. Give this some thought this this weekend.  Consider what total devotion to God looks like. As parents, teachers, pastors, mentors, leaders etc., do we emulate this to the children that are in our lives?  Do they see us giving our hearts to God in complete totality, or do they see us pursuing our own agendas?  Building the towers? Adding the bricks?  One after the other?  Applying the mortar?  Measuring the height?  And finally, witnessing the collapse?