The Lost Son | Father's Perspective

Yesterday in our children and youth ministries we covered Jesus' parable of the Lost Son [Luke 15:11-31]. This is a really interesting story on so many levels [as with every one of His parables].

As I prepared, I was reminded of when we covered this story in our Kingdom Snapshots series. KS started as a Wednesday night series in Solid Rock Youth, our youth ministry, and was repeated as a summer teaching series in our main church worship services, at New Minas Baptist Church.

When we first taught the parable in Solid Rock Youth we rolled a YouTube video which is someone's rendition of the parable made for a Christian film festival. This video, designed to delve deeper into the father's perspective of the story, is very moving. Even 3 years later from when I first saw this film, it still sticks in my mind and still moves me.

Yesterday, I showed it to our grade 3/4 boys and gave it to our Jr. High leader to show to those students. Take a look:

Biblical Literacy with Buck Denver

This week I received a preview copy of an exciting new DVD series in the mail. Phil Vischer, the brains behind the VeggieTales series has a new project called What's in the Bible with Buck Denver. I've been following Phil and What's in the Bible? on Twitter and Facebook for a while now and am excited about where this project is headed. Biblical Literacy is the target that Phil is aiming for... to head through the Bible cover to cover in 13 episodes.

Personally, I am really excited about this new project. The theme of Biblical Literacy is a huge problem in the Christian church. I've frequently heard the statement that 'you cannot live what you do no know.' That's precisly where we find ourselves, and in many ways I believe it's our own fault. Over the past few decades parents have relied on the church to educate their children about God and His Word. Recently due to the rise of new media like Sesame Street and Nickelodeon, the Church has taken aim at entertaining children as a form of attraction. Where does that leave us? In many ways we have teenagers and adults who grew up in families where God and His Word were mentioned on Sundays and in churches where they were fed a diet of games, VeggieTales and cookies. This means that, as far as I can see, Biblical Literacy is at an all time low in our churches. If the trend continues, we will no longer deserve the title, 'People of the Book - something that will be a tremendous blow.

So, all that said, Phil's zany way of teaching applied to the tremendous issue of declining Biblical Literacy in the Church, may be a great step forward. Not that video teaching is everything [it certainly has draw backs], but it sure could be a place for many of us to start.

[Ps. I showed the preview to my children [ages 8, 6, 4, 2] and they loved it. Have been singing the song... though the 4 yr old can't remember 'Denver' and has substituted like 100 other words, lol!]

Nehemiah and Poverty, Haiti and the Valley

It's been an eventful few weeks at Solid Rock Youth, the youth ministry I lead at our church. Last spring our leaders met and planned out a teaching series with three themes. We planned to look at the greatest commandments backwards, starting with our own value / identify in Jesus, moving to our perception of others, and finishing with how we express our love to God. In the fall we covered themes 1 and 2, and in January we were to cover theme 3. God altered the plan.

During the aftermath of the recent devastation in Haiti I followed [on facebook and twitter] the leaders of a number of aid organizations as the responded. I was moved as I watched and read the real life stories from Haiti and felt compelled to challenge our students to wrestle with how they can respond to poverty / suffering in the world. I fell that youth ministries have the responsibility to help students wrestle with these issues all the time - how does God fit into the picture that I see in the world? How do Christians bring the good news of Jesus to people who are suffering? What is good news to those who suffer?

So, with the prompting of God we showed at Solid Rock Youth an edited version of Mark Driscoll's sermon / report from his trip to Haiti with Churches Helping Churches. It was one of the most moving nights we've had in a long time. God was definitely challenging the students to think differently about the world. That night I taught from Nehemiah 1 about Nehemiah's response to the destruction in Jerusalem - he fasted, prayed, mourned for months asking God how to respond.

Last Wednesday we sought to expand or perhaps narrow the conversation about how we as the Church should respond to suffering. After brainstorming with our youth leaders I invited two people to share from their experiences in poverty locally. The first to share was one of our students who spent the first 5 years of their life in public housing. She explained that that was like. The second person works with young families here in the valley, often in their homes. That person was able to share from their observations of the house poor in the valley - those who have a place to live but cannot afford things like heat, electricity, food, medicine, etc. Our students were overwhelmed by the sense that the suffering / poverty that they see / read about elsewhere are problems here too.

The biggest affirmation from God that we are on the right track happened through the arrival of a visitor last Wednesday. Every once in a while, an elderly homeless man named Joseph travels through the valley and visits our church. On Wednesday night, as I stood to speak about Nehemiah 2 and how God gave vision to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, Joseph arrived. The next day as I spent time with him, I asked how he came to be there at that moment - his response was that he just felt like he should come. To bizarre for me to believe that it was a coincidence, I believe God brought him to confirm what is taking place in my heart.

That night, as I taught from Nehemiah, I explained that were I in his place that my first response might be to bring food, shelter, protection, and to bring soldiers to rebuild the wall. Instead, after months of prayer, seeking a vision from God for how to respond, with God's leading, Nehemiah led a campaign where everyone in decimated Jerusalem contributed to the reconstruction. Without the wall around their city they were a disgraced people, without identity or dignity - they were ridiculed by the people around them. As the people gained confidence from God's vision to restore them, and as they sought him again - they gained a sense of identity as his people, and dignity in the sight of those around them. I feel that God is leading us to seek Him, and to ask what this restoration of identity and dignity could look like in the valley for those who are the hidden poor.

This Wednesday coming, we will follow Nehemiah's leadership as he began to pray to God - he confessed his own sin and then the sin of his nation. After that he ask God what to do next. We intend to ask the same thing.

O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. [Nehemiah 1:5-6]

Family Christmas Videos

Here are links to videos relating to Christmas that we have made with our children:

2009
Creating the Star
Decorating the Tree

2008
Decorating the Tree
Meeting Mocha
MacDonald Grandkids | Christmas Play
MacDonald Grandkids | Away in a Manger

Children's Worship | Music Suggestions

Here are some of the albums we currently use songs from in our children's large group worship time at New Minas Baptist Church.

1. Great Big God [Cds 1, 2, 3 and Preschool]. These songs are excellent content from England with fun tunes. They are not as high energy for the most part as the Hillsong Kids series [below]. In my opinion, the songs appeal to a target age of grade p-2 with the obvious exception of the preschool cd.

2. Hillsong Kids. HK is from Hillsong Church in Austrailia. The HK music is the most upbeat [rock and roll oriented] children's music that I am aware of. Children absolutely love these songs and ask for them over and over - Superhero and One Way are the run away favorites in our children's ministry. Like most children's worship cds there are songs on each disc which are fantastic and some that you'll listen to and never do live. The median age target, in my opinion, is about grade 3-5. These songs have great content, but whereas some [many] of them are children's adaptations of Hillsong United songs they do often have larger words.

3. Shout Praises Kids. This series is a middle of the road between the previous 2 options in terms of age target and energy level. Many of the songs are children's adaptations of adult worship songs. This isn't a philosophy that I always prefer - sometimes adult songs do not transfer to children's ministry well. That said, some songs are a fantastic fit and can be used in both adult services and children's worship. Recently for a series on Love in our church the adults used the song Love the Lord by Lincoln Brewster, in our children's ministry we used the SPK version and the connection of children going home singing what the adults also sang was excellent!

4. Deliberate Kids by Phil Joel. Phil formerly is a member of the Newsboys and has since launched his own ministry called Deliberate People. The Dk songs are a lot of fun with great content. Some of them are not all that singable, but other are. In our children's ministry right now we play the Good Morning Song every single week to launch our large group time. We have also used the New Testament song as a tool to learn the order of the books.

Those are the main sources of recorded music we use in our children's ministry right now. We do have a few other songs that we use by the Penny Merchants, by Doug Horley and Scripture Rock.

Children's Worship | Live or Recorded Music?

In the children's ministry at New Minas Baptist Church we switched almost a year ago to exclusively use recorded music. We used a live worship leader [guitar] for the first 4 years of our large group children's worship time and have now switched. There are advantages and disadvantages that I have seen, here are some comments in no particular order:

1. A live musician can interact with the children more and play to / with them. This interactivity adds some to the children's focus and engagement. There is a more personal feel to worship with a live musician.

2. A live musician has better control of the attention of the children.

3. A live musician get sick sometimes... this leads to an advantage of recorded music in that if the regular worship leaders using recorded music are unavailable, someone else can step in and the songs stay the same.

4. Recorded music is always the same, the quality doesn't rise or fall basic on the quality of the musician, their energy level or focus.

5. Recorded music can be chosen which is more energetic, includes more instruments, etc.

6. Recorded music tends to have children respond more by doing actions and live musicians seem to have children respond more by singing.

7. Live musicians can write their own songs for the children specific to your worship setting / church.

8. Recorded music can be purchased on itunes or elsewhere. This is a significant plus as your children will go home singing the songs and you can point the parents in the right direction to purchase them for their children to listen to at home. This increases saturation at home.

9. Recorded music more easily allows children to experiment with leadership from the stage as a part of a worship team.

10. Live worship allows a culture in your children's ministry of building musicians younger.

These comments are not intended to convey a strong opinion for one direction or the other. We have done both at our church and I like both for different reasons. When we had a live musician I wished for some of the benefits that recorded music would bring. Now that we have recorded music I miss some of the benefits of a live setting.

For those who are in churches where having a live energetic worship leader for children isn't possible, recorded music is a great option. For everyone who has both options, there is a choice to make, with benefits to both sides of the decision.

For those looking for recorded music, over the past few years there have been several fantastic additions to the genre of children's worship music. Many are available on itunes, and it not, can be ordered online. [Another post to follow with song suggestions.]

Christmas Memories

When it comes right down to it, Christmas the event is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. As a parent, I want my children to have no doubt about the season's purpose - I want them to look back as adults on their childhood Christmas celebrations and see the significant family memories we created which point to Jesus.

In order to make Christmas a very memorable occasion we do several things as a family. one of those memory makers is gift giving. I know that this seams like a bit of a distraction from the focus on Jesus, but I'm not so sure it has to be. For the past few years we have drawn names for stockings. This year we've added a tradition of a Daddy Date. I'll be taking each child out to go shopping and then to Tim Hortons for a date. The emphasis I'll be making is lets buy the perfect 10 things for the person we are shopping for - our goal is to give them good gifts. In doing this, we remind ourselves that Christmas isn't about our greed, its about giving good things to someone else.

Another tradition we have is that the children make the star for the top of the Christmas tree. Each year its become more elaborate - last year involved my inventing a 4 sided 3 dimensional contraption. This year it was finger painting [video below]. The point is two fold, first, the star points us to Jesus - something that we emphasize throughout our family devotions each night. Second, it allows for another memory to be made, something that elevates the family oriented celebration of the season.

These two small parts of our Christmas celebrations as a family are intentional ways that we are seeking to make have significant family memories with a Jesus focus during the Christmas season. We're not done, there are more memories to be made, perhaps to be shared here. How did you celebrate the Jesus focus of Christmas as a child, how are you inspiring a focus on Jesus at Christmas in your children?

On Why my Family does not Celebrate Halloween.

My family does not celebrate Halloween. There, I said it. My children have not gone trick or treating, we do not hand out candy at our door, we do not decorate for October 31 in the color orange [a color, I prefer to attach to another concept]. When I have said in the past that we do not celebrate this holiday I have received different responses:

Is it because you are a Christian?
Aren't you depriving your children?
Aren't there other more important things to stand up against?
Why bother? Everyone celebrates Halloween.

First of all, I need to be clear - my reasons for ignoring the holiday are not because I have misunderstood the history of the event. I'll spare the history lesson for now as others have written about it already, and better than I would. [Click Here] For me the issue isn't about history its about now. I understand where Halloween has come from, its where it is now that concerns me. Why is it that I cannot walk into a store in October [and now September!] without seeing a bloodied corpse, severed hand, or some decoration colored as if dripping in blood. I don't misunderstand the event's past, but I sure don't want to be a part of its present.

I am a father, of 5 children, ages 8 months to almost 8 years. My conviction is that I cannot, as a responsible parent, expose my children to the blood and gore associated with Halloween. We protect them as they watch television, we protect them as they make use of the internet, we watch who they spend time with, we keep them safe in every other way that we can - should I not also protect them from the frightening images and ideas associated with Halloween, from the unhealthy fixation on death and gore?

Those are my thoughts. I know there are some who will respond - my children choose harmless costumes and eat candy, that's what the holiday is about. I understand that comment, I just know that watch I see in stores, watch in my community, and read / see on television and online make me believe that Halloween is not a holiday for children.

In the end, in my opinion, and in my attempt to be a good parent, I cannot choose for my family to participate in Halloween or the images that it will fill my children's minds with.

Delegating Design

Those that know me even a little know that I am a control freak. I like to be in charge of the big picture and I like things to run well in the details. Its just who I am. What I'm learning, thanks to some people who have had the courage to help point out this fatal flaw, is that I need to change.

Sure, there are dozens of people who serve in the ministries that I am a part of. However, for the most part, they do things that I cannot or do not want to do - sometimes things that I do want to do, but that they do much better than I do. At times, I have applauded myself for my delegating abilities as I've given away things like these.

Times are changing - things are very busy in our church and our family and I'm learning that delegating and lessening my grip as a control freak means giving away not only things that I do not want to do, but also things that I do like to do but someone else can also do. Andy Stanley, in his book Next Generation Leader, says [my summary] that for the most part we should only do the things that we are uniquely gifted to do and allow others to do the rest. In other words - most of my time should be spent on the things that only I can do, and I need to learn to allow others to do the things that they are capable of. The biggest flaw of the control freak isn't holding on to to much and hurting themselves, its holding on to things which someone else could do and not allowing them to serve God in those areas.

So, with these thoughts in mind, yesterday I spent a few hours teaching two of our high school students to create and design in Media Shout. I really enjoy running Media Shout and creating in it. However, there are other people who can do this - who also enjoy the challenge, and who are able to serve God from their giftedness this way.

I'm learning.

Romans 3

No comments from me this time, only awe at what God has done [and is doing]:

Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. [Romans 3:23-25, Msg]