These Stones...

I love to read. I constantly switch between books relating to youth or children's ministry and books relating to theology and spiritual disciplines. When I find a book that intersects several of these areas I become excited. Recently I picked up a copy of "Helping our Children Grow in Faith" by Robert Keeley. To be honest, so far there hasn't been much that I've learned which has been new, just some refreshers. Maybe I've read too many books in this genre.

That said, Keeley has a a few thoughts in one of the early chapters which made me stop and think. On page 30 he writes about Joshua as he led the Israelite nation into the Promised Land for the first time. As they crossed the Jordan River [Joshua 4:4-7] Joshua instructed the heads of each of the 12 tribes of Israel to pick up a stone from the middle of the river. Joshua said:

In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. [Joshua 4:6-7]

These words and this story led us to choose the name of our 4th child, Jordan.  In his book, Keeley writes that "Joshua set up a marker so that parents would be asked questions that would remind them to tell the story of God's deliverance." [page 30, emphasis mine].  Even though this is a passage of scripture I've read over and over again, I always thought about it a little differently.  I always pictured the chidlren asking questions in the future, and the parent's responding.  What I had not thought about before is the intention Keeley points out - that Joshua intentionally created a marking point which would cause children [future generations] to ask about God, and would create a opening to share about what God had done in the past.

Keeley's followup statement is that 'we need to tell our children stories too." [page 30]  This section of his book made me think.  What sort of markers do [can] we set up that will cause our children to ask questions.  Are there ways that we are able, like Joshua, to inspire future questions from children - and future reminders to parents - about what God has done?

Conference Closes

It’s hard to believe, but we go home tomorrow.  I can hardly wait to see my family; it’s been very hard to be away for so long.  These 18 days have been the longest time that I’ve ever been away from them.  Jordan has started walking while I’ve been away – he was getting close before I left, but now he takes multiple steps as I understand from Sharalyn’s emails.  Being away for so long and knowing that I’ve missed this new adventure in his life is disappointing. Being a parent is realizing that any time away from your children is time that you can never get back.  Though this trip has been amazing, I wonder about what has been sacrificed.

Tomorrow morning is the last part of the conference.  We’ll meet for one more large group session in the dome building.  This session will be broadcast live on German television which is very interesting.  The first night we were here, in the first large group worship session, the organizers took a great deal of time to walk us through Germany’s history as it relates to Christianity.  Through music, interview, mime and video we moved from the heights during the times of Bach and Luther, through the lows of the first and second world wars and the extermination of the Jews and even of many Christians.  We continued from the time of the war and through the rise of communism, then turning to 1989 and the peaceful revolution which was conceived through peaceful gatherings and prayer at St. Nicholas church in Leipzig and led to the fall of the Berlin wall and the German communist government.  I find it amazing to see how God has played a role in the nation of Germany, and how despite the horrible sins committed during the wars, that now the nation is progressing so much so that Christianity is permitted in the public forum.  Not only was the mayor of Leipzig, who is a Christian leader in the city, a participant on stage during our opening night, and not only will tomorrow morning’s session be broadcast live on television, but also this evening the conference hosted Leipzig Live – a large Christian party / festival in St. Augustus Square where the revolution took place.  We had opportunity to visit St. Nicholas church and hear [via translation] from the pastor who led the church at the time of the peaceful revolution.  Amazing – to think that only 20 years ago this city would have been under the reign of communism and such a public display of faith in any of these settings would have been impossible.

One of the many things that God has been teaching me [us] during this conference, and even during our mission trip, is that the Christian world is much bigger than I [we] think it is.  So often we take for granted that the state of our own church and the experiences of our own faith are all that God has for the world at the moment.  Our travel has helped me to realize that in some places in the world, God is more visibly active – perhaps owing to the willingness of his people there to release themselves to him.  Take Nagaland, India for example where 95% of the people in the region claim to follow Christ.  I’m humbled to realize just how much I presume to know about God, and just how insufficient my current understanding of him actually is.