So what REALLY happened in the run up to Easter 2012?

Despite having

Amy's lovely book

and Wendy's 14 readings

and 21 plastic eggs

we didn't manage much at all really in the lead up to Easter.

In one sense life threw some extra stuff at us this last month or two

and in another sense, life just got away from us.

It's all sounding a bit like last year.

But even so,

I am thankful to God for Amy and Wendy,

for producing such wonderful resources
that will be brilliant to use in and out of season.
Because it isn't just at Easter that we need reminding about
Jesus' death and resurrection.
The truth of Easter is timeless.

And I am also looking forward to dipping into
Jesus, Keep me Near the Cross
in the months to come.
Because that passed me by this year as well.

Do you remember the weeds?

Or the entrance hall?

I'm no Super Mummy Blogger.
But I am intending Easter to be meaningful and full of joy even so.
And I hope yours is too.
Mx

Why youth stay in church when they grow up

The post Making the transition from children's ministry to church, on the topic of seeing children make the transition into church and into a faith of their own, included a blend of notes I'd taken at a recent children's ministry conference and some personal thoughts.  The "take home" message from the workshop and the post that followed was that credible relationships between adults and children in church seems to be important.

But there's more!  Because being in church and staying in church is not just about relationships with others.

Jon Nielson is a youth pastor.   In his post Why youth stay in church when they grow up at The Gospel Coalition (HT: the lovely Jean) he considered the drift from church by teenagers and young adults and then made three observations of those in their 20's from his church who are thriving, flourishing Christians.  What seemed to make the difference?

1. They are converted.

Nielson said, "We need to stop talking about 'good kids.' We need to stop being pleased with attendance at youth group and fun retreats. We need to start getting on our knees and praying that the Holy Spirit will do miraculous saving work in the hearts of our students as the Word of God speaks to them...We need to preach, teach, and talk—all the while praying fervently for the miraculous work of regeneration to occur in the hearts and souls of our students."

2. They have been equipped, not entertained.

Which goes back to that idea that that our primary responsibility should be to prepare our children for a lifetime of service to God and His church.  And that is not to say that THERE WILL BE NO MORE FUN!  We teach and train our children in developmentally appropriate ways.   But our ultimate aim is to teach, train, equip and disciple, not to entertain (or babysit.)

3. Their parents preached the gospel to them.

Nielson said, "The common thread that binds together almost every ministry-minded 20-something that I know is abundantly clear: a home where the gospel was not peripheral but absolutely central."

Which reminds me of this quote, "You must never succumb to the thinking that this is the responsibility of the youth group and Sunday school. True conversion of the heart and soul of your children is your God-given charge," from Disciplines of a Godly Family by Barbara Hughes.

This is a very difficult subject to write about because it pulls right at the heart of the grace vs works tension.  It raises guilt.  Or prompts laziness. Ultimately whether a child makes the transition from vicarious faith to a flourishing owned faith rests in God's hands.  And yet, in His grace, God allows us to participate in the process of bringing our children to a saving knowledge of Him.  All rests in God's hands.  But these are some good things to guide us as we pick up our part that He has given us to play.  It is a long term work.  And it rests in prayerful dependence upon our gracious God.

What is wisdom?

In the chapter "God's Wisdom and Ours"* from Knowing God, JI Packer uses Ecclesiastes to weave an explanation of what the Bible means by wisdom.  And then he provides this wonderful summary.

But what, in that case, is wisdom?  The preacher [in Ecclesiastes] has helped us to see what it is not; does he gives us any guidance as to what it is?  Indeed he does, in outline at any rate. 

'Fear God and keep his commandments' (12:13);

trust and obey him, reverence him, worship him, be humble before him, and never say more than you mean and will stand to when you pray to him (5:1-7);

do good (3:12);

remember that God will some day take account of you (11:9; 12:14), so eschew, even in secret, things of which you will be ashamed when they come to light at God's assizes (12:14). 

Live in the present, and enjoy it thoroughly (7:14; 9:7ff: 11:9ff); present pleasures are God's good gifts. 

Though Ecclesiastes condemns flippancy (cf. 7:4-6), he clearly has no time for the superspirituality which is too proud, or 'too pious', ever to laugh and have fun. 

Seek grace to work hard at whatever life calls you to do (9:10), and enjoy your work as you do it (2:24; 3:12ff; 5:18ff; 8:15).  Leave to God its issues; let him measure its ultimate worth; your part is to use all the good sense and enterprise at your command in exploiting the opportunities that lie before you (11:1-6).

This is the way of wisdom.

* God's Wisdom and Ours" is chapter 10 from Knowing God.  The Bible verses are all from the book of Ecclesiastes.  And this quote was written as one single, flowing paragraph in the book.  I have separated it into a list of sorts for ease of reading on the computer screen.

God only wise

We may be frankly bewildered at the things that happen to us, but God knows exactly what he is doing, and what he is after, in his handling of our affairs.  Always, and in everything, he is wise; we shall see that hereafter, even where we never saw it here.  (Job in heaven knows the full reson why he was afflicted, though he never knew it in his life,)  Meanwhile, we ought not to hesitate to trust his wisdom, even when he leaves us in the dark.

But how are we to meet these baffling and trying situations if we cannot for the moment see God's purpose in them?  First, by taking them as from God, and asking ourselves what reaction to them, and in them, the gospel of God requires of us; second, by seeking God's face specifically about them.

If we do these two things, we shall never find ourselves wholly in the dark as to God's puropose in our troubles.

From Knowing God by JI Packer chapter nine, page 109.

Making the transition from children's ministry to church

A few weeks ago I went to a conference for people involved in children's ministry.  One of the sessions was an excellent talk on the subject of helping children/teenagers to transition from their children's ministry activities to sitting (happy and willingly) in church, given by David Goodwin from Kidsreach.

Here are a couple of the more background/philosophical issues he raised to get the ball rolling...

*  Our current understanding of the development of the brain suggests that teenagers' brains are not fully developed and will not be so until into their early 20s.  So we ought not to expect our teenagers to be fully able to make big life decisions (like the decision to live a life fully accountable to God) during their teenage years.  (It's a generalisation.  Some will.)

*  It helps to have a framework of faith development in mind.  David's framework (and I am sure there are others) is:
EXPERIENCE FAITH - living a vicarious faith of one's parents (0 to about 10 or 11 years old)
AFFILIATIVE FAITH - taking on the faith of those with whom they affiliate (the youth group, the football club, the school friends, the gang on the street...)
SEARCHING FAITH - leaving the affiliate group (either completely - by choice or because they have outgrown it - or at least mentally) and seeking out personal answers to the big questions
OWNED FAITH - taking on a faith of one's own

At this point David spent quite a long time talking about youth groups, suggesting that it is helpful to have a youth group for teenagers - a better group to affiliate with than maybe some of the other groups on offer. Because this is a better (safer?) place to do one's searching.  Which at one level I agree with, and which personally filled me with a measure of despair as we don't have a youth group at our church (with no real prospect of one starting any time soon) and I don't know of any viable youth group within coo-ee.  And I have heard time and again in wonderfully encouraging conversations, letters and blog posts that what so often pulled teenagers through those years was a good youth group.  A good youth group, I think, is a good thing.

That said, I was delighted to read Kathy Keller's post a few days ago, especially her words about youth groups - which did remind me once again (and I need reminding on this front every now and then) that the formula for raising our kids to be Christian adults is not Gospel + Youth Group or for that matter, Gospel + _______________(fill in the gap.)  Which is echoed in Cathy's wonderful post on raising kids to be Christian adults and also this quote from Disciplines of a Godly Family by Barbara Hughes. 

And sometimes I think people have to leave the church to do their searching.  I did.  It wasn't a dramatic exit.  Just a slow drift away.  And while I drifted off I didn't become a danger to myself or to anyone else.  It doesn't have to be horrible and damaging.  And in time (thankfully not too much time) God drew me back. 

Conversion is God's work.

David went on to suggest that some do seem to make the transition from their children's ministry activities to church and come out the other side as Christian adults.  At this point he provided a list of strategies and things that in his view seem to make a difference, most of which have to do with forming good relationships across the generations.  Here's his list...

*  Have the children and adults form REAL relationships with one another.
*  Provide "extra-curricular" community building activities like picnics, camps and parties to allow times for these relationships to form and grow.  (But it is incumbent upon the adults to not disappear off into their huddles and ignore the children during these times.)
*  Don't isolate the children from the adults and the adults from the children.  (So, for example, don't have the children arriving at church with their parents and being ushered straight into their separate activities.  Spend some time in church together before the children go off to their activities.)
*  And have whole services (maybe shorter ones) where the whole church is in together.
*  Teach the adults about the importance of being role models and mentors.  Teach the adults the importance of forming good relationships with the children.  This ought not to be the domain of those involved in children's ministry only.  It is everyone's responsibility.  The older generations have the responsibility to be proactive in leading the next generations to praise God.
*  Get lots of different adults into the children's activities to give their testimonies - to talk about their faith and how they fill their days and where God fits into all of that.
*  Never say to a child who is misbehaving during their children's activities, "If you keep doing that you will have to go into church and sit with your parents."  Oops...

One other thing David mentioned, slightly provocative but I think it has legs, is that children's ministry is perhaps too good these days.  We are good at what we do and we have great resources at our disposal.  And when the children move from children's ministry to church they can enter a period of culture shock.  Where are the games?  The prizes?  The puppets? 

There is a fine line.  We want the children to go rushing up to their parents at the end of their time together saying, "That was fantastic.  We want to come back next week."  And David Goodwin was talking to a nearly full auditorium of Sunday School and Scripture teachers who had given up a Saturday to attend a conference so that they could hone these very skills.  If we teach children we want to be doing it well. 

But David said at one point that our primary responsibility should be to prepare our children for a lifetime of service to God and His church.  That broadens out the scope of how we view our 30 or 40 minutes of Sunday School or Scripture time.  Ultimately it is God's work but this is a wonderful big picture view of what we are setting out to do with our children's and teens' ministries. 

Lots of good stuff to think about.

And I have to stop saying, "If you keep doing that you will have to go into church and sit with your parents."

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,

but let us encourage one another—

and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 

Hebrews 10:25

If you have any other thoughts on what might help in the transition from children's ministry to church - ideas, theories, personal stories of success or failure - David Goodwin is writing a Masters' thesis on this very topic at the moment and would love to hear from you.  You can email him here.  He would love to hear from you.

Did you also know...

...that it turns out there is another phrase that is repeated time and again in the book of Ezekiel.  Not quite as often as the 200+ mentions of "Sovereign LORD" but often enough to make its presence felt.

Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Mentioned a good sixty five or more times through Ezekiel, God makes it clear that He is the Sovereign LORD - the One who will judge, the One who will rescue, the One who is true to His promises.

In the days of oral tradition, repetition made it easier to remember what was being passed down from one hearer to the next by word of mouth.  But I think there is more to the repetition than that.  Having eyes open to these phrases deepens the reading and points to key themes.

Here are some others from the early books of the Old Testament that help make sense of these books.

Be holy because I am holy in Leviticus.
Remember me or Do not forget me (God, that is) in Deuteronomy.
Be courageous or Do not be afraid in Joshua.
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit in Judges.
Fear the LORD in Proverbs.

Look out for them as you read these books - and please let me know if you can think of any others.

Did you know...

...that God is described as "Sovereign Lord" over 200 times in the book of Ezekiel?  Which is interesting given that Ezekiel is a prophet to the people of Israel  who are newly in Babylon and who would be wondering at God's sovereignty following the ordeal of exile.

But Ezekiel knows that God is sovereign.  After describing his first vision of God he says,

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.  When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Ezekiel 1:28.

This was the appearance
of the likeness
of the glory
of the LORD.

A few times removed and even so, he fell facedown in the fear of the LORD.  What an amazing example of reverence, awe, obedience, faith, belief, fear of, trust in, love of and dependence upon the LORD.

Holiness

The following quote is from a chapter about holiness in the book 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know by J. I. Packer.

A holy person’s life will not centre on things: instead, a certain frugality will mark it, an eschewing of luxury and display, a sense of stewardship of all possessions, and a readiness to let them go if need be for the Lord’s sake. Holy people do not undervalue this world’s good things, as if God did not make or provide them…, but they refuse to be enslaved to them. Nor do they squint sideways to compare their material showing with that of others; they know that keeping up with the Joneses is not holiness, even if Jones goes to their church or is in orbit in some Christian celebrity circuit. The holy person lives free from the passion for possessions, just as he does from other forms of self-seeking and self-indulgence. His treasure is with God, and his heart too…. The cheerfulness of his disregard of the world’s scale of values, and the straightforward, single-minded, spontaneous ardour of his love for God may make him somewhat unnerving company, though if so it is because he is so much more honest and human than we who watch him, not because he is odd and we are normal.

Wow!  There is a life's work.  Something to pray about.  Again and again.

This quote and the cover picture make me want to own a copy of this book.  Pop!  On it goes onto the wishlist.

HT: Rebecca

Making a spectacle of myself

This was always supposed to be one of the five new things for last year, but at least I can say I am making excellent headway into this year's list of things to do.  Because today I picked up my new reading glasses.

It must be fun to be an optometrist and daily see the joy in people's faces as the very small print on their "Here, have a read of this" card suddenly becomes amazingly visible.  It's quite a miracle really.

Happy days.

Choose life

Fifteen chapters into the book of the prophet Jeremiah and you reach these verses:

Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!
And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says:
"Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;
those for starvation, to starvation,
those for captivity, to captivity."
Jeremiah 15:1,2

This is the sort of passage that would have many asking, "Where is the God of love in that?"

But let's back up a bit.

Right back to Deuteronomy.   All through Deuteronomy the phrase "remember the Lord" is repeated, page after page, chapter after chapter.  Remember Him when you go into the Promised Land, when you enter the land of plenty, when you find yourself surrounded by other nations that don't follow God, when life is good and when life is hard.  At all times, remember the Lord.  Throughout Deuteronomy God is galvanising His people before they become a nation in their own land.  It all comes together magnificently in Deuteronomy 30, where God presents His people with a choice.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,  I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20

By the time you get to Jeremiah God's people have been long in the Promised Land, it is drawing towards the end of the era of the kings and the people of Israel have made their choice.  They have turned away from God.  And Jeremiah is pleading with them to repent and turn back to Him.   God, through Jeremiah, is pleading with His people to turn back to Him, to remember Him. 

So back to Jeremiah 15:1-2.  It IS a harsh passage.  But it's not a bolt out of the blue.  Just four chapters earlier Jeremiah has this message from the Lord:

From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, "Obey me." But they did not listen or pay attention; nstead they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 
Jeremiah 11:7,8

God has shown extraordinary patience over centuries.  Centuries is a long time to be patient.  Especially when I think about how hard it is to remain patient even for five minutes sometimes.  God has given His people countless warnings.  And they have ignored Him.

However God continues to show compassion, love and mercy.  God could have turned all His people over to death, sword and starvation.  He gave them countless opportunities to turn back to Him.  He told them point blank that He would destroy them if they continued to ignore Him.  And yet He saved some.  He preserved a remnant, sending them into capitivity. 

"Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; he will escape with his life." 
Jeremiah 21:9

Even amongst the captives there were those whose trust failed.  Towards the end of Jeremiah there's a story of the group who rebelled against the Babylonian captivity and escaped to Egypt.  The Lord spoke to the people through Jeremiah, warning them against this plan.   That they would perish if they fled to Egypt.  He was asking them to trust Him, to go to Babylon.  A group fled to Egypt, thinking it the better option.  They perished. 

But those who went to Babylon were established in that land.  They built houses, planted vineyards, grew crops, settled safely and lived in prosperity.

While there are sweeping passages of hope and promise, Jeremiah is, at core, an overwhelmingly sad book.   God, through Jeremiah, pleads desperately with His people to repent from their ways, to follow Him, to trust Him.  Relatively few trust and follow, walking through the small gate and along the narrow road.  But some do.  And for them the future is full of glorious hope and life.

Getting ready for Easter again

I know what you are thinking.  Easter is AGES away.  You're right.  It is.  Even though there have been hot cross buns in the shops since January (I promised myself I wouldn't get on my soapbox...oops...) and the shelves are filling with Easter eggs (although why you would buy chocolate eggs in this heat is beyond me), even still, there are a good seven weeks until Easter.  But Lent, the forty days plus Sundays preceding Easter - the time, if you choose to observe it for preparing your heart and mind for Easter - begins next Wednesday.

Like my friend Amy, I have grown up in a church tradition that doesn't really observe Lent and I didn't know much about it.  Like Amy, we do lots in the month leading up to Christmas (Advent) but precious little when it comes to the lead up to Easter.  Which seems wrong.  Because Easter is so important.

To redress that situation I have made my humble attempts.  This post is the second most visited post on my blog to date.  Maybe that is because others also feel this imbalance.  (Or maybe you just wanted to make yourself feel better when you read about my failed attempts!!)

If you are after something to help you  to prepare for Easter (personally or with your family), the lovely Amy has come to our rescue with her BRAND NEW BOOK Lord Have Mercy: Discovering Jesus in the Days Before Easter - a Family Devotional Guide for Lent. 

She begins with a helpful introduction on Lent, covering its history and how we might rightly apply it today - "rending our hearts, not our garments, in repentance to Him."

What then follows is forty short studies, one for each day of Lent, not including Sundays.   Forty studies in forty days???  Overwhelmed before you even start?  Amy is a busy mother of five children.  She knows.  And she is here to help.  

Amy has arranged the studies by week.  Each week's studies covers a different aspect of Christ's ministry.  She has provided a reference for a short reading from the Bible and then a series of questions (with answers!)  If you start late, start on the current day's study.  Can't manage every single day? Even if you only do some of the studies each week you will get a sense of the theme being covered.  Can't fit in a discussion with all the family some evenings?  Quickly talk through the main points that would have hopefully come out of the discussion, had you had it.  Obviously the more you do, the better and richer the experience.  But if you can't do it all, then some is good.  Amy sets before us a realistic and flexible programme because she appreciates and knows what it is like.

The weekly themes are...
Week one - We need God's mercy.
Week two - Jesus is holy, we are not.
Week three - Jesus is God and has the power to heal and save.
Week four - Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of Man.
Week five - Jesus is glorious.
Week six - Jesus is the Only Saviour.
Week seven (Holy Week a.k.a. the week leading up to Easter) - Jesus Christ, God's Annointed One.

For all you up to date people with a Kindle, you can get Lord Have Mercy HERE for $US3!  If you have an eReader that isn't a Kindle then Amy has some instructions, which she has put in the comments below, as to how you can get this book successfully onto your gadget.  (This technology is WAY beyond my understanding but those who have eyes to see will understand.)   And if you prefer to hold a book in your hand, in recent days it has become available in that format HERE. 

As I said earlier, this book is brand new.  I haven't road tested it.  I haven't read all the way through it as yet.  But what I have read I love.  And I have read Amy's blog for maybe three years now, chatted with her via email, prayed for her, asked her to pray for me and know her to be a growing, flourishing, intentional Christian wife, mother, daughter and friend.  Amy loves Jesus and her greatest desire is that her children will grow up strong in their love for the Lord as well.  This book wells up from that desire.

Thanks Amy.

Thank you

A flower for you to say thank you.

I checked my "stats" today for the first time in a long time and was completely surprised to find that there have been daily visitors here all month despite the fact that I haven't posted anything, apart from a heading, in over a month.  So thank you for dropping by and for checking in.  While I haven't been blogging I have been...

1. Recovering from December.
2. Celebrating my birthday.
3. Doing lots of holiday things with the kids.
4. Away on holidays.
5. Reading lots of novels.
6. Reclaiming house and home after being away on holidays or being at home but spending my time reading novels.
7. Drowning in start of year admin from the various things I find myself involved in.
8. Writing lengthy emails to special friends - those moments when the time has to be given to writing for the personal rather than blogging for the general.
9. Spending some time catching up with special people.
10.  And basically following Jean's advice of trying to put my family and other relationships first, fulfilling all my primary responsibilities, and not blogging for the sake of people-pleasing, and, and, and...

And while all that has been happening I have been brewing up a few blogworthy thoughts and can see a window of blogging opportunity coming my way.  So watch this space.  Actually, thanks again for watching this space while I was away.

Must write something again some time...