Kids Welcome?

Hello!
Here is the last ministerial message that I submitted to our local paper. It is the third in a series. Please feel free to comment on anything you read here!

To read the 1st letter click here.
To read the 2nd letter click here.

This last September I told you about my experiences of being a visitor at church for most of this past summer. My family and I were away from our church family for about 11 weeks if you remember. Since attending a worship gathering on Sunday was, and is, a priority for us, we decided to make sure we were in a church every week, no matter where we where. “We went to 8 different churches all over western Canada. Some of the church families we visited were Presbyterian, Evangelical Free, Baptist, Anglican, as well as, several other well known faith traditions.“ (taken from my first article on this subject). If you would like to read the ones you missed, please check our blog at lpchome.blogspot.com as they are posted there. The first lesson I learned in being a visitor at church was to remember what it was like to be new. In my second article I said we need to be friendly! What a difference we can make in a new person’s life if we just went out of our way with people who were visiting your church to warmly welcome them there and help point the way for them. Another thing I learned as a visitor is that most churches do not enjoy kids being there. Could this be true, that churches make things tough on kids? I am sad to say that was our experience. Though there were a few exceptions most churches had NO children or even youth in the main morning service. Mainly we found that churches were filled with older people. I am so thankful for a generation whose sacrifice and commitment to the Lord has built many of these church buildings. It was this generation that still keeps these churches going from week to week. We owe them great thanks for the years of service and sacrifice they have made to the Lord. How faithful they have been. Yet with that great sacrifice and commitment to the church, the next generation (s) have not joined them. Why? Why was it that week after week, my family would be the only people with kids present? This was not a good thing, because kids make noise and move around and drop books and poke each other. I remember one church we went to, with one other family that has young kids, that I had to finally leave with the all the youngest because we could not bear the looks of distain we were getting. People were not happy to have us there because the kids were being… well…. kids! I was so glad when church was over so we could leave. Is this the way church is for most people today? I thought the gospel was for rich and poor, old and young? Yet the pressure we felt to make sure our kids made not a peep was very high and stressful and who needs more stress? Especially at a place where we have come to worship God together? Maybe God does not like kids. Maybe He wants his church services to be totally quiet and so orderly that only certain people feel at home? I know that this is NOT right. St. Matthew tells of a time when Jesus’ disciples were trying to keep kids away from him. Jesus, to them, was much too busy and important for kids. Mark adds “¹⁴When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mark 10:14)

If Jesus wants the kids around, why are we, HIS church, acting like the disciples and hindering them from coming? Of all the places that kids should be MOST welcome, it is at church. After all, it is JESUS’ church anyways, not ours. When kids are no longer coming to church, we better be asking ourselves some strong questions about what we are all about as Christ’s body. KIDS were welcome with Jesus and they need to be welcome in His church. Messy, noisy and all. They have something to teach us about God for His kingdom belongs to them. I don’t know about you, but for me, I want to learn what that is?

Comments? PLEASE feel free!

The Wild Things

here is a post that I want you to read from Russell D. Moore who is the Senior Vice President for Academic Administration and Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky... .

Do you agree?? COMMENT on the end of this post!

-PK

By Russell D. Moore
Christian Post Guest Columnist
Mon, Oct. 19 2009 11:09 PM EDT
This past Saturday I took my three oldest sons to see the movie Where the Wild Things Are. Some Christians are all exercised about the fact that the movie might be too frightening for children. They’re wrong. The movie is not a great one, but that’s not the reason why. As a matter of fact, Where the Wild Things Are fails because it’s not scary enough for your kids. And there’s something there Chrisians can learn about children, (being frightened), and the gospel.
Children, it turns out, aren’t as naive about evil as we assume they are. Children of every culture, and in every place, seem to have a built-in craving for monsters and dragons and “wild things.” The Maurice Sendak book appeals to kids because it tells them something about what they intuitively know is true. The world around them is scary. There’s a wildness out there. The Sendak book shows the terror of a little boy who is frightened by his own lack of self-control, and who conquers it through self-control, by becoming king of all the wild things.
Where the Wild Things Are isn’t going to be a classic movie the way it is a classic book. But the Christian discomfort with wildness will be with us for a while. And it’s the reason too many of our children find Maurice Sendak more realistic than Sunday school.
Too many of our Bible study curricula for children declaw the Bible, excising all the snakes and dragons and wildness. We reduce the Bible to a set of ethical guidelines and a text on how gentle and kind Jesus is. The problem is, our kids know there are monsters out there. God put that awareness in them. They’re looking for a sheep-herding dragon-slayer, the One who can put all the wild things under His feet.

SING SING SING

A new song we will be singing on Sunday...
-PK

A Community Christian Youth Group...Come and Join the Fun!

LifeLand Season Opener on November 3rd

We have a winner!

NEW SONG; Hillsongs united

Here is a simple new song that I hope we can learn...

Blessings!

-PK

Top 100 Church Blogs

Here is listing of the top 100 church blogs on the internet. I was surprised to find our blog was NOT listed... Hmmm... ???

Maybe we were number one hundred and ONE.

-PK

For Liz,

Hello everybody! Liz asked me the name of the book that spoke about on Sunday am. The book was is by Florence Littauer called Personality Plus: How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself

From the Back Cover
Each of the following statements relates to one of the four basic personality types: Melancholy, Phlegmatic, Sanguine, and Choleric. Which of these statements do you relate to most? - Whether at home or work, I am well organized and keep everything in its proper place. - It's difficult for me to express excitement, even about something that's really important to me. - When shopping at the mall, it's not unusual for me to forget where I parked the car. - I get annoyed when my employees don't follow my instructions to the letter. In Personality Plus, Florence Littauer gives you valuable insight for appreciating your one-of-a-kind, God-given personality. She includes a Personality Profile test that reveals how your unique blend of traits affects your emotions, work performance, and relationships. Through humorous anecdotes and straightforward counsel, Personality Plus guides you to improve upon your strengths and correct your weaknesses. This engaging book also provides keys to understanding those around you. You'll learn how to accept-and even enjoy-the traits that make each of us so different. Personality Plus is the tool you need to change your life, and the lives of those you care about, for the better.

Here is an ONLINE quiz that helps you to discover your "type".

http://www.gotoquiz.com/personality_plus_1

Thanks for the comment Liz!

Chuck Colson Denounces Therapeutic Church Model

Here is a paragrah from an article I read today. I have GREAT respect for Chuck Colson ( who was former aide to President Richard Nixon and is the creator or the VERY helpful Prison Fellowship. Here is the quote...

"The church has fallen into a therapeutic model, says one prominent evangelical. In an interview with Time magazine, Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson denounced the "feel-good kind of Christianity" he sees being promoted in churches.

"It believes its job is to make people happy and take care of their problems," said Colson, also author of The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters.

But the church's job, he noted, is to make people holy."

THOUGHTS????