(picture taken from http://www.abc26.com)
Just thought I’d remind the readers of Elemental Children’s Ministry to not forget to set your clocks back before going to bed tonight (October 31). Hope you all have a fun Halloween.
If you are reading this on November 1 in the morning and forgot to set your clock back, you’ve got an extra hour! WooHoo!
(picture originally uploaded to Flickr by ♪ Brigitte…Meh ♫)
This post from Mark Batterson reminded me of what we talked about with the elementary kids this past Sunday:
Follow God even when it doesn’t make sense.
Mark talks about how when you are spiritually immature, you find the greatest peace when you’re in comfortable circumstances. Whereas, spiritual maturity is evidenced by having peace in impossible circumstances. He says, “All of us want a miracle, but most of us don’t want to be in situations that necessitate one!”
I love that! How many of us miss out on seeing God “do something neat” (that’s how I worded it with the kids) because we choose not to follow him when it doesn’t make sense? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we force God’s hand simply by stepping out in blind faith. I’m not even saying that when God calls us to take huge steps of faith that there will be huge miraculous signs that accompany our faith. What I am saying is that when we follow God, especially when it doesn’t make sense, we are setting God up to do something neat. That neat thing might be big… it might be small… but it is something that would not happen without us following him and taking that step of faith.
What an amazing story to be a part of! We need to help kids grasp onto this reality. We need to challenge them to learn to listen to God’s voice and step out in faith (even if it’s a little step) even when it doesn’t make sense. Not only that, but we need to help them realize that by doing so, they are participating along with God in seeing neat things happen in the world around them.
I grew up with schizophrenia when it came to Halloween. I remember being very young and going to a Halloween party at my church with carnival games and dressing up and such. I remember dressing up and trick or treating. I even remember times where we turned off the lights and pretended not to be home because Halloween was evil. Whatever Dobson or Fallwell or Robertson said about Halloween from year to year determined what we did. I’ve heard all about the evil origins of Halloween. I’ve read the articles and tracts. I think we even gave out some of those tracts one year.
I ran across this post from Michael Spencer as well as this other one that Spencer refers to in his post that give a different understanding of Halloween history than what I was familiar with. I thought they were interesting.
Regardless of the origins of Halloween and what each person chooses to do on that day, Halloween does offer a great opportunity for us to be in our neighborhoods and interacting with the people we live around. We can choose to create our own alternatives so we can feel good about not celebrating evil yet still having fun. We can choose to participate in the fun and go from house to house gathering candy while dressed up. Or we can find ways to build relationships with our neighbors.
What does that look like? Well, if you’re a regular reader of Elemental Children’s Ministry then you already know the answer to that question. It depends on you, your culture and your context. For some that means setting up activities in your front yard that neighborhood kids can participate in, giving you time to interact with other parents and guardians. For others, it might mean handing out hot chocolate and coffee to shivering kids and adults. For another group of people it could mean giving out boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts that were left over after a fundraiser as a thank you as your kids get candy from various homes (we did this one year… it was so much fun!). Use your imagination!
As an extra treat, here’s a video of our Family Pumpkin Party this past Sunday.
(photo originally uploaded to Flickr by fred_fred)
You hear it on TV all the time… especially on that home makeover one… you know the one I’m talking about… I hear it said all over the place: adults, kids, in the mall, on a walk, in church… I’ve even heard a parrot trained to say it.
I have to admit it. Every time I hear it, I cringe. I can deal with most other words (some make me blush and some make me shake my head), but hearing “Oh my God!” makes me cringe.
Why? Is it because that is a remnant of my conservative evangelical programming that refuses to let go? Is it because I want to adhere to the third commandment (and every other commandment for that matter) as a list of rules that I am subject to and bound to follow? Maybe it’s because I feel that I hold myself to some superior spiritual standing by not taking the Lord’s name in vain?
I recently read this post by Scot McKnight about the third commandment… that’s the one about taking the Lord’s name in vain… Oh don’t pretend you didn’t forget!
I encourage you to read McKnight’s post for yourself. He does a really good job of reconciling the fact that we are no longer slave to the law with the other fact that we are told by Jesus that if we are true followers of himself then we love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength. The issue comes down to that of loving God and respect for his name out of that love. The third commandment to not take the Lord’s name in vain, then takes on a much deeper dimension than simply not saying, “Oh my God.” It goes further. It means we do or say nothing that would bring dishonor to God or anything that touches God.
I believe that being able to refocus our walk with God and how we conduct ourselves through the missional lens of loving God and loving others is crucial to how we help children and families live the way God wants us to.
