Elemental Children's Ministry

(photo originally uploaded to Flickr by Dave Keeshan)

I’m so sorry that I have been so lax in blogging lately. I thought I’d be able to keep up with blogging while we’ve been in our transition time, but I’m realizing that I have a lot less time than I realize! We are still trying to find a place to live. While I appreciate the graciousness of my parents and my in-laws over the past month, we really need our own place. Would you please pray for us. We are looking for a place that is close to where my wife works, which is in Santa Clara, CA. We’ve been looking in Fremont and Newark but are open to other cities… those two have seemed the more affordable ones and are in close proximity to public transportation to get Erin to work. We’ll be staying closer to those areas this week in an extended stay hotel so we’re hoping to find something this week. With that in mind, also pray that the six of us don’t go crazy living out of a hotel for 7 days :)

Once we get more settled, we can establish a new rhythm, which includes me finding time for blogging!

BTW, thank you all for your support and prayers through this crazy leap of faith. I’m in awe of this community. I’ve heard from some of you who I’ve never met, and I know there are more of you who I haven’t heard from. It’s humbling to know there are people all over the place praying for us.

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55.

May God bless you as you celebrate Christ’s victory over sin and death. May you help children and families discover the awesome transformative power of the resurrection that is available to those who put their faith in Christ. Praise be to God! He is risen!

(image taken from ABSO Jesus)

How many times are we guilty of this? Why do we do the things we do in church? Are we being “ineffective” if we don’t explicitly invite people to church or explicitly tell them about Jesus?

I’m not saying that you are wrong if you have some sort of presentation at events. What I am saying is that if you do, then be clear that you are doing that. Sometimes we inadvertently trick people into listening to an invitation, devotional or mini-sermon. If that is one of the goals of your event, please be explicit about it, otherwise you might just come off as pulling off that bait and switch.

On a personal not, I think it is OK to have events that are simply about building relationships and having fun with no invitation or mini-sermon or call to salvation. Jonathan Cliff contributes a chapter in Collaborate about this issue. If you haven’t already pre-ordered Collaborate, what are you waiting for? The book is officially release on April 26th.

(picture originally uploaded to Flickr by akahodag)

I’m usually on the ball with Lent. This year, though, there’s been a lot of things going on and it snuck up on me!

In previous years I’ve given up things like TV or pop (or for those of you who say it wrong… soda, coke, or soft drinks). Since Lent appeared out of nowhere for me, I haven’t really had time to reflect on what would be something meaningful that I could give up as a physical way of being reminded to prepare myself to identify with Christ’s suffering come Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter). I’m also at a loss of what to do to inspire kids and families to observe Lent…

What are you all doing? Personally? In your ministries?

I’m will be going through 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight with my family. I’m just not sure what to “give up” for Lent.

(image taken from ASBO Jesus)

So, who’s right? Does it matter? Can both be right? I’ve been reading a wonderful book entitled Manifold Witness by John Franke that explores the theology of the plurality of truth. I’m almost done. It’s not a long book, but boy has it got my brain doing back handsprings and other things that exhaust it. I look forward to discussing it here at Elemental Children’s Ministry when I’m done!

For now, what are your thoughts on the image above?

A couple of days ago, Scot McKnight posted the following video on his blog:

So, what do you think?

While I didn’t agree completely with the theology in the video, it did get me thinking. It presented the Orthodox Church view of salvation pretty well. I liked the statement, “I was originally saved over 2000 years ago…” In evangelical Christianity, we spend so much time on the personal decision to follow Christ, that the power of what Christ did when he died and rose again seems somewhat downplayed. How do we teach kids that their salvation was purchased once and for all 2000 years ago while at the same time not losing sight of the recognition that we are saved by grace and works are an outpouring of that grace working within us?

(photo originally uploaded to Flickr by striatic HT:Wikipedia)

Remembrance Day in Canada is a big deal. Having lived in Canada for just over four years, it’s been interesting to note that holidays aren’t as big of a deal here as they are in the States. Sometimes it seems that holidays are more an occasion to have a long weekend rather than celebrating the holiday itself. Remembrance Day, though (known as Veterans’ Day in the States), is a whole other matter. It is one of the few days that is actually celebrated across the country.

As I was sitting in my kids’ school assembly today for Remembrance Day, I was taken by the realization that Canadians across the country would be observing similar ceremonies and services throughout the day. There is a lot of emotion and pride attached to this day. The neat thing, though, is that most, if not all, of the day is focused solely on those who have fought and or sacrificed on behalf of freedom. It wasn’t about ME and MY freedom. It was about THEM–those who fought and sacrificed and the ones who continue to sacrifice… Remembrance Day is truly about remembering. It’s about remembering the cost that has been paid and continues to be paid by individuals and families for freedom. It’s about paying respect and honor to others. It’s about pausing, even for a moment, and thinking about something other than ourselves and our agendas.

I think all of us would benefit from doing this sort of thing more often… counting the cost, honoring the sacrifices of those who’ve come before us, putting aside ourselves for a moment for the sake of remembering… Lest we forget.

Check out this music video that appropriately portrays just how important Remembrance Day is in Canada:

(photo originally uploaded to Flickr by giovanni_giusti)

As I interact with different people like Amy Dolan, read blogs like Andrew Marin’s and watch what is happening with culture it is apparent that the Church (especially children’s ministry) will have to directly interact with families who are part of the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) community. The easy thing to do would be to simply quote scriptures that speak against homosexual activities. The difficult, and I believe more Christ-like, thing to do is to listen to what those families are saying and see how we can build bridges that can bring healing and reconciliation.

About a month ago, I reposted some of a letter from a gay father wanting to be involved in church that was on Andrew Marin’s blog. Recently, Andrew had a two-part posting from someone who grew up with a gay mom. I encourage you to read the posts here and here.

Here is some of what was posted:

“…After a year passed and I began to realize I was being lied to, my friends began to realize the same. My mom was gay. And they let me know about it. It’s bad enough when your “friends” make sexual comments about your mom; but this was worse. They were stabbing at a great source of pain and confusion in my heart with every vulgar comment about her sexuality. I hated it. All of it. I was mad at my friends. Mad at my mom. Mad at her partner. Mad at the courts. Mad at the world, really. And I felt horribly alone. I didn’t understand why this was my lot in life. So I shut down. Emotionally, I just flipped a switch. I didn’t want to feel anymore because it was never anything good.

And then I started going to church…”

“So now I was a brand-new Christian teenager attending an evangelical church in the middle of Conservative Christianville, IL. And my mom was gay…”

“At one point, a friend’s mom even looked me straight in the eye and pronounced that I had been straying from the Lord because I was living in a den of evil. That was the sort of environment I had suddenly found myself in. Regardless, these were the most loving and accepting people I’d ever known, and they quickly became family. As a result, I felt free to share my story with them. Some had opinions, others didn’t. But they all loved me. And I became accustomed to the fact that the people around me were comfortable with my faith, but quite uncomfortable with my upbringing.”

This month I will be talking with some other children’s ministers, along with Amy Dolan from Lemon Lime Kids, about how children’s ministries can respond to those families that are part of the GLBT community on the CM Edge podcast. I would love to read your comments and use some of them in the podcast. Leave your comments below or email them to podcast at cmedge dot com.