Tag Archives: salvation
Since we’re on the subject
Posted on 19. Apr, 2008 by Kenny.
Last week I discussed the concept of how we handle decisions and baptism with kids. Truthfully I only planned to write one post, but it kind of morphed into a week’s worth of posts. I still had a few thoughts I hadn’t finished sorting out. Actually some thoughts that were in my head originally but they never made it to my post. So today and tomorrow I’ll get these final thoughts out and move on to something else.
About two years ago a friend of mine told me about an experience he had as the youth pastor at a fairly large church in the mid-west. They would give invitations every week at their student ministry services. The church was big on evangelism.… Read the rest
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Out of our control
Posted on 18. Apr, 2008 by Kenny.
The idea I blogged about yesterday is what I’ve been processing the most. I really like this idea a lot. But I naturally have some questions. Perhaps you did too.
1. It’s obvious that only a percentage of the parents will come back with their kids for the class. That isn’t fair to those kids. Wouldn’t it be better to give everyone an opportunity to decide now so that kids who really want this don’t fall through the cracks due to their parent’s unwillingness to participate.
2. Do I really want to trust this opportunity to parents who have absolutely no experience at all? What if they mess it up? What if the kids have questions that the parents can’t answer?
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How about equipping our parents?
Posted on 17. Apr, 2008 by Kenny.
A few weeks ago I wrote about “The Essence of Orange” DVD from the reThink group. In this DVD, Reggie Joiner mentioned this very things I’ve been writing about. Since it was Orange, it was in the family ministry context. However, it made more sense to me than anything else I have ever done or heard.
*** Preface **** Now I could have heard this wrong or I could be off, but I think this is the gist of what he was saying.
All of us agree that we want parents to be more involved in the spiritual development of our kids. If asked though, most of us would probably admit that we were doing little to equip parents to spiritually lead their kids.… Read the rest
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Parent involvement?
Posted on 16. Apr, 2008 by Kenny.
Amazing. I remember being the 20 year-old, part-time Children’s Pastor at a small church in Jenks, Oklahoma. A parent approached me with his 4th grade daughter (this did happen on more than one occasion) and said, “Mr. Kenny, my daughter want’s to receive Christ. Will you pray with her?”
I look at this situation differently now than I did 11 years ago. I said “Absolutely… let’s pray!” Now when I look back at this situation I see a different picture. It’s a little strange (but far too common). A grown man, a father, was handing off his child for me to share in the most important decision of her life. I understand. He probably saw this as my “job.” He also probably felt unqualified.… Read the rest
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Children’s baptism
Posted on 14. Apr, 2008 by Kenny.
I won’t deny it. I love praying with a child to receive Christ. It’s one of the things I love most about my job. Yeah, I also love to baptize kids. When I baptize them, I know I’ve had a chance to walk through this decision with the child and his or her parents. But what do I think is even cooler? When I get to stand by a parent as they baptize their own child. Over the years I’ve baptized hundreds of kids. Certainly it has been very special to me. Several of my facebook friends are kids I baptized years ago. Sometimes I’ve seen endorsements for a speaker/evangelist coming to speak somewhere that state the number of kids he’s baptized.… Read the rest
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