Think of specific people or situations in scripture where there is a teacher and a learner.

Lay aside your preconceived ideas and make observations. What do you notice about the teacher? What do you notice about the learner?

Are there similarities? Differences?

Who learned what? Did anyone change? How? Make your observations.

Application:

Are rules and law the same?

Do you see God's Ten Commandments (or even Jesus' two commandments) as restorative? Redemptive? How do they affect the web of  relationships between God and man and all that God has created and our stewardship? How do they affect children?

How does God model them for us?  How do we model them for children?

How does it affect the rest of creation and communities around us when we keep God's law? When we keep those two commandments?

Why do you have the rules you have? (Safety? To win obedience kudos? So a child can grow to be all he can be?) So things will go well with you and you will live long in the land God gives you?

Do the rules we have redeem and restore in the context of all that God has created?

Think about God, creation, law, kids. What stories in the scriptures influence how we think about these relationships?

Thinking about older elementary and junior high children:  We read the Old Testament in the context of a Savior but when the OT was written, Jesus hadn't come yet.

Are there creation themes in Old Testament stories that we miss because we read it through a New Testament window? Does it matter?

Does our scientific thinking keep us from really reflecting on God as relational Creator when we read the Old Testament stories?

How do your respond to unscientific child-like faith?

What do the Old Testament stories tell us about the Maker of Heaven and Earth and His creative power? How do the Old Testament stories renew our understanding of a Creator God Who is relational and involved?

How can these reminders better prepare us for the new life He sent us in a Baby who grows into a Man and dies and lives again to reconcile us with that same God who made us to do what He made us to do?

Chapter 2 "The Creation Accounts of Genesis" *

 *from God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology by Terence E. Fretheim

Chapter 2 is here!

Not that this is a difficult book to read but there is so much to process! If you want the real meat of it, take the time to ponder the passages of scripture in the light of the author's observations and let the Word change your thinking... Here is my over-simplification of the author's observations and a bit of my own random processing.

First and foremost, the author's thoughts about the relational character of God aren't sentimental, modernistic notions but observations about God's initial and ongoing interactions with what He created (and creates) as expressed in the scriptures.

God is Creator, communicator, servant.  God is interactive, not out there somewhere.  He shared his thoughts with man. He shared His work with man. God named, then He let man name. He took something he made (dirt) and made something new (man). He took man, and made woman. He made them in such a way that they could continue creating human beings and set up all of creation to do that.

The author's focus is less on God relating to what He has created as a non-resident ruler or landlord but more as Creator including what and whom He's created in the process of continuing what He began - not as clones but as helpers.

It wasn't enough for God to just create and enjoy His creation, by Himself. It wasn't enough for God and man to have only each other. God gave woman to man and they created more people. The creatures of the earth created more of themselves. The non-animal creation created more of itself. The non-living creation also continued to create...Such a God we have!

Rest was part of God's creative process, the author says that perhaps it gave God opportunity to enjoy the fruit of His labors. God had a day for this and a day for that - interesting observation. God orders time as a dimension of His creation: sunrise and sundown, phases of the moon, phases of the night sky, seasons.

The author's observation that God kept evaluating His work was an interesting observation: God said, "This is good!" Creation - God's creation - is good. It wasn't "good" that man be alone - just him and God. It wasn't "good" that man be alone with just God and all the other things that God had created. God made woman. Man had been helping God. Woman would help man. Interesting?

There was give and take between God and His creation. God made clothes for Adam and Eve after they fell. Interesting observation that patriarchy came with the "fall." God took them out of the garden to protect them from the possibility of continuing on the path they were on and partaking of the Tree of Life and living forever with the "Knowledge of Good and Evil."

That's an interesting thought, isn't it. Is it in God's plan to save us from the "knowledge of good and evil," to redeem us from the effects of "the knowledge of good and evil?" Is that why Jesus came? Is that what our restoration, our being brought  back into a right relationship with God, walking with Him in the cool of the evening might look like?

God gave Adam and Eve the freedom to choose, knowing they could choose badly and they did. But God responded without giving up on that which He had made ... Man's choice affected all that God had made and God rolled with it, so to speak...Our wonderful interactive, relational, Creator God!

Emerging Kids started because I found myself part of a group of young believers who were launching something new. I was almost 50. I'd spent most of my life working with kids, mostly in church. It was a unique opportunity because we could take a moment to ask "Why?" Why are we doing this? What do the scriptures say?

Jesus said eternal life is to know Him. How will this activity help children and their families know God better - Father, Son, Holy Spirit - and believe?  How will it help us teach children to better love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, strength and to love their neighbor as themself?

That's where Emerging Kids came from.

Keep asking questions. Another project: Search the scriptures for the people who asked God questions... When your kids first learn to plague you with the question, "Why?" see where the word "Why" shows up in the scriptures: Old Testament, Wisdom Books, New Testament, Jesus, Paul. Who was asking? Who was answering?

What was Paul's letter to the Philippians about for kids? A Goggle search...

Paul wrote letters to groups of people about specific things that those particular groups of people needed to hear. Who were the people? What was Paul writing and why?

Where did the people live from a cultural/political/social perspective? If you were a child in Philippi listening to someone read Paul's letter would it mean anything to you?

Find out what you can about Philippi and what was happening at that time in history. What specific events or practices affected Jewish and Gentile believers? Their children? Research! How would the things Paul said affect the grown-ups? How would they affect the children?

Think about someone standing up in church and reading a letter from a teacher who visited once or however many times Paul had come to them previously. Are you meeting in someone's home? Are you hiding? Are families there, not just grown-ups? Think about the situation, the circumstances.

Or without any research, read the letter in the NIV Readers' Version. Imagine yourself a child listening. What do you hear God saying to you? Imagine that as a child you weren't there but your parents came home and you heard them talking. What would they be saying?

Read it to children a little each week in class or a little each day at home. What do they hear? What's relevant to them? Ask them!

What is "mature spirituality"? What does it mean to grow up in every way into Christ Jesus? What does it look like? Is it childlike?

So, my daughter and I were talking again about her memories. She's taken a long journey from faith through other things and back to faith and the scriptures. She was talking about things that shaped her faith. She can also tell you lots of things that totally turned her off to church.

We were talking scripture this morning before she left and I'm reminded that when we dedicated her the pastor prayed over her (or prophesized) that she would be a woman of the Word. For most of her teen years and into early adulthood I failed to see that. She's only met that pastor once. We moved when she was a toddler. If she runs into him again I asked her share with him that God is answering his prayer. Would you be encouraged if someone came up to you and told you that you prayed for him/her 30 years ago and God answered your prayer?

Here is an exercise for leaders, childrens' ministers, parents...maybe everyone in your faith community. We'll call it child sensitivity training or maybe toddler sensitivity training. Ha! Most of us probably don't remember back this far and it's probably a good thing but...

What are your earliest memories of something faith or church related?  At home or alone? In church or with a group? How did it affect you?

Name five more specific situations or experiences that shaped your faith as a child. How old were you? Recall as much detail as you can. How can it help you better represent God to children?

I shared with you the finger game, the book.  Here's another one. (Both sets of grandparents and my parents all went to the same church). I sucked my thumb for more years than you care to know. I remember being carried by one of my parents (probably my dad) and saying good-by to people after a church dinner waving good-by with the rest of my hand.

The doing with my hands, the rhyme, the book, family, community - just a couple of memories. Try it.

Lots to ponder at the Cory Center website.

But let's take it a step farther. Here's a challenge for you...

Did you ever search the scriptures for stories or passages about people who got mad at God? Who were they? Why were they mad at God? Did God respond? If so, how?

Did you ever search the scriptures for stories about people who were grieving? Can you think of stories or passages in the scriptures about people who were very very sad? Why were they sad? What happened? Did God respond? If so, how?

Today we have sports. Are there sports in the scriptures? If so, what? If not, what did people do to stay "fit"? What was fitness all about? How did they balance and fill up their lives? What would a typical day or week or year look like?

Not looking for right or wrong answers here. Looking for observations. Read and search God's stories for the obvious, not for some deep dark secret. Use your eyes and ears, your mind and your heart. See what God will show you...Do it with your church leadership. Do it with grown-ups or parents. Do it with teens. Do it with children.  See what God will show you...

If you don't follow David Wakerley at kidinspiration (Hillsong) check it out and add your comments. He recently posed a question that started an interesting discussion: "Should we be teaching/telling our kids the ultra-violent stories found in the Old Testament?" You'll find some good comments & diverse points of view.

I find that very much a cultural question but a pivotal question, if you will. I'd venture to say that our answers reflect the role scripture plays in our lives, in our world views, and how we wrestle with them when culture as we know it clashes with our faith. I'm not condoning violence nor am I condoning picking and choosing what we take from the scriptures and what we ignore. How we share those stories with kids reflects how we perceive children...but the wrestling is an on-going process if you're willing to wrestle with God.

Having those particular questions to wrestle with is indicative of something much much bigger that I'm trying very hard to get my head around and maybe when I do I'll try to put it into words and post more...

...go check it out...he also has a great list of resources...

After you read the post before this one...Here's a project for you...sit down alone or with other* parents, teachers, & volunteers and ask yourselves,

"What do I remember from the years before I started kindergarten?"

"What are the things (good & bad) that make me who I am that have roots in my early childhood years?"

"What are the things I did as a child that I still do today, a way of thinking, a passion?" What lingered through the years? If you'd grown up in a different location, with people around you who loved or worked at different things, with different social opportunities or playthings would you be different? We don't really know but I bet you can find connections. I'm not talking about making excuses for ourselves. I'm talking about climbing into the skin of a preschooler. You can specifically apply this to faith and the faith community, if you like but don't limit yourself...

Sure, you could sit and read a lot of scientific journals on the subject but you might find this approach much more fun ... plus these are your kids and you're the ones given opportunity to influence them...



*Not sure if it's best to have a variety of adult personalities, gifts, skills & interests for this or whether it doesn't matter. I'm not focusing on nature vs nurture here, I'm asking what lingered over the years and what would have been happening between 3-5 yrs old to make those roots run so deep? Something I remember from early sunday school when my grandmother was teaching: the finger game "here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors, see all the people" and a book that's still a Mennonite children's book God's World and Johnny. Gosh! I remember this one too! I remember being in choir of older kids and trying to sing louder than all the other kids. I remember lots but maybe another time...have fun with this...

This is about a year old by way of Elemental Childrens Ministry. I especially found the comments interesting.

Which brings us to the question, "What do tactile, environmentally sensitive, non-verbal babies & toddlers learn about God and His people through their experiences in our faith communities?"

"What do we want them to learn?"

Acts 14b

Acts 14 (NIRV) No whys. No hows. We're just scratching the surface here. What do you see? And maybe you need to tell your kids..."I'm not looking for right or wrong answers here. What do you see?"

Through most of the chapter Paul & Barnabus are taking a journey. They've been commissioned - sent out on a mission - they have a purpose, a job to do. Sometimes the people they spoke to believed them. Sometimes they didn't. They faced definite challenges.

They spoke with "great power" and won over lots of people. Jews who didn't believe tried to "poison the minds" of those new believers against Paul & Barnabus (vs. 1-3) so Paul & Barnabus "spent a lot of time there". They didn't seem to be in a hurry or on a set schedule. God performed miracles "to confirm the message of His grace".

There's more conflict & disagreement (vs 4-7). Then the leaders and members from both groups threaten Paul & Barnabus. When the apostles find out their lives are in danger they flee. But they continue their work in other cities & surrounding areas.

When they heal the man with the crooked legs (vs 8-10) things sort of backfire. Or maybe we could say the apostles face the opposite of opposition. (vs 11-18). The people want to worship them as gods. See how upset Paul & Barnabus are about this? They don't even seem to wrestle with the possibility of deserving this "honor". They tear their robes. In verses 14-18 look at the grace-filled picture of God they paint for these people. Look at their references to elements solely under God's control that these people would be intimately acquainted with.

The opposition shows up again (the Jews from Antioch & Iconium) and they win over the crowd. They stone Paul & drag him out of the city & leave him for dead.(vs 19-20) Where was Barnabus? We don't know. The disciples gather around him. Turns out Paul didn't die. The scriptures don't tell us that the disciples pray for healing for Paul but we do know Paul is left for dead but he doesn't die. One minute he's almost dead but the next minute he gets up and goes back into the city. The next day Paul & Barnabus are off again.

The next place they go they win lots of people. Then they return to Antioch (home of the competition and I think their starting point, the place they were commissioned) (vs 21-23) They help the believers gain strength. They tell them to remain true to what they've been taught. 'We must go through many hard times to enter God's kingdom,' they said, knowing first hand. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders, leaders, in each church for the people they influenced but it looks like they did that when they came back, not right away. The elders had trusted in the Lord. Paul and Barnabas prayed and fasted. They placed the elders "in the Lord's care."

They continue to travel & share the good news & God's Word. (vs 20-24) Do you have any idea how much exercise these guys are getting, lol?

They go back to Antioch where they had been originally committed to the Grace of God to do the work He gave them to do. I wonder if it meant committed as in dedicated or committed the way you commit your child to the care of a stewardess when they need to take a flight without you ...

How old do your kids need to be to read the stories of scriptures and make observations about grown ups doing God's work? There are various levels of observation. The wonder of God's Word is that every time you read it He'll show you things you didn't see before. We keep growing and changing always experiencing more of life, and hopefully more of God. Our perspectives and understandings grow & change. Then, you can read scripture with a child a half a century younger than you are and he/she can point out something you've never seen before. He is an awesome God.

I think older kids can listen to this chapter, one part/one scene at time and make observations. Giving kids age appropriate but sometimes challenging opportunities to see, hear, and interact with the Word and ask questions (even if you don't have answers) is a good thing. Maybe it can help them grow "eyes to see" and "ears to hear"... and us, too...

seasons ... children ... scripture

Outdoor season: here in the Northern/Western Hemisphere (ie. upstate NY) it's WINTER!!

What are you doing with kids to make the most of this God-given season? What invisible attributes of God are visible through what His hands have made?

Liturgical season: Epiphany! Here's a challenge. Check out each week's liturgy (which usually includes a passage from OT, Psalms, Epistles & the Gospels) and watch for children.

Here's one of the passages from this Sunday's liturgy:

Luke 9:28-43 (NIV). Someone . . . I forgot who. Probably someone from the Theology of the Child. Someone made the observation that after the Transfiguration (the next day) Jesus ministered to a child. Some might say He ministered to the father. Both are true.

I wonder what options the father had.

According to Luke the father begged Jesus, "Look at my son." He didn't even ask Jesus for healing. The man asked Jesus to look at his only child, his only son. He'd asked the disciples to heal the boy but apparently they weren't able.

In verse 41 Jesus says, "O unbelieving and perverse generation . . . Bring your son here."

All that the man said happened for everyone to see. The boy went into convulsions. "But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God." (vs 42-43)

In Exodus 34:29-35 notice the passage says "all the Israelites". Notice the passage from Luke (vs 37) says, "a large crowd met him." Any chance either crowd (or both crowds) included children? If you were there and you were a child what would you notice?

Psalm 99: Does "all the nations" include children? The reference to Samuel. Child or adult? Were children part of the Israel that the psalmist is addressing? The call, is it only a call to adults?

Words like "we," "they," "their," "anyone," "all," in 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Do these words include children?

Is this what Theology & the Child is all about (at a least a little bit) ?

I thought I was posting about seasons but (instead of reading a book) let's look at the liturgy each week, looking for children, and see where it takes us. There's more scripture to read than just the liturgy but it's a start...

... a 3 year commitment on my part, is it?

Kids & Stewardship

Stewardship -from dictionary.com

a steward

-manages someone else's property or finances.

-manages someone else's household, shopping, feeding & managing servants

- responsible for a specific table in a restaurant to wait on guests, feed them, see to their needs, wants, comfort

- (on a ship) manages those who serve others or waits on guests, feeds them, sees to their needs, wants, comfort

-supervises a group at a given function or event

- a flight attendant

-navy personnel who attend to officer's quarters & mess

-a keeper, a guardian, an overseer

Is a steward the same as a servant? Is stewardship the same as service?

What have you been given to steward? And your children? What have they been given to steward?

Does God steward? What does He steward? How does He steward? What about Jesus? The Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit steward? What about Adam & Eve? What were they given to steward? What have God's children been given to steward?

If you want a word study you can find "steward" in the KJV, NIV, NAS
You can find "stewardship" in the KJV and NAS.

If you read a passage like Luke 16:1-15
you can read the story and see what the story tells you OR you can go back and look specifically to see what the story tells you about stewardship. In one or two simple sentences, what will you tell a child about stewardship? Better yet, how do we show it? As a person. As a parent. As a teacher. As a family. As a faith community....

Make a list of what you've been given in one column and how you've managed it in the other. When you hand it back to Father/Son/Holy Spirit...not the list but the goods...what will He say?

Another question

Shall I ponder activity ideas for other Bible Stories? Which ones?

Question

I actually went a whole month without a blog post. Did you notice? That's not the question.

Nobody ever responds when I ask but I'm going to ask anyway. I have no real reason to continue blogging beyond the random and occassional moment of inspiration. There are lots of wonderful Children's Ministry resources, websites and blogs out there. If you keep coming back to Emerging Kids, tell me why. Be specific. Email me if you'd rather not post but I'd appreciate the feedback. Thanks!

Trip to London and something to ponder

You were bored and needed something to ponder, right? Here you go.

We were in London UK end of Sept. Lots in the news pertaining to children.

How would you feel if everybody (not just professionals but friends and family . . . maybe not family, I don't remember and the only news article I found on line was in Scotland . . . ) How would you feel if every adult who cares for, carpools with, or otherwise interacts with your child
was required to have a government background check?

I'd be more worried about all the people those people come in contact with when the child is in their care than the friends I hand pick and trust.

When is it too much? It is but it isn't because we've lost a lot of the social controls that used to keep our kids safe and when, it would seem, kids had a whole lot more freedom. Those social controls weren't foolproof either but the lifestyle grew something different in kids and something relationally different. For better? For worse?

So at the same time we hear about this in the news (we have friends with 3 small children who live near London) they made the comment that it is financially viable to have one child with both parents working but once you have more it's not. It's better for one to be home. Wow! These are people who, when we knew them 15 years ago weren't sure they ever wanted a family. I found hearing both comments in the same conversation an interesting cultural/social contrast.

So what happens when the laws are in place but more and more moms (or dads) are staying home to raise and supervise their kids and spend time with their neighbors and need the regular trade offs and they know each other better than they know the professionals in their school? It's probably still not the same as families growing up together and living around each other for a couple of generations and sharing a similar value system. To think we never really know each other as well as what the government can find out about us is pretty scary. . . but I regress . . .

Even here in the states it's good to know what's happening legally. Home schoolers may have an edge on that - at least they tend to be very aware of laws that pertain to home and education. Support the things you care about but play the Devil's advocate so you don't get blind-sided meaning look at it from every angle before you support it. Think about the consequences - long term and short term.

I'm glad we made it to young adulthood at my house.

Tools for change

Every time I read a book like this the overwhelming question is, "What do I do with this? How do I need to change? Now what?"

What do we do with a book like this? Do we put it on the shelf and dust it off 5-10 years from now and say, "That was a great book!" or can we use it as an agent for change to better align ourselves with what the scriptures say and what God requires of us? How can we use this to better reflect the God we serve?

The only way books like this will change us is for people, particularly groups of people working with children, to examine our own thoughts and attitudes in light of the thoughts and ideas we find in the scriptures. Hopefully, we change how we think and ultimately how we act to better reflect Godly, Christ-like, scriptural attitudes, and understanding. Books like this deserve groups of parents, seminar students, ministry professionals, and caring community members taking 18 chapters worth of time to read, ponder, and talk about the thoughts, ideas, and implications that these authors share. Especially if you have a thinking, reading community. Some of it is dense reading but most of it is pretty straightforward. Hey! Jenny leaves to go back to school today and I've finished the book!

One person is one person. One person is only the beginning. It takes wise leadership and it takes one community after another to change church society and culture and ultimately the larger community. Social gospel, social change? Maybe, but if it better reflects the nature of God and as a result more people turn to Him, isn't that a good thing? Which comes first, individuals changing or changes in administration/leadership? We serve a God who requires us to do, not just know - as individuals and as organizations. Whether or not we know and what we know is reflected in the choices we make and in our actions.

I think that when we see our attitudes and actions in conflict with the scriptures either as individuals or as an institution and we try to express or explain the things we need to change to someone else, one of the biggest challenges is not just convincing others but using language that cuts through the understandings and perceptions that put our listeners on the defensive, language that cuts through all the understandings that keep them from hearing.

I can read through this book (or the scriptures) and say, why is this so different from what I already know or what I'm already doing? Or I can read through this and see very distinct differences. Maybe some of it is timing and the work of the Holy Spirit but in 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 Paul talks about words. This whole post-modern generation (maybe every generation) struggles with definitions - language- to show differences, neccessary changes in our cultural thinking to hopefully better reflect the God we serve. At the same time we use care with our language when we want to focus, not on the differences, but on the faith we share.

Solomon tells us there is nothing new under the sun so maybe it's not trying to unveil something new but to keep returning to something very very old and helping people see and hear Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through His Word.

May Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be glorified generation after generation and give us grace and wisdom to hear His Word and do His will.

What did God do?

How often do we give kids opportunities to come back to class with stories about what God has done for them during the week (or just to share with you as a grown-up or with family and friends)? Does it put kids "on the spot" needlessly, does it make some kids feel more special or less special than someone else or does it grow their faith?

Sometimes it's answered prayer.

Sometimes it's just growing eyes to see or ears to hear something to be thankful for.

Sometimes you think, "Wow! Look at what God did! It could have been worse..."

Growing thankfulness without one of your kids rolling their eyes because you're thankful for EVERYTHING! and it starts to sound contrived. And we should be thankful for everything . . . but you know what I mean. There are things God does that we couldn't possibly do. There things that could've happened for any number of reasons but why not give God the glory? (even if you don't always say it out loud)

If giving and serving in secret is the name of the game. Consider keeping a box in the corner of the room (or just inside or outside the door) during the school year where kids or parents can drop a piece of paper with a way they've blessed or been blessed by someone (no names) - something they've found particularly meaningful. Near the end of the term (maybe those last weeks before summer break) read a few at the end of each class or let the kids pull one out and read it. Maybe you'll want to do it more often than that. Use them as a worship tool for praise. Use them to inspire those random (secret) acts of kindness. The scriptures have told us for generations to remember what God does and praise Him.