Baling Hay and Saving Souls

Today was good, long day.  Winding down watching the NBA Finals with Joseph.

After the last day of VBS, we went out and helped Charlie Derrickson and his grandsons bale hay.  Johnny keeps his calves at Charlie's farm, so it's kind of like rent.  It was a really good time for Johnny to see what it's like to bale hay.  May be the first kid who has never complained about it... It was, strangely enough, a great way to cap off a great day.  The hot work burned off some energy.  Doing something really productive on top of an amazingly productive Bible School just seemed perfect.

Bible School... you have no idea if you weren't there! We have been dissatisfied with the VBS packages put out by various publishers.  Dave Sheffel has been asking for a few years that we just write our own. We wanted something that had more evangelism, more discipleship, more spiritual formation.  I have to say, as soon as we started working on it, I was stoked.  The ideas for crafts and skits and content was so energizing. To sit around the table with Jessie, Dave, Peggy Fannin, Mike Breeze, Adam Foster and Emily Neal was a highlight of any week we did it.  I looked forward to the energy and excitement.  We settled on Jonah, and we were going to intentionally, every day, share the Gospel with the kids.  My contribution was I wanted slime to throw at the kids to remind them of the whale's belly.  Really, just any excuse to have slime!

Doing this set our people free to do the best work they have ever done.  It was an amazing bible school for start to finish. Drew and Mary Ellen McNeill did a great job leading an awesome worship that taught kids lots of Scripture. It was like a vision of how we could do awesome worship with families and help kids know Scripture and Jesus... 85% of people make a profession of faith between the ages of 4 and 14!!!

I think we made some great strides in meeting young families.  And then there was a Chinese woman, who has only been in the country for a week.  She brought her son. Anyway, I had one last Chinese Bible and gave it to her.  She ended up sitting on a couch in the lobby, and did not put it down for three hours.

I may blog a little bit more about some the specifics of VBS this year, but here is what I really want to get to.  I got a chance to ask the kids to give their hearts to Christ.  And it was so easy.  All I had to do was walk them thru the 5 points, one of which was the theme of each day.  They had sung the theme, watched a video about the theme, had a bible story time about the theme, did crafts about the theme, and journalled about the theme in a reflection time.  16 kids gave their lives to Christ today!!  We should do VBS all the time!!!

I had more people tell me they wished it wasn't over.  Three youth volunteers said, "we should do it just like this next year."

16 kids gave their lives to Christ today!!!

Beautiful Story

I spent some time with a new friend.  He told me an amazing story. He did not grow up in a home that loved the Lord.  In fact, it was hostile.  But he always had some kind of attraction to Jesus, to spiritual things.

He told me something that blew me away.  When he was six his grandmother died.  He took the crucifix off of her casket.  That made me stop.  I took the crucifix off my great-grandfather's casket when he died when I was 10. I wonder about how God speaks to children!

He said that he took the body off the cross and put play-doh in the nail holes.  "He had suffered enough," he thought as a child.

John's Testimony

I guess this is the best first post on my new blog.  Our oldest boy, John, has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.  It has been something that has come up in conversation with him for a few weeks.  You might say, but you are a pastor; your kids are always in church; haven't they always known about God?  Well, yes, I am a pastor, and my kids are often at church.  But everyone still has to have that moment where they know for themselves that they have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.

As we have talked about it, we have emphasized knowing that Jesus died for each one of us.  About two weeks ago in evening prayer and Bble study, John said that where God was working on him was about love.  God loves us.  When we don't love ourselves.  There are people we don't love, and we think we have good reasons, but God loves them.  God loves us even though we have sinned against Him.

Last night, we started reading Matthew. Joseph piped up that in Genesis, a couple did not follow God, but in the beginning of the Gospel, Mary and Joseph did what God told them to.  After a bit more discussion, John said, "I want to join the church.". I was very proud of Joseph's "old school" interpretive skills, and very proud, too, that John knew that claiming Jesus as  Lord means that it is also time to join the church.

I asked what was going on in his mind.  He said, "I look back on all the ways He has taken care of me. Like Joe said, something switched.  It's like in the New Testament He made a way for us to start over.  And I think about how after Mommy died, things have been ok.  I didn't think they would be, but He has really taken care of me."

How do we bring our kids to Christ?  By being consistent in Bible study and prayer.  You don't have to be a Bible professor.  get a good devotional book like Billy Graham's Hope for Each Day.  Read it Together in the morning and evening. Pray with your kids.  Talk about the need for forgiveness of sins.  Tell them that Jesus is always ready to receive them.  Tell them often about your own story of conversion, tell them about how your walk with God has helped you.  Ask them regularly if they are ready to accept Jesus Christ, to put their faith in Him.