“Thank you, God, for dwelling in thick darkness.” As I listened to my 8-year old daughter pray those words a few weeks ago at dinner, I was moved by the way she spoke to God. The way her words were not simply a dinnertime prayer but a personal and deep conversation where she praised, entreated, interceded, and confessed to God. Where she expressed so much of who God is to her.
When we are trying to understand a passage in the Bible, the assumptions we bring to the text are our starting point. Beginning from them, we draw other conclusions. This is neither good nor bad. It is just inevitable. But sometimes our assumptions can lead to a misunderstanding of a given passage.
In my context, I’ve experienced and been familiar with both the old and new generation. I don’t feel either “old school” or “new school” (if there can be such labels) because I feel like my DNA/history as a Christian contains both. In my heart and life, I have to decide what it means to follow Jesus with the culture, scripture interpretation, and practice of faith I’ve inherited negotiating between the old and the new generation. What should remain of the old and what needs to become wholly new?
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One of the most asked questions from Christian parents is, “How do I disciple my children?” Matt Dabbs walks us through this answer in this issues highlighted article.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to discipling your own children. 1 - Start before they are born. Get in a routine of reading scripture to them, praying over them, etc. You cannot start too early!
They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). - Mark 15:22 They called that place; The Skull; And how true— Here love is stripped; Of all its softness, all Its warmth: Skinned alive, And reduced to A grinning death's head
“Thank you, God, for dwelling in thick darkness.”[1] As I listened to my 8-year old daughter pray those words a few weeks ago at dinner, I was moved by the way she spoke to God. The way her words were not simply a dinnertime prayer but a personal and deep conversation where she praised, entreated, interceded, and confessed to God. Where she expressed so much of who God is to her.
In a month of considering how God uses generations for His purposes I am drawn to an easily overlooked verse in Acts 2. We often focus on 2:38 to talk about baptism but what about 2:39? Here is what it says, "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." God cares about generations as well as the nations.
When we are trying to understand a passage in the Bible, the assumptions we bring to the text are our starting point. Beginning from them, we draw other conclusions. This is neither good nor bad. It is just inevitable.
It has become extremely popular to have specific ministries for specific ages. It makes sense on one level...I will even say it "works" depending on how it is done. People who are in the same stage of life can easily relate to each other. It isn't a stretch to spend time with people who are going through the same thing you are going through.
In my context, I’ve experienced and been familiar with both the old and new generation. I don’t feel either “old school” or “new school” (if there can be such labels) because I feel like my DNA/history as a Christian contains both. In my heart and life, I have to decide what it means to follow Jesus with the culture, scripture interpretation, and practice of faith I’ve inherited negotiating between the old and the new generation. What should remain of the old and what needs to become wholly new?
Most churches adopted an age segregated approach to ministry starting several decades ago. We siloed our young people and then our young adults into age-graded ministries. While much good was done through that approach it also had some unintended consequences that are worth exploring.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to discipling your own children. 1 - Start before they are born. Get in a routine of reading scripture to them, praying over them, etc. You cannot start too early!