Our intuition is a marvelous thing.  It often tells us that there is something out of the ordinary–which warns us that there may be danger or peaks our compassion for someone who just doesn’t seem to be right.  But intuition can be dangerous.  That sense that we get–when combined with a lack of experience or a quickness to judge–can lead us to jump to conclusions.   And false assumptions lead to actions that can hurt rather than help, that harm rather than protect.  Here is a great article by Amy Fenton Lee about misconceptions that volunteers in children’s ministry can have about children who are having difficulty adjusting to a new environment.  The article compares the behaviors typical of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder to the responses typical of children from a bad parenting environment.  It illustrates why jumping to conclusions is so dangerous.  I hope to utilize this article in our children’s ministry training in the future–to help orient our natural intuition away from judging and toward helping/caring for new families.  When a behavior dilemma occurs in our children’s ministry, conversations between our team and parents are warranted and wise, but, as Lee states, “the dialogue can start much differently (and with a greater chance of generating a positive outcome) when the church considers the possibility that an undisclosed or undiscovered disability may be driving problematic behavior.”

Sojourn’s second children’s book, What is the Church, written by Mandy Groce and Bill Bell is now available for purchase online. The book reinforces the same themes as our current sermon series on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus.  What Is The Church? was written to teach preschool children that the church is not a building. It is a people that God has called together and made alive by faith.  Pick up a copy at the book table or online today.

“If this was happening to me, that would be one thing, but, because it is happening to my child, that puts it in a different category.”

This is the first week of school for our daughter Lucy, and our daughter Rachael starts school in a week.  Every time our kids walk into their schools we’re entrusting them into the care of others and into the care of our God.  It is a dark, scary world, and sometimes it is hard to let our kids go.  Here are two great resources on trusting God with our children and letting them go into Jesus’ care:

The first is from the Christian Counseling & Education Foundation (CCEF) on trusting God when children suffer. There is a bit of banter at the beginning that may not be of interest to http://sojournkids.com readers. If you fast-forward to 5:20 then, you will be at the meat of the podcast.

The second is a video clip of Mark Driscoll, Teaching Pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA.  On this clip, Driscoll is answering a theological question about the “age of accountability.”  I’m encouraged both by Driscoll’s answer and his pastoral heart in this clip:

Here is a great little video on family worship from Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas Thanks to @seedsworship for drawing this to my attention.

Family Worship at PCPC from PCPC Video on Vimeo.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been having a lot of fun with the kids in the children’s ministry.  We learned about “beautiful feet” and we wore crazy shoes.  We learned about how Abraham is the father of all believers, and Abraham visited our classrooms singing “Father Abraham had many sons.”  There have been weeks with puppets and fun games as well.

This past week was a bit different and a bit more serious.  Our lesson centered Acts 28:17-31, which tells about the ministry of the Apostle Paul while he was in chains during his first Roman imprisonment.  A leader in each children’s assembly was chained to a chair as Paul, and a narrator talk about Paul’s suffering and how his message was rejected by the Jews in Rome but accepted by the Gentiles.  The kids felt of a chain or rope and imagined what it must have been like to be in chains for Christ.  Take time this week to ask your kids about the lesson and read back through the passage in Acts 28.

I was able to attend portions of the Connecting Church & Home conference at Southern Seminary the past weekend.  I am always encouraged by hearing David Michael, Jay Strother, Steve Wright, and Timothy Jones–four men that I count as models in ministry.  It was also good to hang for a few minutes at the seminary bookstore with my friend Tony Kummer.  Here are some links to his coverage of the conference.

• Notes from the Opening Q&A
• Session I: Spiritual Orphans and the Household of God (Russell Moore)
• Session II: Calling Fathers to Raise Men (Randy Stinson)
• Session III: The Genesis Standard for Families (Ryan Rush)
• Session IV: Christian Parenting is Combat (Albert Mohler)
• Breakout notes from Terry Delaney (coming soon)
• Breakout notes from Lauren Foster (coming soon)

Connecting Church and Home Conference- August 20-21, 2010 from Southern Seminary on Vimeo

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We’re excited to announce that Jason Houser of Seeds Family Worship (backed by the Sojourn Music band) will be at the 930 Art Center on Wednesday, September 8th, at 6:30 PM for a FREE “back to school” family concert.  Sojourn’s kids know the Seeds songs “Go” and “New Creation” from Vacation Bible School and kids worship on Sundays.  I’m super thankful for the folks at Seeds and their passion–to equip parents to teach their children God’s Word.   I’m super pumped that they will be joining us for this FREE event.   Take a look at these great videos from Seeds, and join us at the 930 Art Center for the concert.

In the midst of attending a children’s dance camp this summer, Sarah Beth (age 7) returned home to pronounce, “That’s so good, it’s like you’re one of the saints.”  Nearly the same day, she asked, “Why do people draw Mary with things coming out of her head?”  These comments awakened me to my responsibility to give my young daughters a biblical understanding of church history.  I began searching around and these are a few of the more helpful resources that I found:

Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed the World, by Paul L. Maier

This beautifully-illustrated book helps children understand the difference between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism – specifically why Luther and other Reformers felt biblically constrained to break from Rome.  Recommended to read aloud to ages 5 and up.

History Lives Series, 5 volumes, by Mindy and Brandon Withrow (5 titles)

This series divides up church history into short stories based around significant historical figures.  The books can be read aloud to children as young as five years old.  (On the back, the books say they are written for children ages 9-14.)  My seven-year old loves to act out stories, so after reading the story of (Saint) Patrick, we acted out the story ourselves.  She played the role of Patrick.  As her slave owner, I questioned her, “Who is this God you serve?  Tell me more about him!”  “Home theater” of this sort is a great way to get your child to verbalize the gospel while coming to value the heroes and heroines of the faith.

Lightkeeper Girls and Lightkeeper Boys series, by Irene Howat

Each of these books gives ten short stories about boys or girls who grew up to live as faithful Christians and have a significant impact on the world.   (Books are titled: Ten Girls Who Made a Difference, Ten Girls Who Didn’t Give In, Ten Boys Who Changed the World, etc.)  In attempt to relate to the intended readership, the books begin with the famous individual’s childhood.  Books are written for ages 8-12.  Recently, on a visit to the local history museum, Sarah Beth bought a coloring book entitled, “Famous Women of the Civil War.”  I realized my need to help provide her with the stories of Christian heroines that she could look up to – and thus I bought the Lightkeeper Girls Boxed Set.  So far, she seems to enjoy them.

Church History ABC’s: Augustine and 25 Other Heroes of the Faith, by Stephen J. Nichols and Ned Bustard (illustrator)

This book is organized around a great idea – providing a brief introduction to 26 major figures in church history (one for each letter of the alphabet).  The book is nicely illustrated and there are helpful additional notes for parents/teachers in the back.  My children have enjoyed this book, but the information on each historical figure is so limited that I have been disappointed in this work’s limited value.  Young children seem to learn best through story, and this book does not provide enough memorable narrative in my opinion.

These short reviews are by Robert L. Plummer, a New Testament professor at Southern Seminary and pastor at Sojourn Community Church.  He is the author of the recently released 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible (Kregel, 2010).

Back in March, Dr. Eric Johnson, spoke to a group of parents in LaGrange, KY on what he called, Parent Theology.  I’m really thankful for this message about resting in our perfection in Christ.  Parents (and all Christians) need to hear the Bible’s refrain, “There is no condemnation” and “God is pleased with you in Christ” again and again.  This gospel word helps us rest and not be consumed with our performance or the performance of our children.

Listen or download this message.

HT: Doug Wolter | Life2gether.

Last Sunday, our Sojourn Kids’ God’s Story lesson was focused on Abraham, father of all true believers.  At each service, one of our teachers dressed up like Abraham and told Abraham’s story from Genesis 17-18, 21.   We closed out the class by having each “Father Abraham” lead the kids in singing “Father Abraham Had Many Sons.”  If you haven’t already, ask your kids about Abraham.   Talk to them about how God kept his promise to Abraham by saving all peoples through Jesus.  Hope to see you again this week!