1 Corinthians 13:4-14:1

Someone told me that Joe talked about 1 Corinthians last night. I had been thinking about "the love chapter" this week on my own. I don't think we love each other enough. I don't think we love each other enough to stick together. People are sad and hurt. They will leave sad and hurt.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It doesn not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres. Love never fails..........." (I stopped at the beginning of verse 8- read the rest on your own.)

I don't love as I have been loved. I don't love enough. Do you?

Emma Blogged- check it out. It's short and sweet. www.princessblog.blospot.com

21 hours in the car.......

I spent 21 hours in the car with my family in three days. This is what I learned:

1) 21 hours in someone else's car with 3 kids under six, 1 of them a nursing infant is a BAD idea. VERY BAD.
2) Nevada is a desolate place. If you live in Vermont you see no reason NOT to put nuclear waste here.
3) Nevada is a beautiful place with many natural wonders. If you live in Nevada you see no reason to endanger it.
4) I love my husband.
5) Spanking kids in the back seat from the front seat with the wooden spoon you inherited from Grandma Citizen is difficult and frustrating.
6) People actually go to Brothels-at least they park their cars there.
7) My husband has never been to a brothel-he said that. I believe him. If you find out otherwise, let me know.
8) Everyone should make their own funeral arrangements. Do it NOW. You never know when the sh-- is going to go down and you love your family too much not to take care of it. Things will be difficult enough. They love you- even if they don't send you cards or call you and they don't want to pick out coffins when they are picking their brains about how they could have been better to you in your lifetime. Take care of it NOW.
9) Throw things away.
10) Keep important paperwork up to date and neatly organized.
11) Apex is not alone- a little church in Central Nevada had a sign out front that read: Church begins where religion ends... at the Resurrection.
12) Kids are easier to entertain in the car when they are asleep.
13) I love my kids.
14) There is no place like home.

On the Flip Side.......

Most people know that I like including the kids as much as possible in "church". However, I have a responsibility to look at both sides.

Some things for everyone to consider:
1. There are people who have already and, more who will, leave our community if we don't "provide classes" for their children. However...
2. If we continue to provide classes, we are reinforcing the idea that "church" happens in a certain room at a certain time with a leader and everyone else listens and follows- as adults we are trying to deprogram ourselves from this type thinking, so maybe we shouldn't program our kids to think that way. However...
3. If people spend most of the service in the lobby what are their kids learning? What are the adults learning about our community and our "kids involved" service? However...
4. If our kids are involved in house churches that don't really value them, and have parents that don't spend time teaching spiritual principles, and we don't spend time or money or energy with them at our weekly Gathering then we are inadvertently teaching them that "church" is only for adults. However...
5. Maybe we should be setting up community blogs or discussion groups or something for parents who just aren't sure how to talk to and teach their children about their faith. We have a lot of great families in our community and we probably all have little rituals and "aha moments" that other parents could benefit from. However....
6. It seems like most of us agree that we could learn about God from our kids and when is it their turn to teach?


And so it goes,,,,, all I know is, I don't know- I don't have the answer.

Stuff I Stole

Here's some more kids' church stuff I stole from Vinyard Central:

Children's Ministry
Children’s ministry at Vineyard Central is a way of life. The children are included in our house church meetings and our AllGroup gatherings. We don't have a nursery or pre-school class in the back at our monthly gatherings…we bring the children into the auditorium with us where we learn from watching them worship and create. Here's what you might find with regard to children at Vineyard Central.
House Church Meetings
At a recent house church meeting, the 30 some-odd people gathered included about 10 children ranging in age from 1 to 13. The meeting started off with a pot luck dinner - adults and children gathered together around candlelit tables to share a meal and catch up on each other's lives. As the adults asked each other questions about their past week, they also asked the kids "So how's school been this week?" and it was normal to see an adult holding someone else's baby so the parent could get something to eat. The kids finished eating before the adults (who like to linger over the dinner) and they got down from the tables and wandered the room, or went upstairs to where the toys were to play. One child drew a picture while upstairs and brought it down to show some of the adults. Another child got tired of playing and crawled into an adult friend's lap. Kids ran in and out of the room feeling free to come and go. Toward the end of the evening everyone gathered together to sing some songs. A large box filled with musical instruments was brought out, and one 2 year old wandered around the room while everyone was singing, passing out egg shakers to the adults and then watching to see if they'd be played. Another 5 year old punched keys on a toy piano, while another child danced around the room. All of the adults stopped, laughing in mid-song, when one 3 year old put on a pair of sunglasses upside down while she sat in a chair shaking a toy fish and singing (see picture below). Kids were hugged and praised and included, while adults still had plenty of time to talk with each other and worship the Lord in song.

The Monthly AllGroup
Before the evening began, a few adults set up some small child-sized tables and put out some play-dough and paper and colors and paints. We also brought in some toys and puzzles and set up a long cloth tunnel that kids could crawl through. Then we lit altar candles and arranged adult-sized chairs. We began the evening together by having one of our parents gather folks and start leading some children's worship songs. Kids showed the adults how to do hand motions, and it was amazing to see all the adults join right in and worship with the kids. From there, our worship leader began leading "adult" worship songs - however the kids were still feeling joyful and many began to dance around the auditorium. Adult worshippers joined in - many were dancing with the lighthearted, carefree spirit of a child. As we sang, adults were kneeling, standing, raising hands, receiving prayer…while children were dancing, drawing, playing with toys. Somewhere in the middle of all this a child was baptized - worship continued during the grand event. We're now thinking about how to include the children in prayer ministry for the next event…the children have been a blessing to our monthly gathering.

What do you do for the teens in your house church network?
Our teens have their own house church. It’s got a few young adults in it but it’s teen-led. We hope a whole network of teen churches will spring up. They’re literally bursting at the seams with new kids every week. They have their own bank account, determine their own outreach activities, and lead their own worship and Bible study. Some of the teens (especially among the leaders) are part of other home churches that provide them a place to be mentored and refreshed. The teen leaders are supported and part of the decision making equally with other home church leaders, meaning they’re a part of our monthly leadership gatherings. You can check out the teens web page at http://www.vineyardcentral.com/02gather/hc_teens.html.

Treehouse

Tonight is "Favorite Blog Share Night"
Everyone is invited. You can bring a favorite blog to share or come to hear other people's favorites. Breakfast foods will be served at about 6:30pm------as always, you can bring your kids!!!!

Wow! You take a Blog Break and.........

I finally had time to read blogs today and I was amazed to find such conversation on kids in church. It is technically my "job" to have the answers in this area, but I don't.
I do read a woman's blog from Kentucky who has a section of her blog entitled "What do we do with the kids?" It's a community Blog by a House Church group in her area. You can get to it from www.lizcreech.blogspot.com.
I am trying to attach part of a discussion that goes along with what Andy, Greg & Amy were saying- we'll see if it works. It is long, but I think it's good.

Here it is..........................

It deals with teaching children the Bible, or more accurately, immersing children in a Biblical worldview. (Sorry, this is probably going to be long). Traditionally, churches and Christian parents (I'm speaking from an evangelical perspective here) have taught their children a Christian worldview through a number of different ways. The classic Bible stories (Creation, Noah and the Ark, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and so forth), the 10 Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, statements of morality distilled from scripture (the Golden Rule, "Turn the other cheek"), exposure to some kind of worship liturgy, and most importantly a clear presentation of the gospel aimed at coaxing out a sinner's prayer. There are other ways to be sure, but these are some of the main ones used by most evangelical churches.


So what's the problem? Well, to begin to answer that question, let me state some assumptions. First of all, the Bible is frequently viewed in Christian culture as a Holy Book of Inspiration or Instruction. Sort of like a "Holiness for Dummies" manual. There are many reasons for this, but the result is that the Bible is often sought out only in times of crisis or for an answer to some problem in life. So, you have the countless editions of the Bible written to some specific audience to meet some specific need: the Teen Bible, the Men's Bible, the Spirit-Filled Bible (as if other Bibles are not), the Divorcee Bible, and on and on. But most Scripture was never intended to be read like this. On the contrary, Scripture was passed orally from generation to generation in narrative form. The vast majority of the Bible (the Law, the Prophets, the Gospels, and even the Letters) is in the context of a story. And, these aren't just isolated, atomized stories that don't relate to each other (as if it were God's Book of Fables). These stories (or Letters or Prophecies) conjoin to form one, marvelously complex yet elegant story of God's relationship with humanity. Unless the Bible is viewed through that lens first - the over-arching narrative from Adam to Abraham, Moses to Mary, Jesus to John - it kind of becomes whatever you want to make it - a book of rules, a series of disjointed fables, an instruction manual.


Okay, so assuming we view Scripture as a Story that we are partaking in now, how does this affect the way we teach our children about this Story? Where do we start? Do we give them a series of fables? Do we teach them the law? Do we distill everything down to "timeless truths"?


Instead, what if we started by teaching them the general "Story of God and His People" first? In broad strokes, paint for them a picture of who God is, how he created us, how we sinned, why he created a People, and then the climax - Jesus, and the last chapter - the Church. Then and only then, as they start to get a handle on the larger story, begin to fill in the blanks. Answer the obvious questions that will come up: Why did Adam and Eve sin? How did God create a People for himself? What did Jesus do when he was on earth? Give them the classic stories, tell them about the 10 Commandments. Everything you teach from that point forward will be in the context of a story they already know and one they believe they are actually a part of.


There are many implications to this, but I've bored you long enough already. N.T. Wright has greatly influenced my thinking about Scripture as Story. He can be very long and very boring too, but he has some great things to say. Anyway, I'd love to hear some feedback.


bish@whatischurch.com


-Mike Bishop
posted by Amber Bishop at 7:33 PM
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Thursday, June 20, 2002
Most kids know about the presence of God. We the adults teach them to leave it behind. As adults they desire to re-capture the mystery of Jesus and spend the rest of their adult lives trying to find what they left behind as kids.
posted by Jimmy Chalmers at 3:26 PM
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Wednesday, June 19, 2002
Thanks Alan. It is always encouraging to hear people thinking these things through. I often look in the Bible and see what children there sat through and what they were a part of ... and I marvel! I get asked many questions but one question rarely gets asked.... "How can we bring our children into the reality of the presence of Jesus" No child (or adult or young person) gets bored in the manifest presence of Jesus ..I have seen many amazing things happen when this happens in many nations (including the USA!!!)
So perhaps I could kick off that question: "How can we bring our children into the manifest presence of Jesus?" I am interested in responses cos then I can use them as I travel!!!!!!!!!! (sorry if you have already discussed that ..just give me a resume!)