Book: Redefining Children’s Ministry in the 21st Century
Author: Becky Fischer
Chapter 5: Eli! Eli! I’m Calling You to Children’s Ministry!

Premise of the Book: We have a crisis in the modern and postmodern church concerning ministry to children. According to George Barna, 70% of the children we have raised in church will leave the church as young adults.

The main thrust of this chapter is two-fold:
1. To encourage the senior pastor of a church to take interest and get involved in the children’s ministry. Becky has noticed that when the spiritual father of the house is mentally and emotionally engaged with the children of his church, the children are more spiritual healthy, on fire, and secure in who they are in Christ. When the spiritual leader of the house is absent, then the opposite can usually be observed.

2. To recognize the call to children’s ministry. Becky was “tricked” into doing children’s ministry because there was simply no one else who wanted to do it. With a kind of righteous indignation, she took on the task and stumbled upon her destiny. Becky also openly wonders if some senior pastors, missionaries, and five-fold ministers might have missed the call to children’s ministry considering 1/3 of the world population is less than 19 years of age (I’m assuming she has noticed less than 1/3 of five-fold ministers are ministering to children). Lastly, she discusses what many churches would look for in hiring the ideal children’s pastor. Many churches tend to look for clowns, puppeteers, good entertainers, or great administrators who like kids. She challenges churches to hire a person that walks in some type of five-fold ministry. Her reasoning is that children need to be equipped for ministry, not just entertained and managed.

Book: With Christ in the School of Prayer
Chapter 12: Have faith in God; OR, The Secret of Believing Prayer

Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:22-23)

Jesus points out where the faith in the answer to prayer takes its rise, and ever finds its strength. HAVE FAITH IN GOD: this word precedes the other, Have faith in the promise of an answer to prayer. The power to believe a promise depends entirely, but only, on faith in the promiser. Trust in the person begets trust in his word. … The value of the promise depends on the promiser: it is on my knowledge of what the promiser is that faith in the promise depends.

This is so basic, yet so profound. Faith isn’t grounded in how boldly we proclaim a promise. Faith isn’t grounded in how often we pray, or how ferverently we pray, or how much we “stir” up our faith for something. Faith finds it’s foundation in Who (not what) we place our faith in. First and foremost, we must Have Faith in God.

Faith is…the ear by which I hear what is promised, the eye by which I see what is offered…. Through this opened ear the soul tarries under the influence of the life and power of God Himself…. Faith is also the eye to which God shows what He is and does…. When faith now is in full exercise as eye and ear, as the faculty of the soul by which we see and hear God, then it will be able to exercise its full power as hand and mouth, by which we appropriate God and His blessing. The power of reception will depend entirely on the power of spiritual perception.

The above excerpt was originally taken from two long paragraphs. It’s really heavy! In summary, there is an incredible connection between there ear and the eye. These two senses are necessary to perceieve The Promiser and His promise (hear and see). Next, we use our hand and mouth to receive the promise (ask for what has been promised and hold out our hand to receive it). Take a minute, using your imagination, seeing these four things working together: Eye & Ear, Mouth & Hand.

Faith is simply surrender: I yield myself to the impression the tidings I hear make on me. By faith I yield myself to the living God. His glory and love fill my heart, and have the mastery over my life. Faith is fellowship; I give myself up to the influence of the friend who makes me a promise, and become linked to him by it. And it is when we enter into this living fellowship with God Himself, in a faith that always sees and hears Him, that it becomes easy and natural to believe His promise as to prayer.

These three words had a striking impact on me: Faith is Fellowship. Just meditate on this. Seeing God and Hearing God in fellowship. If you could see and hear God, how much easier and natural would it be to believe his promises?

When [God's Children] desire earnestly to obtain an answer from God, they fix their whole heart upon the promise, and try their utmost to grasp that promise in faith. When they do not succeed, they are ready to give up hope; the promise is true, but it is beyond their power to take hold of it in faith. … Learn to believe in God, to take hold of God, to let God take possession of thy life, and it will be easy to take hold of the promise. He that knows and trusts God finds it easy to trust the promise too.

Again, unanswered prayer may the result of extending our faith to obtain a promise. Let’s not give up trying! Let’s redirect our efforts to direct that faith toward’s God, The Promiser.

Precious lessons that Jesus has to teach us this day. We seek God’s gifts; [rather,] God wants to give us HIMSELF first. We think of prayer as the power to draw down good gifts from heaven; [rather,] Jesus is the means to draw ourselves up to God. We want to stand at the door and cry; [rather,] Jesus would have us first enter in and realize that we are friends and children.

N.T. Wright got interviewed by Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central!! Hillarious

Book: With Christ in the School of Prayer
Chapter 9: Pray the Lord of the Harvest; OR Prayer Provides Laborers

“Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is ‘plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).

Why does He ask His disciples to pray for this? Could He not pray Himself? Would not one prayer of His achieve more than a thousand of theirs? Is God, the Lord of the harvest, not aware of the need? And would He not, in His own good time, send laborers without the disciples’ prayers? Such questions lead us into the deepest mysteries of prayer and its power in the Kingdom of God. The answer to such questions will convince us that prayer is indeed a power on which the gathering of the harvest and the coming of the Kingdom do in very truth depend.

This paragraph, and especially the last sentence, really hit me hard. Somehow, the coming of God’s Kingdom (His reign & rule) depends on my prayer. The words that I release from my mouth wield a supernatural power. In the name of Jesus, I have authority to release the powers of heaven to do the work of the Kingdom on earth. In many ways, I cannot comprehend this mystery!

But since He entrusted them with the work and made it to a large extent dependent on them, He gives them authority to apply to Him for laborers and makes the supply dependent on their prayer.

In every church I have been to, one of the greatest complaints I have heard from leadership is that “20% of the people do 80% of the work”. And it’s true! This problem has several contributing factors, not least of which is a kind of Consumeristic Christianity that has emerged over the past 50 years. I won’t get on that soapbox now!

The point that I do want to make, though, is that Jesus makes a promise. Did you know that God has never broken a promise? He is completely faithful to the covenant that he made with his people; and, he is faithful to all promises that are bound to that covenant. In this passage, Jesus is telling us that we can rightfully invoke this covenantal promise! And, he WILL DO what he says. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be a faithful God. Is it possible that the problem isn’t on God’s end, but on ours?

Why don’t we obey the Master’s instruction more heartily and cry more earnestly for laborers? There are two reasons.

1) We miss the compassion of Jesus which gave rise to this request for prayer. Believers must learn to love their neighbors as themselves and to live entirely for God’s glory in their relationships with fellow-men.

2) We believe too little in the power of prayer to bring about definite results. We do not live close enough to God to be capable of the confidence that He will answer. We have not surrendered entirely to His service and Kingdom. But our lack of faith will be overcome as we plead for help.

Yes, the problem isn’t on God’s end. Two key elements that we, his disciples, are lacking: 1) The compassion of Jesus; and 2) Thinking too little of the power of our prayer.

Let us pray for a life in union with Christ, so that His compassion streams into us and His Spirit assures us that our prayer is heard.

Amen!

Let us set apart time and give all of ourselves to this part of our intercessory work. It will lead us into the fellowship of that compassionate heart of His that led Him to call for our prayers. It will give us the insight of our royal position as children of the King whose will counts for something with the great God in the advancement of His Kingdom.

Having the Faith for What’s Next
By Pastor Colin

In the Navy, my ship would often go on extended deployments out to sea – sometimes for several months at a time. And since we didn’t have access to phones, calls with my wife were scarce. Weeks would often pass before we could hear the simple sound of each other’s voices. And each time, it was incredibly difficult to say goodbye – to speak those last few words. So I wonder if it was that difficult for me, what does a soldier in Iraq say on the phone to loved ones when they know that call could be their last? Everything hangs on those final words.

Jesus taught us so many great things, but I believe that one of the most important aspects of His ministry was revealed at the very end: just before His ascension, with His last words.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18b-20)

I am by no means an expert in the original Greek. But I do find it interesting that in these verses, only one statement is in the imperative tense – a command – and that is to “make disciples.” Clearly, discipleship is important to Jesus. It was so important that as He gave this final commissioning statement to His followers, He commanded them to make disciples. Notice that the command is not to make converts, but disciples: people who will both publicly declare their conversion through baptism and will obey everything that Jesus commanded to His original followers.

So does this mean that Jesus’ legacy was a mere book of rules and regulations for us to obey? Absolutely not! The Good News of the Gospel ushers in a depth of freedom and peace that could never be achieved outside of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. After all, if our favor with God could be measured by the mere adherence to rules and regulations – by following the law, rather than the Law-Giver – then “Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21).

So what, then, does it mean to obey what Jesus commanded? It is to study His example as His apprentice, to follow in His footsteps, and to allow Him to continue His work through each of us in our homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods. This calling to follow Jesus is by no means a spectator sport. But fortunately, we don’t have to rely upon our own strength and wisdom. It is solely through God’s grace and the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit that we are empowered to do His work and be His disciples.

But let’s be honest. This life of a disciple is not an easy one – requiring us to have a deeply genuine faith in our Lord and His hand in our lives. It’s much like the trust of a child jumping into his daddy’s arms. And as Brennan Manning points out in The Ragamuffin Gospel, without that child-like trust, our “faith is bartered for cozy, comfortable piety… a failure of nerve and an unwillingness to risk distorts God into a Bookkeeper, and the Gospel of grace is swapped for the security of religious bondage.”

During these 40 Days of Faith, we shattered the chains of religious bondage as we experienced the power of God’s Kingdom slicing into our present reality. We witnessed restoration, healing, and breakthroughs. In the past, so many of us were numb and willing to settle for very little of God’s power in our day-to-day lives. But alas, my friends, we have now tasted the glory. And once you’ve experienced even just a slice of God’s Kingdom, the status quo simply isn’t good enough anymore.

So what now? I, for one, want more. I want to grow deeper in my relationship with Jesus and I want to see more of His Kingdom power break into the midst of our reality here at the Vineyard. Will you join me in praying for this season of faith to continue here at our church? Will you join me in seeking a deeper, more intimate walk with the Lord as we each grow as disciples? It’s time to act on the faith that the Lord has been stirring within each of us over these past 40 days. This journey of faith cannot end; it must not end. For He is risen! And He has called each of us to join Him in His work. So have the faith to jump into your Daddy’s arms, because what an awesome honor and privilege it is to serve Him!

Colin Tuggle is the Executive Pastor at the Vineyard, handling the administrative, financial, and facility issues of the church. He and his family joined our fellowship last year. Colin and his wife, Lisa, will soon be starting a Home Group designed for parents and their young children, which will meet on Sunday afternoons.