Bringing and Keeping People in the Kingdom
Well, we have had a very busy couple of weeks. We have had one false labor, spent hours excitedly counting contractions, and of course putting the finishing touches on each baby related project. Baby Jadon will soon be in our arms, and we couldn’t be more excited.
With my mind completely filled with baby related items and activities, it is no wonder that I would be drawn to this series. I would like to take just a few moments over the next several days and share some insights and parallels between the natural of a mother caring and feeding her child, and the spiritual equivalent of caring for a soul. Due to the amount of material, I will be breaking each topic into a different post.
One day, while Jesus while ministering to his disciples, He took a child and sat that child before them. With this soft eyed smiling child seated before Him, Jesus then explained to His disciples the preciousness of children to God. He crafted a dramatic, chilling, verbal painting as he described a man tossed into the deepest sea with a heavy millstone secured about his neck. With the visual of this desperate man gasping for his last breath, but with no hope of escape, the narrative ends. Children are so precious that it would be better to die in such a manner than to stand before God guilty of causing one of these children to miss Christ. (Matt. 18)
Not so long ago, I can remember the almost daily news stories of teenage girls abandoning their newborns. It seemed to be an epidemic as infants were found in restrooms and dumpsters. We were amazed when one infant was found in a Disney restroom and yet another was abandoned at a high school prom. We couldn’t understand how anyone could give birth to a beautiful baby, and then simply walk away.
Sadly, in the church today we have similar situations. New lives being born as evangelism takes place at parties, in shopping centers and restrooms. But many times, the new life is left where it was birthed. Abandoned infants left for someone else to care for, for someone else to feed and for someone else to nurture.
This need not be the case. Over the next several articles I want to help open your eyes to the gifts God has placed within you, so YOU can help others become what God has for them. I want to encourage you in the use of your gifts, so that together we can cultivate strong, healthy children for the King.
With my mind completely filled with baby related items and activities, it is no wonder that I would be drawn to this series. I would like to take just a few moments over the next several days and share some insights and parallels between the natural of a mother caring and feeding her child, and the spiritual equivalent of caring for a soul. Due to the amount of material, I will be breaking each topic into a different post.
One day, while Jesus while ministering to his disciples, He took a child and sat that child before them. With this soft eyed smiling child seated before Him, Jesus then explained to His disciples the preciousness of children to God. He crafted a dramatic, chilling, verbal painting as he described a man tossed into the deepest sea with a heavy millstone secured about his neck. With the visual of this desperate man gasping for his last breath, but with no hope of escape, the narrative ends. Children are so precious that it would be better to die in such a manner than to stand before God guilty of causing one of these children to miss Christ. (Matt. 18)
Not so long ago, I can remember the almost daily news stories of teenage girls abandoning their newborns. It seemed to be an epidemic as infants were found in restrooms and dumpsters. We were amazed when one infant was found in a Disney restroom and yet another was abandoned at a high school prom. We couldn’t understand how anyone could give birth to a beautiful baby, and then simply walk away.
Sadly, in the church today we have similar situations. New lives being born as evangelism takes place at parties, in shopping centers and restrooms. But many times, the new life is left where it was birthed. Abandoned infants left for someone else to care for, for someone else to feed and for someone else to nurture.
This need not be the case. Over the next several articles I want to help open your eyes to the gifts God has placed within you, so YOU can help others become what God has for them. I want to encourage you in the use of your gifts, so that together we can cultivate strong, healthy children for the King.
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