How can little children be hindered from coming to Jesus today?
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How can little children be hindered from coming to Jesu... - 10/7/2008 6:27:29 AM
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pinopolitan
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Can "Coming to Jesus" be understood to mean, "Coming to know Jesus?"
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/7/2008 7:51:01 AM
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greatdivide46
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I dunno. Seems to me that one can "come to Jesus" and never "come to know Jesus." Judas Iscariot, for example. When Jesus said to him, "Come, follow me," he did it, but he never really came to know Jesus.
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greatdivide46
SFC, USA (Ret)
The reflections of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD -- Proverbs 16:1
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/7/2008 10:05:15 AM
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mcleod
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quote:
ORIGINAL: greatdivide46
I dunno. Seems to me that one can "come to Jesus" and never "come to know Jesus." Judas Iscariot, for example. When Jesus said to him, "Come, follow me," he did it, but he never really came to know Jesus.
This I would have to agree with. And guess what their are a lot of people in gatherings, called churchs which have no clue to what he is all about. For they do not want to know Lord Jesus Christ in a personable way. Which means a heart transplant, within the person.
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/7/2008 10:21:25 AM
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dianetavegia
Posts: 2034
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From: Southern Baptist, Non Calvinist, Pro Life Ga. girl
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Your original question is How can little children be hindered from coming to Jesus today. I'd like to address THAT question.
Church business meeting:
'We have that great big bus in the parking lot and Myrtle here has suggested we start a bus ministry and pick up some of the unchurched children in the trailer park back yonder'.
'Bro. Bubba, I don't think that's such a good idea. The kids we'd be pickin' up won't be very clean and we got us this new pretty building..... We sure wouldn't want to dirty it up.'
TRUE STORY: I was in a church business meeting where a woman suggested we separate children in Sunday School by their parents INCOMES. Under $30,000 a year would be in one group and over $30,000 another. That was back when $30,000 was a fortune, too.
I believe church buildings, church buses, vans and church 'income' can be likened to the parable of the talents. Not only are we not reaching the lost, as commanded by Christ Jesus, but we're hiding our 'talents', given to us by God Almighty, in an effort to keep them nice and new.
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/7/2008 10:36:38 AM
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MrFribbles
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I would say another way we hinder children would be treating them like idiots. A lot of the Sunday School curriculum I've worked with (and worked around) is some of the most watered down garbage I've ever seen. The activities are fine and all, but the "lessons" really teach nothing.
Kids have brains, and we need to respect that about them. We expect them to actually learn in school, why should church be any different?
_____________________________
You're a door without a key,
A field without a fence.
You've made a holy fool of me,
And I've thanked you ever since.
- Aaron Weiss
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/7/2008 12:40:15 PM
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1love1God1way
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MrFribbles
I would say another way we hinder children would be treating them like idiots. A lot of the Sunday School curriculum I've worked with (and worked around) is some of the most watered down garbage I've ever seen. The activities are fine and all, but the "lessons" really teach nothing.
Kids have brains, and we need to respect that about them. We expect them to actually learn in school, why should church be any different?
I concur.
We keep recycling the Noah and Jonah story over and over, and never give them any substance. They aren't learning or growing or being challenged.
Sunday Schools should not be a glorified babysitting service.
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love.ben
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/7/2008 12:58:52 PM
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SureHope
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It seems to me that a lot of curriculum for children emphasizes character: sharing, forgiving, being nice, getting along, etc., instead of emphasizing who God is and what He has done in spite of our dishonoring sinfulness. Children need to know the guilt of sin before God. They need to know that sin is putting value on anything above God and the behavior that stems from this (in age appropriate terms). They need to know that in spite of our sin God has made a way through the Lord Jesus Christ and His Cross. They need to know the history of redemption throughout the Bible and thus be acquainted with God in order that they would fall in love with God and hunger and thirst after righteousness.
In my mind, we hinder children from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ by not presenting Him in truth. We should be doing all that we can to nurture within children a love a desire for God in Christ, and do so by presenting Him the way the Bible presents Him.
Godly character will be seen in those who love and desire God. So instead of emphasizing character, we should emphasize the Lord Jesus Christ.
_____________________________
-Fix Your Hope Completely on the Grace to be Brought to You at the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:13)
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/7/2008 2:23:16 PM
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Bluethread
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This is what happens when we imitate the practice of the nations, public education. We do this by dividing our families up into age groups, male/female, marital status, etc. The only division, and therefore structure, I see encouraged in the Scriptures is by family. We often hinder the children from coming to the Messiah because we believe they will be confused by what is said. This is not the case if their parents are there to explain it to them. If the parents aren't around, who knows what strange interpretations they will come away with. For example, "Our Father,who's art is in heaven, Howard be the name."
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"Show me wherein I have errored and I will hold my tongue." Iyov(Job)
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/7/2008 4:00:07 PM
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OleFitzHi
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For one thing, children are very literal. Coming to Jesus, means that your body comes somewhere other than where it is now. Jesus in your heart means a person is in your physical heart along with the blood and veins and stuff.
Another thing...probably step on some toes now..."Praying the prayer..."
It is right and good to teach children to pray, and to pray with them, but sometimes we give them a false sense of security. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to assure them of salvation. A prayer prayed when you were six may mean something or it may mean nothing.
An old football coach told me not to let my kid play football until he was 13 or 14 and could be taught by a coach who knew what he was doing. They learn so many wrong things in the recreation league. That might be good advice for the Gospel as well.
We throw our kids into VBS and Sunday School without a thought as to who will be teaching them and what they will be teaching.
Comments?
quote:
ORIGINAL: pinopolitan
Can "Coming to Jesus" be understood to mean, "Coming to know Jesus?"
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/7/2008 5:37:05 PM
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SureHope
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Bluethread
This is what happens when we imitate the practice of the nations, public education. We do this by dividing our families up into age groups, male/female, marital status, etc. The only division, and therefore structure, I see encouraged in the Scriptures is by family. We often hinder the children from coming to the Messiah because we believe they will be confused by what is said. This is not the case if their parents are there to explain it to them. If the parents aren't around, who knows what strange interpretations they will come away with. For example, "Our Father,who's art is in heaven, Howard be the name."
You are right on with what you said here. One problem is that parents think that they are doing their job by making sure their children are getting their intellectual education in the public schools, they are getting physical education at the "Y" and are getting their spiritual education in Sunday school. Meanwhile, the parents go their jolly way not being directly involved in any of these realms. Parents will be primarily held responsible, not school administrators, gym teachers or children's pastors.
_____________________________
-Fix Your Hope Completely on the Grace to be Brought to You at the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:13)
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/7/2008 7:19:15 PM
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rcjames
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From: Oklahoma
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quote:
ORIGINAL: 1love1God1way
We keep recycling the Noah and Jonah story over and over, and never give them any substance. They aren't learning or growing or being challenged.
Sunday Schools should not be a glorified babysitting service.
For sure that is the truth.
We need to present Jesus to the children from the nursery on up. Teach them how to talk to God, teach them that God loves them, and gave Jesus for them.
About 5 years ago I took all the standard Old Testament stories out of our Sunday School, we referrence the Old Testament; but we teach the New Testament, God's love, Jesus, and the ministry of the Holy Soirit on a steady diet.
Works for us.
Thanks
RC
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Just a country Preacher's humble opinion
Read the first chapter of my latest book here;
http://www.deliveranceofsara.com
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/8/2008 12:04:44 AM
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MrFribbles
Posts: 1657
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From: Hawaii, but I've moved around since then
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quote:
About 5 years ago I took all the standard Old Testament stories out of our Sunday School, we referrence the Old Testament; but we teach the New Testament, God's love, Jesus, and the ministry of the Holy Soirit on a steady diet.
Works for us.
While I am glad it works for you, and don't want to speak against your system in any way, I would like to say that I don't think OT stories are, in and of themselves, the problem. I think the problem is we tell the stories and leave them at that - we don't show the kids why the stories matter.
I do agree, though, that we do need more from the NT. Usually Jesus gets mentioned around Christmas and Easter, and maybe a feeding of the 5,000 story somewhere in July.
_____________________________
You're a door without a key,
A field without a fence.
You've made a holy fool of me,
And I've thanked you ever since.
- Aaron Weiss
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/8/2008 1:30:27 AM
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Liveloved
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I would say the biggest hindrance to little children is the adult world around them that talks about Jesus but doesn't know, love and live for Him. Our best teaching is done with our lives. They need people who care about them and want them to come to know Jesus. John's gospel would be sufficient teaching material if we had to narrow it down. But then we need to live as those who are truly alive from the dead so they see and know the difference Jesus makes! Hallelujah!
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/8/2008 8:21:38 AM
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greatdivide46
Posts: 1160
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Opp, Alabama
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quote:
ORIGINAL: 1love1God1way
We keep recycling the Noah and Jonah story over and over, and never give them any substance. They aren't learning or growing or being challenged.
Sunday Schools should not be a glorified babysitting service.
I agree. We recently joined a different church and my wife was asked to teach the Sunday School Class for 3 year olds. She was considering using Veggie Tales as a teaching tool and for decorating her classroom, but the Minister of Education said she couldn't use them because they are not real and we want the 3 year olds to realize the Bible stories they're learning are real. She is allowed to decorate her classroom, but only with pictures of things that really exist. The minister of education made the same point as someone else here, that 3 years olds have brains and we need to engage them with something other than just showing them a video.
I wasn't in the class last week but I think the lesson was on Jeremiah because the kids made scrolls in their class. Personally, I don't remember learning about Jeremiah, in Sunday School, until I was at least in junior high school.
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greatdivide46
SFC, USA (Ret)
The reflections of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD -- Proverbs 16:1
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/8/2008 11:05:04 AM
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URForgiven
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quote:
How can little children be hindered from coming to Jesus today?
Children are hindered from coming to Jesus the same way adults are, through error. We are all led astray by the lies that we believe. And those who propagate lies, will have much to answer for. Those passages that address the little ones though, seem to go beyond someone just propagating lies...
Matthew 18:6-7
"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in and acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin [that is, who entices him or hinders him in right conduct or thought], it would be better (more expedient and profitable or advantageous) for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea.
Woe to the world for such temptations to sin and influences to do wrong! It is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the person on whose account or by whom the temptation comes!"
Jesus is warning against those who not only hinder, but also those who entice...those who tempt; or as Luke seems to imply "to ensnare". It seems there may be a number of applications for this passage, and woe to those to whom it does apply.
Peace
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"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit,
are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" Galatians 3:3
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/8/2008 11:40:28 AM
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phreddy
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"Rock Solid Kids" is a book by Larry Fowler. It has many good ideas. One of the first is treating kids like people not children. When you speak down to kids you lose their interest and even their respect. Another idea is to stop using symbolism that could be hard to understand (ie. "You have to put Jesus in your heart.") Some kids will actually be freightened by the thought of putting a full grown man in their heart. "How would He fit?" Above all , teach them the Truth in words they can understand. We all sin. God can not be around sin. Jesus died for our sins so that we can be around God and go to heaven.
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/10/2008 2:05:47 PM
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eschatologist
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quote:
ORIGINAL: pinopolitan
Can "Coming to Jesus" be understood to mean, "Coming to know Jesus?"
Today, children are hindered from coming to Jesus by people who make laws forbidding people to pray in Public schools, by forbidding children who know Jesus from bringing their bibles to school and forbidding them to talk to other kids about Jesus.
Jesus said, "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of Heaven." Mathew 19:14
and: "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." Mathew 18:6
So, what does it mean to "offend" one of the children that believe in Him? In that passage in Mathew 19 some people brought sme children to Jesus so that He would bless them, but the disciples shooed them away. In shooing them away they were telling the children that Jesus is too busy for them which puts doubts in their minds about God's great love and care for them. If any of us do or say anything that causes them to start losing faith in Jesus' great love and care for them we are offending them. We can do this by constantly belittling them, beating them over the head for their mistakes sins and shortcomings, being unforgiving toward them when they do something wrong, etc. The number one best way that we can show how much Jesus loves the little children is by being forgiving of them when they make mistakes and /or do something wrong. The comments that should never be made to any children under any circumstances are, "You stupid little kid. How could you be so dumb? What's wrong with you anyway? You're never going to amount to a hill of beans. What are you trying to do, kill somebody? You're a criminal in the making, I can tell that right now. You're going to burn in hell for all the bad things you do." etc., etc.
And, of course, when the antichrist people of the world refuse to allow you to preach the gospel to the children and refuse to allow the children to go someplace where they can hear the gospel of Jesus preached; When they even persecute the preachers of the Gospel and even make laws forbidding you to even mention the name of Jesus in certain places (as in the public schools as I already mentioned above) then they are guilty of forbidding the little children to come to Jesus and to get to know His great love and care for them. There will be hell to pay, and those kind of people will be the ones who will be thrown into the lake of fire where the smoke of their torture and torment will ascend up forever and ever.
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/10/2008 8:47:32 PM
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SovereignIsHe
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By letting them live...
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John
Proverbs 29:12 If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/17/2008 7:07:56 PM
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Bluethread
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SovereignIsHe
By letting them live...
Your avatar of House creeps me out. Not that it has anything to do with the topic. I just am creeped out by that picture.
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"Show me wherein I have errored and I will hold my tongue." Iyov(Job)
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/18/2008 9:30:39 PM
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Covaan_Meshuga
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Bluethread
Your avatar of House creeps me out. Not that it has anything to do with the topic. I just am creeped out by that picture.
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I was just thanking G-d this past week for Father. Father was far from perfect, but somehow, I did not see the errors of his ways until I was a woman, because I fully believed that he loved me, that he cared, that I was in his heart. I was explaining to someone that this was the very thing that gave me an encompassing desire to please him -- because I did not want to do anything that would hurt him. This has specifically, directly, and profoundly influenced my present-day relationship with G-d.
Parents, love your children. Love is, indeed, action. Even if you don't feel it, do it. Live in such a way that they will be influenced toward wanting to please G-d, because when they are no longer in your home, that lesson will influnce how they treat G-d. This is not just my idea, based upon my experience; it is what we are constantly told, not only by psychiatrists but also within the teachings of the Bible.
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Abiyah
"Ladies and gentlemen, there are things that you will only be able to learn by the weakest among us, and when you snuff them out, you are the one that loses." ~~Gianna Jesson, 1977 LA, CA, saline abortion survivor
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/20/2008 2:41:23 PM
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Sammy_S
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Children are born in sin like all,they in their natural state love sin like all men and women of different ages.The fact is that all peoples(including) children are hindered from coming to Christ simply because their every intention and thoughts are continually wicked,just like any oter human.Unless the blood of the Lamb is placed at their door(heart) they cannot be saved.
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Christ saved you from the wrath of an almighty God. Hell is just a revelation of that. I always tell people this. God saved you from Himself, God saved you for Himself and God saved you by Himself."
Paul Washer
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RE: How can little children be hindered from coming to ... - 10/21/2008 3:41:04 PM
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wshepherd
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I apologize in advance if what I say has already been said, because I haven't read the whole thread, but it seems to me that children can be kept from coming to God by rejecting God because of what they see in how their Christian parents live their lives.
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Wanda Shepherd
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