What on earth's happening?

Every time I turn on the TV it seems that there are more stories about disasters, both natural and man made.  Not only that, but the coverage is graphic.  It includes footage of Tsunamis annihilating whole towns, earthquakes decimating cities and farming communities and nuclear power facilities exploding and leaking dangerous chemicals into our atmosphere.  As if those things aren't bad enough, we also see wars breaking out or continuing all over the world.  As an adult, this is terrifying!  For a child it can be just as frightening and difficult to understand.

The map on the right shows the risk to human security, labour rights and protection and civil and political rights.  It doesn't include risk caused by natural disasters.  The darker the area, the greater the risk.  Our world seems like a very unsafe place at the moment.

As parents, we need to find ways to speak to our children about the things they are seeing and hearing through the media.  But we need to have some understanding of what Jesus says about it all.  The bible speaks explicitly about these things and what our reaction as believers should be.  And it's not all doom and gloom!

Matthew 24:5-7 says...
⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places." (NIV) The emphasis is mine.

So why shouldn't we be alarmed?  How can we possible talk to our children about this without them becoming alarmed?

Luke 21:28 says...
 ²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (NIV)

As in all things we need to be honest with our children.  Often kids won't naturally come and tell us about what they think and how they feel about things they don't understand.  Instead, they'll try and work through them on their own - and we all know the strange ideas kids come up with when they try to come to grips with stuff by themselves!  So we need to ask how they feel about what they're seeing on TV.  We need to ask them what they think is happening, why they think it's happening.  In short, we need to be actively helping them to process the information they're absorbing in a healthy way.

As parents, we need to remember and remind our children that we have God's promise that we'll be OK - that they'll be OK.  Whatever happens, we know that God won't leave us, won't let anything happen to us that we can't handle with him.  But we also need to remind them of the great commission - that we are to be telling people about Jesus, helping them to come into relationship with him.  That is our main priority as all of this unfolds.

So let's not be scared of the hard conversations.  Let's be increasingly aware of what our children are taking in consciously and subconsciously.  Let's encourage our children and allow them to encourage us by sharing the good news about Jesus Christ and his desire to see all people actively involved in a healthy, loving relationship with him!

Baby Christians

It's amazing to think how quickly children are growing and learning.  As their rate of development speeds up we fear what is to come next.  How fast is too fast?  What exposure to media and 'the world' is too much? As parents, these questions create anxiety and even fear.  But there are some great opportunities that come along with rapid development as well...

I was so blessed to hear from a friend of mine this morning who was excitedly ringing to tell me that her 23 month old son had accepted Jesus into his heart.  It was wonderful news.  But it really made me stop and think.  Is that possible?  What if he doesn't understand what that means? Can he understand what that means?  I asked her to tell me how it happened.

She told me that she had been reading the bible to him each night, and each night she asked him if he wanted Jesus to come into his heart.  Every night he emphatically replied "No." Until last night.  Last night was different. Last night it was emphatically "Yes!"

Now I don't know that this little boy can understand the implications of his decision.  I don't know that he can comprehend the life-changing magnitude of God's commitment to him.  I'm not even sure how his little life will change in any outward sense at the moment.  But I am sure that this little boy knows Jesus loves him - and he knows that he wants to be close to Jesus.

Children of this age trust what their parents trust.  They believe what their parents tell them and show them.  They love as their parents love.  We need to be real with them about our faith. 

In Deuteronomy 11:18-19 it says:
¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

We can't do this if our relationship with God isn't genuine, if it doesn't invade every area of our lives.  I am so thankful that my friend has a living breathing relationship with Jesus.  I'm so glad that this little boy has a family who pray, read their bible, talk about spiritual things and encourage each other in their journey.  I'm so grateful that Jesus is as much a part of their lives as breathing.


And I'm overjoyed that before he can even string a complex sentence together, my little friend has grasped and accepted the most important biblical truth.

Jesus loves him.  And he loves Jesus right back.