Nothing brings about a good random post...

...like the need to write/finish a sermon.

Yes, I am preaching the new student orientation chapel on Tuesday; thus, I am updating my slightly neglected blog.

Today in children's church we talked about Moses and the burning bush. To get the kids thinking about the story, I got them to imagine how they would feel if they were Moses at certain parts of the story, and show me with their facial expressions. When I first mentioned the bush, most had looks of fear. But one boy in the back had a big grin on his face. I asked him why, and he said, "I could roast marshmellows over it!"

Roasting marshmellows over the burning bush. Good one, kid :o)

when I grow up...

Today in children's church, we talked about the priesthood of all believers. Well, we never used that phrase, but basically we talked about how everyone is a minister. At one point, the children's minister had them all close their eyes and imagine what things they might want to do in the church when they get older. There were a variety of responses. But one little girl, who comes with her neighbors, raised her hand and said "I want to be a pastor."

Now, I don't know if you can discern a call at that age. But the fact that that little girl didn't think twice about it being a possibility, had no problem saying that, and that no one raised their hand to respond saying that she couldn't do it...that's something. I was so proud of her. That makes me feel good about our ministry, and where this church is (hopefully) going...

kids say the darndest things...

For the month of March, I'm doing an international emphasis with my kids, talking about different cultures and helping them to get a little more of a global perspective. Last night, I taught them about South Africa. (It feels like it was so long ago...and yet like it was yesterday...). We were looking at some of my pictures, which they enjoyed. Of course, one decided to point out that I was skinnier in the pictures than I am now. Thank you for that, kid...good thing I have a decent body image...

Anyway, I showed them one I have of a black boy playing with broken toys. I pointed out that the toys were broken, and that there are some poor people over there (just as there are poor people everywhere). One of the kids then asked, "Why are they poor?"

Good question.

I think I answered in that moment with some brief, sterilized, kid-friendly version of how apartheid created this class separation and it's hard to make things completely equal again when they didn't get the same education and opportunities for so long. (Is it wrong to tell kids about apartheid? I don't think so, if it's addressed the right way and emphasized how WRONG it is.)

But really, on a larger scale...why are there poor people? I can come to some sort of explanation of how it came to be (from where I stand right now, we live in a world marred by sin that has messed with the entire system of creation, causing inequalities and injustices everywhere). But that doesn't fully satisfy the question for me. Because it's not fair. It's not right. Yet what do we do about it? What should we do about it? The system is so broken...how do we redeem it? Or is it beyond redemption?

Of course, I say all this as I sit in my own apartment, typing on my laptop, enjoying electricity and food and a safe neighborhood. Though here I am the "poor seminary student," in most parts of the world I am rich by comparison. What I spent on lunch today could feed some families in other parts of the world for a week. That sure puts things into perspective...

an odd way to celebrate

In celebration of completing our first semester at seminary, a few of us rented Jesus Camp to watch. We'd all heard about it and felt the need to watch it for ourselves. For those who don't know, Jesus Camp is a documentary focusing on an Evangelical camp for children that trains them to be "soldiers for Christ." Praying in tongues, uncontrollable sobbing...it's all there. And it scared me.

These kids are being indoctrinated. They're spitting out phrases that they don't even understand, just repeating them because someone told them to. They're being told to support certain movements and certain political leaders (yes, they prayed over a cardboard cutout of Bush). It's fundamentalism at its worst. I saw pieces of my conservative background in it, but my younger years were never that extreme. And it scared me to see that groups like that are out there pushing their beliefs onto the next generation.

It made me realize how much of a responsibility I hold in my own position working with kids. I sat through the entire movie thinking, "I don't want to be like that children's minister." And theologically, I know I will never be. But at the same time, I don't want to force my "moderate/liberal" beliefs on them. Indoctrination is wrong, no matter which side it comes from. I want to teach my kids (the ones I work with) to examine things for themselves, to make their own decisions about what they want to believe. I don't want to hand them a message tied up with a nice little bow. I want them to think. And yes, they're kids, so they're thinking only goes so deep. But you'd be surprised about what kids come up with when they have the freedom to think for themselves and work things out. My summer at PASSPORT, I felt like the programs did a good job of empowering the kids to think, and I want to incorporate more of that into what we do within our children's ministry.

I'm just not sure what the appropriate balance is for that openness. And we have to deal with short attention spans...and wide age ranges...and various maturity levels...and a lack of good resources...

Definitely something for me to ponder as I continue in this ministry position...