Tag: church

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Why should the Lord’s Supper be Joyful?

If you were to ask me what the most common observation people make when they visit Providence Church (CREC) in Pensacola,FL, there would be several candidate observations, but undoubtedly in the top Nobel Prize option would be that our “Lord’s Supper is joyful.” Of course, this is not something we came up with, though I do confess it is uncommon in most traditions.

Most theological eucharistic practices ranging from Roman Catholic to the local megachurch treat the Lord’s Supper through the lens of the death of Jesus. Christ died, therefore, we bow our heads and meditate on his death Whether, through a classic Memorialist view or the Transubstantiation view, there is an element of sadness that pervades these services.

Now, in our congregation, we don’t make the death of Jesus secondary, which is why we confess his death and his atonement for our sins when we confess our sins together at the beginning of the service. If we were to confess our sins again at the Lord’s Supper, it would be a kind of insult to Jesus. After all, he has forgiven us already. The Lord’s Supper should not be treated as a recapitulation of our sins, but a pointer beyond our sins to the blessings of Christ’s resurrection. In other words, the Lord’s Supper is bread and cup of blessing (I Cor. 11:24), not of sorrow. It is a full blessing; a total blessing; an exuberant blessing. We partake in it, precisely because Christ is no longer dead, but risen from the dead and vindicated.

The Supper embraces the joy of the disciples who ate with Jesus after the resurrection (Jn. 21). It’s loud, talkative, and festive. It’s a moment of glory for people who are rooted in the Word of God and who allow the Word to bear fruit in us. Behold, the fruit of the vine is here (Jn. 15), offered at this table, Jesus himself. We are fruitful ones eating of the great fruitful Christ, who became the first fruits of all those who trust in him (I Cor. 15). We eat and drink together not as those who weep, but as those who are blessed by the fruitful Word. Rejoice, pass the peace, and trust in the vindicated Word made flesh.

~~

“Once more, the joyful character of the eucharistic gathering must be stressed. The medieval emphasis on the cross, while not a wrong one, is certainly one-sided. The liturgy is, before everything else, the joyous gathering of those who are to meet the risen Lord and to enter with him into the bridal chamber. And it is this joy of expectation and this expectation of joy that is expressed in singing and ritual….in that whole ‘beauty’ of the liturgy which has so often been denounced as unnecessary and even sinful.”~Alexander Schmemann

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Why Old Leftist Men Go Insane?

Biden’s cognitive decline is rather evident these days. It’s not the snoozing at a tedious gathering in Europe; the best of us do such noble deeds at one time or another in our 40’s and from what I recall growing up in my father’s congregation, some happily do it in their teens. So, far from me to criticize a 78-year-old man for taking a quick power-10 during a meeting spoken in different languages.

My point has more to do with the fruit of one’s work. I confess I don’t know how to prove such assertions with dogmatism, but there is ample evidence that conservatives are happier than liberals and therefore age with much more grace and sanity:

“Years of psychological research have suggested that people who are politically conservative are happier than their liberal counterparts. This so-called “ideological happiness gap” has inspired elaborate theories for why conservatives enjoy life more than liberals do.”

This is not the time to speculate too much on the ideological happiness gap, except through the via negative. And the lesson here is, “Don’t be like Biden, kids!” And age has nothing to do with it. If our psalmic lifespan is threescore and ten, and by reason of strength add ten more (Psalm 90:10), let’s say Uncle Joe is getting rather close to that happy limit. But again, age does not have much to do with this. In fact, I have a couple of dear saints in my congregation in their 80’s walking 3-6 miles every day and functioning with normalcy. But the Biden crisis is rather unique, isn’t it?

What happens when your entire political career has been the cumulative effect of policies that destroyed the economy, discouraged virtue as central to the oikos and the polis, and over-taxed everything and everyone, and put animals’ rights above ordinary babies in wombs? The accumulation of these leftist ideologies can only lead to misery and pain.

Now, some may say that conservatives can be quite a nuisance as well and provide their share of crankyTrumpers at home. Yes, I grant that premise pastorally, but to quote sociologist Brad Wilcox “conservatives marry more and divorce less,” and this should not be a shock to society. Conservative marriages can still lead to madness, but when policies are built on the foundation of destroying civilization at the point of birth and then at the point of all existential questions (money, marriage, and morēs), the end result is a kind of insanity. As my old friend, James Jordan used to say, “The result of insane policies is insane lawmakers.”Biden’s decline may have something to do with his age and health, but it seems the deeper element has to do with the imbibing of ideas that ultimately lead you to madness. Leftism leads to incurable sadness of life and loss of sanity. Nietzsche knew it well and I think the Maxine Waters of this world do as well.

You may think these assertions are rather preposterous, and I have added enough variables to avoid any major statistical stupidity, but the central premise can’t be challenged: God gives distraught and deceitful old men over to dreary sleepiness.

Biden should rest assured that while we pray for him (I Tim. 2:2), our prayer is not some generic silliness; it’s filled with sobering cries for his sanity and strength to return while there is time.

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In Praise of the CREC

Around 23 years ago, three independent churches decided to join forces. The autonomous status did not suit these good fellas, so they formed a little band of happy trouble-makers. Twenty-three years later, we gathered in Monroe, LA, for a Council that included over 100 churches and a famine around the globe for the kind of thing we offer abundantly: courage and creed.

I have just returned from four days of meetings and a few other meetings intertwined with happy meetings and superb fellowship and fine dining. The whole thing was an experience in renewed mercies. First, we deliberated over presbytery matters, and then we debated and deliberated on a host of documents and sundry issues as Council delegates. There was hearty back and forth and then a combo of laughter and decision-making. We are a young denomination, and as my friend, Jerry Owen, says, young denominations need to be quick to repent and quick to be humble lest we fall. That’s a good word. But in our momentum, we don’t want to let our supremely cheerful state go to waste. We are not over here cheering out of hubris for the incredible growth God has provided our tribe during Covidsterya, but because the signs of unity keep showing up from hobbit holes and theopolitan taverns. And if two or three brothers walking in unity is a good thing, a couple of hundred pastors and elders walking together is a whole different level of goodness.

It is hard to express my appreciation for a communion that has given me more than I expected but ultimately has taught me that my expectations for God’s goodness should be greater than I imagined. The CREC has been a home to me for almost 13 full years, and I genuinely pray these guys find my Latin presence fruitful for 33 more.

So, let me conclude this brief praise-worthy effort by sharing three thanksgiving elements of the CREC:

First, let’s put the cards on the table: Doug Wilson is the man! You may not like his beard or from whence his cigars cometh, but this fella has successfully irritated the right people for too many years to count. His joyful disposition and his plodding mammothness come with too many blessings to count. May his tribe increase and may his labors make Peter Enns lose his sleep at night.

Second, I had the joy of addressing the Council, but the more incredible thrill was sitting and listening to faithful pastors exhort and encourage us; many are quietly laboring in unknown towns doing the good work and providing the faithful word shepherding the sheep. They do this in Montana and Maine, and Missouri and their labors are not in vain. My gratitude for these faithful laborers increased a hundred-fold after our time together.

Finally, it is hard to define the joy CREC pastors have when they are together. It’s the sort of elation I never had in any other tradition and have never seen replicated. We don’t just get together to talk business; we get together to sing, share, and cherish one another. The like-mindedness of our communion adds a special touch to our fellowship. There is a rhythm to the things we do that keeps us all marching to the same beat year after year. But beyond the drinks and devil-crushing strategies, there is also a firm reliance on the Triune God to bless our efforts. This commitment and trust mean that when we gather, we are sons of God going forth to war with the Son of God. And that means that our efforts these last 23 years have been one toast after the other.

May the Lord guide and bless our strategies, and may he see fit to strengthen our young tribe!#creccouncil

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Three Virtues of Lion-Hearted People

We were doing our Brito dance this morning to the melody of a contemporary song written in 1712 called “Rise Again, Ye Lion-Hearted.” The boys joined for all stanzas ’cause they’re lion-hearted and all and they have sung it enough that it flows through their blood.

Singing it again this morning reminded me of the forcefulness and necessity of this song for our day. Following are three needed virtues for our day.

Hear ye:

“Honor, gold, they laugh to scorn…”

Lion-hearted men and women scorn the world’s riches. When the naked emperor offers wine, women, and song to any who would forsake Messiah Jesus, the saints mock their offers. He knows that there is no earthly wealth that can surpass the glories and abundance of heaven. When elites offer us a seat at the table with their six-course meals and galas and flatter us with empty words, and “honor” us with prestigious job offers if only we would leave out one of our convictions at the table, lion-hearted children laugh at their contracts. We refuse to be Peter Enns for a chance at notoriety.

2. “Songs of praise outpouring…”

When you put several naked Christians in the arena, taunt them, ridicule their God, and open the gates for ferocious lions, there is only one logical thing to do: we sing.

Our age is completely ripe for the kind of singing I have been advocating for a long time. You cannot face the arena with songs about a secret and a quiet place; that kind of pious gush may scare away kitties, but not hungry beasts. Arenas are made for Athanasius figures, Elizabeth Elliot, and bold singers. The arena is the place for practicing warriors who have been trained to use their voices to fight demons. From the lips of children, God uses our music to frighten foe and avenger; lions and leftists.

3. “Loyal, staunch, and true to Thee.”

This glorious hymn closes with a vocal call to faithfulness; this hearty theology of perseverance that grabs us by our baptisms and releases us at death. If we have learned anything, it is that the greatest threat to the Church today is the allures of the world, the flesh and the devil. And these temptations come in all shapes and sizes.

Christians, however, ought to be masters of repentance and turning their heads away from enslaving rituals. These enslaving rituals keep us away from the battle, and we need to be so daring that the battle is always coming to us, which means that we must keep the devil and his nephews fully aware of the threat we pose to them.

~~~

We take our stand joyously because our scorning of evil, our songs of praise, and our vibrant loyalty will determine whether we will rise again, or whether we shall be content in our slumber.”Joyously they take their stand on the arena’s bloody sand.”

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Becoming a Radical

An esteemed friend I have loved for many years recently stated that he was radicalized during COVID. His antennas became more attuned to the shenanigans of the state. Similarly, I think it is safe to say I have been radicalized in the academy of no-non-sense against leftist ideology. There were simply too many issues to test our theories. And every time I did the scientific experiment it ended with the same results.

But, of course, I was already a radical by the very nature of my affiliations and theological affinities. But practically, my expectations will be much of the same and more of the same and the same of more when it comes to specific institutions. I have no doubt many of these folks, especially those who cherish the Nicene Creed, are of good nature and take their trash out to the curb on Thursday nights, and I am also sure they have a sweet disposition towards their children, but I will no longer assume as I did once that they want biblical authority to permeate everything.

I believe that places like Christianity Today are not institutions of theological integrity. I firmly believe they wish to lead the Church in a direction that does not lead back to Machen and Van Til and Sproul but to Schleiermacher and mainline-ism.

Mark Galli’s recent statements that CT writers are more interested in the approval of the New York Times and other “respectable” magazines is an indication that the Billy Graham era is over and CT has become just another tool to propagate whatever is most classically unconservative. This has been true for some time, but sometimes institutions make themselves abundantly clear. Suffice to say, CT is headed towards oblivion, and the respect they think they will earn from MSNBC as whistleblowers for true orthodoxy will quickly evaporate.

I am desensitized to these cowardly attempts at respectability. I am no longer shocked or dismayed. I will join critiques of Mark Driscoll on a host of issues, but I will not accept that the best critics of Driscoll are leftist mainline female priests or ambulance chasing feminists or CT’s book awards. What these folks are looking for are examples of abuse anywhere to destroy conservative causes everywhere. While they may have good intentions, their telos is absolutely malicious. They do not lead to a “Jesus-loves-me-this-I-know-for-the-Bible-tells-me-so hermeneutic. Instead, they eagerly embrace critical hermeneutics to matters regarding race like classic liberalism welcomed higher criticism to the issues regarding inerrancy. They are seeking to domesticate Jesus, and in doing so, they domesticate his word.

Jesus has no patience for expertise religiosity and scribal law-making; he eagerly takes them apart for their cunning ways and fashionable statements. Our Lord eagerly overthrows their tradition-painted tables and mocks them in derision. The way to avoid this blabbering of foolishness is to stay close to those who share the sentiments of the healthy iconoclasts like Luther and Machen. Eat together. Laugh together. Eat at the table of our Lord together. Sing Psalms together, and on this latter point, I am not aware of any institution that sings imprecatory psalms that fall for this 1st grade understanding of ethics and politics. If we keep cultivating biblical authority in the little acts, we too will be radicalized towards more biblical fidelity.

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When Reformed Icons Go Gnostic

I have often talked about the boogeyman of Gnosticism and its egregious side effects after a workout. Gnosticism is a tendency to minimize the body for more ethereal categories; it turns the act of eating chicken wings into an unspiritual act, and I take umbrage at that remark because chicken wings are a Solomonic meal. But alas, Gnosticism is bad and it turns the beauty of tangible living into an exercise in soul-ciology–you can quote me on that.

But if Gnosticism stayed far away from the church, and only emerged from its cave once every 23rd Spring, like Jeepers Creepers, we would make it a topic of interest in the spring prior in preparation. However, Gnosticism is everywhere in the church. It shows up in praise choruses about wreckless loves and stuff, you know, like cool. But it is also more pervasive than we think, especially when it hits close to home in terrific authors whose name will remain hidden (but it rhymes with Schim Schmeller).

This long-standing grandfather of the Presbyterian Church tweeted thusly recently:”We should be neither overly elated by getting married nor overly disappointed by not being so—because Christ is the only spouse that can truly fulfill us and God’s family the only family that will truly embrace and satisfy us.”

As the Germans would say, “Wat is dis!?” This pile of word garbage has the right-sounding words, but it adds up to a dung-grammar pile. I don’t want to say it walks like Gnosticism, but it sure acts like a Gnostic duck. And because of it, my theological nose is all up its business.

Let’s be fairly graphic about this endeavor: What man is not thrilled to have sex with his new wife on the wedding night? Or, what woman does not feel the elation of being protected by her lover? What single man does not feel elated to give his life to another in sacred communion? If a man in his 30’s is not disappointed in his unmarried state, I’d be concerned. There are singular cases of exception, but Mr. Schmeller spoke nothing of it. He made absolute statements excoriating the over-elation of a husband for the love of his wife.

And then the crème de la crème comes at the end when he adds a heavy dose of spirituality to minimize the elevation of marriage. For the record, yes, Jesus is the all and all of marriage, and yes, the church is the best community; and yes, these things are fulfilling in a different category altogether, but they are not to be placed against the category of marriage. If that is the case, then nothing is relevant or worthy of acting elated over.

Don’t take elation out of the equation by adding Jesus to it! Gnosticism is a freak of a monster and it showed up in that little statement viciously, with no mercy! So, in kindness to Mr. Schmeller, I decided to re-quote him:

“We should be overly elated by getting married (Prov. 5:18) and overly disappointed by not being so unless God has a very particular call in my life—because Christ is the true spouse, he accentuates our marriages and truly fulfills it with gratitude and tremendous joy and beyond that, he puts us in his family to add even more benediction to us.”

There. Fixed it.

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Deaths and Resurrections

God is a God of deaths and resurrections. His world is a constant refrain of repetitive themes. We might say that God is gloriously repetitive. He repeats themes because his creation reflects his thematic ability to kill and make alive. God gives us and takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

The practicality of such historical imperatives is that phases of history come to an end, and God brings new stages fresh from heaven. Humans experience this often in daily life. Parents, in particular, see these transitional phases occurring with frequency. Diapers, potty training, speech, and sicknesses are all a part of the grand scheme of transitions in the home. Little deaths provide new liberties.

In very tangible ways, the Church is transitioning as well in our day. Many whose commitment to the sacred scriptures was a vital part of their DNA have had two years to navigate their convictions to test their loyalties. In the process, many things have died, and many new things are flourishing. The natural quest for neutrality is over! In fact, the game is over. Neutrality is a myth, but beyond that, it’s a death—the good kind. Some deaths are needed in the Church to awaken her to her responsibilities and plant her in new pastures.

As I have said throughout this season, men need to put away their baby bottles and dust off their wedding glasses and pour the real, unadulterated stuff in them. It’s time to man up, love up, and serve up! Neutrality is dead!

This entails that church life needs serious invigoration in the days ahead. The kinds of churches that prepared you for tea parties won’t survive another generation. The types of churches that prepared you for martyrdom will shine like the sun. Deaths are coming, but resurrections are in high demand, and God loves when we petition him to raise the dead.

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The Case for Children in Worship, Part 6

We love our children! We love being with them when they wake up and we love their snuggles at night before bed. There are so many magical moments of parenting. But let the parent who speaks always smilingly of parenting throw the first stone! Don’t tell me you don’t long for that bedtime with fierce determination; don’t tell me you don’t long for some precious time with your spouse!? Don’t tell me you don’t long for conversations with big people for a change?

We shouldn’t feel guilty about this…no, not once. We pour our hearts into our little ones, but if sleep cycles didn’t exist, none of us would be a parent for longer than a week. In much of our conversation about parenting, we tend to fall into pious overload mode and treat parenting as if it were so easy that anyone could do it well with a little prep time and a few tips from our favorite parenting guru. But anyone putting on their reality glasses understands that parenting is much more complicated and that we need additional times when life isn’t a liturgy of diapers and breaking up squabbles and cleaning mushed green beans from the floor.

I have thus far encouraged parents to keep their squiggly bundle of energy with them during the entire service. Aren’t I asking for a little too much? Shouldn’t I be content with simply allowing parents to enjoy a precious 75-90 minutes of pure and uninterrupted bliss of worship without keeping them on their feet…again on the Lord’s Day?

I promise I am not a tyrant; I am a benevolent pastor who sees your woes because I am fairly self-aware of the work I do as a father and the double/triple work my wife does when I leave those doors to the office in the morning and the remarkable job a single mom does who doesn’t have that additional voice to harmonize her strategies.

So, the final argument essentially ponders why a parent would have to sacrifice fellowship time catching up with good friends for an additional hour of navigating the wants of tiny people who incidentally want a lot. The answer is that we need to view our worship service as fellowship with the Triune God who invites our little children to come unto Him. Ultimately, that is worship.

There are plenty of opportunities for more substantial fellowship that will require some sacrifice. Perhaps dad stays home a night or two while mom spends some time with friends and vice-versa. We should allow Sundays to function as a day where we fellowship in a unique way (in the context of worship), but build the rationale for fellowship in a more intimate way outside the Sunday environment.

As a pastor, I usually have 20-25 different conversations before and after worship, but most of them involve catching up, and if there is a need for something more intimate, a parishioner and I will come to an agreement about what day to meet and discuss certain matters. Similarly, Sunday should function not as a time to have real conversations that must exclude children, but it should be used as an opportunity to make plans to meet in a more favorable environment.

Again, children shouldn’t be a hindrance to such fellowship. Certain phases of life mean that our conversations take place in a particular way. I often say that parents fellowship on the basis of fragmented sentences. We have this unique opportunity to begin conversations and then continue them 10 minutes later after dealing with whatever “emergency” our children may have.

In sum, I firmly believe that none of these reasons should distract us from healthy community life, and in fact, children provide an abundance of opportunities for beautiful learning and growing together in grace in the context of worship and fellowship.

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The Case for Children in Worship, Part 4

I was interviewed yesterday on the topic of children in worship by a Christian radio station. It’s always good to know people are interested in discussing these critical subjects. One of the concerns that came up in the interview and was also brought up by a concerned commenter has to do with the exceptional cases. In other words, what about those who would suffer should a church policy be established that children should remain with their parents from the beginning to the end of the service?

I would immediately reply that I am under no illusion that such ideal would receive such a vast consensus. I am an optimist on ecclesiastical matters–the kind that keeps pressing an issue until they build a two-feet monument in honor of my perseverance a day or two after my death.

The other fact is that what we believe to be true, right and good does not mean we think that everyone must come onboard overnight. Let all those who suffered under the zeal of new Calvinists say amen: “Amen!” And I speak as a recovering irritant to my non-Calvinist friends. Mea Culpa!

That said, there are incremental ways to bring about a recovery of a view of worship that includes nursing infants and toddlers and teenagers on the same row, or preferably separated by an adult or three. When someone gives the example of a single mother of four who would panic or not even bother to come to worship because the local Church does not provide a nursery or a children’s worship program, I do have some additional caveats to add.

I do think this is a conversation that we need to have, which means that we begin with what we believe is true, and then we work our way down to the exceptional cases. We don’t build arguments based on the exceptions; otherwise, we would all be socialists. We think—at least most of us do—that Capitalism good, and then once we have established that principle, we work on how to best deal with those who have legitimate needs. But for the vast majority, the principle is that you work, and therefore you eat (II Thes. 3:10).

All this means that we need to be in some agreement as to our destination first. Then, we can begin to think carefully about what to do with the mega-church with 167 programs for little people. This also does not negate the hard work of teachers who seek to provide a carefully fitting message for kids ages 3-4. But I also want to be sure to say with all the courage I can muster that because there is good work being done, it does not mean that it is the right work to be done. Something can be a good deed applied to the wrong context. For instance, I can bring my wife flowers a day after our anniversary. It’s a good deed, but dangerously wrong timing.

We need to change the culture of the Church on this issue. And that means that some of you might need to make some changes (as I articulated in a previous post) at home, and in other places, if you really are convinced by what I have said thus far.

We want to encourage the single mom by pointing her to several other people who can come alongside her and help her in the process. I would suggest that if you are a single mom of four and the Church you attend has absolutely no interest in reconsidering their methods, and you—for various reasons—have no intention to leave, then you should continue to abide by the Church’s distinctives. If, however, your convictions become so strong as the days and months pass by that you can no longer tolerate that Church’s policy, then you need to take some more serious measures lest you become a burden to the leadership of the Church (Heb. 13:17).

As a final note, one observer noted out of concern that families that once were dependent on children’s Church have still not returned to worship because the vast majority of churches that have resumed their in-person services are not yet offering children’s programs out of safety concerns. Therefore, if you are still reading, the equation is: No children’s worship=no church participation.

My deeper question at this point is to ask why have churches inculcated a dependency on such things that are clearly not essential to the life of the Church in the Bible, or for that matter in the history of the Church. Consider that none of these children’s programs—however valuable—existed until about the 18th century and more formally until the late 19th century. All this means that the Church seemed to blossom for a very long time before these things, which indicates that we have become dependent on a system that is relatively new in the church scene. I propose we slowly but methodically begin to change this entire reasoning by having more difficult conversations about the nature of worship and the nature of children and their role in God’s assembly.

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On the Blessings of Children and Parenting in the Pew

The Bible and Children

I wanted to continue this series by offering a quick footnote to a biblical rationale for the importance of children in worship. It doesn’t seem necessary, since their cuteness speaks for itself, but it seems that establishing this foundation will set the stage for more difficult conversations later.

The Bible speaks of children over 1,100 times and in most cases as something to be desired (Ps. 128), other times in the context of sadness for not being able to bear (Gen.11:30), and other times as promises (Gen. 17), and then in the New Testament as those who are objects of wrath from tyrants (Mat. 2:13) and then later as recipients of Jesus’ love (Mat. 19). Sometimes they are a reason for grief (Gen. 4), but in most cases, they are signs of blessings (Ps. 102:28).

When I was a pastoral intern, I remember someone approaching me after a service and confessing that she simply couldn’t tolerate little children in worship because of their noises. “They were a distraction,” she said angrily. I often think this is the way many evangelicals view children: as distractions. They are distractions at home, so we find ways to entertain them rather than engage them. They are a distraction at church, so we find ways to keep them busy outside the gathered assembly. As we will note, there are other concerns in mind, but the evangelical church has unwittingly affirmed the premise that children are a distraction and something needs to be done about it during the worship service.

In the Gospels, the disciples rebuked our Lord because they believed that the children were a distraction to Jesus’ “real” ministry (Mat. 19:13). But Jesus rebuked the disciples and said his ministry is to draw little children to him and to build a kingdom through the faith of those little disciples.

The Fruitfulness of Parenting

Being a parent is one of the hardest tasks ever given to men. It is also one of the areas where the Spirit speaks most decisively in giving detailed instruction (Deut. 6). Idealistic parents quickly fall into reality that first week when they take their new-born home. I remember that scene when I pulled up the van, and my wife was carefully wheeled to the van where I picked up my little girl, and meticulously plugged her into the baby car seat. I never drove so slow and so tense in my life. I literally had this thought as I drove off: “I have a human being in the car that is fully dependent on me. I don’t know if I am ready!” But that child was entrusted to these parents, and since that is the case, we now have a distinct duty to train her in the education of God (Eph. 6:4).

Like anything we are called to steward and love, it will demand our soul. Children are a blessing from the Lord, which means that we need to view them as such. They are not vipers in diapers (to quote a famous author), they are worshipers in diapers, then they are worshipers who can potty on their own, sit on their own, sing on their own, raise their hands on their own, eat on their own, confess on their own, and then one day, produce a new cycle of worshipers in diapers.

When we send our children to another gathering away from Jesus’ central gathering in worship, we are creating a separate class within Jesus’ earthly kingdom. Even though our intentions may be pure, we may be thinking as the disciples did and thereby missing the opportunity for Jesus to place his hands upon them and bless them with His love (Mat. 19:15).

The journey is not meant to be easy, but like any faith-journey, it will be rewarding. I propose that keeping children in the worship service from beginning to the benediction is the most biblically satisfying and fruitful task you can embrace as a parent on the Lord’s Day.

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