Is it really as easy as 1-2-3?

That is what is used in VBS but not in our regular witnessing programs. I agree that it's very simplistic but it does open the door for the kids who are around 10 to ask questions.

 

Exactly.

 

I had a thread about this a few months ago because we have had about a dozen kids ages 4-7 be baptized this last few months. One would go and then next week three of his friends would follow. My own 8 year old told me HE wanted to be baptized so the women in childrens' church would be proud of him too. We had a LONG conversation about that and why that is NOT the reason to be baptized.

I do have to admit here that I was saved during VBS at age 8 but if you've seen my salvation experience you'll know that I KNEW exactly what I was doing and followed the lead of the Holy Spirit.

I agree that we must be very careful and need to follow up. Our church is having 'Young New Member's Class' starting in Sept. for all those little ones who were 'saved'. It's on Sunday nights and will go over and over what salvation is, etc. I'm guessing others are concerned.

Diane

 

A - Accept that you are pregnant
B - Be in a birthing position
C - Contract, Contract, Contract

Birth is a simple matter, easy to understand.
Becomming a mature adult takes a whoooooole lot longer and is a much more complicated process.

The fact that the gospel is easy to understand doesn't mean it is done thoughtlessly or carelessly. Jumping off a cliff is a simple concept to understand but ought yo be done very thoughtfully.

One moment YOU claim the right to be in charge of your life and the next moment you relinguish that right to CHRIST. Simple. It is not all that complicated, but it is all that profound.

 

Yes, we do need to explain the Gospel clearly and fully. And sometimes we do oversimplify.
In my own church, each year in VBS, a number of children make commitments. I don't think all of them understand. We have real responsibility to explain clearly,follow up, and disciple.

I was truly convicted when I was 7, although I did not become a Christian right away. My oldest became a Christian when he was five. Almost thirteen years later, his life bears fruit. Of course, he was discipled along the way.
He knows a lot more now, but that does not mean that he did not truly follow as a young child.

We should not go to the other extreme. Some groups in their desire not to have easy believism are on the verge of making salvation harder than it really is. We should not deny children who are really being called to Him at a young age.

There are real benefits to being a Christian. Sometimes we are so eager to emphasize the persection and suffering part we go to the opposite extreme of those who only emphasize the peace and joy.

When I became a Christian, Jesus became Lord of my life. However, as an 11-year-old, I became a Christian as an 11-year-old, not automatically understanding every part of what had happened to me. Sometimes we are more impatient than God is, Who is about the business of teaching us more and more about Him. And Who seems to do it over a period of time after initial salvation.

Falls Creek, the largest Baptist camp in the world is in OK. Each year thousands of kids walk the aisles, saying they realize they never really were a Christian till now. For some I am sure that is true. For others, I believe they are already Christians but now have a deeper understanding of what they really did years ago.

Karen

 

Dear Scott,
From SOME evangelists and pastors, I would say.
How far and in what manner do you apply this?
Have you sold all your worldly goods and given them to the poor? If not, then what is the context in which you seem to be emphasizing the total surrender? If not immediately discernible by others when they look at you, I would caution you about making too many assumptions when you look at other people.

Karen

 

We've been using it for years in VBS, my first graders can understand it. We've had several kids saved in VBS, and in the months afterward. But it is not as easy as you say it, no sir, theres more to it, if your going to quote it, use all of it. Theres much more the kids are told. They talk about what it means to be a sinner, to be disobedient to God, Jesus is God's Son, He lived without sin, without disobeying God, He died to pay for our sins, and He came back to life. Jesus Lived, died, and lives now, this you must beleive. Repent, beleive in Jesus' death for our sins, tell others you've been saved, adn eb baptised. No child in our church gets baptised without being able to tell what they've done, without being sure God has forgiven their sin.
The gospel is not for super smart people, older adults who have enough life expereince to understand it, people who read greek and hebrew, but for those who can accept Jesus by faith like a child does, Jesus said not to forbid children coming to Him. The gospel is not hard, it is simple.

It most certainly is a part of, he just isn't telling you all thats involved in the ABC's. When my kids hears ABC's from me, they always hear that Jesus become thier boss, they make decisions to do what Jesus wants them to do. And thier told this before their salvation, not after, no surprise.

Why is it when people do something different from you it is automatically wrong? If the gospel is handled right, then what wrong with the ABC's? Just becasue you don use it makes it wrong? Nope, sorry, don't buy that.
The original poster failed to tell those unfamiliar with the ABC's what all is actually part of useing it with children. And the fact I've never heard it used anyother time the VBS.

 

If someone comes up and says that they have never been a Christian until now, I trust that they are right, and that God is revealing that to them. Perhaps a clear question to find that out is, "What would have happened to you if you were to have died yesterday?" </font>[/QUOTE]Dear Scott,
My comment comes from a partial agreement with your original comments. We don't always explain things as clearly as we should, including at Falls Creek. And sometimes (more than a few) I have heard it explained in my church and in revivals that if you have any doubts, you may not be saved, so come down the aisle and make sure.
(And yes, I have had some vigorous talks behind the scenes, questioning this methodology.)

Often Falls Creek counseling likewise is done just in context of: "If you have any doubts or can't remember one very clear precise moment, then come make sure." In other words, as the teenager is having an emotional experience at Falls Creek, the counselor is interpreting it for them with one interpretation, "just to be on the safe side".
To give a personal example, my elderly teen has been intensively discipled by his parents. If he had not been, I do believe it very likely that he would have walked the aisles to "make sure" when he has gone to Falls Creek, and that he would likely have come home with a view that he did not really understand what he was doing when he was five. The atmosphere seems to be geared that way.
But I wholeheartedly believe that he did become a Christian when he was five and that the interim has been maturing.

Karen

Karen