Sun, 23 Apr 2023 05:48:26 -0700WeeblyTue, 17 Dec 2013 19:46:41 GMThttp://www.atapministries.com/blog/god-knows-your-name  God Knows Your Name! 
  
Hey  Kids! Let’s take a minute to imagine something that would be really great! (And Grown Ups, we invite you to imagine  with us too!)
 
Let’s imagine that your Mom asked you to go to the grocery store with her, to help push the cart and carry the groceries to the car and the house. For the sake of this story, let’s pretend your name is “Roy” if you’re a boy, and “Sal” if you’re a gal. 
 
In your imagination, you go with Mom because being obedient and helping your mom is something God tells you to do in His Word—the Bible. Another plus is that Mom usually buys you a treat for being a great helper! You can’t lose with this deal, so you get in the car and off you go.
 
When you get to the grocery store, you notice something really weird going on. There are a bunch of trucks from radio and T.V. stations in the parking lot; with giant antennas sticking out of their roofs. The sheriff is there plus lots of police cars and motorcycles with their lights& sirens going. You see a long, black limousine with American flags on the top.  Helicopters are circling above the store, just a few feet higher the roof.  
 
You walk into the store with your Mom, and it’s totally crazy inside! There are  crowds and crowds of people talking loudly. There are T.V. reporters with their  camera crews, holding up microphones and shouting towards the candy (your favorite!) aisle. There are a lot of men wearing dark suits and sunglasses, looking & watching the crowd closely. These men are in a circle, and there’s somebody in the middle of that circle.
 
You look into the circle, and then you see him, standing next to the chocolate bar  display—it’s the President of the United States! It’s President Obama! At your grocery store!
 
Then totally to your amazement, the President turns his head and looks--looks right at you! This big smile breaks out on his face, and suddenly he tells the reporters in a loud, stern voice… “Quiet! Quiet please! I have something very, very important to say.”
 
He starts to walk towards you, that big smile shining brightly! The circle of men in dark suits follow the President’s every step. The reporters stop shouting. The crowd of people becomes silent. Every eye is on President Obama as he walks right up to you, puts his arm around your shoulder and says…
 
“Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to someone I know very well, my friend Roy/Sal!”
 
OK, it’s time to click the remote and turn off our imaginations. “CLICK!” How  awesome would it be, if the President of the United States knew your name! Wow! And he announced to the entire world that he knew you—Roy/Sal--very well! How exciting it would be to tell your friends and neighbors, “Yes, the President knows my name. He knows me very well.”
 
Well  for most of us, that is something we only could imagine. There are not many of us kids, that the President knows well, or even knows our name. 
 
But there is someone, much greater than the President that not only knows your name, but knows you very well. That someone is our Father God. 
 
Father God that made the planets, the stars, and everything in our universe, He knows you very well. Father God that made the Earth, the animals, the plants, and everything in it; He knows you very well! Awesome!
 
How does Father God know you? Why does He know your name? Let’s see what God says about you in His Word, the Bible:
 
Father God personally put you together inside your Mom! You weren’t put together on an assembly line somewhere in a baby factory, like dolls are made. God personally created you, you are hand made by the God!
 
Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT)
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born.
 
Wow! Handcrafted by God! Another Bible verse says you are His  “Masterpiece!”  A work of art!
 
Ephesians 2:10  (NLT)
10For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.
 
Look at that! Not only are you God’s masterpiece, He has good things planned for you!
 
And once He created you, He didn’t forget about you! He keeps track of you all the time! You are always on His mind!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Psalm 139:1-5  (NLT)
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.  2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.  
 
He leads you! His hand of blessing is on your head! And not only are you always on His mind, look at the kinds of things He is thinking about you…
 
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
 
Peace, good things (not evil things), and a hopeful future! That’s what God is thinking about you!
 
Father God not only knows your name, He knows you very well. Another time together we’ll discover that God even considers you His personal friend! Good bye for now!

]]>Fri, 26 Jul 2013 19:07:49 GMThttp://www.atapministries.com/blog/suffer-the-children                                             
“Suffer the Children”            
 
Matthew 19:13-15 (KJV) 
13Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14But Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.
 
Having raised three of our own (ages 32, 25, and 17); working with thousands over 37 years of teaching gymnastics (currently teaching 140 at Sidney Gymnastics Club); and being involved in Children’s Ministry for 25 years; my wife Jan and I have had plenty of opportunity to “suffer” under the hands of children!
 
Of course, it’s not the adults who are suffering at the hands of children in the above passage; rather it is the children suffering under the hands of misguided “church” adults-in this case, the disciples.
 
If we are not careful, we can fall in that same trap today. We also can hinder our children’s access to Jesus.  The God’s Word paraphrase renders the first part of Matthew 19:14:  “Jesus said, ‘Don't stop children from coming to me!’”
 
We might ask, “How are we stopping our kids’ from  coming to Jesus?”
 
One of the most common ways to hinder access to Jesus is to assume that kids are not  capable of comprehending the truths of the Bible until they are upper elementary age or older.
 
Think of Samuel, the great prophet of Israel, being trained from age 3 by High Priest Eli, to serve God. 
 
1 Samuel 2:18 (NKJV)
18But Samuel ministered before the LORD, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod.
 
I’ll always remember an experience with our middle child, Nathan, when he was five years old. We were at an evening service at the AOG church in Great Bend, KS. It was a communion service, and as the elements passed by, Nate took a cup and wafer. 
 
Being of the belief that the communion elements are not “snacks” to quiet or occupy bored children, we didn’t allow our kids to partake of them until they were fully able to understand the body and blood of our Lord and why we participate in the Sacrament of Communion.
 
In typical alpha attack dad fashion, I reprimanded Nate sharply, “Put those down! They’re not snacks!” 
 
His response blew me away and still brings tears upon recollection today. 
 
Nate burst into tears and said “I know that Dad!”
 
He then proceeded to give me an outstanding five year old explanation of Jesus’ body being broken for our healing and His blood being shed for our sins. 
  
Way to go, Dad!
 
Another way to hinder is to not realize that God views the heart, not the age of a person. Remember David being selected as future King of Israel while still a youth?
 
We need to remember that God is not limited by time as we are. When He looks down from heaven and sees baby Bob, toddler Tommy, child Chet, teen Ted, adult Adam, and senior citizen Shawn; God doesn’t see a baby, a toddler, a child, a teen, an adult, and a senior
  citizen.
 
God sees His men Bob, Tommy, Chet, Ted, Adam, and Shawn.
 
Isaiah 46:4 (NLT) 
4I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.
 
God makes us, and keeps tabs on us, carrying us along all through our lives. He has a plan for each and every one of us. He knows our future no matter what age we are.
 
Isaiah 46:10 (NLT) 
10Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.
 
A third way to hinder is to assume that younger kids merely need to be “watched” rather than taught until they are “older.” Remember Jesus at age 12, confounding the teachers of the law in the temple? Blowing them away with his questions and his answers? He didn’t gain that knowledge by receiving a heavenly “download” the day before. He gained that knowledge by training in the scriptures from when he was a young child.

Just how we go about making sure that we are not hindering our kiddo’s access to God? Here are several things we can do.
 
1. Understand that Sunday School and Children’s Church are not merely “kid containment compartments” or “baby sitting services.”Expect and put in place the best curriculum and best teachers to train your children. We expect our head pastor to feed the adults a bountiful banquet of the Word of God in the main service; expect no less in the kids’ service.
 
2. Understand that it is not the responsibility of the Sunday School and Children’s Church staff to make sure that your kids are fully immersed in the principles of the Kingdom of God.   It’s not reasonable to expect the church in 30 to 90 minutes once or twice a week; to
counteract the ungodly influence the world system shoves down your kids’ throats  24/7/365.
 
3. Understand that it is OUR responsibility as parents to counteract the world system and make sure God’s system is implemented in OUR children. It’s up to us to implant God’s principals in our kids, and it’s up to us to “deprogram” or counteract the junk the world tries to impact them with.
 
Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) 6Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
 
The implied “you” just before “train” being “us” the parents! Consider how an Olympic athlete trains for his sport, and that’s the kind of Godly training effort we need to put into our children!
 
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (NKJV)
5You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all  your strength. 6"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 

In  conclusion, both at church and at home, clear our children’s paths of any  stumbling blocks that would keep them from coming to Jesus! Because when they get there… 

Mark 10:16 (NKJV) 
16And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.
 
…They’ll be blessed! And so will you!

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