As most of you know, after I graduated from Bible college back in 1979, Vickie and I traveled for 10 years as children’s evangelists conducting what was then called Kid’s Crusades. For some 45 to 48 weeks a year, we would travel from church to church and use family-friendly ministry tools to share the gospel. Then, in 1989 Vickie and I began the next phase of ministry and for 25 years served as children’s pastors at an incredible church in South Florida. So, as you can see, ministering to children is forever engrained in our hearts. To me (and Jesus) ministry to children couldn’t, shouldn’t, and wouldn’t be an afterthought!
With that in mind, allow me to travel back in time and share a story that illustrates the importance of ministering to children. I remember that back in 2010 or 2011 an event happened in our mid-week 4-year-old class that forever impacted my life. While walking from classroom to classroom to check on the ministry and communicate with the teachers (it’s called MBWA – management by walking around), I became engaged in conversation with an adorable little boy who was enjoying playing with Play Dough. After talking for a while, I asked him, “Do you know who I am?” Looking up at me with the most loving eyes, he said, “Jesus?”
At first, the cuteness factor was almost too much. I wanted to laugh out loud at his statement. Me? Jesus? Was he kidding? But later, the Holy Spirit reminded me that on that particular evening, I had been allowed to be Jesus’ representative. To that little boy, I was Jesus-in-the-flesh.
While this blog entry isn’t my typical blog telling of flowing with the Holy Spirit, it is a gentle reminder of my need to be dependent upon Him. After all, on that particular Wednesday night, I was His agent for representing Jesus. Think about it.
