All in the Family

One of the greatest joys of a young church is knowing everybody. It's easy to get to know not only the heads of families, but the kids also. We don't have a bunch of programming for children, so we spend a lot of time together, and I've never been more grateful for that than Friday night.

We had a night we called "Porch & Altar". It was an intimate night of prayer and worship. Kaysa led us through a Lord's Prayer model of praying, and it was a great time of interaction with our Heavenly Father. When it came time to repent of our sin, to confess our depravity, and to allow God to forgive us and cleanse us ... one of our kids did that for the first time. It was one of the greatest joys of my ministry career. Brian and I were leading worship from the stage. We were singing Martin Smith's "Majesty" and I saw this young man tell his dad what was going on. Then I saw him tell his mom. It was beautiful. This young man was no stranger to God. He sits in worship every week soaking up truth like a sponge. Just this week his dad and I were talking about how close he was getting to becoming a Christ-follower. Friday night, with his parents praying on both sides of him, God called and he answered. I was later pondering the tragedy of many kids coming to that point with people they barely know at a camp or retreat or programmed event. Since it is the job of parents to disciple their own kids, I felt such a sense of completion watching this experience unfold. A 5th grader was saved with no invitation, no plea from a pastor desperate to see salvation - only the pursuit of a loving heavenly Father.

I pray that my son is raised in such a way that the love of God surrounds him continually. I pray that he would daily become more aware of what God is about and how powerful His love is. I pray that God would call him as clearly as he did my friend on Friday night, and I pray that just as my friend did, that he would recognize the voice of the shepherd immediately.

I was so relieved that as we pray for salvation in our church and in our community that I didn't have to do anything for salvation to happen except provide an environment of connecting with God. It truly is God's job to build the church - not mine.

Thank you Father, for drawing men to You as You are lifted up. May we see this continually. Amen.

Congratulations, Jack! You're an amazing example.