Well, the title seems sort of random, and it is, but that's kind of where I'm at tonight. Poor little Chucky the (un)lucky Ducky died last night. He didn't get pecked or anything, so I don't really know what happened. One of the kids gave him a cherry last night - maybe that killed him. Of course, my tender hearted 7 year old daughter cried when she heard of Chucky's demise. I have to say, it made me sad as well, partly because we tried so hard to keep him alive.
Camp for the kids was a great success this last week - it was truly a privilege to minister to over 200 kids and the adults that came with them. I did a lesson about Daniel 1 - particularly Daniel 1:8:
But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. (Daniel 1:8 ESV)
It is amazing that Daniel and his friends resolved not to defile themselves with the king's food and wine. It is amazing to me because in this day, we seem to go out of our way to blend in with the culture instead of going against it. Most Christians today are "thermometers" - they measure the culture and they adjust themselves to it. Daniel and his friends were "thermostats." They let the standard of God's Word establish their baseline and they challenged the culture to rise up to that standard.
I wanted to explain to these kids (3rd & 4th graders) what it meant to "defile" yourself. I really struggled with this because I knew that this was very important, yet needed to be handled in a way the kids could deal with it. So I talked about how, when I was that age, I wanted to be "cool" and fit in with my friends. I "defiled" myself by talking the way they did, and I knew it was wrong. As I starting telling the kids how I "dirtied" myself with "dirty" words, I smeared chocolate pudding all over myself. I put it all over my shirt, my face, and even dumped the rest of the bowl on my head.
I went on to tell them how we all need the cleansing grace of God through Christ to clean up our dirtiness. I used a red towel to wipe off my face to symbolize the blood of Christ.
I don't think those kids will ever eat pudding again without thinking about their lesson at camp. Hopefully they will apply God's truth and follow the example of Daniel.
The kids and I shot off some fireworks tonight - what a great time with some great kids. I truly pray that they will be Daniel-like "thermostats" in this wicked and decadent culture.
jc
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