Reflections on the Children Desiring God Conference

Every two years Children Desiring God holds a national conference that draws attendees from all over the world.  People come to learn and be encouraged by speakers and seminar presenters, all driven by a desire for the glory of God to be passed on to subsequent generations.  There are plenary sessions and seminars covering dozens of topics.  Unfortunately I'm only allowed to attend four seminars, although I would have liked to be able attend them all.  The seminars I attended today were very informative, and I have one more to go to tomorrow which I'm looking forward to.

Anyway, here are a just a few brief reflections from this day at the CDG conference.

1. Being 1 of 2000 people singing worship songs is an amazing experience.  Each day of the conference begins with music and a plenary session.  It's phenomenal to hear 2000 conference attenders singing to the same Lord with passion and conviction.  It makes me think of this albeit on a much smaller scale.  It's something everyone should experience this side of heaven, because once you get to heaven it'll be all you know, except infinitely better.

2. The church is an amazing thing.  If you're not a part of the church (i.e., not a Christian) you'll never know what it's like to walk into a room full of 2000 people and feel rather at home.  I didn't know anyone else at the conference personally (flying solo this time around) and yet there's an automatic identification with everyone else, if for no other reason than that we were united under the banner of Christ.  We were there because we love him, we love people, and we want to see his name made great in our times and places.  Is there any other entity on earth that can boast such a reality?  I can't think of any.  What a marvelous testimony to the world, when people from different backgrounds, countries, and experiences can have nothing in common, but yet have everything in common.

3. God has blessed the church with faithful, amazingly brilliant people.  One of the great things about attending a conference like this is just soaking up the wisdom of godly people who are in the process of going before you.  They have much wisdom and insight to share, and it behooves people like me to sit at their feet and learn.  David Michael, one of the main movers and shakers of CDG, was talking about some thinking he was doing regarding family ministry in his ministry context, and I was just blown away by the depth, yet simplicity, of some of the ideas he was sharing with our group.  Why hadn't I thought of that?  Another guy, Bruce Ware, led a seminar on leading children to know and love God by knowing and loving theology.  He led us through a simple formula he had adapted from scripture which was a simple, yet an astoundingly profound observation.  Thank God for the brains he has blessed people with, and their willingness to share their wisdom.

4. God's providence is an amazing thing.  One of the seminars I attended today was on including children with disabilities in the classroom.  It was led by a woman named Mary Horning.  Her oldest child was born with a rare syndrome (I can't remember the name of it), and she shared how this absolutely devastated her.  She shared quite a few of her struggles and ways that she has grown and learned to trust God throughout this process.  Her daughter is now 25 and has written a book on God's sovereignty in disability.  Mary then went on to lead a session on how to love like Jesus when ministering to people and families touched by disability.  It was not lost on me that when she gave birth to her disabled daughter, she probably never saw herself as leading seminars on loving like Jesus and facilitating disability ministry, blessing the people who were there listening.  But there she was.  Coincidence?  I think not.

5. I have much to learn, and a long ways to grow.  There is a tendency in ministry (at least with myself, and maybe this is true of all professions) to feel like you've arrived.  We get our degrees, do our studying, put in our time, and think we know it all.  It's a humbling thing to rub shoulders with people who can wipe the intellectual floor with me, not to mention with people who are so deeply passionate about the things of God it makes my faith look like a tiny pebble.  It's good to be humbled, and it's one of the ways that God uses people to encourage us and challenge us.  For example, David Michael was telling our group about a five month sabbatical he was given a couple years ago in which he had decided he would use to memorize the book of Ephesians.  Yes, memorize.  Put bluntly, memorizing Ephesians would not have been at the top of my list for a five month sabbatical.  But then I have to ask myself: why not?  That's a pretty remarkable thing.  I remember him reciting at at the last conference, word for word.

God's Foreknowledge

This week's Sunday School lesson was about God's foreknowledge, particularly in relation to his providence.  God knows everything that ever has happened in history, everything that is happening now, and everything that will happen.  How does he know these things?  Because he planned them.

In order to illustrate this, before the lesson I went to the church kitchen and got two kettle covers and hid them behind one of the bulletin boards in the classroom.  After class began, I welcomed the students as I usually do, and we reviewed the content of the previous week's lesson.  Then I calmly excused myself from the table and walked over to the counter where I had previously placed a pair of earplugs.  I proceeded to put the plugs in my ears, in full view of the students.  I then reached behind the bulletin board to retrieve the kettle covers, and they watched me do the whole thing.  I proceeded to bang them together, making a loud crashing sound, at which a couple of the students jumped in their seats, and all of the students covered their ears quickly to guard themselves from the loud sound.

After I took the earplugs out we talked through the scenario.  Did the students know what I was doing? No.  Were they surprised by what I did?  Yes.  Was I surprised?  No.  Why not?  Because I had planned the whole thing.  I cannot be taken by surprise by what I have planned.  Also, I'm the one doing the action, so I can't be surprised by it.

After we talked through this process, I illustrated the point again by dipping my fingers in a cup of water that I had stashed near my chair and flicked the droplets at one of the students.  She jumped back and let out a squeal.  Was she expecting me to do that?  No.  Was I expecting me to do that?  Yes.  Why?  Again, because it was I who had planned in my heart and mind to do it.

This can help us understand what God's foreknowledge is like.  God knows the future because he has planned it.  And it unfolds exact in the way he has planned for it to unfold, so he is never taken by surprise.

And when it comes to our plans as compared to God's plans there are significant differences.  For instance, I can plan to do something, but there are several external factors over which I have no control that can effect my plans, and can even negate what I have planned.  For example, if I plan to play a game of baseball with my friends, the weather can change my plans.  So could an injury to my foot on the way to the game; so could the possibility that although I have planned the game, none of my friends want to play.

This is nothing like God's plans.  What God plans always happens.  He always achieves what he sets out to do.

This should offer those who trust in God a certain measure of security in life, no matter what they face, especially when we consider that everything that God does is for the good of those who love him.  First, we can take heart that God is never surprised by anything that happens to us.  Although we might be caught off guard, he never is.  He is therefore always able to help and support us in our hour of need.  Second, if God is truly working all things together for our good, this means we can look at even trying and difficult times in life as times when God is doing something good for or to us.  Third, we can more readily identify those times when failing to trust God when we doubt the fact that he has the future always in view.

I think I am instructed and encouraged by this Sunday School class as much, if not more, than the students!

Studying the Doctrine of Providence with 5 & 6 Graders

It's my high honor to be able to teach the fifth and sixth grade Sunday School class at Riverview.  We use the Children Desiring God material, which I've said quite a bit about before.  This year we're studying the providence of God, encapsulated in the curriculum called "My Purpose Will Stand."  I've also posted about this study before, particularly its presentation of a theodicy for 5th and 6th graders.  I've decided to make my Sunday posts during the year a recap of what we studied in each week's Sunday School lesson.  And don't make the mistake of thinking that you can't learn anything from a 5th and 6th grade Sunday School lesson.  These are complex lessons that cover a lot of heavy-duty theology that most adults don't know.

Since I'm catching up this week after not posting about last week's lesson last Sunday, I guess I should start there.  The lesson began by basically exposing the weaknesses and limitations of the kids in the class.  For example, we had a couple kids try to hit a target on the wall with a balled up piece of paper.  As kids moved farther and farther away from the target, their accuracy waned.  Nobody could hit the target from the other side of the room - not even the teacher!

We then looked at scripture that told us how God always hits his mark - he never misses.  Job 36 says as much.  The point?  There is no one who can compare to God - no one who can do what he does.

Next, I had the kids look out the window using a fancy pair of binoculars that I borrowed from my dad.  Since our church is located in West St. Paul, I asked one of the kids to look over to downtown St. Paul and tell us all what was happening.  Didn't work.  Then I asked them to look over to Minneapolis and tell us what was happening there.  Still couldn't do it.  Why not?  Because we can't see that far.  Our vision, and therefore our knowledge, is limited.

When contrasted to God's knowledge and vision, we look pretty weak, and that's because we are.  God can see everywhere and everyone, however, and so his knowledge is unlimited.  he knows all there is to know.  This is the God of the Bible.  He's a big God.

Then we read Job 38-40, which is a good thing to do on a regular basis, especially if you need to be reminded of your standing before God.

Today's lesson followed up nicely.  We started out by looking in the Bible to define the word "providence."  We said that providence has to do with God's eyes and God's hands.  We went to the Bible and read such passages as Psalm 11.4 and Hebrews 1.10, which talk about what exactly God sees, and what his hands do.

Our very basic definition of providence was this: "God's eye is watching over the universe; God's hand is working in the universe."  It may be a bit on the light side, but it will suffice for our students.

The basic lesson from this definition is this: God is constantly watching over the universe, so he is always knowledgeable of what is happening in it.  Furthermore, God is always at work in the universe.

It's like this: if you were to prepare and cook food, there are things that you need to do in order for it to work out well.  First, you obviously have to be involved in the preparation of the food.  There are things you need to do before you even pop it in the oven.  Once it's in the oven, there are things you need to do to make sure the dish comes out the way you want it to.  If you're baking a cake, you need to check it as it bakes, and maybe even stab it with a knife to ensure that it's cooked all the way through.  If you're scrambling eggs, you need to constantly move the eggs around in the frying pan to make sure they don't burn.  This is something like the way God watches over and is active in the universe.

One thing that occurred to me as I was preparing for and teaching this lesson is that there is absolutely no biblical case for Deism.  Deism is the belief that there is a God, but after his creative activity, he effectively stepped back from creation and is letting it play out in whatever order it may.  Not only does this scenario not "work," in that the world would destroy itself save for God's common grace, but more importantly, that is not at all the picture we get of God from scripture.  We see a God that is intimately involved with his creation, sustaining it and directing it.  The God of the Bible is not a complacent God who is sitting in the background, twittling his thumbs.  No, he is absolutely involved in everything that happens.  This conversation will grow increasingly important for our students as we begin to think about God's role in causing and allowing even bad things to happen.  It's sure to be a fun year!