Care for little ones

Matt 18:1-6 (KJV)

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

 

When we observe a small child do we think of greatness? Do we see a kindergarten age child as a symbol of greatness? Of course, we do not see such a small child as a symbol of greatness. We see presidents, congressmen, millionaires, maybe pastors, and other big church leaders as great in our society. The apostles likewise looked at their society, the measures of a man, and were prompted to ask for quantifiable standards by which they could measure greatness in the coming kingdom. Jesus answer was simple, see this child, view yourself the same.

 

Children by and large have no rights, and their personal expectations are generally disregarded. How many children even as teens have a say in where they live or go to school. Their personal preferences may increase with age but they are not all fulfilled. This is why they struggle with authority. As the progress in growth they learn to evaluate and analyze their surroundings, make determinations, and select a mentality towards various events, places, and people. Then comes the struggle between authority, who may not have the same view or opinion, and the child. The child does not have the authority to carry out their plan and must capitulate to the adult.

 

We have evaluated our world, made our plans, and determined how things should be only to be confronted with God's reality. Often this brings conflict because we will not humble ourselves, like a child. So we begin to humble ourselves on a regular basis only to have someone tells us we are not right? I mean we are doing the best we can, or at least think we can? Even if the person is right and is not gentle to us little children we will kick, scream, or pout. Remember at this point we are talking about adults.

 

So, now for verse 6 and what I really want to address. "These little ones" in the Greek means anyone of lesser dignity. This is the Senior Pastor to Junior Pastor, Pastor to Flock, Sunday School Teacher to Class, School Teacher to Class, Upper Classman to Lower, etc… You get the idea. We are to exercise great care to not offend (entice to sin) someone who looks up to us or at least whose care we have been given. How scary is this warning now? Therefore, we must take great care to encourage and not discourage, find meeker ways to address problems, to demonstrate love and care. I am amazed how we forget that the goodness of God leads us to repentance. You would think that we had to feel the fires of hell first and then we can repent by the way we see problems handled. Instead we are convinced of hell, sin, and our just reward, but shown mercy, love, and God's kindness in our lives. Then we understand and cling in love, not fear (it is not perfect, and is not from God), to our Lord. Why then do we jump down a teen's throat? We as adults cannot handle this internal conflict without bad attitudes. Perhaps we all need to consider our actions before people. I do not know about you but that millstone thing does not sound fun.

FAITH

Jam 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

 

This seems so simple and yet it is one of the hardest things to grasp in the Christian life. My actions declare my faith. So what do I tell people when I am not speaking to them about Christ? Here are just a few thoughts I have on this subject.

1. I cannot say that I am a man of faith without being a man of action. You will never believe or receive my confession of faith if my life does not demonstrate that faith. You have faith and I have actions. I can say but what do you see? I have faith in the Prince of Peace as I act angry and worried? I have faith God is compassionate and kind as I am hateful, hurtful, and rude? I have faith that God can supply all my needs as I complain about not having enough or tell everyone about my woes? Faith is not a vocal confession but a lifestyle.
   
2. My faith comes out whether I want it to be displayed or not. I get into a stressful situation and default into worry and self-reliance. What does that say I believe about God? People of faith rest in God. Sure they may pray and even weep but their initial worry (concern) is God directed not inwardly directed.
   
3. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. My actions tell you what I think deep within my heart. If I am a forgiving person, then I know forgiveness and believe that God forgives. If I tithe without thought it is an indicator I believe God can do more for my life on 90% than I can do with 100% of the 100% He gave to me.
   

I would love to see comments on some of the things you see as demonstrations of your faith. I have confessed some of my faults. You can give some of your positives or just things you think of as you read this.

From Score International

BIGNESS IS NOT BAD

Some people do not like a BIG church!  At what point is a church TOO big?  Can you have too many volunteers to work at the church?  Did you ever hear your pastor put a cap on the number of people who came out for visitation?  Do you think the church ever had too many people bring too many turkeys for the homeless Thanksgiving meal?  Did your pastor ever instruct the parking attendants to send people down the street to another church when your church parking lot was full?  Did the ushers ever give your offering back when the plates were full?  On Thanksgiving Day, did you reach your limit?  Does your company turn away business or do they hire "more workers"?  Do we really practice discipleship or do we want to restrict the number of followers?  Have you ever thought 5,000 worshippers are ENOUGH?  Then why do we keep adding more services in our mega churches?  Were you ever in a church when….too many people got saved?

 

Just thinking…..

 

WE NEED MORE MEN

Five years ago, 20 men went to the Dominican Republic to do missions through baseball.  People were saved and participating men were spiritually touched.  A year later, 45 men went, followed by 90 men on the third year.  Last year, 163 men went on the same outreach.  This year was another year of fantastic growth as 256 people traveled to do missions work in the Dominican during our Baseball Outreach.

 

Would you believe there are some people who feel this ministry has become "too big"?  A few have said that we are taking too many people.

 

I have been asked to answer the question, at what point is "too many"?

 

Here are a few thoughts:

 

First of all, Jesus said that "the harvest is great and the workers are few".  Then, Jesus commanded believers to pray that MORE (not less) workers would be called to go.  Therefore, I am compelled to follow Jesus, obey His word, and pray for MORE, many MORE, workers to go and do the work to gather His harvest.

 

Secondly, organization is the key!  This year we organized our 256 people into five different groups.  We placed leaders in each group and sent these groups to five different locations.  By doing so, we were able to ACCOMPLISH FIVE TIMES the amount of work that we did five years ago with only 20 men.

 

Thirdly, we can impact many more Americans by engaging them in being on mission with God.  We also see our group pray, cry, fellowship, confess, and receive Christ.  We sing, shout, and see God work corporately in our lives.  We experience renewal and revival.  This must be shared by MORE men.  Is it right for anyone to LIMIT what God is obviously doing?  Shame on us who think so.

 

The Dominican Baseball Outreach has become a HUGE ministry.  The devil attacks what God ordains.  Some critics even suggest it is a money-making effort by SCORE.  (For those I suggest, GET AN AUDIT and see the FACTS).  The truth is that many men come free!  Thanks to spiritual men who give scholarships, we bring a lot of minor league players who cannot afford to pay.

 

Next year, our goal is to have more than 300 men!  We plan to grow, and grow, and grow until we reach every soul.  We want to evangelize the entire Dominican Republic and we need your help.  Don't listen to anyone BUT Jesus.  He said in Luke 10:2 that the "harvest is huge and we do not have enough workers."  Then he told us to pray for God to send us MORE workers.

 

Let's choose to listen and obey Him.  Bring MORE!

'til the nets are full,

Ron Bishop
Executive Director