Tag Archives: children

“The Messiah” Not Intended for Children Under 10

So…shortly after I published my little book The Messiah last Saturday…I had a brilliant idea.

Or at least I thought it was brilliant.

I printed out a copy and handed it to my eight-year old daughter and said, “Hey you! Wanna read daddy’s book and tell me what you think about it?”

I winked. She blinked.

“You wrote a book?”

“Well…yeah…kind of. It’s short! Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Short chapters. Short book. You could read it in a half hour.”

“I can read one of my chapter books in a half hour.”

“Well then,” I said, “you could read this in fifteen.” I shoved the stack of papers into her hands.

She eyed the book then the computer where the American Girl website beckoned, back at the book then up to me.

“Okay.”

“Do you think you could do it soon. Like before the end of the week?”

Looking at the computer she said, “Sure.” She smiled. “Thanks, daddy.” She squeezed my hand, placed the book on our couch and skipped to the computer to finish her conversation with a doll named Felicity.

I really didn’t want to be too pushy, but the following day I asked my daughter, “So, get a chance to read the book.”

“Nope.”

This went on until today, five days later. I was home early after a routine doctor’s appointment, grabbed The Messiah off the counter and sat down on the couch. My daughter was on the computer.

“Hey, you want to read this together.”

“No thanks, daddy.”

“Okay,” I said.

I flipped to the first page and was surprised to see  eight question marks. The second page, which was a very short page, I found four more question marks.

“Hey sweetie, do these question marks mean you don’t understand these words?”

She looked over her shoulder. “Yep.”

“Hm.”

My wife walked in. “Yeah, that was a tough book.”

“Oh. Oh.” I stuck out my bottom lip. “So it’s not really a good book for children to read?”

“Eh, no,” my wife said.

I sighed. My hopes that I could suggest The Messiah as a children’s devotional dashed. I really thought I keyed the thing down.

Guess not.

One thing my wife is REALLY good at is translating adult stuff into child-sized language. Me, I just screw up my eyes and say, “Confront means…you know…get in some one’s face and tell them they’re wrong.”

“Proverbial? Well, it’s like metaphorical…figurative language…not really happen–you’re not getting this are you?”

That’s usually how I do it.

Anyway, this is not to stop you from using The Messiah as a children’s devotional if you so wish. It’s just not recommended if they’re under 10.

By the way, are you any good at translating adult stuff so children can understand? How do you do it? How do you explain words like “proverbial,” “liberal,” “systematic,” redemption” and “scandalous” to a child under ten?

And am I to believe children don’t know what “scandalous means? Am I demanding too much? Share your thoughts. Brutal and all.

Download a copy now. But don’t give it to a child for goodness’ sake.

Why Did God Create Woman?

 

Women. Ah. My favorite subject.

Especially since I’m married to arguably the most merciful, kind and generous woman of all.

Indeed. Any amount of success I have as a father, writer or husband I owe to her.

The running joke around our house is that if not for my wife, I’d still be living with my mother.

In her basement.

Dead serious. My wife is classic helper. Classic companion. I’d be lost without her.

But what does “helper” mean? Where did that term come from?

Furthermore, why did God think man EVEN needed woman? And what does the Bible say about this union?

Let’s take a look.

History Before Woman

Long ago God created a man named Adam. He told Adam [a man made in God’s image] to cultivate the earth.

To subdue it.

Adam shaped wood into tools. Domesticated oxen to plow fertile soil. He groomed fruit trees. He raised honey bees. He cultivated mint and cornflowers.

But the image of God in man was not complete. God said, “It is not good that man his alone.” He wanted to give Adam a companion.

What’s strange about this arrangement is that Adam doesn’t seem to notice his need for a companion.

He appears perfectly content to be alone.

This is problematic. Not to Adam, but to God. And for reasons we might not consider.

History After Woman

Then God created woman.  what that looked like:

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Because God created woman even though Adam was content in his solitude suggests God had something else in mind for man than merely tinkering around in a garden by himself.

God wanted to give man a partner in the stewardship of that garden. Together man and woman split the labor of subduing the earth.

He . To take dominion over the fish. The birds. The badgers.

And this responsibility–a sovereign authority you might say–is another way that man and woman are made in God’s likeness.

God is in charge of the universe…man and woman are in charge of the earth. But mere stewardship of goats and crops wasn’t all.

Something Adam Couldn’t Do Alone

Part of Adam and Eve’s responsibility involved multiplying humans. Procreation. Making babies.

A skill, we all know, Adam could not perform on his own.

This command would ensure God’s image spread over the earth. It allowed for Adam and Eve to fulfill their cultural mandate by sharing their workload with their children.

Yet another division of labor.

Call it imperialism if you want. But all for the glory of God. Here’s what I mean.

What Male-Female Union Does to God’s Glory

Listen: When man and woman work in harmony–sharing the responsibility of creating culture, raising children and sharing the gospel–God is glorified.

And he is glorified within the ordained parameters of marriage.

From the Genesis narrative of the creation of man and woman God demonstrates his plan for marriage equals a monogamous heterosexual relationship.

Proliferation of mankind–God’s image–could not happen any other way.

God knew that his glory was limited in the creation of one man. So he made woman. And then man and woman made child.

This union and procreation honors God. Glorifies him. Extends his joy as this man, woman and child honor them with their hearts and service.

It’s a lifestyle of adoration for their creator. Incomplete when man was alone.

Recommended resource:  Andreas J. Kostenberger