Dear Parents-

             I have noticed since Brooke and I have had Annie that a baby’s intelligence is very important.   There are so many products developed in order to make children smarter.   Parents are paying top dollar for preschools in hopes that their child will have an above average intelligence.   I read that 70% of American parents think that their child has above average intelligence.   I must confess that there have been times when I get caught up in making sure my kids are very smart.   Why?  

I cannot speak for everyone, but I want my children to be smart in hopes that they will have a better life.   In most parents minds money=a better life.   I must confess (and I don’t think I am alone) that it is more than just financial troubles I don’t want my children to face.   I don’t want them to face any troubles.

The American dream tells us that money= completeness, intelligence= completeness, fame=completeness etc.   This dream is what drives the ratings of American Idol because we live vicariously through “our American Idol.”   We want to see someone have the completeness that we are longing for.   However intelligence, money, and fame do not equal completeness.   Heath Ledger had all these things; Anna Nicole Smith had all these things; Chris Farley had all these things; John Belushi had all these things; Elvis had all these things; Marilyn Monroe had all these things.   But all of them turned out to be cheap tabloid headlines leaving the world scratching their heads asking why these people were not completely happy.   Every one of these tragic stories tell how these “successful people”   were never satisfied with the money or fame...the very thing they had been working so hard to obtain.  

However, have you ever heard of a missionary commit suicide or overdose on drugs?   Mother Theresa had no money and ministered to the dying in one of the worst cities in the world, Calcutta.   William Carey carried his reluctant wife and left his disapproving church for India   where he stayed for the next 40 years translating the bible into more than 26 different languages and starting the modern missionary movement.   At the age of 23, Adoniram Judson, the first American foreign missionary, sailed to Burma with his new bride and spent the next 38 years spreading the gospel throughout that land.   What do these missionaries have that our celebrities don’t?   If completeness is found in God’s glory, why are we pushing our children towards the unsatisfying glory of the American Dream?  

It is Vineville Baptist Children’s Ministry’s mission to be counter-cultural!   Why don’t we introduce every child that enters our doors to the same God that drove Mother Theresa to Calcutta, William Carey to India, and Adoniram Judson to Burma?   However, Vineville Children’s Ministry cannot do this alone.  

Children spend an average of 3 hours a week in church, 30 hours at school, and 56 hours sleeping.   The other 79 hours are determined by the parent.   John Croyle, founder of Big Oak Ranch for Boys, said that when a child is born, parents have eighteen years to pack their bags before sending them out into the world.   What are you packing in your child’s bag?  

It is my hope that Vineville Baptist Children’s Ministry will be an encouragement and resource for you to disciple your child to know and love Jesus Christ.   Imagine your child knowing the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the creator of the universe, and the greatest Father that they will ever know.   Imagine children ,a hundred years from now, learning about your child because of his or her love for Christ and sharing of that love.   I pray that you make that commitment now.

Grace and Peace to You,