I meant to get this up earlier, but I’ve been a bit busy since Saturday.

One of the presentations on Saturday afternoon was by Dr. Jan Lohmeyer entitled, “Train a Child in the Way He Should Go….” This comes from Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Below are some nuggets gleamed from his presentation.

• Children’s ministry begins with adult instruction.
• “The best education is where church, parents, and schools are teaching the same thing.”

His presentation dealt with educating your children from birth to adulthood and how to do that at all ages in between.

When he spoke about confirmation, he made some excellent points which people had neglected over the years: confirmation is NOT a graduation from the faith! We see all too often 8th graders, after the first or second Sunday after their confirmation, who never return to the Church. Confirmation meant nothing other than a rite of passage which you begin in the 7th grade and complete in 8th grade. The only time we may see that person again is when they want to get married (and then you’ll never see them again) or at their death when the family wants to have them buried in the Church. What happened to all those years in between 8th grade and their marriage or their death? Did they not sin during those years? Did they not need to hear the Word of God or receive His Sacraments?

The final point he left us with was this: The Church can never replace. We can only (and are meant to) supplement. Let’s ask the good Lutheran question: What does this mean?

It means that we cannot be expected to teach every bit of doctrine, every bit of Scripture, every bit of Christian teaching. We supplement what is taught in the home by the parents, namely the father, as it is his responsibility as the spiritual head of the family.

I meant to get this up earlier, but I’ve been a bit busy since Saturday.

One of the presentations on Saturday afternoon was by Dr. Jan Lohmeyer entitled, “Train a Child in the Way He Should Go….” This comes from Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Below are some nuggets gleamed from his presentation.

• Children’s ministry begins with adult instruction.
• “The best education is where church, parents, and schools are teaching the same thing.”

His presentation dealt with educating your children from birth to adulthood and how to do that at all ages in between.

When he spoke about confirmation, he made some excellent points which people had neglected over the years: confirmation is NOT a graduation from the faith! We see all too often 8th graders, after the first or second Sunday after their confirmation, who never return to the Church. Confirmation meant nothing other than a rite of passage which you begin in the 7th grade and complete in 8th grade. The only time we may see that person again is when they want to get married (and then you’ll never see them again) or at their death when the family wants to have them buried in the Church. What happened to all those years in between 8th grade and their marriage or their death? Did they not sin during those years? Did they not need to hear the Word of God or receive His Sacraments?

The final point he left us with was this: The Church can never replace. We can only (and are meant to) supplement. Let’s ask the good Lutheran question: What does this mean?

It means that we cannot be expected to teach every bit of doctrine, every bit of Scripture, every bit of Christian teaching. We supplement what is taught in the home by the parents, namely the father, as it is his responsibility as the spiritual head of the family.

That was the main focus by banquet speaker, Rev. Todd Wilken. He spoke about thoughts on the vocation of father and mother. Being a parent of a 16-year-old, he concluded that last summer was the “summer from hell.” After all was said and done, he gave up. He didn’t give up parenting. He didn’t give up on his children. He gave up on himself. While that sounds bad, it really wasn’t in his words. For as much as he loved his children, for as much as he cared for his children, God loves them more than he ever could. He said that if something should ever happen to him, he would hold God accountable to the promise which He made at the baptism of his children.

In Holy Baptism, we are not dedicated as some denominations would say. We are given to God in Holy Baptism. We are given over to God and we become God’s children, forever united with Him through water and the Word of God. From that moment, God loves us more than our parents ever could. God does for us more than our parents ever could. We say that we would do anything, give everything for our children. If pressed, we would do anything and give everything. However, what we have to do and give is not enough. It may be enough for this world, but it is not enough. There is only one thing that is good enough and that is what God did for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. It is through Christ that we have life because of His life, death, and resurrection. It is through Christ that God loves us more. God loves us more than anything in this world, and because of that love, willingly sent His one and only begotten Son into this world so that He may live a sinless life, die a death that we ourselves could not die so that you and I might live through His death. It is through Christ’s death that all sin in us dies. It is through His death that you and I are given new life, life everlasting.

Yes, parents love their children and are willing to die for them if necessary. However, the death of a parent cannot equal that which our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died. Through Christ’s death on the cross, we know that God loves us more.

That was the main focus by banquet speaker, Rev. Todd Wilken. He spoke about thoughts on the vocation of father and mother. Being a parent of a 16-year-old, he concluded that last summer was the “summer from hell.” After all was said and done, he gave up. He didn’t give up parenting. He didn’t give up on his children. He gave up on himself. While that sounds bad, it really wasn’t in his words. For as much as he loved his children, for as much as he cared for his children, God loves them more than he ever could. He said that if something should ever happen to him, he would hold God accountable to the promise which He made at the baptism of his children.

In Holy Baptism, we are not dedicated as some denominations would say. We are given to God in Holy Baptism. We are given over to God and we become God’s children, forever united with Him through water and the Word of God. From that moment, God loves us more than our parents ever could. God does for us more than our parents ever could. We say that we would do anything, give everything for our children. If pressed, we would do anything and give everything. However, what we have to do and give is not enough. It may be enough for this world, but it is not enough. There is only one thing that is good enough and that is what God did for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. It is through Christ that we have life because of His life, death, and resurrection. It is through Christ that God loves us more. God loves us more than anything in this world, and because of that love, willingly sent His one and only begotten Son into this world so that He may live a sinless life, die a death that we ourselves could not die so that you and I might live through His death. It is through Christ’s death that all sin in us dies. It is through His death that you and I are given new life, life everlasting.

Yes, parents love their children and are willing to die for them if necessary. However, the death of a parent cannot equal that which our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died. Through Christ’s death on the cross, we know that God loves us more.

Right now we’re in Casper for the 7th Annual Tell the Good News About Jesus convocation. We began with an interview conducted by Rev. Todd Wilken with Rev. Dr. Ronald Garwood and Dr. David Menton. The topic of this year’s convocation is “Raising Christian Children to be Christian Parents.” Tonight, Rev. Wilken will be the banquet speaker. His topic is “God Loves Them More—frank thoughts on the vocation of Mother and Father. More to follow possibly tonight or tomorrow when we get home.