tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5282086.post6177051142357836779..comments2023-09-03T04:11:03.249-06:00Comments on The Wrestling Mat: Presumption -- children and church membershipTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02136337791527584892noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5282086.post-86203392921914173112008-06-03T19:23:00.000-06:002008-06-03T19:23:00.000-06:00Haley, what a great comment. I read it before goi...Haley, what a great comment. I read it before going to work this morning and have been thinking about it for much of the day. Thank you! <BR/><BR/>Parents that consistently teach their children the faith may discover that the conversion of their children looks different than it does in others who were not raised faithfully. However the same fruits of grace—such as hatred for sin, love for Christ, and yearnings for holiness—that are evident in adults should be evident in converted children as well. <BR/><BR/>So faithful parents who are trying to decide whether to present a child for communicant membership should first consider whether the child is just giving intellectual assent to what they've been taught or whether the child's faith appears genuine at even a tender age. <BR/><BR/>There are great examples of children who have joined the church at an early age. Our friend, Jeff Vaughn, did so when he was 8 if I'm not mistaken.<BR/><BR/>For a short but good book on this, I recommend Bringing the Gospel to Covenant Children by Pastor Joel Beeke. It is available on-line at http://hnrc.org/files/covenant.pdfTimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02136337791527584892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5282086.post-12249536184162015472008-06-03T07:07:00.000-06:002008-06-03T07:07:00.000-06:00This is a really interesting issue, Tim, and one t...This is a really interesting issue, Tim, and one that I think Dan and I are struggling to define ourselves now that we're parents raising a covenant child. Both of us fall into that category of never remembering a time when we didn't believe. I think for both of us, there were points along the way when the Holy Spirit really began to move in our hearts and some observable maturing in the faith took place, but neither one of us really recalls this as a "conversion" experience. It was confusing for me because as I got older, my parents and I would have conversations about whether or not I should join the church, but the fact that I couldn't point to a time when I was "saved" made me worry that maybe I wasn't, and I hesitated, because I didn't want to be presumptuous. And my parents, who were both converted as adults, kind of didn't know what to think about it either. So if anything, my major turning point came when I actually began to have assurance of my salvation after a long period of doubt. And I don't want that to be Kate's experience if she is one of those kids that just never can point to a specific moment of conversion. <BR/><BR/>Have you found any good reading on this topic?Haleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10766422332017134222noreply@blogger.com