PASTOR JOHN COLLINS DAILY DEVOTIONALS: CHILDREN ARE PRECIOUS TO GOD

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, EVANGELIST: PARENTING, THE ART OF SELFLESSNESS

Our children are our biggest resource.  When we grow old, it is our children who will be making choices that will affect us.  Children today seem to be encouraged to grow up fast and childhood is lost through abuse, neglect, selfishness, and ignorance.  The phrase children should be seen and not heard was a phrase that was coined during the Middle Ages.  Some would like to say it comes from the Holy Bible, but that is wrong.  The Holy Bible is very clear about how to raise children, and Jesus spoke to the disciples who tried to keep children away from Him. 

Children are precious to God, and when we become parents, we are being given a blessing and a responsibility to raise a child for God ~ Pastor John Collins, 2017 (paraphrased).

Pastor John Collins, evangelist and head pastor of Love That Cross Ministries and John Collins Ministries, Inc., teaches us that it is our children who need to be given the time and care necessary for them to learn how to behave, how to become responsible, and how to become mature Christians.  We have sure fallen far from raising a generation of children who know God or Jesus Christ.  

Unfortunately, like so much in this world, children can be as much as something to throw away or ignore as a used tissue.  When David Wilkerson went into the streets to work with gangs and drug addicts in New York City, he also discovered a lost generation-these are the children of the addicts that were left alone while parents went out in search of a fix, and often they were left alone for long periods of time.  Those children didn’t smile or play as children are supposed to do as part of growth and development.  They were left alone in ghetto apartments with boxes of cereal or crackers (if there was any food at all).  These children were quiet because to make noise would draw abuse.  They were neither seen nor heard.  They were not called children; Reverend Wilkerson called them little people because they never experienced childhood.  They were little people, neither adults nor children.

 “We have got to grow up and get right with God. Parents need to parent. We have to be able to see that selfish pleasures and needs in our own lives do not serve our children well. There is too much partying and romance that keeps parents from their children. People don’t want to hear that faith is the answer but that is the truth. The solution to every problem lies in the hands of Jesus. The change that comes from believing and trusting in God is truly miraculous. The hope that comes from the Cross is eternal.” Pastor John Collins, February, 2018.

Pastor John Collins has been involved with revival of faith and hope for several years since launching a series in Wyoming.  Pastor Collins has traveled across the country, redeeming the Gospel and preaching salvation from his heart with passion.  As an evangelist, Pastor John Collins is determined to bring as many people back to God as possible, but first we need to hear the truth of the Gospel, not the watered down versions that have become the general template for most pastors on the pulpit, whether in the public eye through media or a local community style church.  This is what Pastor John Collins means by redeeming the Gospel.  Old style tent revival preaching is the trademark of Pastor John Collins, preached with humility and reverence for God and Jesus Christ. 

Pastor John Collins writes:

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV).

Our way of life has got to change. What happens when kids have kids? What happens when the “parents” put their social lives and partying ahead of their own children? What happens when a parent’s love life takes precedence over spending time with their kids? What happens when a child’s right of passage to maturity is their first beer, their first drag of a cigarette, their first joint, their first line and their first sexual encounter?

Too many parents are clinging to youth by partying and dressing to impress. Too many parents are living lives that are teaching the young that social interactions are at the top of the priority list. Too many parents are going out and cutting loose because they feel that they have lost so many of their “good years” to raising children. What example are we setting for the children we are meant to care for when we put ourselves first?

Raising children is a big responsibility and it is a challenge to remain selfless. It is not always fun to act like the adult. When you have kids at a young age and those children get to a rebellious stage it is not always easy to handle the problems that arise with maturity and confidence. There has got to be a point when parents make a conscious choice to parent.

Parenting is the most important job that a person can have. A parent is responsible for teaching their children how to be respectable people, how to behave appropriately, how to prioritize correctly, how to deal with confrontations and challenges that come with life and most importantly how to get to heaven. If you do not teach your child how to enter the kingdom of God, you have failed. If you do not live a life that exemplifies those lessons, you have failed. If we don’t make it home, we have failed.

We have got to grow up and get right with God. Parents need to parent. We have to be able to see that selfish pleasures and needs in our own lives do not serve our children well. There is too much partying and romance that keeps parents from their children. People don’t want to hear that faith is the answer but that is the truth. The solution to every problem lies in the hands of Jesus. The change that comes from believing and trusting in God is truly miraculous. The hope that comes from the Cross is eternal.

Be willing to be selfless. Be willing to change your ways and become a beacon of hope for your families. Children are a joy and such a gift. Let us learn to parent with the love of God and Jesus in our hearts and the devotion and commitment that our children deserve.

“Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him and said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.’” Luke 18:15-17 (NKJV).

Love That Cross, Pastor John Collins

Parents need to be parents.  Parenting is a choice to become selfless, not selfish, so that children can grow and become the generation of Christians that will be caring for aging generations to come.

Pastor John Collins broadcasts Sunday mornings at 1000 a.m. Mountain Time on Heaven’s Country Radio with Marty Smith at www.heavenscountry.com. Pastor John Collins’ broadcasts are always on target relating to the issues that we are facing right now and he preaches it the way we need to hear it. Pastor John Collins has other recordings, media, interviews, radio programs, blogs, sermons, and YouTube clips that can be accessed by clicking on the links found within this blog.  If you would like to reach Pastor John Collins, he can be contacted through his personal email at jc65777@yahoo.com.   Pastor John Collins is truly in it to win it for God. Believe that.