Metropolitan Missionaries

Few happenings in life elicit as much joy as the birth of a child.  I vividly remember the births of each of my children, seeing and holding those precious gifts for the first time, overflowing with joy, praise and thanksgiving to the Lord as I admired His handiwork, and thinking to myself, “This is the most beautiful little sin-sick wretch I’ve ever laid eyes on!”
 

All of the above confession is true except for the last part.  As I cradled my newborn sons and daughter in my arms, I have to say that David’s biographical birth record in Ps. 51:5 was the farthest thing from my mind:  Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.  The iniquitous sinner of whom David speaks here is not his mother, but himself, as reflected in the NIV translation:  Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.  In confessing his sins of adultery and murder (2 Sam. 11), David not only acknowledges his culpability for those sinful crimes, he professes himself to be a sinful creature; in fact, he says, there was never a time in his mortal existence, not even during his gestation within the safe and “innocent” confines of his mother’s womb, when he was not a sinner.  As Charles Spurgeon notes in his commentary on this verse, “It is as if [David] said, not only have I sinned this once, but I am in my very nature a sinner.  The fountain of my life is polluted as well as its streams.  My birth-tendencies are out of the square of equity; I naturally lean to forbidden things.  Mine is a constitutional disease, rendering my very person obnoxious to Thy wrath.”
 

Such painful words cause me to want to jump to my feet and shout, “Objection!”  Yet no matter how impassioned or persuasive my arguments, the ruling from the bar of divine justice prevails:  “Objection overruled.”  I have no defense, neither for myself, nor my children, nor anyone.  We are, all of us, charged with high treason against the One Who formed our inward parts, knit us together in our mother’s wombs, and fearfully and wonderfully fashioned our frames in secret (Ps. 139:13-15).  All of us, like sheep, have strayed from our Shepherd through no fault or lack of care or provision on His part, but as a result of our own wayward tendencies inherited from our original progenitor, Adam (Isa. 53:6a 1 Pet. 2:25a; cf. Rom. 3:10-12; 5:12, 19a).  Thus, every man, woman, and child is a sinner by nature as well as by choice.  Not even infants, as Spurgeon said, are innocents.
 

This truth is slowly but surely making its way beyond the walls of the church.  Secular behavioral experts used to think that the human brain was not sufficiently developed to formulate lies until the age of four; however, Dr. Vasudevi Reddy of the University of Portsmouth has discovered through her research that babies actually start practicing deception as early as six months, and that by the age of two they have virtually perfected the art of deceiving their parents in order to avoid punishment.  A study on juvenile delinquency conducted by the Minnesota Crime Commission several years ago revealed these findings:

Every baby starts life as a little savage.  He is completely selfish and self-centered:  he wants what he wants – his bottle, his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toys, his uncle’s watch, or whatever.  Deny him these things and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless.  He is dirty; he has no morals, no knowledge, and no developed skills.  This means that all children, not just certain children but all children, are born delinquent.  If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy every want, every child would grow up to be a criminal, a killer, a thief, and a rapist.

Nightly newscasts routinely bear witness to these harsh realities.  Earlier this month, police in the southern Georgia community of Waycross uncovered a plot by a group of students to execute a violent attack against their teacher.  Among the items discovered were a steak knife, handcuffs, and duct tape.  Detailed job descriptions such as covering the classroom windows and cleaning up afterwards were assigned to each of the nine students said to be involved in the plot, which the police chief described as “a serious threat.”  The conspirators?  A group of 8- and 9-year-old third-graders who apparently were mad at their teacher for scolding one of them.
 

In my work with children I see firsthand the bitter fruits of their depraved natures – anger, jealousy, rebellion, pride, deceit, selfishness, violence.  A poor home environment and other external issues often are contributing factors, but the ultimate cause of these and other ills is a heart that “is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick” (Jer. 17:9).  Inherent in the Hebrew word for “sick” is the idea that a heart in such a diseased and deplorable state is, from a human standpoint, incurable.  Self-esteem, anger management, behavior modification, psychotherapy, even character training, provides no effective remedy in healing a sin-sick heart.  Such a serious malady demands a radical cure that only the Great Physician can provide:  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).  If a child’s sins could be dismissed with a simple, “Kids will be kids,” or “Oh well, nobody’s perfect,” it would not have been necessary for Jesus to die.  But it was necessary, for only the blood of the spotless Lamb of God is sufficient to cover sin and cleanse the sinner (John 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:19).
 

Our schools are filled with little sinners whose only hope is Jesus.  Through Released Time Bible classes, boys are girls are hearing and, by God’s grace, responding to the life-changing message of “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).  Delaynee, a fifth-grader in Watson, OK, says Released Time provides her with an opportunity to “praise the Lord, thank Him, and let Him wash my sins away.  And,” she adds, “We get to learn more about Him every time we go and know how much He loves us, even putting His own Son on the cross for our sins.”  Matthew, a fourth-grader in Ponca City Released Time, has learned that “Jesus died on the cross for me, for everyone.”  Delaynee and Matthew are two of nearly 1,600 children we’ve had the privilege of ministering to this year through Released Time; of these, 92 have expressed a desire to trust Christ as their personal Savior!
 

Nearly 70 friends and supporters of the ministry attended our annual banquet on April 4^th.  Our national director, Jerry Traister, shared with us how God is blessing and expanding the outreach of CBM, most notably through the provision of land and funding for two new camps in Virginia and Pennsylvania.  State Rep. Sally Kern’s message on the biblical roots of our educational system served as a fitting reminder of the importance of reaching children for Christ at an early age.  According to research studies cited by Child Evangelism Fellowship, 85% of Christians profess to having received Christ between the ages of four and fourteen.  Life in this fallen world has a hardening effect on the human heart over time.  For children, especially, “now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2)!
 

As the summer months approach, I will be seeking opportunities to share the ministry of CBM and Released Time through a variety of means including print media, radio, and church presentations.  The goal is to broaden our borders by seeking to establish new Released Time programs in communities and schools throughout Oklahoma.  If you know of a particular group or church that might be interested in learning more about our work, please let me know. 
 

Through your faithful prayers and gifts God is graciously meeting our needs.  We will soon be purchasing a computer and projector for use in ministry presentations; Bibles and teaching materials for our RT students and volunteers; and training materials for our teachers.  Support for CBM staff, including George and Donna Warrington and myself, is an on-going need, and many of you give generously and faithfully so that we can continue to serve as the Lord desires to use us.  Thank you so much!  Please pray for open doors of ministry and that God will direct us to those communities and schools where the fields are “ripe for harvest” (John 4:35).
 

In the Savior’s Love,

Scott