This isn't quite as forehead slapping as hearing the 4 year old blather away and hearing others call it "anointed preaching!" but perhaps it WOULD have been had I not heard about the 4 year old (or was he only 3) first.
Boy, 11, Leads Church As Ordained Minister
Just last month, Ezekiel Stoddard, 11, of Temple Hills, Md., was ordained as a minister in his family's independent Pentecostal church, where his parents are also pastors.
Stoddard said he was motivated to become a minister after God spoke to him in a dream and told him to read Psalm 23.
"God gave me that particular scripture because a lot of people, they try to draw you away from the lord, trying to get you on the wrong path," he said.
"People come to you, they ask you questions about why you should act like a child and not a minister," the young minister said. "I do things like a child, but still I am a minister. I am an evangelical."
Stoddard was ordained in a congregation-wide ceremony on May 6, with his parents leading the service.
Not a good thing.
I have been around several child or young teen ministers.
I can only think of one that is living for God, today.
And he had to go a long way to come back to God.
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If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under - Ronald Reagan
These folks evidently have not read I Timothy 3:6. Among the many admonishments given for anyonen who desires to be in an office overseeing the flock of God, one of them is to NOT BE A NOVICE....
These folks evidently have not read I Timothy 3:6. Among the many admonishments given for anyonen who desires to be in an office overseeing the flock of God, one of them is to NOT BE A NOVICE....
Bro, your tone is always so serious, but this post right here struck my funny bone. AFF is finally catching up to you...
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...Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ...(Acts 20:21)
Bro, your tone is always so serious, but this post right here struck my funny bone. AFF is finally catching up to you...
Not sure why it would be funny... as it wasn't intended to be. It amazes me that the article says that the boy was ORDAINED, and they didn't even go down the list of qualifications enough to even see that he wasn't qualified for the office yet.... I'm quite serious about this. I'm tired of adults putting children up there, giving them a false sense of security about salvation, baptism, anointings, ministry, etc.
This is just as bad as putting 3 year olds in a baptistry in Jesus name, and telling them they're okay.... that's crazy... there's no way that child has been able to put their mind around repentance... and without repentance... that baptism is useless.
This young boy very well might be called, and have the hand of God on His life... but the Scriptures state a novice has no place over the flock of God...
BTW, a 60 year old could be a novice as well... if they are a new convert.... someone needs to have some growth and time in their experience with Christ before trying to lead... it's just Bible.
While I'm not a fan of kids being pushed into ministry, it IS possible for a child to be called from an early age. I also don't agree that it's necessarily damaging for a young child to emulate adult worship or ministry. It *can* be if it's done in the wrong spirit, but not always. I remember praying for my friend, Christina, when we were around the age of 4 or 5, and I think my Mom even has a picture of us play-praying. Little PK friends and I have definitely played church before and pretended to preach or even shout. I certainly don't remember getting into any trouble with my parents for it, and I can't remember for sure, but I imagine they were probably amused by it and encouraged it. Kids tend to emulate adult behavior and later develop an understanding of the meaning behind it, eventually finding that meaning for themselves.
In cases like "Little David", the damage is there because the whole process of interacting with God becomes a game and the child is used to the benefit of an adult or adults rather than being used by God for God. IMO, anyway. The damage isn't there because of their emulating adult behavior or even "playing" church, IMO. It's because eventually they see the ungodly motives in the adults and authorities in their lives and THAT is damaging.
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"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
Not sure why it would be funny... as it wasn't intended to be. It amazes me that the article says that the boy was ORDAINED, and they didn't even go down the list of qualifications enough to even see that he wasn't qualified for the office yet.... I'm quite serious about this. I'm tired of adults putting children up there, giving them a false sense of security about salvation, baptism, anointings, ministry, etc.
This is just as bad as putting 3 year olds in a baptistry in Jesus name, and telling them they're okay.... that's crazy... there's no way that child has been able to put their mind around repentance... and without repentance... that baptism is useless.
This young boy very well might be called, and have the hand of God on His life... but the Scriptures state a novice has no place over the flock of God...
BTW, a 60 year old could be a novice as well... if they are a new convert.... someone needs to have some growth and time in their experience with Christ before trying to lead... it's just Bible.
Because he is a child, he is still under authority (of his parents) even though he is an ordained minister. God has no qualms about using children when they are of the right frame of mind, as illustrated with Josiah becoming king at age 8.
Also, the word "novice" in this instance doesn't have anything to do with age; it has to do with experience. Children who have been raised in church, especially in a pastor's home, have quite a bit of on-the-job training. As a PK, I can tell you that I knew and understood a lot about leadership at the age of 11, and not just the business side of things.
The word "novice" in I Timothy comes from the Greek word "neophutos" and means "newly planted; a new convert; neophyte (one who has recently become a Christian)."
P.S. I was baptized and received the Holy Ghost at the tender age of 6. It was a precious experience; I remember it well.
__________________
"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
Last edited by MissBrattified; 06-26-2012 at 03:18 PM.
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