Gospel Language for Kids

Ray Van Neste reviews children's books on The Children's Hour. He has pointed me toward some excellent literature, and so I check in there now and again.

He recently wrote an article called Evangelizing our Children for a local publication on the importance of presenting the warnings and promises of the Gospel to our children. His thesis is that:

No gospel plea makes sense unless the hearers know their need of rescue from judgment.

He draws on John Brown of Haddington (Scotland) as an example of one who did not shy away from presenting the reality of hell right alongside the promise of being reconciled to God through Christ.

It was a great reminder to me that our age likes to celebrate the positive and turn the eyes off the negative. However, in the case of the Gospel, without the bad news (that we have cut ourselves off from God through our sin), the good news (that God reconciles us to Himself through His Son) makes little sense.

I need more mentors like John Brown.