Amen Brother Ross!

The following is taken from a recent posting by Brother Bob Ross of Pilgrim Publications and of the Calvinistflyswatter blog. He said these things in a return comment to his recent posting on "CHILD EVANGELISM." All I can say is "amen" brother Ross! I am glad to share it here.

Anonymous said:

"bob walk us through a consersation you would have with a child who wants to be baptized."

Bob said in return:

"I woul be glad to do so, if I could talk with the child. I have raised four of my own, and they all eventually made professions of faith and were baptized -- but at different ages. It is seldom that I have seen any two experiences that match up, so I hestitate to offer any advice other than sticking with the basics of the Gospel. But let me say this: simply because a child makes an early profession, and later makes another profession, and still later another one, that does not mean the first two (or more) were necessaily without some spiritual value. Those earlier convictions could very well have contributed influence in the person's heart for ultimate and confident faith. I say this because I made more than one profession in my life, and I years later as I evaluated their effects upon me, I cannot discount the effects that every one had upon me."

You say,

"My experience is that many little kids want to be baptized more than they want Jesus. (Although some are truly saved)."

Bob says in response:

"If that is indeed the case, they should be carefully counseled about the meaning of baptism before proceeding."

You continue:

"Do you ask them if they love jesus and have them repeat the prayer? My 3 year old will do that. And that is what a lot of child evangelism consists of."

Bob responds:

"My observation of what I have seen of CEF workers is not that way. Several of them come into my store, and they are devout and knowledgeable Christians. They, perhaps more than most, have good discernment about the spiritual depth of young children for they work with them so frequently. I admire their patience and ingenuity in being able to attract the attention of young children to listen to and memorize the Word of God. I'm afraid I would be unqualifed for their type of work! This is good for our SBC numbers, because 10 years later they come back to the pastor and say, "I had no idea what I was doing when I was young, I didn't understand the offense of my sin and my heart wasn't changed. I"m a believer, now."

"Forget the "numbers." They don't mean that anyone is necessarily saved or lost. But who can say that were it not for those earlier teachings and experiences, that person might not "now" be a believer?"

Anon Continues:

"Truth be told it is probably not Dever vs. Spurgeon as much as you think. My guess is that if spurgeon saw how child evangelism took place in america he'd say, "Oh that's not what I'm talking about. You guys are just padding your numbers"

Bob responds:

"I don't agree. Have you read Spurgeon's writings on children, such as "Teaching Children," Come Ye Children," "Jesus and the Children," etc. Those items are so spiritually challenging they make one want to go out and try to win children! In my bookstore, I always try to give every child of reading age a pencil with a Scripture or message on it, and encourage them to read it. I hope to sow a seed which might be of some spiritual influence. I also stock a lot of tracts, specifically directed to young readers. Spurgeon was a great promoter of child conversion rather than encouraging pessimism. He sponsored "Tabernacle Evangelists," Fullerton, Smith, and others, who would even have special services at the Tabernacle, specifically devoted to winning children. Spurgeon claimed that the young converts generally became better Christians than those converted later on."

Again, good stuff! "Right on!" I also love that sermon by Spurgeon titled "Come Ye Children"!