Now that I'm involved in children's ministry, I've noticed a lot of children's devotionals, Sunday school material, and other youth curriculum is light on Grace, Faith and Christ alone theology and heavy on works theology. In other words, much of today's youth discipleship material teaches kids that they need to do something in order to be saved. They need to say a prayer, stop sinning, be good, and love people in order to be saved.
While all of these things are good things to do in our response to God's gift of salvation, the reality is we can't do anything to earn our salvation. Ephesians 2:18 says, "For it is by grace you are saved through faith. It is not from yourself. It is a gift from God. Not of works, so no man can boast."
Scripture is also clear about our salvation. Ephesians 2:1-7 says the Lord owes us nothing but justice and wrath. While faith is something we exercise, it's not something that gets us to heaven. It's actually a gift given to us by the Father in order for us to choose Christ in the first place. How is it that we can even get to the point of conversion? John 6:44 says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them."
At Keys for Kids, we're providing stories that help kids 6-12 understand Scripture. Those devotionals translate into our radio features heard on radio stations around the world. Our goal is to fight the works theology mindset and focus on the Gospel of Christ. We want young people to know that salvation is an amazing gift. We want them to be thankful for their salvation. So much so that they begin asking, "Why am I a Christian, but my sister isn't?" Or, "Why is it that a Muslim terrorist in Syria has a dream about Jesus and turns to Him, while a radical Hindu in India doesn't?
We want young people to be so thankful that God has saved them that they can't help but share the Good News with their family, friends and even strangers they meet. Frankly, I hope that excitement spills over to their brothers and sisters, moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas.
In 2015, 180,000 Keys for Kids Devotional books were sent to children, families and churches around the world. Hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) more pages were read on our website, daily email and our Keys for Kids app.
If you have a child in your life, sign up to get your complementary copy of our quarterly Keys for Kids devotional. While it is free, we're asking people like you to help fund this ministry with your gift of $25, $100 or even $1,000 to help us produce even more devotionals. Click here to get your devotional.
If you don't have children this age in your life, but you want to help Keys for Kids grow, we're quietly launching the Keys for Kids Growth Initiative. It's a $206,700 initiative that will help Keys for Kids develop and upgrade our technological infrastructure which will power our new robust mobile app, website, online games, 24/7 radio network, while positioning two areas of ministry to be self-sustaining. We already have commitments of $100,000, your gift of $10,000, $25,000 or $50,000 will help propel Keys for Kids Ministries into a bright future -- a future where the truth of Scripture is needed more today than ever.
If you'd like to get involved in this larger goal, click here.