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      Dedication

      to

      Marilyn, Rebecca J., Annie Z. & Charlotte

      Introduction

      The message of the Bible is as relevant today as it has been for centuries in addressing the nature of the relationship God desires for his most vulnerable creation: children. The most precious gift from God outside of God’s inspiration is to have the responsibility of caring for, facilitating and nurturing the life and destiny of a child. In the accounts recorded by historic, poetic, prophetic, gospel and apostolic authors lie the secret treasures of the treatment of children, who always find favor and freedom in the presence of a caring and tender God.

      As a young preacher, sharing this message at youth conferences, youth revivals, annual youth days, lock-ins, juvenile detention centers, college campuses and youth festivals across the United States, Africa, Australia, Canada and the Caribbean, and then blessed with the opportunity to serve as a youth minister and youth and young adult pastor, I have developed a collection of messages called, “Suffer the Children.”

      Some messages were developed on college campuses, some on mission trips and some in the church van. I might also add that many were developed right after youth and young adult choir rehearsals and Christmas and Easter production rehearsals, with hay and straw in my socks and glue and Crayola under my fingernails. Some were developed in isolation and others in the heat of group discussions, even after a long afternoon at Six Flags America, a Magic Johnson Theatre and a knock on my dorm room door in Carver and Drew Halls on the campus of Howard University.

      Some of these presentations emerged in the heat of crisis, or right after I got a call from a child afraid to call home with disappointing news and others at the graduation ceremony of a child needing multiple hours of positive academic reinforcement and a comeback from being held back three years in a row, due to lack of meeting promotion requirements. One in particular emerged right after a parent left my Columbia office needing to know, “What does God say to parents with growing children?”

      In these pages, you will experience the journey of a young preacher trying to grapple with a call to share a message of hope and triumph with and to serve a generation he is a part of.

      Jesus clearly expresses the thought that the kingdom belongs to those who come as little children. And with the word “suffer” preceding the phrase, the message literally invites any hindrances to aggressively move, giving the children free access and a central seat in the hearing and carrying out of the kingdom agenda.

      May you find inspiration, accountability and revelation in these next few pages that will assist you in creating a path for the children to encounter the kingdom.

      CHAPTER ONE

      A Child’s Defense

      Focal Passage: Mark 9:35-46 (Living Bible)

      ³⁵ He sat down and called them around him and said, “Anyone wanting to be the greatest must be the least—the servant of all!” ³⁶ Then he placed a little child among them; and taking the child in his arms he said to them, ³⁷ “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming my Father who sent me!” ³⁸ One of his disciples, John, told him one day, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to cast out demons; but we told him not to, for he isn’t one of our group.” ³⁹ “Don’t forbid him!” Jesus said. “For no one doing miracles in my name will quickly turn against me. ⁴⁰ Anyone who isn’t against us is for us. ⁴¹ If anyone so much as gives you a cup of water because you are Christ’s—I say this solemnly—he won’t lose his reward. ⁴² But if someone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to lose faith—it would be better for that man if a huge millstone were tied around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. ^43-44 “If your hand does wrong, cut it off. Better live forever with one hand than be thrown into the unquenchable fires of hell with two! ^45-46 If your foot carries you toward evil, cut it off! Better be lame and live forever than have two feet that carry you to hell.

      Are you aware of the many acts of violence against children that are currently taking place around the world? According to Prison Bound: The Denial of Juvenile Justice in Pakistan, in May of 1998, a 13-year-old boy named, Ghulam Jilani, died just hours after he was arrested and taken to a police station in Mansehra. Though officially reported as a homicide, an eye-witness arrested with Jilani indicated that he died after severe prolonged torture. The autopsy report stated that Jilani had died of head injuries. The other boy, Jilani’s eye-witness, had also been physically abused while in custody.

      Did you know that street children in Kenya also reported abuse during interrogations? It is said that policemen whipped them with cable cords when they were questioned concerning the location of their parents.

      Have you heard that in Jamaica, a 16-year-old boy accused of stealing money was brought to a police station, where he was beaten with an electrical cord, both in his cell and in the guard room?

      According to the periodical United States: Modern Capital of Human Rights, children in juvenile detention centers in Georgia were bound to a bed by their wrists and ankles for several hours, often face down, as a form of discipline. And in some Colorado juvenile detention centers, attacks and sexual assaults on residents were described as routine events.

      In Baltimore City Detention Centers, guards sometimes allow youths to fight with each other in what is called the “square dance.” F. Jackson records in the book, No Minor Matter: Children in Maryland Jails, that the “square dance” ends with busted heads,

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