Saturday night was my second night serving in the Children’s Equipping Center (CEC), the children’s ministry center at FCF. I help lead the 8- to 12-year-old girls every 5th service on either Friday or Saturday. This Saturday was amazing. I’d been told that these kids are crazy Spirit-filled and watch out because they will prophesy your socks off, but this was the first time I’d actually seen what went on that night. At least half a dozen kids got slain in the Spirit as their peers prayed for them and were on the floor through most of worship. I was skeptical at first (these are IHOP kids; they’ve grown up with this stuff) but they got up telling me all these stories of visions they’d had that sounded like something straight out of Revelation. They asked if they could pray for me, but they first had to make sure I was standing in a place that if I fell down, I wouldn’t hit my head on the stage. I was so blessed by their prayers. I’m sure I’ll be telling more stories of them throughout the internship.

I love the way the CEC leaders teach the kids–they put biblical realities in kid-friendly language so they can have clarity on it, but they don’t boil anything down. They’ve been going through Jesus’ parables the past few weeks, and I love to sit under the teaching and glean stuff I’d never thought about before. The leaders really listen to and respect the kids, and the kids really have some profound insight on these passages. I feel like I’m learning so much about children’s ministry, leading kids in general, and even the heart of God in general. CEC is an incredible ministry.

Also, I wanted to share with you an insight I got the other day in the prayer room. I was meditating on the Trinity and trying to wrap my mind around this”one yet three, three yet one, together yet separate” thing. I asked Jesus why he never told a parable of the Trinity, because we sure do need one, and what he brought to mind was a cartoon I’d seen years ago as a child. It’s about a whale that has three uvulae and therefore literally sings with three voices at the same time. His voices fill the ocean with beautiful three-part operatic harmony. Each voice has its own unique place in the harmony and interacts with the others in such a way as to create a complex, dynamic song. One song, one person, three voices. He is his own harmony.

So God is like a whale that sings with three voices? “Yes. No! But if it helps, yes.”* It’s at least a close enough picture to move me to awe. And I think that’s all he was really after.

How amazing that God hid this little revelation inside a Disney short from 1946! I imagine him giving that little nugget of the Divine Story to some animator who may or may not have even known him, but God just wanted to hide this little secret for the children and the childlike who have eyes to see and ears to hear.

“At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.'”
(Matthew 11:25)

“But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.'”
(Luke 18:16-17)

* The Doctor, Doctor Who series 6 episode 4, “The Doctor’s Wife.” And yes, Doctor Who does apply to every situation.