[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":75},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fa-little-child-will-lead-them":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fa-little-child-will-lead-them-surround":64},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":10,"columnName":46,"date":47,"description":16,"extension":48,"image":49,"meta":50,"minRead":51,"navigation":52,"path":53,"postType":54,"publication":55,"publicationUrl":49,"seo":56,"stem":57,"topics":58,"__hash__":63},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fa-little-child-will-lead-them.md","A Little Child Will Lead Them",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9],"Isaiah",{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":42},"minimark",[13,17,20,23,26,33,36,39],[14,15,16],"p",{},"My 24-year-old daughter Melinda lives in New York City. She is a social worker in a social setting that needs a lot of work. She is also a funny, thoughtful Christian woman who is serious about her faith.",[14,18,19],{},"She lives in a row house in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a gritty section of Brooklyn filled with ethnic diversity including a large population of Hasidic Jews, a bagel shop run by Latinos, and a restaurant sporting a sign that says \"Chinese-Spanish Food.\"",[14,21,22],{},"When we visited Melinda on Easter weekend, she showed us around with ease. We went to a Korean restaurant on Friday night where she and her friends knew exactly what to order, and to a Peruvian restaurant for Saturday lunch where she and her friends spoke Spanish to the waiters. On Saturday evening we gathered with a group of young believers in another Brooklyn row house for a fellowship meal, prayer, and Bible reading. Early the next morning we attended a sunrise service at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, then strolled across the Brooklyn Bridge before taking the subway to the Christian church Melinda regularly attends in a theatre on 23rd Street in Manhattan.",[14,24,25],{},"I'm reasonably streetwise and capable of following a map, but throughout the weekend I simply relaxed and followed Melinda around. She doesn't own a car, but after living in New York for less than two years she already has a good grasp of the city. I didn't need to worry. All I had to do was follow her through the tunnels, onto the subway, off at the right station, and trust that she knew what she was doing.",[14,27,28,29],{},"When Melinda was a little girl, her mom and I decided what she would eat, what she would wear, and when she would go to bed. She relied on us to protect her and show her the way. Walking down the sidewalk in Bed-Stuy, it dawned on me that the tables were beginning to turn. ",[30,31,32],"em",{},"Now I was following her, just as she used to follow me.",[14,34,35],{},"My adult children teach me whenever I take the time to listen. They show me how to use technology (\"How does this Blackberry work?\"). They help me understand today's culture, its questions and its pain. They challenge me to keep growing in my own walk with God. They inspire me to pray that their generation will surpass my own in its impact for Christ.",[14,37,38],{},"In his great messianic prophecy Isaiah foresaw a time of surprising role reversals when \"the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat . . . and a little child will lead them\" (Isaiah 11:6).",[14,40,41],{},"I haven't seen any leopards and goats taking a nap together lately, but I have seen the Messiah's power at work. I've seen it in a young social worker and her Christian friends who manage to survive and thrive with their faith intact in one of the world's largest cities—a taste of Heaven for a proud dad, and a sign of hope as the next generation prepares to take the lead.",{"title":43,"searchDepth":44,"depth":44,"links":45},"",2,[],"First Look","2008-06-15","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fa-little-child-will-lead-them","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":16},"articles\u002Fa-little-child-will-lead-them",[59,60,61,62],"Biblical Theology","Intergenerational Ministry","Spiritual Formation","Christian Unity","KXDwenfS-Ggmmvlcfk8rpsTpFUcqRypPuOqxf4lvY_s",[65,70],{"title":66,"path":67,"stem":68,"description":69,"children":-1},"A Kingdom Perspective","\u002Farticles\u002Fa-kingdom-perspective","articles\u002Fa-kingdom-perspective","What do your senses experience when your church gathers for worship?",{"title":71,"path":72,"stem":73,"description":74,"children":-1},"A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way","\u002Farticles\u002Fa-little-kindness-goes-a-long-way","articles\u002Fa-little-kindness-goes-a-long-way","The lyrics of a song popularized by Glen Campbell, “Try a Little Kindness,” have been replaying in my mind lately because I believe we face a kindness gap in America today. Even common courtesy seems in rare supply.",1790466132874]