The Landover Baptist Church Forum

The Landover Baptist Church Forum (https://www.landoverbaptist.net/forumindex.php)
-   Focus on Family - Christian Parenting (https://www.landoverbaptist.net/forumdisplay.php?f=22)
-   -   Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties (https://www.landoverbaptist.net/showthread.php?t=114302)

Ezekiel Bathfire 02-19-2018 11:04 PM

Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties
 
4 Attachment(s)
I am often asked to suggest merry entertainments for modern children at “parties”, so here is a few suggestions from my childhood based upon ever-popular Biblical themes. All provide education and entertainment but all are better if some preparation goes into them.

1. The Bears and the Children. - 2Ki:2:23-25
This game can be played indoors or out, but is best played outside. The children are divided into the smaller ones and the larger ones. Make sure that are more younger ones. You should dress as Elisha – you’ll need a “bald wig”.

The idea of the game is that you will tell the younger ones that they should follow you and there is a prize for the boy or girl who shouts the loudest insult. At the same time, the older children are dressed in bear costumes; told that they must hide and that as you pass they should leap out and terrify the young ones. You should tell them that there is a prize for the “bear” who is the most savage and can, by any means, catch a child and cause him or her to scream the loudest.

The better the disguises and the more “surprise” the “attack” the more fun is created.


2. Find John the Baptist’s Head - Mark:6:25
This is best in a darkened room. The children are brought in one by one. You are dressed as a Biblical King Herod The Great and sit on the largest chair you have. The chair should be draped in something to make it look like a throne. You should have, on the table, 3 of those large stainless steel food domes on silver plates. The first child is pushed into the room with the instruction to “Approach the King”. As he gets to a a certain point, you say “You have asked for a present, and I, King Herod, have granted you your wish – remove the cover from one of the presents… But let God guide you in which you choose!”

The child will then take a lid off their “present”. Beneath two of the covers are sheep’s heads (which you can obtain from any reasonable butcher) and under the third is a friend whose head pokes through the table.

If the child chooses a sheep’s head, then use your smart phone’s Bluetooth to play the recording of “My soul was damned I am a goat destined for Hell – help me!” For the full effect, ensure that the recording are loud and dramatic – you can add sound effects as appropriate, e.g. the sound of tortured souls

If the child chooses John The Baptist’s head, then the friend calls out as if from the grave, “You are a Child of Christ – Heaven awaits after Death.”

Also ensure that an adult is on the other side of the door and will open it as soon as the child sees the wonder of the Bible and does not run into the door in panic.



3 Nail the head. Jug:4:21 tells the wonderful story of the death of Sisera, the captain of the king of Canaan’s troops who was killed by Jael, who drove a nail through his head so hard that it fixed his head to the ground.

A largish tent is erected in a darkened room or at night. In the tent there is placed a dummy which is then covered. Each child is told that he has a special mission from God. He is to creep into the tent armed with a hammer and a long nail and kill Sisera without waking him.

The amusing part is that the child will accomplish this easily but, you will be hidden in the darkness, disguised as a sort of Zombie Sisera, inside the entrance to the tent, as the child does this. When the child tries to make his escape, you, with one of those “fake-nail-though-the-head” set ups and a lot of fake blood will howl, wail, and scream “Why!”

I am told that their faces are a delight to behold.



4. Abraham’s Sacrifice. Gen:22:9 (for the boys) or Jephthah’s daughter -Judges 11:30-1, 34-5 (for the girls)
Both are similar. The idea is to select the most nervous from among the boys or girls. You will tell them that a pastor is coming to show them some wonders while the others are studying the Bible. In fact the others are all “in on the act” and will be hiding and watching. The Pastor will arrive, again disguised as a prophet, and take the child away to a place in the garden where an “altar”, complete with brushwood, has been built. The Pastor will explain that the child is to “help with the barbecue and can light it.”

Suddenly, the Pastor will pretend that he is hearing God’s voice and with a sort of blankly obedient expression and calling out typical he will take the child, bind it and draw a large knife, and carry the child to the altar as if to sacrifice.

Please ensure that there is a couple of adults to prevent the other children from laughing too loudly or crying out.

At the last minute, as the “mad Pastor” plunges the knife down. He will suddenly stop. (Ensure that the Pastor is quite normal before choosing him – we don’t want a repeat of the 1954 episode.)

The child is released and is indeed not only allowed to start the fire, but also to slit the throat of the nearby goat with the Pastor’s big knife. The goat can be gutted and butchered in the Biblical style and then barbecued.





5. Turning the Other Cheek - Lu:6:27-29 I see this as a sort of Godly version of the godless “Milgrim” experiment but seen from the point of view of God and the “victim” - this gives an insight into suffering and how to obey. The idea is quite simple:

Some of the larger children are told that God wants them to play the part of robbers, cheats, and liars (it can be a little disturbing how readily some take to this) and during the course of the day will band together and threaten and rob the others one by one while they are alone. The “robber gang” should be responsible and record faithfully how much money, and how many belongings and articles of clothing they have been able to remove from the “Christian” without too much difficulty. The winner will be the child who has lost most but complained least. “Active cooperation should be rewarded.


6. Egyptians, Jews, and Slaves. In Exodus 5 Moses and Aaron ask Pharaoh to let the Jews go. Pharaoh not only refuses but punishes the Israelites by telling his overseers, "Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves", but still requiring the same daily output of bricks as before.

This is a simple game and the foundation of the godless “….. experiment”: Half the children are Egyptian soldiers and half are Jewish slaves. You secretly tell the guards that they must make the slaves perform some impossible tasks (large quantities of mud are always popular) and if the guards fail to do this, they will change places with the slaves. You then secretly tell the slaves that they must complain about everything – not to you but to the guards and each other.

The main entertainment here is watching how the two parties interact. Guards tend to band together and treat the slaves like animals and the slaves tend to be resentful and dishonest and betray their comrades.

The game does not end here – the righteousness of owning slaves - i.e. doing it properly - is then demonstrated when the slave owners are Jews: One child plays the Jew and chases the others until he catches each one. He may then (symbolically) nail his slave's ear to a door (Ex:21:6).


All games are instructive and there are deep lessons here that point towards obeying God. I must say they left their mark on my mind and I am a better person for that.

Basilissa 02-19-2018 11:18 PM

Re: Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezekiel Bathfire (Post 1228439)
4. Abraham’s Sacrifice. Gen:22:9 (for the boys) or Jephthah’s daughter -Judges 11:30-1, 34-5 (for the girls)...

At the last minute, as the “mad Pastor” plunges the knife down. He will suddenly stop. (Ensure that the Pastor is quite normal before choosing him – we don’t want a repeat of the 1954 episode.)

These ideas sound very lovely, Pastor Bathfire. Regarding "the 1954 episode," however, the way Pastor Ezekiel tells it, his grandfather was in full right to do what he did, as it gave much more "spirit" to the girls reenacting Judges 11:40 a few days later.

So to avoid a similar situation, I'd suggest sticking just to the boys, to be safe. :thumbsup:

Jeb Stuart Thurmond 02-20-2018 12:41 PM

Re: Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties
 
Looks like clean and wholesome fun, but I worry about telling children to play as "bears". They need to understand that we are talking about the animal, rather than the usage more common in mainstream entertainment.

You could use this picture from a Christian homeschooling textbook, nobody will mistake these bears for hairy homosexuals:

http://i43.tinypic.com/260ty0h.jpg

MitzaLizalor 02-20-2018 01:50 PM

Re: Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties
 
I was listening to the 7th Day Adventist radio station in my car the other day (the knobs were knocked off somehow and I'm still waiting for replacements) and would you believe it, they said those bears ripped 20-year-olds upwards who were threatening Elisha with murder and trying to reintroduce paganism? Do they even read The Bible! Like most heretics they make stuff up permitting themselves to indulge whatever vice they fancy while condemning everyone else for not following God on the basis of Scriptures not mentioning their vice specifically. Everything else they disregard. But here they've just made something up they like the sound of despite the very passage in question saying something else!


II Kings 2:23-24 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.


God did not mention ages but how sub-literate do you need to be to not see the LITTLE CHILDREN bit? And the bears did not attack some other children who might have been a bit older. The words OF THEM answer that possibility. Neither were there some older children or even 20-year-olds among the teasing group of which 42 were torn. There could have been 42 altogether, all of whom were torn, or there could have been 42 million. It makes no difference because they were ALL of the youngest age group we mean when we say LITTLE CHILDREN. These are the sorts of lies being put about, and not only by Adventists! Let's face it, if The Bible needs correcting on this point using no evidence whatsoever, why not "correct" the return of Jesus as a mistake or pretend that idolatry is really cool? But it wasn't and it isn't. I hope that's clear to anyone browsing the thread who may be tempted to contemplate alternative Gospels made up on some basis other than what God has already explained.

Basilissa 02-20-2018 05:08 PM

Re: Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by MitzaLizalor (Post 1228461)
God did not mention ages but how sub-literate do you need to be to not see the LITTLE CHILDREN bit? And the bears did not attack some other children who might have been a bit older. The words OF THEM answer that possibility. Neither were there some older children or even 20-year-olds among the teasing group of which 42 were torn. There could have been 42 altogether, all of whom were torn, or there could have been 42 million. It makes no difference because they were ALL of the youngest age group we mean when we say LITTLE CHILDREN.

This is a very good point, Sister Mitza. I guess these people are trying to omit the word "little" and then stretch the definition of "children" to "underage"? However, that doesn't make sense, either. While in the US people are regarded to be "underage" until they reach 21 years of age, in the times of Elisha a 15 year old male would already be considered as an adult. Which means that any "child" would have to be younger than that.

Either way, these adventist types will go to Hell for adding to the Word of God:

Proverbs 30:5-6
5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Ezekiel Bathfire 02-20-2018 11:46 PM

Re: Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by MitzaLizalor (Post 1228461)
I was listening to the 7th Day Adventist radio station in my car the other day... they said those bears ripped 20-year-olds upwards who were threatening Elisha with murder and trying to reintroduce paganism?

Those Adventists are mad as a bucket of frogs. They believe that the human soul is not immortal but nevertheless "sleeps" between bodily death and The Resurrection.

There is no Biblical support for this argument, and I would ask you to recall John Calvin's 1542 work that in its 1545 publication was retitled for emphasis as: "Psychopannychia – qua repellitur quorundam imperitorum error qui animas post mortem usque ad ultimum iudicium dormire putant." [Psychopannychia – Or a refutation of the error entertained by some unskillful persons, who ignorantly imagine that in the interval between death and the judgment the soul sleeps.]

Basically, the argument is "If the soul slept, how would it be eternally tortured?"

To be frank, I am annoyed at these delusional sects who come up with the most ridiculous ideas without the slightest proof or Biblical Scientific reasoning and experiments.

PS
I can recommend Calvin's, "An excellent treatise of the Immortalytie of the Soule" (1581)

MitzaLizalor 02-21-2018 12:47 AM

Re: Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties
 
Thank you for the suggestion. Although of a liberal disposition and despite strong Romish tendencies (although they do reject papal authority, which is a start I suppose) I've noticed how Knox, Calvin and Luther moved what passed for Christianity in their day closer to the only denomination mentioned in The Bible. Not by much: it was a beginning. The protestants and non-conformists have petered out markedly however since then.

Denominations such as Pharisees and Sadducees are extinct, but are present in The New Testament, evidence for its historical reliability. But they were not Christian denominations, and in fact whatever they believed is irrelevant because it resulted in expulsion of Baptists from the synagogues immediately followed by their own expulsion from The Promised Land. But they did get a mention and I'm happy to acknowledge that.

I will read your recommended texts in the morning.

handmaiden 02-21-2018 01:41 AM

Re: Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Basilissa (Post 1228475)
This is a very good point, Sister Mitza. I guess these people are trying to omit the word "little" and then stretch the definition of "children" to "underage"? However, that doesn't make sense, either. While in the US people are regarded to be "underage" until they reach 21 years of age, in the times of Elisha a 15 year old male would already be considered as an adult. Which means that any "child" would have to be younger than that.

Either way, these adventist types will go to Hell for adding to the Word of God:

Proverbs 30:5-6
5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Modern, self-styled "followers" of God always have to soft-soap the fierce aspect of God's character. They will twist their brains into knots trying to prove that the uncomfortable, brutal things* mentioned in the Bible did not actually take place.

This wimpy, white-washing fool is certain that Jephtah did not actually offer up his daughter to be burned in the 11th chapter of judges. He brings in all sorts of verses from other places in the Bible to prove his point.

What he is really doing is weakening the message of the Bible by picking its bones and making an over-cooked meat paste suitable for gumming by babies who can't stand up for anything, much less the Truth™.

In the verse Judges 11:31, Jephtah vows to offer something up to The Lord as a burnt offering. In Judges 11:39, the text plainly states that Jephtah did what he vowed that he would do.

But people nowadays don't want to accept the fact the God is actually pretty badass. Oh, but a God of love wouldn't allow that. A merciful God wouldn't command that. A righteous God wouldn't do that.

Grow some oath-swearing orbs people! God is who HE says He is in the Bible. He is not who you want Him to be so you can buy a stuffed toy lamb and tell your children that Jesus was the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for their sins without letting them see how messy it is when a lamb's neck is sliced open.

This bean-less weenie is going to convince people that the Bible is not internally consistant, and that it can be molded like cookie dough and sprinkled with sugar to sweeten the harsh taste of uncompromisng obediance to God.

Don't click the link that I included unless you are strong in your faith, because this guy takes all sorts of verses and uses them against each other to disprove God's Word.


* Brutal things by human standards that make people uncomfortable because they worship a God who is no bigger and more powerful then themselves.

Basilissa 02-21-2018 04:29 AM

Re: Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by handmaiden (Post 1228496)
This wimpy, white-washing fool is certain that Jephtah did not actually offer up his daughter to be burned in the 11th chapter of judges. He brings in all sorts of verses from other places in the Bible to prove his point.

What he is really doing is weakening the message of the Bible by picking its bones and making an over-cooked meat paste suitable for gumming by babies who can't stand up for anything, much less the Truth™.

I did click on that link, and now I need a glass of wine to calm my nerves. :badmood:

What kind of an idiot is that?! If Jephtah's daughter was not sacrificed, then why were young ladies mourning her each anniversary of the sacrifice?!

Judges 11:39-40
39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

Pastor Ezekiel 02-21-2018 05:34 AM

Re: Christian Ideas For Kid's Parties
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Basilissa (Post 1228440)
So to avoid a similar situation, I'd suggest sticking just to the boys, to be safe. :thumbsup:

:huh: I always stick to the boys when I'm Saving young souls. :thumbsup:


All times are GMT. The time now is 01:31 AM.

Powered by Jesus - vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content Landover Baptist Forums © 1620, 2022 all rights reserved