As our "Covenantal Parenting Conferences" are being taught across the country, many parents are excited about the model of Prophet, Priest and King we use. If people are asked, "What offices has Christ?", many of them will know the answer from the Children's Catechism (taken from the Westminster Standards) and our Series K: Prophets, Priests, Kings and Me (all of our series are taken from the "Catechism for Young Children" which parallels the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Standards).

1. Christ is a Prophet because He teaches us the will of God. Just as the prophets of old were carriers of the Word of God, so the Word became flesh and lived among us. WE need Christ as prophet because we are ignorant.
2. Christ is a Priest because He died for our sins and pleads with God for us. He has become our mediator and intercessor. We need Christ as a priest because we are guilty.
3. Christ is King because He rules over us. and defends us. He is our great King, protector, sustainer and Lord. We need Him as a King because we are weak and helpless.

     As covenantal parents we understand that Christ ahs given us an excellent example of how we can assume these roles (in a much reduced manner) within our own households. Let us look quickly at the duties of these offices and how as parents we can fulfill the responsibility of them in our homes.

     Our children are born "ignorant" to the ways of the Lord. As fathers and mothers we fulfill the role of prophet in our homes in the following ways:

1. By declaring the truth to our children. Parents are the chief spokesmen in their lives. Patents need to know, therefore, what the truth is in order to speak it. If we as parents are ignorant of Scripture, then little can be transferred. Sadly, often the parents mistakenly turn to "professionals" outside the home to fulfill this duty when it is primarily theirs (Ephesians 6:3).
2. By exhorting our children to obey the truth. We observe prophets, continually calling the rebellious Israelites to turn from their wicked ways and to follow "Yahweh" God. Our children must be encouraged to follow Christ. "If you love me, keep my commandments," He says in His last discussion with His disciples prior to his arrest and execution (John 14:15)
3. By rebuking (or admonishing) and enforcing discipline. Discipline must be appropriately carried out by parents when our children are found in disobedience. Nathan's role in David's sin with Bathsheba is clearly shown as going beyond calling David to repentance but in delivering God's punishment (2 Samuel 12:14), as Samuel did with Saul (I Samuel 13:13; I Samuel 15:23-24).

     As fathers and mothers, we fulfill the role of priest in our homes in the following ways:

1. By making our homes little churches. We can make them places where reading God's Word and praying are a daily activity. IN 1999, one of CMI's newsletters outlined the "COVENANT TRAINING IN THE HOME" (look in the archives section of the web page for it!) Children need to see their parents coming before the throne of grace, daily. Their Christianity must be a living, daily faith for them, not a "religious duty" once a week in church.
2. By interceding for them. WE can intercede for them as priests did in the Old Testament and as Christ does today. We must learn to assume the role of "home ministers" that we are called to be.
3. By cleansing them. We cleanse our spouses and children by the Word of God, as priests of the Old Testament cleansed away the sins by temple sacrifices. Our children will begin to see our priestly functions daily, as the Israelites saw the priests function daily in the temple: interceding, mediating and sacrificing for God's people.

     Parents are to be kings to their children, because by nature they are weak and helpless. I like to use the letter "P" to show the different roles of good kings in Scripture.

1. Proclaiming - Godly Kings proclaimed the truth as Josiah did when the law was found in the temple. Parents (in their roles as prophets and kings) continually proclaim God's truth to their children, not only in what they say, but by the way they live day by day.
2. Providing - Godly Kings provided for the physical and spiritual needs of their people. Parents are worse than unbelievers if they do not provide for the necessities of their families. Sadly, many fathers (and sometimes mothers) believe if they bring enough money or things home for their families then they have fulfilled their roles as godly parents and leave the other aspects of governing their households to others (the other spouse, the baby-sitter, the school teacher or pastor).
3. Protecting - There is hardly a day that goes by without my hearing someone who has fallen into a deadly sin emanating from the internet, television or association with godless "friends". We must recognize that we live in a fallen culture. The forces of evil are no longer restrained by general societal norms. Thus we must stand as protectors.
4. Punishing - A good king sets good rules in place and enforces them. If there is not enforcement then the "bully" will take over. The book of Proverbs tells us that we "hate" our children if we don't discipline them properly. This is true in families, schoolrooms, communities and nations. Children are secure in the boundaries we set for them, even if they cannot fully understand why we've set them. There is great peace and security within boundaries, protected by praying parents.
5. Pardoning - As we see ourselves incapable of obeying the law and continually failing, we take solace in the fact that Christ has pardoned us. Thus we don't hold grudges against our children, we, as parents, will want to be quickly reconciled with our children. No one likes to serve a tyrant, even if he is "right". Having a pardoning spirit, allows merciful parents to be encouragers for their children.

     The above overview is an example of one of the teaching modules we go through in our "Covenantal Parenting Seminar". You can get a good overview of it by purchasing our Prophets, Priests, Kings and Me for your church. contact CMI about Series K or how to set up a "Covenantal Parenting Workshop.

CMI has been teaching missionary children around the world for over 15 years. Our next two children's conferences, in the Mid-East, are very close together, but not close enough to do them both in the same trip. So, we will raise travel funds for both trips. All of our travel is paid for by contributions. Would you like to be a part of this special ministry? Your tax-deductible gift can help to cover the transportation and teaching costs of these conferences. The future rewards of teaching these special children are innumerable. Many of the missionary parents are so excited about the lessons we teach their children that they have become a part of our translation projects!

Click here to see how you can help!

This past summer we had an exciting opportunity to update our songs. Those of you who are acquainted with our ministry know that this was long overdue. Much of our music is not written the way we sing. Its meter and harmony is off enough to make it distracting at best. Also, Series N: The Sacraments and Series O: He is Coming Again did not have all their songs written yet.

Joanna Hastings, a recent music graduate of Covenant College, graciously worked on the CMI music through the summer. Since her specialty is music composition, she has also written new songs while upgrading and adding guitar chords to the existing music. We praise God for her and His provision for her through the contributions that many of you have sent in.

Continuing this music upgrade, Joanna will be assisting us to record the songs onto cassettes. She will be doing this on time off from her studies at the University of Georgia. We expect to have a tape to accompany the song book for each series. Perhaps you can help us fund this continuing music upgrade project. As you know CMI is a "faith ministry", we rely upon our friends to provide contributions and offer salary needs since the inception of this ministry in 1983. Would you consider a "one-time" gift to CMI to ensure this project is completed?

The summer also saw us going to Toccoa, GA to teach missionary children at the Mission to the World (MTW) Summer Conference for missionaries on furlough or preparing to enter the mission field. We taught Series G: The New Creation. CMI has done the Summer MTW Children's conference for over 15 years. Many of you have been teachers at our conferences here and abroad.

If there are some of you who might be interested in going with us to the Mid-East next year to teach at a children's missionary conference contact us. The regional conference will be April 17-26, you must have been a CMI teacher at your church for at least 6 months (experienced with our flannelboard approach), recommended by your church, and raise your own travel expenses (transportation and lodging en route). After you arrive the expenses are paid.

The benefits of teaching at a Regional Conference are many including: (1) being involved in an important service to the children of missionary families (many MTW families use our materials in the ministry), (2) gaining better insight into the lives of missionaries your church may already be supporting (knowing how to better pray for them), (3) keeping the CMI materials taught (including the visualized songs), (4) improving your teaching techniques from watching other experienced CMI teachers at work and, of course, (5) seeing a part of the world you have probably never been in before. In the past, many of our teachers have added a week to their schedule and toured in the area before or after the conference.

If you think you might be interested, contact us at email - childrensministry1@earthlink.net or toll free 1-888-345-4264.