Jesus said right faith works even in small doses - like a mustard seed or like that of a child. No matter your age, be sure and catch the next HAVEN Today as Charles Morris is joined by a New York Times bestselling children's author for a program called "Become Like Little Children ... with Sally Lloyd-Jones.

Become Like Little Children Part 2, w/Sally Lloyd-Jones

Welcome to Haven Today. I’m Charles Morris, telling the great story that’s all about Jesus after Christmas but before New Year’s. This is the “Best of 2007” and in the next few minutes we’re going to be going back to one of the “Best of” programs in the entire year. I hope you’ll stay with us. Many of us are interested in helping our children get ahead and that’s why, before the start of last summer we ran two days of programs with Sally Lloyd-Jones author of the book the “Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers his name” and yes we have that book available for you as a thank you for your gift to Haven Today. We’ll get started in just a minute but let me say we’re counting down the days here before a brand new year and here at Haven Today we’re counting down the days so that we can meet our budget. We’re listener supported and so hearing from you right now makes a big difference. Now it needs to be postmarked before December 31 so please do it today. You can go online at haventoday.org or call us at 1-800-65-HAVEN. Think about what you can give, what you can share as the Lord has blessed you, but in the next few minutes we want to bless you with a special story about a special lady in New York City who loves Jesus Christ. Join me now as we open Haven Today with the music of Kids Praise.


Song: Seek Ye First
Performed by: Kid’s Praise Kids

Welcome back to Haven Today. That is the music of Psalty and the Singing Songbook and that’s kind of a little cue that we have back with us today from New York City Sally Lloyd-Jones. Here I am in LA and Sally I wish I were in Manhattan with you and we were doing this together but welcome back to the program.
SLJ: Thank you Charles. It’s great to be back.
CM: well we had you on yesterday, as I said, because my wife told me we had to have you on. And then she read one story from the “Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers his name” and then I started reading them myself and we couldn’t put this Zonderkids book down!
SLJ: That’s great.
CM: It just is nice to have you on and share with us yesterday. In a nutshell, you are from England even though you were born in Africa. Your father became a Christian under the ministry of John Stott and you became a Christian at a young age, didn’t you?
SLJ: I was 4. And he had gone to a sort of outreach meeting with missionaries and they had said how lovely it was they’d lead their daughter to the Lord and so he came home all inspired to lead me to the Lord and I was outside cycling around on my tricycle. So he came up to me and said, “Darling would you like to invite Jesus into your life?” And I went, “No thank you!” and tricycled off. But fortunately –
CM: Proper politeness, yes.
SLJ: I was very polite but I’m so glad that that wasn’t the end of it and I got another chance because shortly after that I became a Christian and my dad led me to the Lord so it was lovely.
CM: Well, and the interesting thing is you were living in Africa and your father actually met the Lord in a very famous period of revival, East Africa revival that
SLJ: Yes
CM: there are some old time missionary people who are listening right now and they’ve heard of that one before.
SLJ: Yes, and you know the strange thing was that my dad was working for Shell at the time and it was through a colleague who was a Christian who he was very impressed with, who, this colleague had invited 2 friends to go to this revival meeting, John Stott, and they couldn’t make it. And so he told my dad and my dad felt sorry for him that he had no one to go with so he went. And that’s when he got converted so it’s so amazing to think how God works. It looks all so haphazard and it might not have been it seems like.
CM: His tapestry is not like ours.
SLJ: No, thankfully.
CM: That’s certainly true. Tell us again briefly. You told us yesterday but tell us again today, why did you decide to write another storybook Bible?
SLJ: Well, because I realized that as a child growing up in the Christian world, going to Sunday School, knowing all the answers, somehow I missed the main point. I grew up thinking that the Bible was about me and what I should or shouldn’t be doing so that God would love me. And I either had to keep rules or I had to behave as brave as David and defeat giant giants and all these things and totally missed the point, the real point of the story, which is that it’s the story of how much God loves us and that he’s come to rescue us in his Son. And so I felt like that we needed a Bible that would connect all the little stories into the one big story to tell the story of God’s great love for us, because all these stories are really whispering Jesus’ name and that’s why I use that subtitle that every story whispers his name because all through the Old Testament everything’s pointing to the true hero, the true king, the true servant, the true prince who’s coming and that’s really the wonderful story and I wanted children not to miss that
CM: Yes
SLJ: and realize that, you know, this is about God’s story and also their story.
CM: and I think the Lord has allowed you to get that across. It’s there. In fact, why don’t we share another story? That’s the real reason I wanted to have you back on the program today. Why don’t we go to the Old Testament? Why don’t you just show us how, in a Bible storybook, you’ve taken an Old Testament story and how even that story in the Old Testament can whisper the name of Jesus.
SLJ: That’s a great idea.
CM: Yesterday you just talked to us about the beginning and what the Bible was all about. You read to us actually from the very first chapter of your book, but thumb through there a little bit for me Sally and what could you share with us today?
SLJ: I’m thinking I would like to read the one that children love. They always ask me for this one and want me to read it endlessly because it’s funny, so it’s called, “A giant staircase to Heaven” and it’s the story of the Tower of Babel
CM: Ah, here it is, page 48 and
SLJ: page 48
CM: by the way I should mention that the illustrations are magnificent for children as well as for someone as old as I am. So, would you mind sharing the story of Babel with us now?
SLJ: I’d love to, thank you Charles. So, “A Giant Staircase to Heaven: the story of the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11”
Noah and his family lived in the land and his children had children and those children had more children and those children had even more – well you get the picture, until there were lots of people on the earth once more. Now back then everyone spoke exactly the same language, so you didn’t need to learn Swahili or Japanese or anything because you could say, “Hello!” to anyone and they knew just what you meant. One day, everyone was talking and they came up with an idea.
“Let’s build ourselves a beautiful city to live in. It can be our home and we’ll be safe forever and ever.” Then they had another idea, “Let’s build a really tall tower to reach up to Heaven! Yes,” they said, “we’ll say, ‘Look at us up here’ and everyone will look up at us and we’ll look down on them and then we’ll know we are something. We’ll be like God. We’ll be famous and safe and happy and everything will be alright.”
So they got to work. Brick by brick the tower grew, higher and higher until it soared above the city, touching the sky. They built stairs in the tower to climb to the top. It was like a giant staircase to Heaven.
“Look!” they said, “We are the ones! See what we can do with our very own hands?” They were quite pleased with themselves, but God wasn’t pleased with them. God could see what they were doing. They were trying to live without him. But God knew that wouldn’t make them happy or safe or anything. If they kept on like this they would only destroy themselves. God loved them too much to let that happen so he stopped their plans.
One morning they went to work as usual but everything was different. Their words were all new and funny. You see, God had given each person a completely different language. Suddenly no one understood what anyone else was saying. Someone would say, “How do you do?” and the other person thought they said, “How ugly are you?”
It wasn’t funny. You could be saying something nice like, “Such a lovely morning.” and get a punch in the nose because they thought you said, “Hush up! You’re boring.” You couldn’t even say, “Pardon?” to check if you’d heard it right because no one understood that word either.
It wasn’t easy to work together after that as you can only imagine. People were always quarrelling and fighting and getting in a dreadful muddle and becoming grumpier and grumpier until at last they were all too cross to keep on building and just had to stop.
After that, people scattered all over the world which is how we ended up with so many different languages to this day. You see, God knew, however high they reached, however hard they tried, people could never get back to Heaven by themselves. People didn’t need a staircase. They needed a rescuer because the way back to Heaven wasn’t a staircase. It was a person. People could never reach up to Heaven, so Heaven would have to come down to them. And one day, it would.
CM: Sally Lloyd-Jones, reading from her “Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers his name”. Sally, that is a precious story. I mean I’ve heard the story before. I’ve read it in the scripture but I’ve got to say that’s the best Bible storybook for children version of Babel that I’ve ever heard.
SLJ: Well, thank you.
Cm: Tell us a little bit at the end there, you give the hint of whispering the name of Jesus
SLJ: Yes
CM: And you also kind of tease me to keep going,
SLJ: Yes
CM: The last line of the story and I notice you do that other places too
SLJ: Yes.
CM: What’s going on there as you think about this as a children’s writer and a Christian children’s writer?
SLJ: That’s a great question. Well, initially when I was writing this book I was tempted to sort of wrap it all up and at the end of every story say, “And just like the staircase, Jesus would be the staircase” and kind of do a mini sermon.
CM: Yes
SLJ: But it didn’t sit right with me and I felt stressed by it, but I thought that’s what I was supposed to do. And I was talking with a good friend who’s a writing partner and I was talking about it and he looked at me – we were in a diner – and he said, “You know your whole body language is making me feel very stressed. You need to stop what you’re doing right now.” And he to me, “What do you want to do?” And I said, “I don’t want to do a sermon. I just want to do a little hint.” And he said, “Then that’s what you do and if it doesn’t work then the publisher will tell you but you have to write what you want to write.” And it was so freeing because as a storyteller you’ve got to keep them turning the pages and I love cliff hangers. So basically I padded this book with sort of cliffhangers.
CM: Yes.
SLJ: And I also wanted to do this thing where I actually never mention Jesus’ name until his name is given to Mary when the Enunciation happens. Because that’s kind of what happens in the Bible. So I wanted it to be, just as we have in the Bible, we hear that he’s a prince coming, he’s Emmanuel, he’s, he’s going to be a suffering servant, he’s going to be a hero, but we don’t’ hear Jesus’ name until the New Testament. So I didn’t want to give it away as we went through the Old Testament. I wanted it to be building like little clues and hints so that when we’re told it’s a baby and his name is Jesus that’s when it will come together.
CM: I see. Yes, I’m even looking at the next story and this of course is the story of Sarah and Abraham and God giving them a child even when they were too old to have a child
SLJ: Yes
CM: And your very last paragraph says, “And one day God would send another baby, a baby promised to a girl who didn’t even have a husband. But this baby would bring laughter to the whole world. This baby would be everyone’s dream come true.”
SLJ: Yeah
CM: I just think you do a magnificent job in setting it up for a, keeping the story and leading us to, you know, the ultimate story which is of course Jesus Christ coming for us to save us from our sins.
SLJ: I think the other thing I would add about writing for children is to give children the benefit of the doubt. That, if I’d done those wrapping up sermons at the end of every story it would have been very dull for everyone, especially for children because it’s telling them instead letting them. You know the classic thing in writing is show don’t tell?
CM: Yes
SLJ: Well a lot of this Bible I had to tell but in those instances I could trust the child and the Lord working in this book to be building the excitement for Jesus to be coming and that, as the child discovers themselves, is so much more powerful than if I’d – you know the definition of a boring book, a publisher told me, is to do the work of the reader for them. And I thought that was great.
CM: Yes
SLJ: You really want children asking questions. So at the end of every story they’ll probably be saying, “Yeah, but what does that mean?” And “Which baby?” and that’s exactly what you want because they’re engaged. If they aren’t asking questions then that’s when you’re in trouble.
CM: Well, you know every Christian parent who’s raised their children and you talk to them every night, and you say, “This is how you’re supposed to behave and this is what you’re supposed to do,” and then you get to the point of, “What’s the answer to what I’ve been talking about?” The answer of course they’re always supposed to say, “Jesus”. They don’t really know what the answer is but they know the answer is supposed to be Jesus.
SLJ: Yeah
CM: You’re at least setting them up a little bit so a little child will actually kind of realize the need for Jesus
SLJ: Yes.
CM: and not just parrot the word “Jesus”. Big difference, isn’t there?
SLJ: It is. That’s a very big difference. And I actually heard from a father who’s been reading this book to his 2 boys, that what happens after a few of them – he’s been reading a few of the Old Testament stories – he said it’s really sweet because at the end of every story they’re listening and as they near the end of each story they whisper just one word, “Jesus”. And they’re starting to get the idea that every story whispers his name. So, I love that idea.
CM: If you just joined us you’re listening to Haven Today and Sally Lloyd-Jones is with me, Charles Morris and we’re just sharing out of her children’s Bible storybook the “Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers his name”. You do it chronologically so you start in the beginning and you go all the way to the end and you manage to pack in, I don’t know, how many stories did you manage to pack into this?
SLJ: I think it’s 43 or 44 stories?
CM: That’s so good!
SLJ: 21 from the Old Testament and the rest from the New.
CM: OK. And you end your book by saying, “To be continued…” so thank you for that!
SLJ: Yes. I didn’t know I was going to do that. That’s was the lovely thing about this book. I really think that’s another thing about writing is you, I believe it existed and I was given it and I followed the clues and that was one of the wonderful surprises that was, “Oh, I can say ‘To be continued…’ how exciting!” because that’s so thrilling to a child, isn’t it?
CM: Oh, yes.
SLJ: Well it’s also so frustrating at the end of a really, you know, who-done-it, to have to be continued.
CM: What happens next?
SLJ: Yes.
CM: And really that’s one thing as I recall my own childhood so many years ago, reading a book, I can recall “Gone Away Lake” and then finally there was a “Return to Gone Away Lake”, and having that follow up means so much to a child. They like continuity, don’t they?
SLJ: Yes, yes absolutely.
CM: Well, I’m at the end of your book, I’ve actually opened to the very end and you have a paraphrase of John 1:12 and 13. This is really a call to children to the Gospel –
SLJ: Yes
CM: to the Good News
SLJ: Yes
CM: of Jesus Christ, isn’t it?
SLJ: It is and I, I wanted there to be something so they could know, well they read this lovely story and what then? You know. But I didn’t want an altar call kind of thing out of place with the Bible because it is a Bible, so I just thought this was a way to show them that this wonderful story that they just read, this story of God’s love and redemption isn’t just a story that’s happened in the past, it is a story that’s continuing and a story that can be their story too.
CM: Now I of course don’t want to give away the ending, but since I am at the end, would you mind, Sally, just sharing with us what you have, what you felt compelled to put in at the very end of your book?
SLJ: shall I read it to you?
CM: Why don’t you, yes please.
SLJ: OK, yeah. So this is at the end after Revelation and we’ve said, Revelation ends and we say, “To be continued…” it says, “Paraphrase of John 1:12 -13, ‘For anyone who says yes to Jesus, for anyone who believes what Jesus said, for anyone who will just reach out to take it, then God will give them this wonderful gift to be born into a whole new life, to be who they really are, who God always made them to be, their own true selves, God’s dear child. Because you see the most wonderful thing about this story is, it’s your story too.’”
CM: Wow. Sally, thank you. I think you stayed faithful. That’s a pretty good paraphrase of John 1:12 and 13 and it’s in the words of a child written to children. And not only that it blessed me and I’m sure some adults are picking up on what you mean as well.
SLJ: thank you.
CM: Sally, I would like to ask you if you would mind praying because we have some parents, we have some grandparents, we have people listening to the program, we probably even have some children. I would like to just ask you to pray for children, that children in this harsh and cruel world that we live in would find Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Would you mind just leading us in prayer?
SLJ: I would be honored, thank you.
Dear Father, we just thank you for this time together and that we can come together across all the airwaves and in whatever place we find ourselves. Thank you that you are the friend of little children and that unless we become like little children we cannot enter your kingdom. And I just praise you for the high calling you have for children, the high view you have of them, and that we as adults need to become like little children and need to be less sophisticated and clever, remember what it really requires is just that we come to you like a child. And I just pray for children everywhere, that you will bless them to hear the truth of your word and they would realize that this book is a love story, a love letter to them. It’s not about making them feel that they don’t do it right. Or it’s not about making them feel that they’re not brave enough, they’re not like David. It’s about letting them know that they are the most precious, precious thing. In fact, they are your most precious thing of all. They are your treasure and that you’ve moved Heaven and earth to come and be close to them. And I pray that children will know that Jesus loves them and he’s opened the way for them to come and has given them a great calling for their life, that they have a future and a hope and that they’re part of this amazing adventure and they’re just beginning. And I pray that they would know the love of God that passes all understanding from a very early age and that you would protect them from the things that come against them. We thank you that greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world. I praise you for the honor of being able to tell this story that’s your story and we pray that these children will know that it belongs to them. This is there story and that it will equip them and give them the strength they need as they grow up in this world. And we don’t know Lord, what you’re calling them to. Each of them has a purpose in your plan. And I just pray that you will powerfully bless them and minister to them, in Jesus name, amen.
CM: Thank you Sally, for leading us in prayer here on Part 2 of a Haven Today called, “Become Like Little Children”. This was part 2 with Sally Lloyd-Jones, author of what I can say now is the bestselling book, the “Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers his name,” the name of Jesus. It doesn’t get old, does it? And it doesn’t get better. In this past year we’ve had people ordering copies from us and we’ve found that parents have been greatly blessed by this as their kids want them to read another story every night. And the wonderful thing is the Gospel runs all the way through this Bible storybook as well and many people have been blessed by that, children and parents and we know people that have ordered this in all kinds of environments. One pastor ordered it for every family in his church so that parents and children could learn about Jesus and it’s been a real blessing. Well, one thing, if you’d like the “Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers his name”, it’s in short supply in some places but we’ve got copies and you can get it by making your yearend gift to us here at haventoday.org or by calling us at 1-800-654-2836. You know, this is a special time of year for our ministry because we’re closing the books in a few days. It’s also a special time if you need to make a charitable gift to receive a tax deduction. Well, perhaps we can help each other. We want to make our budget so that we can keep telling the great story that’s all about Jesus. There’s something a little weird about Christians though, you know? And that is we’re people who live on less than 100 cents on the dollar. God asks us to give back from what he’s given and provided to us, but you know the very interesting thing is that even though Christians are called to be people who live on less than 100 cents on the dollar, there is a blessing. And I must say I’ve never met anybody who gives for the work of the Lord in all honesty, in all faithfulness, from what God has provided that hasn’t been blessed in return. Now I know there are some people that can take that to an extreme, but I think there is that blessing in the Bible that if you’re faithful, God is faithful. If God has provided for you would you help us? Whether it’s sending us $10,000 like somebody did a couple of days ago or whether it’s $60 which somebody did 2 days ago. You can go online at haventoday.org or call us at 1-800-65-HAVEN and make your gift and make sure you do it today while it’s on your mind. I’m Charles Morris. Thanks for being with me. Come back again tomorrow when again we’ll share the great story. It’s all about Jesus on Haven Today.