Recognition Certificates - Should I give a Certificate or Recognition to a child when he is born again?

Should I give a Certificate or Recognition to a child when he is born again?

I am a Childrens church Teacher I had 3 little boys accept Jesus as thier Saviour, I was wanting to give them a recognition or certificate to remember the day the accepted Jesus as there Saviour, should I do start this or is it done in other churches? if so does anyone know where i can see one to get an idea of who to do one or buy some. For those who say poor kids! That I brain wash them.... No! they are making a concious choice. the boys are 10 - 12 they know right from wrong and no one ever told them they had to from 20 kids 3 made the choice all on there own. why the bashing of a wonderful choice to follow Jesus. Jesus said let the children come to me, and I dont focus on HELL.... I focus on what salvation really means and not wht happens if they dont choose it. it is in no way a threat or forced upon and FYI the 3 boys are estatic to follow of God of Love and Forgivness. God Bless

Public Comments

Those poor children. How old were they? How can you force on them something that they have no understanding? You should feel ashamed. They have enough problems growing up without being told that if they don't believe they will burn in hell. If you don't tell them that they will burn in hell then you are not telling them the truth - are you? So what they believe now is based on a lie. You are not giving them the full information. How can anyone make an informed choice without the full story? Shocking.
How bout to the mom... it's much harder to give birth to a bigger kid than an infant. ;-)
Umm yeah. You never know when one might forget that he has come to Jesus.
Shame on you. You've delt those children an intellectual blow from which they may never recover.
I have seen some teachers give them a small token to remember the date by. If you can afford a children's Bible this would be nice.
a christian book store will have them. i got a baptism certificate as a keepsake.
no , cause you make all the rest feel "unrecognized" ooo yea , (same as the other few) do they have the mental capability of understanding what they are doing? have they seen the world? are you sure this isn't something indirectly forced onto them?
Riiight... like little boys would even be able to grasp the concept of "Jesus" or "savior". Yea, keep telling yourself that.
Do you really think "little boys" have the capacity to make that decision? Or even understand what you're talking about? It bothers me that you encourage this at all, let alone want to give out an award for it.
Praise the Lord...Good job faithful servant!! ...How about A 8x10 picture of them getting baptized , a new KJV bible.
That is a great idea. It is a very important day in their lives. I wish someone had done that for me. I was 12 but I don't remember the day and that is sad. Might try some Christian teaching material web sites. You could probably make up a really good one yourself.
I think this is a great idea! I don't know if it's done in other churches or not, but either way you should still do it, it's a great idea!!!! As for an example. Take a look a birth certificate and copy that - that's pretty much what it should be, yes? Born again? They should get a new birth certificate celebrating their new birth w/ God.
"Little boys" are not old enough to make such a decision. That's why they're not allowed to vote or drive cars. Give the certificate to their parents, since obviously they're the ones responsible for this indoctrination into your cult.
Save it...you will most likely have to reissue the papers later in those boys lives... How old did you say they were?
When my child made a decision for the Lord, I gave him a Bible. I wrote in the front of the Bible the date he made the decision, as well as a little reminder to walk with God by reading the Bible and praying. Some churches also will provide inexpensive Bibles for this and any purpose and these can be purchased very inexpensively in quantity.
Our Church gives out Bibles remember God works to save us, not a sinners prayer, Im always worried when young people think they are saved when they dont really understand how foul sin is to God and that they would be punished in hell for their sins make sure they understand what they are saved from make sure they see that sin is so bad, God crushed his own son to pay for theirs keep up the good work God bless
God, people like you are terrifying.
Please ignore the rude comments left on here by some other people. I think what you are doing is extraordinary! I hope to someday be able to help kids come to Christ. I think something commemorative is a good idea. Certificate seems nice, because it's something they can always keep. I also like the idea of maybe a small pocket sized NT Bible with Psalms. Perhaps pick a different verse for each child that you feel suits him and write it along with a short message and the date inside. That would be something they could look back on and treasure forever. God bless.
Give them a children's Bible with their name in it and the date of their acceptance. Also give them your attention in the years to come when they need guidance and love.
I wouldnt cuz real conversion will take another ten years..
Give them silly, cheap puppets. Because that's what they've become, thanks to you. As they grow older perhaps they'll figure out the symbolism and be able to make a more suitable choice.
Normally when a child/anyone accepts Jesus as their Savior they go through water Baptism as a public expression of their faith. It is at this time that they should be given a certificate of Baptism. But your church should already have those certificates. Talk to your pastor as these boys should also talk to their pastor about accepting Jesus as Savior. If your not in a church that does water baptism try any Baptist, Assembly of God, Vinyard, Four Square, Full Gospel...church. EDIT: I agree with the answer a little above me a childrens Bible would be an awesome way of remembering the day they got saved.
I say, give them any sort of certificate you want, especially, if you think they might like it. They will either grow up to be a fundie and would probably like to have it framed. They might get a serious education, look into religion and its history and keep it as a humorous reminder of times past. Either way, the certificate might be well received, especially before they've gotten too far in school. All you need do is go to MS Word, hit "new" and go to templates on various documents; you will find several neat certificates to which you can add your own text. I tried to send you one appropriate for children but I have Office 2007 and the templates are downloads and I couldn't get it over to YA. There is a good possibility that you couldn't open in without Word 2007 in any case. So, get on the wed and download one; you won't have to purchase anything.
Dear Friend, I certainly commend you for your thoughtfulness towards God's little ones, and that you have looked ahead; realizing there will be times they will want to reflect on that wonderful day they asked Jesus into their hearts. If you use Microsoft Office, I am sure that you can go to their website for "certificate templates" and create your own. You can also go to Office Depot and they will have "blank" certificates. You'd type the info in MS Word and then print the info on the blank certificates. Hope that helps. May our Lord continue to bless you as you lead our youngsters towards a more rewarding life with Christ than what this world has to offer. Blessings in Christ Jesus, lostnsavd...
You have witnessed a child being "born again". What do you think to be born again as told to Nicodemus by Jesus the Christ, in John 3:1-21, means ? Your heart is blind, the truth is found in Matthew 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-26. It is the vanity of men that has led men to believe that the image of man is flesh, it is not, the image of man is spirit as God our Father is spirit (John 4:24) The flesh is known as the sons of man.