Random thoughts...

Tonight was my third Wednesday with Powerhouse, our church's youth group. This year I am taking over as the Jr. High director. It has been a real blessing so far. I finally feel like I'm being used by God in a setting I have been trained for. The down side is I'm not being paid for any of it. So what makes it so awesome! In a nutshell, GOD! Earlier this week one of my youth came over wanting to talk with me about his parents. His dad had taken them out to dinner and told them it was over and that he was going to start looking for a new place to live. Now this didn't happen out of the blue. I've known that the marriage has been on shaky ground for a while, but what really made me think about God being in the midst of it is that the young man trusted me enough to actually come over to my house and share openly with me about his feelings and knowing that I wouldn't violate his trust to anyone. This is one of those relationships I've been working on for a year or more with him personally and the family for almost four years. This kids are going through some pretty rough times, and yet I see some characteristics in them that I hope my own children pick up.

Now to contrast that with some other students in our group, last night I was at our staff meeting for Sr. and Jr. High youth staff. A few comments were made about some of our "student leaders" not showing up to events or even coming to PH anymore. Our youth director broached the subject with us in openly wondering if the church is even effective anymore with young people. Do they not care about church or God anymore? Or have their lives been crowded out by the business of life? AS my wife and I dedicate our lives to our children by homeschooling and raising them in light of God's Holy Scripture, I wonder how they themselves will turn out. Now the students I'm talking about come from families who are better off financially, active in sports, band, school, etc. So what does that say about parents in general or about us as a church. Are we indeed failing these kids? How can we minister to them effectively? I think the answer is somewhere in between. It isn't about the programs, church, or anything like that at all. It really is about the relationships as Josh McDowell often quotes, "Rules without relationships lead to rebellion." Ministry to youth without relationships leads to apathy. The students don't really need to know about God as much as they need to see God active in our lives. We must truly become the hands and feet of God.

So now that I'm rambling on about my thoughts of youth ministry, I wonder where God is taking our church this year. We have gone through so many things in a very short amount of time. One of our leaders had a public (church) confession of sin a few weeks ago and the entire church is feeling the ramifications of his private sin. He is still a part of our church, however during his restoration time, he has been removed from leadership. Our Youth Pastor is actually in the process of growing a campus using some youth from our church and other adults as a result of having a heart for a particular people in our community. They are from some of the poorest and broken families in our community. But that means we had to bring on a youth director to really cover his job. I see our church at a cross-roads with so many possibilities and wonder what God will do for us? But at the core of all this is a questioning of the church's dedication to God and following him. Are we truly following Him in all we do, or are we just being mediocre like some of our students? Are we being caught up in the business of life, family, sports, etc., or are we pursuing Him with everything we can?

I guess the only way we can really know where God is leading us or how to be better leaders is to really get down on our knees and cry out to Him. Prayer really is what we are called to do 24/7, but how many of us practice doing this? I'm certainly not going to say that I am, but I am seeing the need to be in constant prayer for my wife, my children, my church, my ministry, and our nation. If we continue to let the world dictate to us what is important, than sooner or later, we will fall into apathy, the worst kind of Christianity I know of. Lord, call us to a deeper sense of prayer. Teach us to follow after you with our whole heart and to pray for those around us. Amen.

More to come later.