It's that time of year again. The time when I get the chance to gather with nearly 100 college aged young men and women preparing to serve as Group Workcamp and Week of Hope staff in locations all across the country. These dedicated Christians will facilitate life-changing mission trips for over 21,000 teens and their adult leaders. Putting faith into action as they coordinate lodging, supplies, programs and more all focused on connecting people to Jesus.
Hundreds of homes will be repaired. Thousands of lives will be touched. Ministries, non-profits and social agencies will be flush with volunteers moved to action by their faith. All this work and the impact it will make is being accomplished by around 1300 church youth groups. With similar organizations doing the same type of work the number of churches involved in this kind of domestic mission is probably over 5000. This gives me hope as we engage young people in actively living their faith. Now imagine doubling or tripling that number! Then imagine that it wasn't just for a week or just in the summer.
There are so many great things happening and great opportunities for the church to truly make a difference in this American culture. At this time of year I am always most hopeful that the Spirit's fire will spread and the church will rise to it's holy calling to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Showing posts with label youth ministry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label youth ministry. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Hungry
I've teamed up with a 13 year-old boy to write a book on fathering. He's not a father but he's had three different men in his life take on that role. He got excited about this book idea because he really wants his real father to get a clue. So every week on Tuesday night, at least the weeks we're both available, we get together at his house and work on the book. It's becoming less and less about the book each week as he gets more comfortable talking about...well, everything.
More than anything we talk about his future. We talk about God's calling on his life. He asks about how I've experienced God in my life. One night we actually got into the Bible. Not just the Bible but the Old Testament. We were into some heavy theological discussion. It's been a wonderful experience and a great reminder.
Far too often the church plays with middle schoolers. In my experience the Bible is only lightly touched on and much more time is spent on games, activities and recreation. Yet, here's a 13 year-old boy who is hungry...starving...for deep, meaningful conversation about God. About God's word, God's plan for him, God's intentions for his life, discerning God's call. And this isn't an overly studious or religious 13 year-old. He's a self-professed class clown and his parents told me his teachers were shocked to learn he's collaborating on a book. As far as I can tell he's just like most boys his age.
Young people this age and somewhat older need to be taken much more seriously by the church. It's time the church invited all the hard questions and uncomfortable conversations. It's time to dig deep into the Bible with young people and truly equip them for the challenges life is throwing at them. It's time to provide a good, solid steak and potatoes meal because they are hungry!
More than anything we talk about his future. We talk about God's calling on his life. He asks about how I've experienced God in my life. One night we actually got into the Bible. Not just the Bible but the Old Testament. We were into some heavy theological discussion. It's been a wonderful experience and a great reminder.
Far too often the church plays with middle schoolers. In my experience the Bible is only lightly touched on and much more time is spent on games, activities and recreation. Yet, here's a 13 year-old boy who is hungry...starving...for deep, meaningful conversation about God. About God's word, God's plan for him, God's intentions for his life, discerning God's call. And this isn't an overly studious or religious 13 year-old. He's a self-professed class clown and his parents told me his teachers were shocked to learn he's collaborating on a book. As far as I can tell he's just like most boys his age.
Young people this age and somewhat older need to be taken much more seriously by the church. It's time the church invited all the hard questions and uncomfortable conversations. It's time to dig deep into the Bible with young people and truly equip them for the challenges life is throwing at them. It's time to provide a good, solid steak and potatoes meal because they are hungry!
Friday, February 22, 2008
New?
This week I was invited to be part of a task force to launch a new youth ministry connected to our new church. The church has been meeting in our community for about five months and they're ready to get a youth ministry going. I say new insofar as it's new for this church. I say new church insofar as this particular group of people has been meeting in our town only a few months.
I really enjoyed being involved in the task force meeting and it's fun thinking about launching something new. But the truth is, there's nothing new in what we're proposing. It'll be based on relationships developed with current teens from the community. We'll seek their input on how we can effectively reach others their age. We'll strive to be relevant and connected in ways that will open doors for us to share the love of Jesus in meaningful ways with young people. We'll probably use Facebook and texting and tap into a network of connected teens to spread the word about what we're doing. Beyond a few modern techniques there's really nothing new.
That's how it is. Two thousand years ago Jesus sent out his followers to tell a story. It's a simple story. We're separated from our creator who loves us so much he sent his son to restore the connection. Jesus is God's redeemer sent to restore our relationship to him and reconnect us with each other. We are called to love our neighbors, serve the needy, connect with other human beings and walk humbly with God. Apart from the primary relationship with Jesus the rest of this isn't truly possible. We love Jesus and we love others. This isn't new. And it's not complicated.
Has the church, through the years, muddied this simple message to the point it's unrecognizable in the work they're doing now? Do new churches find initial success and energy because they don't have baggage to lug around? Are mainline churches in the U.S. declining because they've added so much to the simple message that they're alienating and confusing people? Do we have to blow up the church and start new every few years just to clean out the attic and shed unnecessary layers? I'm not sure of the answers to any of these questions but in my experience I've never really seen anything that's truly new.
I really enjoyed being involved in the task force meeting and it's fun thinking about launching something new. But the truth is, there's nothing new in what we're proposing. It'll be based on relationships developed with current teens from the community. We'll seek their input on how we can effectively reach others their age. We'll strive to be relevant and connected in ways that will open doors for us to share the love of Jesus in meaningful ways with young people. We'll probably use Facebook and texting and tap into a network of connected teens to spread the word about what we're doing. Beyond a few modern techniques there's really nothing new.
That's how it is. Two thousand years ago Jesus sent out his followers to tell a story. It's a simple story. We're separated from our creator who loves us so much he sent his son to restore the connection. Jesus is God's redeemer sent to restore our relationship to him and reconnect us with each other. We are called to love our neighbors, serve the needy, connect with other human beings and walk humbly with God. Apart from the primary relationship with Jesus the rest of this isn't truly possible. We love Jesus and we love others. This isn't new. And it's not complicated.
Has the church, through the years, muddied this simple message to the point it's unrecognizable in the work they're doing now? Do new churches find initial success and energy because they don't have baggage to lug around? Are mainline churches in the U.S. declining because they've added so much to the simple message that they're alienating and confusing people? Do we have to blow up the church and start new every few years just to clean out the attic and shed unnecessary layers? I'm not sure of the answers to any of these questions but in my experience I've never really seen anything that's truly new.
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