Strawberry Fields Forever

I had a wonderful time at the youth ministry seminar this past Saturday morning. The topic was on point. I believe the speaker hit the nail on the head in that we need to reignite the passion in our ministry to youth. Even though they may not seem to care about anything, every teen and tween that we, as youth leaders, work with have a great passion for something. The key is for youth ministers and youth helpers to take that passion and direct it toward a deeper, fuller, more meaningful life in Jesus Christ.

It can happen! Here are some important things that I gleaned from The Core Seminar to remember when in the process of rekindling powerful passion in youth:

1) Anchor your ministry in the truth of scripture.
This is the most important. God'd Word is the only life manual we have. It cannot be
changed to fit our wants. We must never water down the Word while changing
methodologies of teaching it.

2) Be there in the community.
We must be willing to go to the schools, support the group in their various extracurricular
activities, be in their homes and truly be a part of their community.

3) Be willing to be uncomfortable.
Change is never easy for anybody. Neither is living a life of daily sacrifice. God never
intended for our walk in this life to be a rosy cakewalk full of health and wealth. He also
does not want us to get stuck in a rut doing things the way we like to do them. Being a
disciple of Christ is so much more than that. It is a daily death to ourselves and our
desires. Being uncomfortable stretches us and breaks us out of status-quo thinking.

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Saturday evening I went out to the Sweetberry Farm where a couple of the teens in my youth group work. I had a neat time watching them in action as they cut and reattached busted water lines. David and Josh were really cool for taking time out to show me around and help me pick some strawberries for my wife. I also was able to test the strawberry-pecan ice cream that they make on site. Thank you guys for everything. I will be back soon to pick, sing and shoot the breeze with my sweetie in tow.