Youth Ministry

"Youth ministry takes people who dare to be available for God and
allows them to rise to greatness for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Youth Ministry is grueling hours, continual heartbreak, a wretched
stomach, verbal abuse, money, time-time-time, loving the seemingly
unlovable, listening, caring, reaching out and praising God for
kids.

People in youth ministry as well as any other aspect of Christian
service must be searching for ways to be used by God to effect the
present and future. They are people who are dreaming dreams as they
reach for the stars and grasp the hand of there Creator while
walking with the Son.

Youth ministry is scrubbing floors, setting up tables, staying up
half the night struggling with a Biblical principle and coming to
grips with how to communicate this principle to the kids.

Youth ministry is whatever we allow God to do through us, the kids,
and those around us. It's helping a family through the tragic death
of a teenage son, the rape of a daughter, or the death of a mother.
It's struggling with someone as they wrestle with whether life is
worth living.

Youth ministry can feel like Heaven or Hell on earth. It is
watching kids grow in the Lord and giving in to temptation--it's
laughing with them and crying with them. Youth ministry is living
in the midst of their heartaches, failures, victories and struggles
during which you're praying God will give them the strength and
stamina to stand before the world and claim Jesus Christ as their
Lord.

Youth ministry is a way of living not a job, party, program or
Sunday School class. It's allowing God to have and use our total
being to touch the lives of hurting, crying, love- starved teens as
they grow into adulthood."

- Mike Lewis

Jenniva's Smile

I told you a few blogs ago that I would post a picture of little sweet girl's new smile. I am so excited to see her grow and learn from day to day. How did you feel when you saw the 1sts in the lives of your babies?

The Enemy?

I was reading the blog of an old friend from Harding School of Biblical Studies and was happy to see something written that has been on my mind quite a bit lately. Non-Christians. How to deal with them once we realize that they are not the enemy. They, like us, are in desperate need of God's love and grace. So, if we know that, why do we bash them? Because we've got it all wrong. Look at the words of my friend, Brian Tipton:

Entanglement

I hate Christian radio. At least I did yesterday. I was listening to the radio yesterday while driving home, scanning for something interesting, and found something I did not expect. Each station, that wasn’t playing music, had someone on their giving the world around us a tongue lashing. One person said,

“These people are evil.”

Another sound byte was,

“They are the problem with America.”

And I could multiply the quotes on and on and on. I don’t think this is how Paul engaged the world. I know it is now how Jesus engaged the world. It is true that Jesus and Paul and Peter and every other prophet in the Bible did engage the world and call them back to God. It is interesting to note, however, that the only vitriolic attacks in the Bible initiated by a prophet of God, to my knowledge, were directed at the religious leadership of God’s community and not the people in the world.

There is a mistaken notion in some Christian circles that our mission is to evangelize the world’s systems, i.e., political, social, etc., so that those systems become subservient to the sovereign reign of God. People, in the name of Christ, support other countries political activities or fight against them, endorse political candidates, invade school boards so that Christian ideals can be taught, and work feverishly to change the world in which they live through the systems in place in the world. But that is not our mission.

Our mission is not to change the world. Our mission is to change the people in the world. We are to lead people in the world to know Jesus. As people change, the world changes, but only when people in the world come to know God and live their lives accordingly.

John wrote,

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever. (1 John 2:15-17 - emphasis mine)

The way the world will be conquered is by God and only by God (try reading Revelation some time). The only thing that will transcend this world is “…the person who does the will of God…” (1 John 2:17) Perhaps the church would be better served by people who are concentrating their efforts on transforming their lives and leading others to Christ than those who have focussed their efforts on single handedly saving the world. The allure of political power is deceptive and leads to entanglement. The wise will resist the urge and follow our exemplar, Jesus.

What do you think?

First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

New Link

One of my favorite people, Mike Knappier-he married Elizabeth and me-he is also a mentor of mine-has begun a blog! Take a look at it here or on my links list.

Where In The World Is Jimmy Mitchell?

Some readers of my blog have probably given up on me.

And with very good reason-I just have not been around much lately.

Many of you out there can attest to the fact that parenthood is taxing and time consuming. Still others of you can agree that parenting coupled with ministry is more than a 24-7 gig. Even fewer of you can concur that throwing ministering to youth into the mix is an ever formidable task! That is where I am, my friends. And these times, they are a-busy!!

Well, now that that's off my chest, I would like you to pray for a few things:

Kellie U, one of our teens, is recovering in the hospital from surgery. Monday afternoon, doctors went in to remove a cyst from one of her ovaries. While in there, they found 2 more. She is in good spirits but we are all anxiously anticipating the test results. Please keep her in your prayers.

My Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-In-Law and 2 Nephews are moving to Tyler, TX in the next few months!! They will be only about 4 and a half hours away. A lot better than 14 hours! Both houses have been sold and now we're just waiting for the buyers to move in. Please pray for safe moving and that my mom can get a nice nursing job in the Tyler area.

That is about it for now. I'll be back with more pics of our sweet girl.

Idol

I have 2 names for those of you out there that are watching American Idol this year: Chris Richardson and Blake Lewis. I like both of them and I believe that they have what it takes to go on. In a group of bland male singers (what a bad group this year, huh?) I have a feeling that they are the standouts for this season. Chris Sligh is funny and thinks a little out of the box. Sanjaya Malakar has a nice voice and good stage appeal, but I think he needs to overcome those nerves to really win us over. What think you?

Firsts!

Our little Jenniva has had several firsts recently and I thought that I would share them with you, dear blogreader! She has given us her first smile! It melted our hearts when she looked up at her Mommy and Daddy and gave us that toothless grin. She has also found her thumb. When you see the pic, you might think it strange but it is how she sucks her thumb. While I am typing my wife is getting a pic of the NEW way she sucks her thumb. I will include that pic as well.

More of Jenniva Elizabeth

Here are some more pictures of our little baby girl! She is so sweet and peaceful. Here is the big question, though: Who do you think she looks like? Email me or post a comment with your answer. I would be interested to know what you think.

Still Alive!

Just thought that I would let you know that I am still alive and kickin'! Elizabeth and I have had our world rocked by the new addition. Up is down and down is up; day is night and night is day-and so on...

Don't get me wrong. Jenniva is the light of our lives and we couldn't be more excited about everything right now. But any of you that are parents know what it's like to not sleep throught the night and try to soothe a crying baby when you don't know the reason that they are crying. It's wild and tends to make one weary. We love every minute of it, though!

Now that there is more of a daily schedule in effect I will be blogging every week day. You can't get rid of me that easy!