i don't know how to do it, but i'm trying to change some my pre-concieved ideas about church and youth ministry in particular. the last couple of days i've been trying to answer one simple question: why do i want my child in church?
this is a critical question to me. if i can answer this i think i will get a bit of an insight into why parents want their kids in youth ministry. even still, i'm going to have to talk to them, and i think i'll know when the timing is right for that.
but if the answer is simply "so that my child can be good" then i am quitting my job. i think its more than that for my son. i want my son to know Jesus. i want my son to hear God's voice. i want my son to be alive as fully as Jesus can make him. and the only place that my son can learn that is in the presence of the Holy Son that walks before him.
i think this is the deep down desire of most parents that bring their children to church. the only problem is that a lot of people are more concerned about raising morally good individuals than they are a community that is seen and recognized for its transformational existence. it is so deeply written on my heart that i want kids to see and hear and understand what the Spirit is saying to the church, and i think that's God's desire too.
the more i practise the presence of Jesus the more real His presence is becoming. i just have to figure out how to show others that too. pray for me, and pray for the young adult ministry that i oversee as well, that God would bring it to life, and people from all over would be able to see Jesus in our community.
"Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering and the lonely right there where you are -- in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. ... You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society -- completely forgotten, completely left alone." - Mother Teresa
i am...
- Jeremy
- Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada
- i'm the Director of Camp Wapiti and i have the best job in the universe. yes, the whole universe.
3 comments:
I hear you! I bring my children to church in hopes that they will know God, I teach them what I can, but hope that they also learn from church.
well put my love. I couldn't agree with you more.
What did Jesus do that was so attractive? I think John puts it this way...'he went about doing good'.
By the way on a more practical thought I wanted my children in church so they might meet, fall in love with and marry a lovely Christian lady from a rich family.
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