I have decided to once again take up blogging about
my walk with the Lord and share with you all anything that I might be able to
in order to better equip you and prepare you for your journey with our Lord
Jesus Christ.
I have had the wonderful privilege of being blessed
with a supportive and loving Church family. I have been entrusted with the
honor of guiding the student youth spiritually in their walks with Christ, and
let me tell you how much of an easy job this is.
I mean to start off with, I find it kind of ironic
and humorous that my God who I have vowed to faithfully serve, would call me to
minister to high school students. I mean, I did spend 14 years in the military,
served 2 combat tours, and have dealt with some really stressful situations in
my life, but nothing could have prepared me for the in’s and outs of youth
ministry.
Like I had mentioned before, it’s a pretty easy gig.
I mean all I really have to do is sit there and laugh at their jokes, let them
do what they want to do all the time, buy them some food and drinks, play
music, let them play games, and that is it right. I know that there are some
people out there that might actually believe that last sentence. I mean at one
point and time even I thought that this was truth, but almost a year later
working with my youth, I can definitely tell you how not true that perception
is.
I have realized that I have a group of wonderful
young Christians who are just trying to figure out where they belong in this
world. On top of that they have made a decision to follow Christ and live for
Him. I just shudder to think what that must be like. Look at it, as adults we
struggle daily with fleshly desires and trying to walk in Christ, do we ever
stop to take a look at what our youth might be going through.
If you talk to youth nowadays anywhere from the 5th
grade up you will realize that they are dealing with things we never as adults
thought they would be dealing with. Sex, drugs, profanity, pornography,
violence, peer-pressure, homosexuality, and so much more. Are we as adults
stepping into their lives and addressing these issues with our students before
they decide to address them on their own.
Don’t get me wrong, it will not be something easy to
address and fix. Your student will most likely be upset with you for talking
about something that makes them uncomfortable, or they might even become a
little rebellious. The fact is that we cannot afford to not address these
things with our students and children. If we avoid the tough subjects because
we don’t want to hurt their feelings or alienate them from us, we will lose
them and never be able to reel them back in.
So what I am saying as a youth pastor/director is
that even though there are subjects on a daily basis that I might not necessarily
want to address, I have to address for the safety of the students that God has
entrusted to me. I will continue to tackle the hard issues with love and
kindness and show them that everything that is done for them come from God and
His love for them.
“Let the little children come to Me. Don’t
stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”(Mark 10:14)
Our children are our future and as such should be
thought of no less important than anyone else. Pay attention and show them that
you love them, as I have learned recently it is not enough to sometimes think
that they know how you feel, but sometimes you have to actually tell them how
much you love and appreciate them.
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