Christmas- Who is coming?

CHRISTmas represents the Savior of the world coming to rescue a depraved humanity of its sin. Not just anyone arrived. He arrived. It was God in flesh. It was Emmanuel; God with us. He is the Messiah that was prophesied for 1,000's of years. He came to give of life. He taught us how to live and He taught us how to die. He went into heaven and is coming again.

The Holy Spirit. God is in us. God is with us. Jesus promised He would come. Inside of our souls, our lives, we hold, we own the power of God. In the midst of worldly propaganda He still reigns. Although we may suffocate Him, He still lives. Although we choose our choices, He does not hide. God is in you. Confess sin, retreat from worldly desires and grab on to the life giver, the freedom giver inside of you. The hope for humanity dwells within you, within me. Let us not just speak of Him, but show Him with our lives that have been laid down for the gospel.

This Christmas we own the Holy Spirit, but is He owning us? Through our discipline and obedience, let us ask God to move this season.

Back in the Blog

Well it is good to be back on here. Life has been very busy. I bought a house, bought a dog, sold a dog, started an interim position, got the full time position, bought a truck, started P90X, lost the remote, and am now back to blogging.

The first blog I want to write about is about what students want in student ministry. I will share a few things that I have found that they want/need. I did not find out by blogs, books or any other source. I tried something innovative. I asked them. 

From programs to small groups to pizzas and campus time, there are a lot of things that make up a student ministry. There were several things that I heard from my students and I will just share two. Here they are:
1. I want to know you care 2. I want to be heard. There are many ways to do youth ministry and many different personalities in it, but at the end of the day what matters is that students know that you care and you listen. We lead them to Jesus when they see Jesus in us. Jesus cares and Jesus listens.

Do you care? I asked many of my students several different questions just to see what they were thinking and how they were feeling. I believe that if I am a youth pastor (and I am), then I should... pastor. You can not pastor, lead, Shepard people if you do not know them. If I were to Sheppard sheep and did not know much about sheep, they would all probably run away. If I am ignorant of sheep and I do not know how they act, think (do sheep think??) and respond, then I am probably up the creek. The same with youth. Asking them questions, getting together outside church and asking about their lives are just a few ways to show you care.

Do you listen? It is good to hear from middle and high school students. Its good to see where they are in life. As I ask questions, I love to hear the comments that come back. I know that I cannot implement everything they tell me and that is not the point. The point is to just listen. It's to hear their heart. Listening shows them that I care.

So I write this blog to share ministry life with you and maybe even encourage you in your life. Are there people in your life that need to be heard and cared for? Just sit with them. Listen.

God is King! I thank him for my family and all he has provided. For my loving church, great staff team, killer youth group, caring youth parents, and an awesome youth leadership team. God has blessed me. I continue to look forward in seeing what God has planned.