Thankful And Messed Up!

One of the primary areas of discussion at our summit was around how we present a fuller, more accurate picture of the gospel to young teens. I was encouraged by the discussion, challenged by the discussion and totally messed up by the discussion all at the same time! Messed up because it has forced me to take a hard look at the methods I use to expose students to the powerful message of Christ as well as admitting that I've been guilty of focusing on only a partial presentation of the bigger message!

Ultimately, though, the time away served to refresh my passion for ministry to young teens. True, we talked a lot about theology and tried to wrestle some big issues to the ground, but ultimately I come back to my very simple, pragmatic formula for junior high ministry:
Young Teen + Caring Adult = Good Stuff!

For hundreds and hundreds of years, people much smarter than those of us sitting in that circle in the mountains have wrestled with similar issues and come up with a wide variety of answers, which is what makes the body of Christ so wonderfully diverse. I'm glad they've wrestled and I'm glad we wrestled too. But I'm most thankful that God uses cracked people like you, like me and like those we lead to point young teens to Jesus.
Young Teen + Caring Adult = Good Stuff!