Tag Archive | hurt

Last week a high school student in our community passed away very tragically. Although he was not a member of our church, many of his friends were. Many of his friends were drawn to worship with us this morning. It is a tough situation for family and friends to navigate, but it was a beautiful collision of real life and faith.

After our service was over, we gathered all the students and parents effected by the tragedy to the altar for prayer. During our brief moment of prayer, we had the opportunity to give hope! Hope found only in Christ. In the middle of tears and painful guilt, the light of Christ was made known. The Lord divinely placed our church/ ministry in the middle of a beautiful collision of real life and faith. We had several conversations and prayed with many of these students right after we prayed as a group. Students were asking the hard questions, wrestling with their guilt, and looking for hope. Once again, ministry is happening in the midst of a collision of real life and faith. “Why would God allow this to happen?” “Why didn’t God answer my prayer?” “I should have said something!”

No one wants to lose a loved one or a dear friend… We grieve and hurt just as much as the students and family do. But even in the middle of the confusion, the hard questions and the deep hurt, there is a God who deeply desires to be in the middle of it all. Revealing His hope and peace. This is where God is calling us to be. A ray of hope in midst of despair, hurt and questions. We are the beacon of hope.

I’m hurting today and will be journeying through these days of visitations and funerals hoping to be a source of hope for these students. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4

Are you committed to the journey too?

July 5, 2013

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Stability in the midst of instability

Teenagers struggle through hard times. They seemingly wander through it hoping they are making the right decisions. For them, every heartache is the end of the world. Every disappointment is a disturbance in the force. So, how can the youth pastor be a pillar of stability that stands the test of time and storms?

1. Their crisis is not your crisis. I’ve heard this said all throughout my ministry from wise people, but never really understood what it meant. I have this tendency to leave my cell phone on 24 hours a day (yeah, it yours tendency too? wow.) There is always a crisis at 2am. Really? For many teenagers a good night sleep can cure a lot of hurt. But, the fact that a friend is mistreating them is not really a crisis at 2am. Have healthy boundaries with your cell phone… I have found the “do not disturb” setting so freeing! It’s not that we don’t care about what’s happening in their lives, we need to be wise in how effective we are in ministering in the middle of the crisis.

2. When in crisis be around. Now when a teenager is struggling through a long hospital stay… be there. One of my students had both his lung collapse and he nearly died. He was in the hospital for 8 weeks… yep, I was there 3-4 times a week. Every time I met with him, I looked him in the eye and told him I would see him later. Stability can be found in your faithfulness.

3. Make your programing consistent. Now, I believe in changing things up every now and then, but when we run a ministry built on faithfulness and consistency students begin to know you (your ministry) can be trusted. Students long for consistency in their lives and our ministries ought to be structured to be a sense of stability. Do your students know that every time you gather, someone is there ready to minister, pray and encourage them?

4. Be faithful. You have probably heard this question from one of your students…”Can you come to my band concert?” As you answer this question, be ready to follow up. If you say yes, be there (unless absolute emergency). If no, tell them why. But, our faithfulness and attendance builds stability and more importantly… trust.

Students need stability. Are you and your ministry set and ready to provide what they need? If you know me, I’m a very structured person and I’ve found in ministry students appreciate that about me. Parents of my students love it too! It’s stability.

Now, I’m off to an Eagle Scout Ceremony. I made a commitment to a student that I intend to keep.