My other kids

Most of my posts thus far have revolved around the 4th graders God is using to teach me more about Himself. While I am yet to exhaust the lessons to be learned, I can't ignore the teachings of another group of slightly older youngsters God has graciously allowed me to work with. These young gentlemen reside in my church's youth group and are of the age of high school freshman. For those who may be wondering, I am not trying to relive my high school years vicariously through them. I simply allowed the challenges of a close friend and the effectiveness of God's Word to move me from speech into action. We have had fairly good discussions up to this point, and I am looking forward to our retreat next weekend to really "dig in" with these young men. Last night, however, was a real blessing when I wasn't expecting much to come out of it.

Originally, we planned to meet at the youth pastor's house to discuss the holiday and prepare for the upcoming retreat. However, a snow skiing event kicked off last night, which meant most of the students would probably be at the slopes from early evening until later that night. We decided to meet at the lodge with the hope of catching a good handful of the students during dinner/get warm break. I went along with the idea with mixed emotions despite selfishly not wanting to drive there and run the risk of being cold. When all was said and done, only five guys stayed around long enough to engage in meaningful conversation, but the conversation turned out to be a blessing regardless of my limited faith expecting nothing.

The topics included issues such as "can we lose our salvation," will we really be held accountable for everything we do on earth," and "how can we be sure of our salvation?" Now, I don't claim to be an expert on these issues, but I know they were (and sometimes can be) areas I grappled with when I was their age. I got an excellent opportunity to delve into the hearts of these young men as they learned what it means to live for Christ and be found in Him. As the night wore on, I was able to share my wrestling matches over these tough questions along with the peace I found from God by reading His Word. In addition, these five guys paid no attention to the fact that we were in a public place with our Bibles sprawled out on the table for all to see. They came to learn about God and fellowship with others without any regard for what everyone else might have thought. I left feeling encouraged to see God actively working in the lives of today's youth (when all the data says He must have stopped) and challenged by their boldness amongst peers.