Doodling

Linds and I are working as the directors for a Jr. High camp this summer called THE ZONE. The camp will host six churches from three different denominations in the St. Louis area, totaling approximately 170 attendees. It's really exciting to be able to serve the community in this way and to be able to foster unity in the local Church body!

One of the perks of being the director of the camp is that I also get to teach five times over the week. Today I was able to spend a few good hours sitting at a table in a Starbucks in downtown Clayton working on my talks. Sometimes it can take me a little while to get my head in the game and think in such a way that makes all the tools I've learned in four semesters of preaching classes a help rather than an obstacle, and today was no exception. After a while I finally had to stop systematizing biblical information and start refocusing on the various elements that go into the Jr. High life. The above image is result of my refocusing, and I was surprised to see how helpful it was to redirect my efforts towards a little doodling. It's hard to shift perspectives to see things from an adolescent point of view, but it can often be one of the most important things to do in preparation for a ministry event. It is vital to remember that Scripture does more than simply declare statements of fact: it brings truth to life. In each instance of God's revelation to his people he communicates in ways that they would understand: cultic sacrifices and civil laws in Canaan, poetic movements in the prophets, human flesh in the gospels, and all this while using the common languages of his people's culture! The importance of such contextualization cannot be underestimated, especially in the training of the next generation of God's people! One of the biggest lessons I've learned in Youth Ministry is the importance of being able to step into their world and see life from their point of view. What matters to them? Why would they care about this? What would make them interested in this? Where do they hurt? What do they need to hear? What are they able to hear? How are they able to hear it?

Please pray for me as I put together the talks for the week, and for both of us as we put the finishing touches on THE ZONE!