Contemplative Youth ministry

I finished another book this weekend called Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mark Yaconelli. This makes 4 books finished and 46 more to go before the end of March 2010. Contemplative Youth Ministry was a very good read. Although I did not agree with much of his Post-modern approach to ministry, Yaconelli did have a lot of thought provoking topics in his book. The three things that I learned from this book were:

1.) Don't forget about God's presence in my life. It is so easy to go through the motions in life and miss out on opportunities to connect with God on a deeper level. We read the Bible without spending time meditating on it and praying through it. We go to church, sing songs to ourselves and think about the rest of the week during the sermon. We live our lives the way we want and leave God at church. We need to realize that God is real, God is here, and God longs for us to connect with Him everyday.

2.) There is nothing wrong with silence and downtime in ministry. I have been in full-time vocational ministry for two years now and I have noticed that I do try to keep on task during youth group and Sunday school. I move from one thing to the other so that there is no time for silence or for downtime. Providing time for students and myself to be silent in the presence of God is much more important then I ever realized. God is present in our lives, we can't ignore the silence that allows us to recognize that fact.

3.) Ministering to students is more then just teaching them from God's Word. Students need to be loved, heard, responded to, and cared for. Although teaching them form God's Word is extremely important, if we don't take time to get to know our students, how can we truly minister to their specific needs. Don't be afraid to stop teaching and take some time hearing what your students are thinking, feeling, etc. That will give you more opportunities to minister to them than a lecture ever will.