Voracious Appetites

Youth...  what do you think of when you hear that word?  Here are some words I think of..
Struggle, Impressionable, Beautiful, Adventurous, Energy, Risk, Messy, Hungry

As the new guy on the ministry team here at CVC, God has been pressing me to grow deeper in love with the people of our church.  People of all ages and maturity ;)  One thing that I'm noticing as I get closer to the "Youth" part of our church family... is that they are hungry!  Not just for any and all morsels of food that might be unprotected anywhere on campus; but also for changing the way we see, hear, feel and know God.  As an adult I find myself nearly ashamed at how much I desire to get in, and stay in, a rut when it comes to church. It's just so much easier to do it the way we've always done it.  You know the routine; 3-4 songs and we're all done worshiping together as a family, same 24 words spoken when taking the offering, here comes the teaching in the same spot, with the same lights, from the same direction, on the same schedule, at the same time, in the same way, for the same reasons and sadly, we often call that successful and then wonder why we see the same results... 

So what happens when we eat the same thing for far too long?  I can only speak for myself - I lose my appetite and frankly I lose my hunger for the meal itself or even the time it takes to get it done.  I'm not whining here - I'm saying Amen to Myself!  I feel like I'm in a rut and I'm being challenged by the hunger of the younger folks I'm getting to know...  perhaps some peeps exist best on the "same ol diet". Good on em!  But it seems to me that God has much more than just existence planned for us. He wants life, and life more abundant, for His people.  In fact, now that I think about it?  The only member of my family that has no problem eating the same meal, at the same time of day, every day, for years... is my  BDF (Best Dog Forvever), Dexter - that guy never complains and always eats with a smile ;)  But I'm also pretty sure he has no capacity to know that there is a God who created him and loves him...  how 'bout you?

Comments

[Stephy]

Ahh, youth ministry.

[princess wendy]

Mark- I'm right here in this exact spot- being challenged to dig deeper and shake up my relationship with God- the one I'm very comfortable with, thank you. But, I'm not content being comfortable, or eating the same thing everyday... Thanks for this posting. I guess I'll continue digging and changing up the diet!