Saw this on the blogosphere:

5 Tools to reach teens today:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/04/23/5-tools-needed-to-reach-todays-teens/

I thought 1-4 were spot on. Now to work on developing those.

Stones into Bread.

Matthew 4:1-4

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit up into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. After a fast of forty days and nights he was very hungry.“If you really are the Son of God,” said the tempter, coming to him, “tell these stones to turn into loaves.”

There is much to be learned about our own journeys in ministry from the way that Jesus molded ministry - especially as he begins his journey.  As Mathew describes - straight after his time of baptism,  Jesus was lead by the spirt to his ordeal into the wilderness. For forty days he fasted, and we find Jesus in this passage of scripture tired, hungry and weak. “If you‟re the Son of God,” Satan whispers, “turn stones into bread!” This taunt is not just trying to trick Jesus into getting rid of a few hunger pains. It's more of of the demonic voice asking: “Did your Baptism mean anything? What do you have to show for it?  What's the point?

Bruner frames this for our ministry as this: The form this satanic voice assumes in addressing disciples is something like"How can you claim to be the child of God when you are struggling with big problems instated of victories over them. Get rid of your problems [turn your stones into bread], and then we can believe you are in a strong relation with God." …. The issues is sharp and clear: either we believe the Voice of baptism -- "You are the son [or daughter] of God or we believe the other voice -You are the son [or daughter] of God  when you can prove it by signs" 

In Christian circles, we want to prove that we are worthy of the call of our vocation of ministry. Often times, outsiders are asking "how is Youth Form doing?" People like good news and I like being the guy who is doing good work. But, I often feel like if they only knew the real me, my struggles, my insecurities, my failures I would never be trusted with this organization or really more accurately be trusted in any way as being a representative of God. 

The simple truth is because of what Christ did on the cross, we are adopted and grafted into the family of God and we need not buy into the lie that we need to be anything less than who we are today for God to accept us. No shortcoming can pluck us from a relationship with him. We are nothing less then daughters and sons of the king on high. God loves us and calls us to follow him - even when we don't have our shit together.

How is God calling you today to follow him? 

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

― Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude