youth = hard work

i have been reflecting, studying & praying about different youth ministry revelations I have had these days. Talked with a GREAT lady and she shared some stuff that I found helpful when it comes to lighting the fire under my booty to get up and DO SOMETHING about today's youth...
First a nice quote she emailed me:

There is a time for everything.
A time to kneel and a time to stand,
a time to pray and a time to talk.
But there is never a time to look the other way.
There is never a time to ignore the truth.

Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry by Rick Lawrence

...The problem I'm seeing is that the focus on Jesus is missing. Youth ministry is doing a lot of cool things, but they aren’t producing kids who understand who Jesus is. The Exemplary Youth Ministry study found that the churches that had the most effective youth ministries had an obsessive focus on Jesus Christ. So believe it or not, even though Jesus is supposed to be the point of our churches, the reality is that our young people just aren’t getting that.This is going to sound strange, but a lot of youth ministries don’t know what their kids believe. You can simply ask them in conversation, or more formally you can give them a survey asking them to detail what they know. You start with that, and then deconstruct the false Jesus they’ve come to know—even making fun of that image. Then once you’ve lampooned that image, you can start building up the right view. As you discuss a story about Jesus, stop and ask everyone, “What is Jesus doing in this story and what is he not doing?” That alone slows people down and starts to reintroduce them to who Jesus is and transform their image of what He is all about.

Basically, God has been breaking my heart for this generation of kids. And reminding me that they need to know the truth before they exit the youth group if they're gonna be able to stand up to the world. Post youth group, they are being questioned about their faith and losing it because they can't explain why they believe what they do. They don't know how to read their Bibles because it has always been spoon-fed to them, and THIS, my friends, is a problem.

Never, ever underestimate the power of prayer in these kids lives.