This past Friday, Laurie and I took Robert over to the Youth Awakening at New Life Community Church. We stayed to hear Tim speak and I’m so glad we did! He knocked it out of the park! He was the first speaker and had the assignment of “introducing” the overall theme of the weekend. He did, in a big way. His premise was that we have all been created to serve and worship God. But because of the fall, we’ve fallen into idolatry, serving and worshiping created things instead of our Creator (Romans 1:18-32).

He did a great job of connecting with the kids and explaining some pretty heady biblical concepts, using some insightful and relevant illustrations. But he shared a quote from Donald Barnhouse that I had never heard before and I thought it packed a serious punch:

Will God give man brains to see these things and will man then fail to exercise his will toward that God? The sorrowful answer is that both of these things are true. God will give a man brains to smelt iron and make a hammer head and nails. God will grow a tree and give man strength to cut it down and brains to fashion a hammer handle from its wood. And when man has the hammer and the nails, God will put out His hand and let man drive nails through it and place Him on a cross in the supreme demonstration that men are without excuse.

Wow! Good stuff! Tim, I appreciated all the preparation and prayer you put into your message. God was honored and His people were inspired, and your pastor was beaming :) After getting the post-youth-awakening breakdown from Robert last night, it sounds like the rest of the weekend was just as good.

P.S. If you’re a Christ’s Church parent who has a Jr or Sr higher that wasn’t able to make it this weekend. . . or, who is missing out on youth group each Sunday afternoon, let me encourage you to get your child(ren) plugged-in.

It’s not just a question of what they are missing week to week, it’s also what WE are missing. Along with faithfully teaching them the Word, Tim also has a tremendous heart for seeing “youth group” become a place that fosters biblical community over time among our teens. That obviously isn’t going to occur over night, but it will never occur apart from long term, consistent involvement.

Get behind Tim and Tonya in this regard. Pray for them. Encourage them. Support them. Let them know how much you appreciate their ministry. Above all, champion this with your kids so that they will want to get plugged-in.