Youth ministers urged to see Christ as source of strength

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ARLINGTON—Ministers and lay leaders will face challenges and hardships when they try to reach out to young people, veteran youth ministry leaders said. Expect trials, setbacks and difficulties, they told participants at Youth Ministry Conclave.

In response, those who work with youth must cling to the Source who can guide them through obstacles to continue shining hope into young people's lives—Christ, said David Nasser, lead pastor of Christ City Church in Birmingham, Ala.

Christ calls his followers to a lifestyle that embodies God's character of "100 percent grace" and "100 percent truth," Nasser said. To do so requires Christians to have discernment about which battles to fight and which discussions to engage. Some are not worth the time or effort. Others, Nasser argued, must be fought passionately as Christ would.

God can use anyone, in spite of their limitations, lifelong stutterer and veteran minister Neal Jeffrey told Youth Ministry Conclave participants.

"Fight for your marriage," he said during the Texas Baptist event. "Fight for your ministry. Fight for your students. Fight. Fight. Fight."

Some Christians have an incomplete image of Jesus by focusing only on biblical passages where Christ taught his followers to "turn the other cheek," Nasser said. Christ also turned over the tables in the temple and drove out the moneychangers, he noted.

"God is a warrior who never ran," Nasser said.

An encounter with that God of grace and truth is life-changing, said Neal Jeffrey, associate pastor of pastoral and preaching ministries at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. God is sufficient for all the issues and obstacles a person comes across.

"Everyone who was touched by Jesus in the New Testament was changed," Jeffrey said. "You can't be the same man, you can't be the same woman after being touched by Jesus."


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Jeffrey believes his life story is a testimony to Christ's power. A life-long stutterer, Jeffrey felt called to preach but resisted it, feeling he never could speak publicly.

He even stuttered during silent prayer, he joked.

The low point came when he was asked to introduce himself to a church during a mission trip. He opened his mouth and nothing came out. After a bit, the mission trip leader introduced Jeffrey.

Christian leaders need discernment to know which battles are worth fighting, David Nasser, pastor of Christ City Church in Birmingham, Ala., told participants at Youth Ministry Conclave.

Jeffrey still struggles with his stuttering, but God has honored his willingness to follow his call upon Jeffrey's life, he testified. As a result of God working through him, people have come to know and embrace Christ.

God "can do anything with any man, any woman who will say yes to him," he said.

Ben Stuart, executive director of Breakaway Ministries in College Station, affirmed life for a Christian must stem from a relationship with Christ. He rediscovered this truth recently as he was forced to lie on his stomach day and night for a month following a back injury. Lying there, he found himself watching movie after movie to pass the time. Eventually he found himself watching a subpar movie at 2 a.m. and realized he was just trying to distract himself from his situation.

He turned off the movie and began praying honestly to God, sharing how he felt. On the floor, he connected with God again.

"I met with God on my living room floor," Stuart said. "I'll tell you today, I love him more than I've ever loved him before."

Youth ministers can be confronted by the challenge of busy schedules and attempting to have the best youth programs, Stuart noted. They get so carried away with the varied techniques they can use and building the largest programs that they lose sight of what's most important—connecting with God.

"When you get into youth ministry, everything is flying at you, and it's easy to lose that one thing," Stuart said.


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