Not My Own

Most teenagers I talk with describe their life to me as if they live in a pressure cooker feeling pressure from all angles in their life to succeed. They tell me they are in activities they don't even care for because their parents tell them it will look good on their college application letter. Students burn themselves out before they even get to college. Why? So that they can succeed! These kids are so overwhelmed by all these activities they often forget to just stop and enjoy life. Often I ask, "Where do you feel the most pressure from?" The answer is always the same... Parents. Isn't that what parents are suppose to do? They are suppose to give every opportunity they can to help their kid succeed! Isn't that the most important thing in life? Some parents say, "No, I just want my kid to be happy." Or "No, I just want my kid to feel loved." I wonder how many teens are truly happy or truly feel deeply loved. When I ask students, "

Tuesday night, I had the privilege of participating in The Bridge Ministry (http://www.bridgeministry.org/about/jefferson-street-bridge/) .  This ministry is the best picture of Church I have seen! It's so beautiful! There are a variety of ages, races, classes, all coming together to worship God under a bridge where many homeless residents in Nashville reside. Trucks show up and unload food, clothes, and a variety of different donations for those in need. People show up to volunteer to help distribute these items and to help lead a worship service. This is a church but it doesn't meet on Sundays, doesn't collect an offering during the service, doesn't take attendance, doesn't have an assigned pastor, and doesn't have bulletins or slide shows. This is a church who actually spends time, effort, and money doing the things Jesus called us to do. Instead of just listening to a sermon and going home, after church volunteers help pass out food and/or clothes to

Today I met with a wonderful group of youth ministers called Youth Pastor's Anonymous http://youthpastorsanonymous.org/  (Check us out). A small group of us met and we tried to answer the question "How is your soul?". I was not surprised at how many of the minister's answered stressed, exhausted, worried, and drained. Most of the worries and the stress revolved around similar issues... money, church drama, bad leadership, too much programming, business, and personal life issues.  I feel this way most of my days as a minister. I walked away from the meeting reflecting on how insanely hard ministry is. Then I read in the Bible... from Matthew 11:28-30  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  What the heck was Jesus talking about?!!! Seems to me Jesus' yok