A couple of weeks ago, I received a crazy-long email from one of my former students. Before we started Catalyst, I was a Student Pastor for 6 years. While there is much that I do NOT miss about Student Ministry, there is a lot that I do miss.
One of the things that fired me up then, and still does today, is when a student "gets it"...when the light bulb goes off and they see all that is available to them in Jesus and they sell out...go for it...all out.
Over the past 2 years, I have had very little contact with the student who sent me this email, but clearly, God has been at work...BIG TIME. What God began when this student was in our ministry, He continued through other leaders and the student's family. I was blown away by what I read. Here's a small excerpt:
"God has shown me unbelievable things. God is my driving force. He continues to amaze me. He will forever amaze me. This overwhelming passion within me has given me such a heart for the lost. It is consuming. I have never felt the extent of sorrow that I feel when I consider the hopelessness of so many people who don’t know the Lord, many of which are my friends. I had never completely bought into the idea that the lost are missing so much, but now that I have experienced unspeakable joy, the only thing that my heart desires is to give it away so that they can be happy. My heart breaks for them. Nothing else can hold out hope for this world like Christ and I am now confident in that. I am driven to lead others to that hope as well."
Good grief...if I could share the rest of it, you'd say the same thing I said..."Wow!" I know a good many of you who stop by here regularly are Student Pastors...hear me on this...IT'S WORTH IT! It may take 2 years to happen, but IT'S WORTH IT!
And, I love it when a student gets it and God uses their courageous fire to challenge me. That happened with this email...I hope it did for you, too.
Student - you know who you are - THANK YOU!
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