All of a sudden this afternoon I really wanted an apple turnover. I have no idea from where this came. I was driving, not by apple trees, not by a bakery, and soon I found myself swinging into a supermarket parking lot. I am puzzled because I am not prone to sudden urges of appetite and I know I am not pregnant. On occasion I do long for a plate of cooked bananas smothered in peanut sauce. It is a staple in Uganda.
The Psalmist in number 42 wrote, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” How grand it would be if we could make our worship experiences so appetizing and so satisfying that people longed for the weekends to arrive so they could attend church. It would be especially good if we could do that for our young people. So often we have an abundance of small children in church and a famine of teens. Our greatest evangelism challenge isn’t bringing lost sheep into the fold. It is keeping the lambs from disappearing out the back gate. So often we spend hundreds of thousands on public evangelism and a pittance on Christian education.
Often I hear remarks like this, “If we had contemporary music our youth would stay.” While I do think music is important I think this does not give our young people credit for thinking. If we challenged them intellectually with a message of God’s love that meets their everyday needs, I believe they would stay with us. Our teens are people and people long to be loved. Let our love be the fence that keeps them in the fold.
The apple turnover was really good.
Written by Roger Bothwell on September 18, 2013
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org