PASSING ON A VITAL FAITH
The next generation needs lasting regeneration, too.
Sonny Salsbury
October 1, 1988
On a gorgeous morning in the California mountain town of Weed, the last day of a two-week youth-choir tour found us consuming a "Tour's-End Celebration Breakfast." Seventy-five teenagers eventually loaded into the station wagon and two buses in the coffee shop parking lot, while I remained to take care of the bill. Moments later, I stepped out the front door, took a deep breath of clean, mountain air, and realized to my dismay that the parking lot was empty. All three vehicles were gone. Each driver, including my wife, Linda, had assumed I was in one of the other vehicles. Rushing back inside, I phoned the California Highway Patrol and asked if they had an officer on Highway 97 between Weed and the Oregon border. "Yep," came the answer, "one." I explained my predicament and added that our next rendezvous was to be Bend, Oregon-two hundred miles away! Half an hour later, that lone patrolman flagged the convoy and with a chuckle passed on the news: "You left your leader behind in Weed!" As I look back over thirty years in youth ministry, I realize I've eventually been "left behind"-intentionally-by every group of kids I've ever had. There comes too quickly the time when I must watch them graduate out of my care. Each time I'm inclined to ask myself, Have I imparted to these kids what they need spiritually to be successful on the next leg of their trip? How does a church give young people the goods they need for their journey through life? How do we pass on spiritual vitality to the next generation? I've done a lot of thinking about these questions, and I've arrived at some answers for my own ministry. But first, what is vital Christianity? Can we know when kids have it? A Lively and Animated Faith
When I look at the lives of Christian ...
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