For those of you who may be unaware, part of my own efforts to say yes and pursue holiness in my personal life is through my work with high school students and young adults.
Part of what drives me is the reality that so many people are “turning away” from the very thing that will bring them purpose, peace and abundance in their lives, but the “siren call” of what the world offers–money, power and pleasure–lures many of us, but especially young people, on to the rocks of depression, despair and addiction.
These lures are particularly overwhelming in our culture today, so part of my journey has been to seek out “best practices” and “lessons learned” from those who are doing similar work in the vineyard, and that led me recently to read The Art of Forming Young Disciples: Why Youth Ministries Aren’t Working And What To Do About It by Everett Fritz.
After reading his book and suggestions about what needs to happen to assist young people in being formed into lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, I reached out to Everett and he was graciously willing to set aside some time recently for me to speak with him on the phone.
During my next several blog posts, I am going to highlight a few portions of my conversation with Everett, as well as share a few of my own reflections about the challenges and opportunities we have today in our world as disciples of Christ.
Because although this conversation that Everett and I had focused upon forming discipleship in young people, what we spoke about is applicable for ALL of us to remember and ensure is present in our own lives–regardless of where we happen to be on the journey to holiness.
I hope and pray that you enjoy “meeting” and spending time with Everett and I in the days ahead, and I highly recommend that you go read his book!
