Unbelievable

I just can’t stop talking about how good things are going at Mission. I’m so floored at how good God has been to the High School Ministry so far.

When I got here we had something like 8 adult volunteers, and now we’ve got over 30. And I’ve been PICKY PICKY PICKY. They just keep coming. I take no credit.

I think we had something like 110 people in the room my first few weeks. Today we had 198. And I’ve been teaching through some difficult/challenging/crowd-shrinking passages! They just keep coming. I take no credit.

I give all the credit to God, and to my friend Kerry who led these kids so well for so long. They were growing and ready to keep growing before I even got here.

I loved Cornerstone, but I wasn’t supposed to be there any more. It ended ugly, but God has shown his grace in how he has redeemed that whole mess. I loved Calvary too, and I miss my Orange County friends, but I wasn’t supposed to be there any more.

I had to come to Mission, and I’m so glad I did.

I wonder if I would feel this way if attendance had plummeted and nobody seemed to care what I was saying. I wonder if I’d feel this contentment and joy if the Mission students were hard-hearted and critical of me. I feel this great sense of confirmation, but it’s easy to feel this way when everything is going so well. It’s easy to trust God when everything is going smooth.

Trouble is coming, it always is… I hope that my joy, contentment, and faith in God remain strong! I hope I continue to take heart and remember that this world has already been overcome. That Love has already won.

And I hope we have 400 kids coming by this time next year… because there are about 10,000 high school students within 15 miles of me. That keeps my 200 in a proper perspective!