What ministry is really like.

I have to tell you about my youth, about what ministry is really like.

I've noticed that there is an idea that has been going around churches. This idea is that youth ministry is this type of ministry that is only fun, that nothing ever really goes wrong, and all that youth pastors do is get weird haircuts and play games with kids. Granted, a lot of youth pastors have really strange haircuts that remind me of the kids off of The Rugrats, we do tend to have a lot of fun with our youth, and play a ton of games. But, that's definitely not how youth ministry plays out most of the time.

Youth ministry is by far one of the most difficult things that I have ever done. Let me give you a few examples of things that have happened in my youth ministry; I have had a kid hit another kid in the head with a stool, most of my youth's fathers are in jail, one of my youth's mother is in rehab, I've broken up fights, I've been hit, I've lost sleep, cops have pulled into the parking lot because of my youth, and I've had to kick kids out of the Wednesday night service. Youth ministry, or ministry in general is no walk in the park with a bunch of weird haircuts. 

Don't get me wrong though! We have had wonderful times in my youth ministry too, I've seen kids that were far from the Lord come to Christ. One of my youth understand scripture better than I do sometimes, which I love. One of my fondest memories is when one of my youth asked another how he understands scripture so easily and he replied with; "How do you not understand? It's right there, all you have to do is read and pray!" 

Ministry is hard, but its worth it. And we don't all have weird haircuts. 

Ever have a bad day?

Everyone has had bad days, some are of course going to be worse than others. For example, I work with the public at my job selling shoes. It takes a whole lot of effort to keep from blasting some rude people in the face. For both of our sake I hold back, smile, and nod along like any other decent person would.

Once they leave the store I feel like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I think to myself; "I must be a good Christian to have put up with that person. Immediately after that thought the Holy Spirit tends to give me a well deserved slap on the back of the head, then Jesus whispers to my soul; "What if you were supposed to tell that person about me?

It is at times like these that I have to remember that every person that I encounter is possibly a person that I could be called to witness to at any moment. Every place that we go into from grocery stores to college classes need to be entered into with an attitude of prayer. Ask for help from the Holy Spirit to give you a nudge to go talk to someone, and of course for the courage to do that. Don't worry about whether or not you strike out or if the person laughs at you. You did what the Holy Spirit told you to do. That encounter where you were laughed at could have brought that person from a negative 10 to a negative 9 on the faith scale. Even for something as small as that, we should all rejoice!

So when you're having a bad day and you just want to scream at a few people, remember that every person is an evangelistic opportunity, and we have to love them as God loves us, and as we love each other.

What this and I am about.

Okay, I'm going to write a blog. This is a little out of my norm, mainly because I am more comfortable with videos. My name is Alex Gebert, I am a youth pastor at Easley First Wesleyan Church, I have a YouTube channel that I will mention later on, and I'm in my last semester at Southern Wesleyan University. I have a wonderful wife that puts up for me and my shenanigans for some unknown reason and that I love so very much. But enough about me, lets talk about the Blog!

Life Together is going to grow and change as I write it and I hope that you, the reader, will grow and change as you read it. Basically, this blog is going to be about a few different topics; the first will be Christianity, the second is going to be about my life and the interesting things that happen to me, and there will probably be more topics as things pop into my head. Everyone that reads is free to comment, in fact I would love for you to comment and give me ideas! If you have any questions about anything at all, please ask.

So let's get started! The reason that I was inspired to start a blog is Mark Wilson, the author of Purple Fish. If you haven't read that book yet, GO READ IT. I read Purple Fish and I was inspired to reach people for Christ any way that I can. I actually had the chance to talk to Mark Wilson about it and he encouraged me to start this blog. Purple Fish is a practical and inspiring book about telling people about Christ. Evangelism, is something that we need to be intentional about, and it is something that most people think will just happen. For example; let's say that someone offers you a beer and you turn it down. No one is going to come up to you and ask you how Christ has affected your life, why you live for Him, and if they can do it too! Things like that simply don't happen! You have to go out and tell people about Jesus, no one knows why you are doing something unless you tell them.

Just as a quick throw-in, my YouTube Channel is this. I teach about theology because I want people to know as much as they can about their faith. Spiritual growth is interlocked with intellectual growth, nobody wants a bunch of ignorant Christians walking around.