Life + Faith

Category: On Reading

  • God Hears Our Prayers

    “The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.” (Psalm 6:9)

    Isn’t great that we can be safe in the knowledge that the Lord hears our prayers?

    While reading Psalm 6 this morning this verse stood out to me. It gives me assurance of a God who listens to me, who hears me, and who accepts me.

    Prayer can be a difficult and weary task at times. Our relationship with him may be rather dry, or it is difficult to speak to God when we are conscious of our own sin. However, the Lord is good and he hears our prayers and cries for help.

    David, the writer of this Psalm, is troubled and knows he has done wrong. It seems he is conscious of his sin and is guilt-ridden because of it. He is crying out to God, desperate for his help.

    It can be easy to resonate with David here.

    How often are we in sin? How often have we done things we don’t want to do? How often have we gone against God and chosen the wrong path, the wrong words, the wrong actions toward others? Sometimes this leads to regret, to a knowledge of guilt, a knowledge of sin.

    There is no worse feeling, I believe, than knowing you have sinned against the Almighty. He is an all-powerful, glorious, and magnificent God who knows all and is in all and is through all.

    Here David rests in the knowledge that the Lord has heard his pleading, his cry for help, and his cry for mercy. What great assurance! To know the Lord has heard our pleas and heard our cries brings an assurance from above.

    Yet, he not only hears them, he also accepts them! He is willing to accept what we say to him, hearing our anguished cry for forgiveness and for help. Through our Mediator, Jesus Christ, our cries are heard and accepted and we are made new once more.

    Through the work of Jesus Christ upon that beautiful cross the Lord hears and accepts our prayers. But even more, he hears and accepts us! Us! With all our sin, foibles, and quirks he takes us into his loving arms and holds us in our time of need.

    O what assurance, O what loving grace!

  • Book Review: Leaders Who Will Last by Tim Hawkins

    Book Review: Leaders Who Will Last by Tim Hawkins

    Tim Hawkins has been involved in youth ministry here in Australia for many years. Leaders Who Will Last is his second book on the topic of youth ministry. His first, Fruit That Will Last, was written in the late 1990s and is a foundational text for youth ministry practitioners, particularly here in Australia. Before reading Leaders Who Will Last I’d highly recommend reading his first.

    Leaders Who Will Last, published in 2002, is, as you can imagine, all about youth ministry leadership. I have just finished my first reading of it and would recommend it to anyone in the youth ministry field. However, this book is not only for those in youth ministry on a paid basis, but for anyone involved in a voluntary capacity–parent, youth leader, or small group leader.

    Leaders Who Will Last is grounded in scripture and gives good advice for youth leaders. There are three main sections of the book – vision, character, and skills.

    It is under vision that the biblical foundations are set. The issues of calling, shepherding, and servanthood are rightly portrayed as important. The main characteristics of a leader are to be faithful, reliable, and a follower of those in higher authority, such as the senior pastor, youth pastor, or lead leader.

    In terms of skills, the emphasis is on teaching the Bible, whether at the main youth gathering or through a bible study. This I find is a bit light, I think there are more things a youth leader should also be across, not just being able to teach the scriptures. In fact, I think some leaders may not even be able to do that, but there are other skills that they may bring to the overall health of a youth ministry.

    Hawkins also describes, albeit in 16 points, the various aspects to youth work and the type of person a youth leader can be. These include things such as, a pray-er, an organiser, and even a counsellor.

    Overall, I thought the book was good. An area of improvement would be a deeper theological basis for youth leadership and youth ministry in general. While a biblical theology of youth ministry is not what this book is, there are other places to find such grounding. I couldn’t recommend Mike McGarry’s, A Biblical Theology of Youth Ministry more highly enough on this front.

    Much of what was written applies directly to me, particularly the issue of getting right with God and staying right. I must set my heart on his ways and his agenda. This book pushes me to pray more, particularly for my leaders, my peers, my kids, and my church.

    And finally, it is a book that I will recommend to other youth leaders. There is so much information in this book that is helpful to any leadership position, but specifically to those in youth ministry.