The Why

“Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’” Josh.‭4‬:‭6‬

Summer is a busy time for ministry leaders. Youth conferences, youth camps, family camps, VBS, and a whole host of outdoor outreach ministries. All of them are filled with divine possibilities. All of them filled with busyness. If you’re not careful and prayerful, it’s a busyness that can easily ‘get the best of ya’.

To avoid the weariness, it was always helpful to remind myself why these ministry opportunities are valuable. Kinda like all the things that consumed Joshua’s ministry. From early morning until the last Israelite crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, he was one busy leader. All of it had lasting value. Especially the 12 stones taken from the Jordan. Stones that became a memorial to God’s miraculous care. A teaching tool for generations to come… reminding them of the ‘why’. 

That’s how I came to view special summer ministries. Each of them became a ‘stone’ memorializing God’s miraculous work. What do these ‘stones of ministry mean’? They mean God continues to call boys and girls, men and women to follow Him. Teaching moments that pass on a living and lasting legacy of personal faith in Christ… the ‘why’!