This story was orignally published on BICSMT.ca on Feb. 20th, 2008.

Mike Yaconelli is one of those names in Youth Ministry that lives on well beyond the man himself. Mike died when I was 19, just as I was half way through my time with the YouthBuilders. We had watched Mike's tape series The Heart of Youth Ministry as part of our training, but other than the discussions I had overheard as a Youth Pastor wannabe in high school, I knew very little of him. In some ways I feel I live in the post-Yaconelli time of Youth Ministry, but I keep running across his work lately. He seems ahead of his time, a man who knew the timeless of the message and call of Jesus, yet kept challenging himself and the Church to engage the world around them. Hurried Decipleship is a article Yaconelli wrote for YouthWorkers Journal almost 7 years ago (2001). With the busy-ness that comes with life, I find I often forget that youth don't live like me. They're are young, a status that comes with lots of benefits but also lots of challenges. I expect too much of my students, and in turn, too much of myself. The Spirit of God moves in very mysterious ways, and often, too slowly for my liking. Yaconelli's article reminded me that I need to constantly be moving with my students and evaluating what they need from me in the moment I'm with them and to them be what God is allowing them to be: young.

Enjoy!

Hurried Decipleship by Mike Yaconelli (2001)