my only concern about the young preachers is that they are called and not pushed into adults agenda. if they are called, god bless ‘em. but i fear sometimes that these kids are being used to feed the ego of the adults around them. kind of like little league sports.i know that may sound harsh, but I just didnt have a good feeling about that. my 0.02 cents.

I loved this comment from the video: “I’m going to answer this question biblely”

I watched the kid preacher special on ABC when it originally aired, and it really made me uncomfortable. I know that Christ taught in the temple when he was just 12, but let’s remember HE WAS GOD. I do not want to ever be guilty of putting God in a box and saying that He can’t work through whatever or whomever He wants, but I did not perceive these boys to be divinely inspired at all….I think they are parentally inspired. I fear that they won’t be able to live up to the high expectations that they (or those around them) have placed on themselves in their teen years. A time of questions will come for them (as it does for all students) and I fear that they will think they should have it all figured about b/c they are child prodigy preachers. In a way, it is almost as if they have been robbed of that child-like wonder of who Christ really is, and who He can be in their lives.

at my church all the young adults skate Its like a whole different world to reach. I think its super cool though.

Marko, the comment about being on the front end of a growing awareness of the shortcomings of current approaches to youth ministry refers to our organization being on the front end of our efforts in trying to address this challenge by focusing on the spiritual development of students - the comment did not mean to imply that southern baptists have this all figured out - no way! We’re fellow strugglers in this effort.

That is a fantastic quote. It really addresses something that all of us need to wrestle with regularly to make sure we’re building His Kingdom, and not our own. I look forward to actually reading the article.

scott — that totally makes sense. thanks for the clarification.

Wow, my heart just felt heavy watching those children. The little boy shouting at the congregation that God is telling them they have to obey each of the ten commandments. I recognize that we only saw what the people editing the videos showed us, but I have seen “child preachers” in third world countries, and their genuineness came from their passion for the Lord. Rather than focusing on reaching people, they’re so in love with the Lord that they’re a living testimony and preach through sharing what God is teaching them. I just didn’t get that impression of humility from these boys.