Have you ever noticed a reverse evangelism effect in youth-aged congregants and their families? By "reverse" I mean the children coming to church and bringing their parents instead of the parents coming and bringing their children. I have noticed this phenomenon on several occasions. I find it powerful, amazing, and often times overlooked. Here is what has happened some at Cedar Creek. Students get extremely involved in youth activites and God starts dealing with their hearts. This is a good thing. It is my desire to see students grow closer to God. In turn, they follow the Holy Spirit and dedicate their lives to God. This too is the way it supposed to work. In many cases, however, these students live in a home where Christ is not the center. I have seen many a tear shed from a teenager in earnest prayer for her or his parents to be saved. This breaks my heart. There is a good side of this story though. On occasion, parents will start coming to church with their kids. Honestly, I believe it is a wonderful approach used by God. Most everyone around here at least acknowledges the existance of God. They may not be sincere about their individual involvement, but they love their children enough to want them to be close to God. In turn, when their children want to go to church, they sometimes end up going with them. In the best of these situations, the parents are saved and become dedicated to walking with Christ. How wonderful! God works through a teenager and I love watching it go down!
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