[HT: Dane @ Informational Inflammation]

Paul Washer is with Heartcry Missionary Society and boy does he pack a wallop to these youth kids. There are 5000 kids gathered in a Southern Baptist Convention youth conference. Here is the sermon description:

This is a Shockingly Powerful & Biblical message preached to about 5,000 youth in a day when youth are appealed to through shallow and worldly means.

At one point in this sermon the 5,000 Youth are clapping and yelling BUT THEN the preacher makes a comment that CHANGES THE WHOLE ATMOSPHERE TO WHERE YOU COULD HAVE HEARD A PIN DROP… As you can imagine, the preacher was never invited back.

He definitely preaches the Gospel with earnestness. You can download the sermon here. The one thing though is that there seems to be much emphasis on the guilt of sin and the consequences of sin, but not enough on the joy and delight and power of grace. Thus, it leaves the listener guilty, but possibly hopeless. I will say this much though, he is preaching the truth to youth kids. In an age where Youth Ministry could be titled, “Youth Entertainment Ministry,” Paul Washer is really give youth kids a picture of the holiness of God and the great Gospel. Now if he would add the power of grace and the great joy of grace behind it as well.

On another note, I received a phone call the other day from David Michael, the Children’s and Family pastor from Desiring God. It’s seems that Bethlehem Baptist is looking for a “Young Adult Pastor” and he was wondering if I happened to know anyone. What I thought was interesting was what age group this “young adult pastor” would be pastor of. He told me that their picture of “Young Adult” were youth from 9th grade to 12th grade. Bethlehem Baptist’s picture of youth ministry is not entertainment ministry, but instead to raise these boys and girls to eventually be men and women who have a passion for God and for the Gospel. What a wonderful picture for youth. The culture has so captured the youth, in and outside the church, that as Paul Washer stated, many times you can’t tell the difference between the church or the world. And so as he stated, the polls are showing that the morality of those in the church is no different than those outside the church. To me, that is not a picture of the church failing morally. That’s more of a picture of the church failing to preach and live out the Gospel. And yes, the Gospel is not just for adults, but for “young adults” and children and toddlers as well.

Gene Edward Veith wrote a World Magazine article called, “Stupid Church Tricks.” It is based on a lawsuit filed against a church by four sets of parents of youth kids. According to GEV’s article,

A youth leader chewed up a mixture of dog food, sardines, potted meat, sauerkraut, cottage cheese, and salsa, topped off with holiday eggnog. As if this spectacle were not disgusting enough (let the reader beware), he then spit out the mixture into a glass and encouraged the members of the youth group to drink it!

Some of those who did, of course, became sick, whereupon their parents sued the church. According to an Associated Press account, the youth pastor said that the “gross-out” game, called the Human Vegematic, was just for fun and that the church forced no one to participate. The lawsuit accused the adults in charge of pressuring 13- and 14-year-olds into activities that caused them physical and mental harm.

And then GEV adds:

There is Sanctuary Softball, which involves whacking a nerf ball in church, with home plate being the area of the altar, and running through the pews, as the fielders then try to hit the batter with the ball to make an out. Another fun activity is Seafood Catch, which involves putting minnows in the baptistry, then catching them by hand. (“Extra points for eating them after it is done.”)

Then there are games designed to appeal to adolescents’ hormones. These include kissing games like “Kiss the Wench.” “Leg Line Up” has girls feel boy’s legs to identify who is who. Some of them have odd homosexual subtexts, like “Pull Apart,” in which guys cling to each other, while girls try to pull them apart. Another has girls putting makeup on guys, leading to a drag beauty show. Then there is the embarrassingly Freudian “Baby Bottle Burp,” in which girls put a diaper (a towel) on a boy, then feed him a bottle of soda, and cradle him until he burps!

I guess the church today doesn’t believe the Gospel and good-natured fun in light of the Gospel will win kids over to belief in that Gospel. But I have a hard time seeing how feeling the legs of the opposite sex will help anyone to see the depth of their sin and their need for Christ. This is what GEV sees as the lessons kids are learning from such youth activities:

1. Lose your inhibitions
2. Give in to peer pressure
3. Christianity is stupid

Wow. This is why Paul Washer says what he says in the way he said it. Maybe the kids needed to hear the message that way. Maybe the parents needed to hear it. Definitely, the youth pastors needed to hear it. Considering he wasn’t invited back, I guess they needed to hear it but they don’t want to hear it.