teachable moments

Today's story is from Acts 8:26-39. It's one of my more favorite 'post-Jesus' stories. The disciple Philip is told by God to go to a certain road. There, a chariot drives by him and he hears that its passenger is reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. He hears from God again that he should go and talk to this person. So he runs to catch up with the chariot and asks, "Do you understand what you're reading?"

It's funny to me that the eunuch bascially says, "Of course I don't understand it!" It makes me wonder why he was reading the passage in the first place. But it's a huge opening for Philip - all but an invitation to instruct the man.

This is what my youth professor would call a 'Teachable Moment'. One of those rare spaces in time where you've got something to say and the person you're talking to is ready to hear it. I've found that you can't create teachable moments - you can create an environment that encourages them, but you can't create the moment itself. Those, I think, come from God.

In youth ministry, that's the thing we always have to be looking for - those teachable moments where the kids say, "Of course I don't understand!", inviting us to teach them the Good News of Jesus.

As I write this, I wonder whether TYN might be at a very teachable place right now. The kids are used to our Bible Study routines and seem to be craving something more or different. Here are some brainwaves I'm having right now that I'm gonna post:

• In the fall, instead of preparing a bible study for the kids, break them into groups and help them write their own bible studies that they would then present over the next few months.
• Have a prayer concert (where you spend almost the entire two hours praying) with prayer rooms and group prayers and worship and stuff.

That could be fun. Those things might foster more teachable moments! Something for you guys to think about anyway...