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by Seth Barnes, Executive Director
     Adventures In Missions

Classroom-style teaching isn’t very effective. Students must learn their Christianity by doing it.

This is why mission projects are so important. They distill the essence of Christianity into a predetermined time frame. A study on the subject of service is abstract. Dirty fingernails and a humbled spirit are the realities that accompany a service project.

A study on the subject of faith doesn’t hit the heart like finances that come through at the last second. A study on the power of God soon fades from memory, but God's power demonstrated through the miracle of healing is indelibly stamped.

Jesus taught His disciples principles and then He modeled them. We should never teach principles without modeling behavior. Any biblical principles "taught" but never modeled are wasting away in the fragile environment of our students’ memories.

To make the Christian walk come alive for today's generation of cynical teens, we've got to bring them alongside us. Our message should be: "Jesus taught us to love; let's find someone who needs our love. Jesus taught us to share our reason for hope; let's go share our faith tonight."

So, enough talk already. Listen to James: "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." Spiritual growth in a person’s life takes place in the realm of the spirit, not in the intellect.