143 A Tribute To My Youth Pastors

A Tribute to My Youth Pastors: Ronnie and Maxine Kennedy Ronnie passed away recently and Maxine passed away a few years ago of cancer. They have 2 boys who are now men with families. They were bi-vocational pastors during the Jesus Revolution in North Carolina and did not know it. Yet, to them, and for many many others, we are indebted to their sacrifices. They bought a bus with their own money to transport us. They had meetings with us awkward teenagers in their house. We were not nearly as grateful as we needed to be to such sacrificial people.  They died not knowing the magnitude of what their sacrifices created. But now… in the presence of Jesus Christ they are amazed at their rewards and the rewards that are still building. They were not treated as the heroes while they were here on Earth, but in heaven they are well known among the heroes and saints of old. How…? Because they suffered the little ones to come to them as Jesus had done before them. The prayed and worked with and reached out to teenagers which few understood or would not even consider them as worthy of time or importance. But Ronnie and Maxine were on a mission! They were called for a time, so others could live eternally and brought to Christ decades later, still growing to reach a lost and dying world . Unsung heroes, visionaries ahead of their time. They looked liked normal people, but they were Saints of God with a calling much like Jesus and his followers. They were normal people with a God filled heart in each one. They gave too much, but it was heaven's gain. "Little is much when God is in it." "One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him."  Mark 10:13 NLT When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children." Mark 10:14 NLT _______________________________ Looking for a new student ministry resource? You can read my book "Burn Up Not Out: A Student Ministry Fire Builder's Guidebook" here: https://amzn.to/3PtBTIy Listen to more episodes from the Youth Worker On Fire Podcast here: https://bit.ly/3saDyYq _______________________________ EPISODE CREDITS Email us at: [email protected] Hosted by: Doug Edwards Theme Song: "The One and Only" by The 808 (Listen to more at: https://bit.ly/3FTYIAJ ) Intro/Outro Voiceover: Michael Helms ( https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelTheSoundGuy ) Edited by: Secret Roots Music House