Redirecting My Small Group Tonight

This morning while I was driving to work I had a realization about my small group. We aren't getting anywhere. Let me explain.

I have been mentoring, teaching and just plain hanging out with the same group of high school guys for the past 3 years. Since they were freshmen I have been a part of their lives and now they are juniors. It's amazing how much some of them have grown.

And at the same time, it's sad to see how far some of the other guys have fallen away. For a long time now I have done my best to try and maintain the group by doing fun things. We play videogames together, we play Risk together, we just have fun. And I think that is important.

But at the same time, I am not here to be their friend alone. I need to really refocus myself to be a spiritual mentor to these guys. Pretty soon they will be graduating from high school and the greatest fear I have is for them to move on with their lives and not have an understanding of how to maintain their own faith.

So tonight I am hoping to start something new with these guys. I have always been a firm believer that more meaningful discussion occurs around a campfire than any other place I have ever seen. No distractions and everyone feels somewhat safer since it is difficult to fully see everyone. At any rate, I am hoping to just have a good heart-to-heart with my guys. About life, direction, and of course, God.