We live in the Kingdom of God, even when pain overwhelms us. Christine’s mom had been sick for a long time, so hospice sent her home to be comfortable and surrounded by family. We’d had numerous conversations with Christine and her siblings.…
Summer is over, students are back in school, and weekends are filled with football. Oh, how I love the fall. Having been in my current role less than two years, I am still in the early stages of the “figuring out the culture of our group” learning curve.…
The Levert Summer Ministry Survival Guide The ministry life is year-around-busy, and summer often puts an already activity-driven lifestyle into full-on beast-mode busy. Below are some of our “do’s” and “don’ts” for surviving the summer ministry schedule. DO work hard and play hard.…
At the end of this summer, you want to look back on your missions experiences in awe—the transformation in your teenagers was not only obvious but ongoing. Your kids crushed it; your leaders crushed it; you crushed it! And then the biggest question… Now what?…
There is a big difference between privacy and secrecy—once again, we’ve been reminded of that difference in the most painful of ways. This week the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News published an in-depth investigative report on the widespread and systematic sexual abuse of minors in Southern Baptist churches over the last 20 years.…
American teenagers are amusing themselves to death.[1] They regularly avoid “depthy” things in favor of mindless media consumption (just like the adults in their life). In fairness, teenagers—particularly high schoolers—are under more pressure now than in any other time in recent history.…
As you know, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Like us, though, you probably feel pressure to offer youth group activities that keep pace with the season’s awesomeness. Here are more Christmas ideas than you can possibly use!…
In high school, one of my favorite topics to discuss with my youth leader was Finding God’s Will, particularly how it related to finding a date for prom. I memorized Romans 12:1-2, where Paul encourages Christ-followers to offer themselves as living sacrifices in order to “prove” or “discern” what is God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will.…
Our primary authority for living a Jesus-Centered life is the Bible, a long book written in two languages thousands of years ago by dozens of people throughout hundreds of year. Good luck making sense of all that! But if we want to deepen our trust in Jesus and our understanding of God, ourselves, and humanity, there’s no greater resource.…
Some who have the role of leader don’t actually have the soul of a leader—that’s a problem, because “everything rises and falls on leadership.” We didn’t make that iconic statement; John Maxwell did. But we believe in it so strongly that it feels like we wrote it! …
