This has been an unusually busy season for my family. We all have them, there are those times when we feel the full weight of 24 hours in a day, five to eight of which are wasted in sleeping. If I could just harness the ability to never sleep, then I might get everything done.…
**Disclaimer: The following has nothing to do with my current employment or my current feelings toward it. This is simply a piece designed to help those who are struggling in their work and ministry contexts as I know there are times we all question why we are doing what we are doing.**…
It’s easy to see teenagers like caterpillars that are wrestling free from the numbing rhythms of their everyday life and into their butterfly life—where they figure out who they really are and what they really have to give to the world.…
Yesterday, I was having a conversation with a student that was really fascinating. She made the statement, “I feel like adults always feel like they need to tell teens the same thing. They tell us about how we can’t ever do anything so bad that God won’t love us.…
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… A healthy relationship with your senior pastor is a core part of a healthy youth ministry. I understand this isn’t often the case, and you may wonder most days what’s happening in his or her head. …
Confession time… I once auditioned for a national commercial. The tagline of the product? “Never let them see you sweat.” These commercials were famous. The spokesperson would offer an additional summary at the end of the ad, such as “Everyone feels pressure.…
Let’s be honest… evangelism weirds most Christians out. We fear doing “bad evangelism” to the point that we do the worst kind of evangelism… we say nothing. We’re afraid of becoming a stereotype. Perhaps that’s why I was so inspired by a street preacher I recently encountered while driving by his spot on a local corner.…
In the News Washington, D.C.—The election this week of business mogul Donald J. Trump as America’s 45th president left many people stunned and afraid. Although polls had predicted a victory for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, she lost the electoral vote 290 to 232.…
Because of the difficulties students have in early and mid-adolescence to manage strong feelings of intimacy, the new experience of having someone who listens and whom they can trust sometimes lead them to believe that they are in love with their youth worker.…
Last Spring, during the SYM Conference, I filmed a teaching video for teams on the Simply Youth Ministry TOOLS site. The video was on creating a safe place within small groups and Sunday school. I wanted to share some of these thoughts with you.…
