Three Words I Want My Students to Claim

In Isaiah 61, we read three compelling words that can lead our hearts to respond in action, passion, and maybe even some fear – restore, rebuild, and renew. This is the calling that followers of Christ are given…

Parenting the Older Brother

We all know the parable of the Prodigal Son. Two brothers, vastly different in temperament and behavior, who share the same father. One brother is notoriously bad and dominates the plot line, while the other is but a…

Clarifying The Call of God

As we sipped our coffees at a local café, a student asked, “How do I know if that’s what God is calling me to?” On another occasion, sitting in my office, a different student said, “I’m just not…

God is God; You are Not (and this is Good)

God is God; you are not, and this is a very good thing. This basic message, grounded in the comfort offered by Isaiah 40, was a regular refrain early on in my ministry to teenagers. Those three basic…

Youth Ministry as a Modern English Parish

In my family, we have a joke. Every time my wife makes anything with potatoes, I respond at the dinner table with my best nasally tone, “What excellent boiled potatoes – it has been many years since I…

The Unimportance of Being “Cool”

In a recent meeting for our upcoming Summer mission trip, I found myself hesitant to announce that girls were required to wear a one-piece bathing suit, a rule which in the eyes of a teenage girl is essentially…