I had a chilling moment in my third year of youth ministry. I came to the last day of a study with senior boys. I had taught them for three years. We had gone through John and Romans….
From the beginning of our courtship my husband was a “package” deal. He had a precious three- year-old son who was the center of his universe. I marveled at my joyful yes to taking on this pair, as…
Is the author of Ecclesiastes suggesting our work in student ministry is not worth it when he opens with the following remarks? “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) I’ve been sitting with…
Tempting as it is to revel in last year’s glory, we want to plan for success the second time around, and that means getting our expectations in the right place.
Dear Parent, I know how you must be feeling… You’re a failure. I know shame is whispering that lie as you wonder who your child has talked to and whether or not they’ve told; you’re desperately hoping the…
I’m often guilty of viewing the prominence of smartphones and tablets as a purely negative development in the fabric of our society. Tim Keller wisely brings me back to the center. “Every culture is a mixed bag of…
In his essay, “The Native Hill,” Wendell Berry examines the worth of the two worlds in which he resides; one world is the literary, the place of his profession, and the other the natural, the place where he…
Historian David Brooks, when asked about NBC News anchor Brian Williams’ fall from grace, said: “It speaks to a couple of truths. The one is that no amount of public success is satisfying. You can have all the…
So often, our passions and drives in ministry are the byproduct of an experience or story from our own adolescence. In this series, we asked student leaders what shaped and enlivened their faith as teenagers, and how that…
