I had the fortune to grow up in the golden age of quasi-grungy worship music. In the name of reaching my generation, people sang praise songs whose styles sounded more like a Creed deep track than something suitable…
Promises are easy to make but hard to keep. I am sure that most of us know this all too well, especially from our time as teenagers. We’ve made pinky promises, secret handshakes with friends, gotten guarantees and…
I remember the sense of paralysis I felt on my second week of youth ministry when a child’s father died. I had no idea what do. What was the first step I should take? Now, I have worked…
The great preacher Charles Spurgeon once called ministers of the gospel of grace to stake their lives on the truth and righteousness of Christ: “The want of the period is brethren who know the gospel for themselves,…
As student pastors, it’s important to model compassionate but critical civic engagement. YouTube-pundits and partisan media are catechizing our teenagers toward vitriolic, ungenerous, no-benefit-of-the-doubt monologues. Depending on which channel you watch, secular conservatism shouts catcalls of “soy boy,”…
In 1969, Mick Jagger penned the following profound words: “Take me to the station and put me on a train; I’ve got no expectations to pass through here again.” These lyrics from the Stones, jointly entitled “No Expectations,”…
Here are the top ten articles from the past month that can be of benefit to youth workers and parents in their ministry to teenagers. Some of these give explicit instruction on gospel-centered ministry, while others are included…
While living in Central Asia or many years, it was commonplace for people to ask me the meaning of my name. In the culture around me, given names were always significant. Before having a baby, there would be…
I am impressed by good service. Good service at a restaurant I eat at, good service by the plumber who fixes my house, good service from the kindergarten teacher my child attends. Wherever it may be, if I…
