How does a popular podcast that investigates events in small town Alabama teach us about how we, as Christians, can be an effective encouragement and counselor to our peers? One just needs to listen to the first few…
“Prom-posal” pictures filled my social media this morning, reminding me that prom season is upon us. If prom-posal is an unfamiliar term to you, I’m referring to the big to-do that comes with popping the question: “Will you…
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…
Late last week, I was wrestling with content for a teaching time at our church when my phone pinged and vibrated with alerts from #SXSW (the darling arts/music/film/tech festival in Austin, TX). Each of these alerts communicated a sure and…
During my first week on the job as a student pastor, a parent requested that I take a group of students to go see a particular faith-based film. As the release date for The Shack approaches, I am…
In 1985, when Tina Turner won a Grammy for her #1 hit song, “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” I was a middle school student with my first crush on a boy. In some ways, budding romances…
This is the second article in our series, “Building a Kingdom Culture in Our Youth Ministries.” In this series, we will address passages from the Gospel of Luke, which demonstrates that the culture of God’s Kingdom is that…
“…Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” These were the words of Mordecai challenging Esther, his niece and the queen, with the power she alone possessed to save the Jews…
The battle for the hearts of our students is not a new one. The world has always been vying for our students’ faith – attempting to offer them something more quickly gratifying to place their faith in. However,…
