No Church in the Wild

There is “No Church in the Wild,” say Kanye West and Jay Z. Kanye tells us that the world is harsh, that God doesn’t matter, and that we are on our own. Nothing sacred can help us, therefore,…

We Already Have a Messiah

When I was in high school, there was an amazing football game in which the Buffalo Bills were down 32 points against the Houston Oilers. Their back-up quarterback, Frank Reich, was put in to replace the Bills’ injured…

The Hard Work of Keeping Up With Culture

Youth culture is complex. As faithful gospel-proclaiming ministers to a young generation, there needs to be an understanding of culture which is commensurate with the serious consequences (Hell) of the gospel we preach. An indispensible part of our…

Utilizing Youth Culture Series: Part 2

6 Ways to Increase Your Knowledge of Youth Culture In Part 1 of this series, I stressed the importance of engaging with youth culture as we seek to translate biblical truth and communicate that truth effectively to the…

Utilizing Youth Culture Series: Part 1

3 Steps to Effectively Engage Youth Culture I view my role as a youth pastor as being a translator.  My job is to take biblical truth and communicate that truth effectively to the youth with whom I work in…

Ministry Across America: Manhattan

1. Please describe the context in which you minister (socio-economics, geography, race, etc.) New York City is, of course, a diverse community both socially and economically with hundreds of cultural pockets throughout the five boroughs. Primarily, our ministry…

Confessions of a Small Town Student Pastor

Every now and then we take our regular worship service and change things up. I give our band a night off to thank them for their hard work and to create an environment that doesn’t become dependent on…