Perhaps the most important thing that was being pushed in my early years of ministry was the construction of vision, purpose and mission statements. I don’t know if anyone understood the difference between the three; however, you presumably had to have each of them. It also seemed,…
Our mission statement for our student ministry is short: Teaching, Developing, Engaging. It sums up in essence everything we try to do to impact students, their families, their schools and our community. Behind this mission statement are the four…
I guess it happens often in our field of ministry, but this is the first time I have left a youth ministry position at a church. It hasn’t been easy. As I’ve felt a wide range of highs…
MY FIRST MISTAKE My first mistake was watching Aziz Ansari the night before my sermon. Mr. Ansari – like the rest of the intoleristas in Hollywood – riffed on Christians’ refusal to accept homosexual marriage. He called us “douche bags” who…
The first ministry assignment I had was taking over for a student minister who had been in the position for over twenty years. He had developed a culture within the ministry, and he was highly regarded by the…
Maybe you’re like me and you have those students in Sunday School who yell out, “Jesus!”, “God!”, or “Love!” in response to every question you ask. Or, maybe your students engage the questions of Scripture with their hearts…
I have often wondered what it would be like to go back 13 years, to my former self in my first years of youth ministry. What I would say to myself might go something like this… Dude… (long…
What Parents, Pastors and students can learn from the story of Jesus and Nicodemus The story of Jesus’ nightly meeting with Nicodemus is a paradigm for Christian conversion. Though different than, say, Paul’s dramatic conversion on the Damascus road, the…
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2 (ESV) I was just recently introduced to the Death Clock, a…
