As a career youth pastor, I have a mantra: if a kid is going to reject Christianity, make sure they are rejecting a true portrayal of the religion. Teach the Bible with precision such that kids have the…
Dear Teenager, Among celebrities and politicians, you have inherited mostly horrible role models for how to engage in civil discourse. Screaming, shaming, hostility, and violence have become normal examples of how one talks to others with whom they…
That’s complicated isn’t it? On the one hand, it feels like youth pastors have a responsibility to say something. Trump embodies and communicates unchristian positions about women, refugees, foreigners, the disabled, human rights, and personal morality. And now…
What. If. It is amazing how two words can seem so bland and powerless when read without the other. Then put them together and they become some of the most debilitating words ever spoken. These two simple words have…
1.) Please describe the context in which you minister (geographically, ethnically, socio-economically, etc.) I serve in the American South in a suburban context in Birmingham, AL. My students are almost entirely white and upper-middle class to affluent. Attending…
The election has come and gone. Now what? It seems that all sorts of pastors, parents, and professionals are claiming that the sky is falling with blog titles like, “The End of America,” “The Tragedy of the 2012…
Let all of us- student, ministers, and parents alike- be encouraged that the most powerful change agent in the world remains Jesus Christ working through His bride, the Church.
