What I Learned From the Boston Bombing
The Boston Marathon bombing has hit me on two personal levels in a way unlike any major tragedy in the past. First, one of our most faithful, beloved Sunday school teachers was within a mile of the bombing…
The Boston Marathon bombing has hit me on two personal levels in a way unlike any major tragedy in the past. First, one of our most faithful, beloved Sunday school teachers was within a mile of the bombing…
Recently, I made a presentation to parents in our youth ministry, entitled, “Why Kids Abandon the Church.” Two years earlier, when I made a similar presentation, called “Grace-Driven to Postmodern Teens,” the class drew five people. Not surprisingly,…
In my early twenties upon moving to Birmingham, AL, I attended for three months a mega-church with an impressive growth rate. The pastor regularly boasted about the church’s increasing attendance in between opportunities to talk about the large…
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…
Some youth ministers labor for years on end without ever seeing a conversion or they see very little spiritual growth. Others, however, seem to have it all together—big crowds, mass baptisms, teens singing Ke$ha to the tune of…
I write from “The Left Coast” as I reflect upon how the Lord impacted me at this year’s Rooted Conference. We are known here in Pacific Northwest for liberal viewpoints, coffee, and LOTS of rain. But we are…
If you search through your church’s website, you probably won’t find this kind of language listed under “theological beliefs.” But listen closely to the prayer requests of students and evidence of a therapeutic view of God comes into…
My mentor in my early days of youth ministry was a straight-talking, loud-walking, 6 foot, 9 inches, 280-pound man who had done student ministry for over twenty years. He had about eight maxims that he would repeat, reminding…