My experience with Christian High School and College aged students is that they place a tremendous amount of stress on themselves in trying to discover “God’s will for their lives.” For example, trying to discover God’s will when…
Since the Rooted blog’s founding in 2010, readers have found us at different times. Whether you’re new to Rooted or have been following the website all along, there are a few helpful pieces from Rooted’s early days that…
This devotion comes from the passage 1 Samuel 2:1-10 Within these ten verses are two stories. First is that of Hannah, a barren woman desirous for a child and a life with meaning, rescued from herself…
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…
