I always considered myself a gospel-centered youth pastor. There was a period when I even created a blog entitled “Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry.” But looking back, the irony is striking. The gospel has always been present in everything I…
What can two authors from the 1960s, writing about the problems of public education, teach student ministers today about practical ministry? In the case of Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner’s Teaching as a Subversive Activity, the answer is,…
I was recently looking for a file in the archives of my email when I came across a letter I’d written years ago to a college where I had applied for a job. I was floored when I…
It can be hard to get students to consider a topic in depth when, on a surface level, they already support it. How do you keep students engaged, wanting to go deeper? How do you help them differentiate…
Over a decade ago, Christian Smith published a groundbreaking study about the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers. The researchers coined the terminology, moralistic therapeutic deism (MTD), which became a buzzword in youth ministry circles for several…
While the Rooted Blog Team enjoys some end-of the year time off, enjoy these past articles from 2017. Each of these are worth both a first and a second read. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I…
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” Proverbs 27:6 “Some kids will never hear your voice, and that’s ok.” I remember fighting against the truth of those words even as they were coming from the lips of my…
When I run into pastors studying at coffee shops, I typically ask them, “What are you working on?” And it is common for them to respond with something like, “I am preparing for Sunday” or, “I am speaking…
I recently spoke with a fellow ministry leader on the phone, and at the end of our conversation we exchanged prayer requests. He kindly asked me to pray for his marriage. His entreaty did not surround any infidelity…
