Summer Is a Liar
In a ministry context, summer is a serial liar. Summer is NOT a slower time for youth ministry, and it’s NOT chock-full of margin as it might claim. We won’t have a more relaxed schedule, and we won’t have time to catch our breath.…
Darren Sutton
- Website
- http://darrensutton.com
- Darren has been in student ministry nearly 30 years…which generally just confirms to him how much he still doesn’t know. Some days he’s the pizza-eating, over-responding, teaching-on-the-fly, desperate-for-volunteers, frustrated-with-co-workers youth leader that we all are. And sometimes…he knocks it out of the park. He’s everywhere on social media that you are!
Swing for the Fences!
It’s time to start swinging for the fences! Settling… Attainable… Reasonable… These are all innocent word, but they are also all wolves in sheep’s clothing. Twenty pounds when I have 50 to lose? Well, the 20 is attainable. And I end up losing six and applaud the effort.…
Gratitude: Preach It Like You Mean It
Gratitude gets wonky when we sit down at our Thanksgiving banquet table and look side to side, doesn’t it? Look to your right, and there’s your neighbor who went to school for fewer years than you, works fewer hours than you, and makes twice as much money.…
Delivering Proof in Times of Doubt
Jesus’ disciple Thomas gets a bad rap with the shame-name we’ve given him. We teach using “Doubting Thomas” as the bad example, attaching his moniker to people we accuse of lacking—or having lackluster—faith. But note that when Thomas needs proof, Jesus doesn’t render judgment.…
Make “Less” Your “More” in Your Holiday Planning
From the last porch light of Halloween through the last light of the Christmas tree, our holiday schedules are packed! Cramming their way into our margins are school Christmas parties, staff get-togethers, and family dinners—and we haven’t even touched decorating, cooking, shopping, and wrapping.…
Unplug? Recharge? It’s Summertime!
Summer was in full swing. Katie was seven months pregnant—due the second week in August. And me? I was “pregnant” with three camps, a mission trip, a fall planning retreat, and our annual VBS week. All packed back-to-back through June and July, leading right up to Katie’s due date. …
The 5 Must-Have Adults on Any Mission Trip
We’ve been here before… Our annual summer mission trip is just around the corner and we’re pulling leaders out of our….directories. How did this happen again this year? I was so good at planning ahead. Then badda bing, badda boom, it’s May!…
Sharpen Your Axe
Truth be told, many of us are discipling our teenagers with unsharpened axes. We’re dull inside, because we’ve refused to take a break and invest in our long-term relationship with Jesus. We just keep swinging, through season after season in ministry, surprised that our work seems harder and harder.…
Seizing Your Red-Light Moments
We were at a red light when my life changed forever. I was on my way to Walmart with my youth pastor—he’d invited me to tag along on a shopping trip for an upcoming lock-in. We needed to buy chips and Hula-Hoops.…
Unpack the Suitcase!
It’s quarter to midnight. I have to be at church at 5:30 a.m. to make sure last-minute logistics are covered and someone is available to meet the bus drivers when they arrive. Fortunately, this ain’t my first rodeo… A carefully (and perpetually) packed toiletries bag stands watch in my bathroom, with duplicates of everything I use in my daily routine.…
