Yesterday my 16-year-old daughter Lucy and three of her friends completed a six-minute documentary exploring the worldwide human trafficking problem, then submitted it for a school assignment. They designed a full-color tri-fold brochure as a companion piece, and created a stress ball with the words “Enough” printed on it as a “sellable item.”…
Enjoy Ministry This Christmas! Episode 1: The Christmas season is steaming toward the weekend, and it can be one of the toughest weeks of the year. Join Brent as he upends the typical ways we cope and shows you how to actually enjoy ministry this Christmas season!…
I’d like to tell you two stories. The first story involves how bands shift players around. It’s just the way it works. It’s rare to find the original group together like they when everything started. Audio Adrenaline, a Christian rock band that rose to fame in the mid-nineties, is no exception.…
Eugene Peterson is a lyrical writer, scholar, and skilled linguist whose day job for most of his life was pastoring a small church. In 1990, Peterson agreed to begin work on a Bible version that translated the ancient languages into something more vibrant for contemporary readers.…
In addition to all the extra tasks and events during the Christmas season, it’s also one of the busiest times in ministry. There are Advent services, volunteer opportunities, meetings, social events, and parties. Plus it’s almost January, so we’re making sure summer camps and mission trips are booked.…
I’ve been leading and influencing young people for a long time, both in a church setting and also as a public-school coach. And threaded through the thousands of conversations I’ve had with students is one overriding need—to belong to something bigger than themselves.…
The “untraditional family” has become the “traditional” family. The US Census indicates over 7 million grandparents in the US raising their grandchildren. I have found on some sites discussing the issue of “fatherlessness” that one in three children are born to a never married parent.…
To wrap up our series on becoming a small group guru, I’d like to prepare a little guru goulash; a delish mish mash of thoughts. * Don’t forget the parents! Leading a small group of 5-10 teenagers also gives you an incredible opportunity to minister to 5-20 parents!…
We are shorthand people who prefer shorthand solutions to complex problems. That’s true in life, and it’s true in youth ministry. In the past, our shortcut paths to deeper discipleship included… • What Would Jesus Do—”Go beyond your identity as a church-attender and have the courage to live like Jesus.…
