Today’s teenagers are glued to their tech devices. They have tablets, laptops, and especially cell phones that suck them in and demand their full energy and attention, often to the exclusion of other important things in life—including sleeping, live interaction with family members and peers, and schoolwork.…
This has been an unusually busy season for my family. We all have them, there are those times when we feel the full weight of 24 hours in a day, five to eight of which are wasted in sleeping. If I could just harness the ability to never sleep, then I might get everything done.…
We all know youth workers who have lost credibility with their students. We often pass judgment on them and know personally what we would have done differently. However, what makes a youth worker credible in a teenager’s eyes may be different from what a youth worker thinks will make them credible. …
My pastor, Rick Warren, always says, “You don’t learn from people’s strengths, you learn from their weaknesses.” If that’s true, then I have a wealth of knowledge! But seriously, I’ve been doing youth ministry for a while now, and throughout my years in ministry, I’ve tried to be intentional about learning from my mistakes.…
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.…
Before our second Valentine’s Day after we started dating (see throwback photo on the left!), I (Jake) had purchased a present that I was ecstatic about. I couldn’t even contain my excitement enough to make it to February 14, so after some begging and my best impression of puppy dog eyes, Melissa gave in to getting her present a day early.…
**Disclaimer: The following has nothing to do with my current employment or my current feelings toward it. This is simply a piece designed to help those who are struggling in their work and ministry contexts as I know there are times we all question why we are doing what we are doing.**…
With New Year’s resolutions, I’m always shooting for the moon—I go for big, Batman-sized resolutions. But this year things are going to be different. Big, bold resolutions seems like a recipe for failure. Don’t get me wrong, Batman gets big things done, but this year my strategies will be Robin-sized.…
Of course, January is synonymous with New Year’s resolutions. At our church, this resolution mindset is driving us to make and clarify goals for a new season of ministry. What I’m about to share with you is not a list of personal resolutions that I can let slide.…
Nine years ago, I was on the path to success in ministry, but I was in danger of losing my fiancé. I was gaining the knowledge needed to pastor through seminary, but I was ill equipped in the art of relationships and did not have the emotional health to fix it.…
