In the News Greenville, S.C.—Due to numerous sightings and threats by people dressed as scary clowns, many towns and school districts have banned clown costumes this Halloween. The creepy-clown craze, which appears every few years, re-emerged in August with reports of clowns luring children into the woods.…
Early one afternoon, I walked to throw something out in a back room, when I spotted him outside next to my bike. A large gentleman in his 50’s was doing something, and it hit me immediately, “He is taking my bike!”…
I’m not a big New Year’s resolution type of guy. The truth is, I’ve never even tried to make most youth ministry resolutions. You name it, I haven’t made it! So while my ministry could probably benefit from my resolve to tackle certain tasks with more consistency and urgency, I’ll resist that temptation, as always.…
As a youth worker, you know it’s important to communicate well with parents. You may have learned that lesson via the School of Hard Knocks, maybe from a frustrated parent, or from 14 billion phone calls regarding something you should’ve conveyed with a quick text or email.…
Like a scene from The Lord of the Rings, I was on a quest. At times, my adventure felt dangerous. The stress was intense, and my frailties surfaced. Sometimes my hope was rekindled, and I continued my journey in earnest. And sometimes the prize seemed almost within reach, only to be snatched away at the last moment.…
Medical malpractice is decided by a jury of peers, and in this series of posts I’ve acted as a jury of…one. I’m biased, of course, in my perspective—because I’ve been immersed in the youth ministry world for 30 years. So I have a “seasoned bias.”…
Our primary authority for living a Jesus-Centered life is the Bible, a long book written in two languages thousands of years ago by dozens of people throughout hundreds of year. Good luck making sense of all that! But if we want to deepen our trust in Jesus and our understanding of God, ourselves, and humanity, there’s no greater resource.…
In youth ministry we often settle for small wins (ANY wins) when Jesus said his followers will do “even greater things” than he did (John 14:12). Can I be honest? In some ministry settings, if I didn’t celebrate the small wins, I wouldn’t have any wins to celebrate.…
