He stared right through me. I said his name over and over, but he just didn’t’ have the strength to look me in the eye or respond. If he stopped staring at the wall or dared to break the silence, then time would begin to move and he would be forced to figure out how to live life without her.…
Once upon a time, George Lucas was the creator of Star Wars. Some would argue he still is. Unfortunately, most of us know better…sort of like how it is in any kind of church ministry. Depending upon how old you are, you either grew up with Star Wars or inherited it from the generation before you.…
Parents worry about their kids. It’s their job! As a parent, I totally get this. One of the biggest things I worry about is who my son is hanging out with and what kind of friends he’s choosing. I don’t just pay attention to this when he wants to hang with friends from school.…
“You’ll only have to volunteer for a little while.” You’ve heard that one before, right? You may have even said it. It’s not the only lie you’ll hear or tell in church. For the record, this is not meant to be a “church critique” article. …
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.…
Job interviews are so stressful that they can cause pain. We think through every word, over-analyze the questions, and beg God to tip the scales for us. And I’m describing what employers like me, not just applicants like you, must endure… In almost 20 years as a pastor (and a veteran of youth ministry myself), I’ve interviewed a lot of potential youth pastors.…
Our church’s amazing children’s director recently resigned. It’s understandable financially. We couldn’t pay her what her household needed for her to keep doing the job. It wasn’t the first time our financial team approached her over the years to explain that the money coming in simply wasn’t able to sustain her position full-time.…
Our church recently broke bread with each other. When I say “broke bread,” I mean we literally ate a brunch of coffee cakes, lemon squares, blueberry muffins and more. It wasn’t a special event… a women’s tea party… a men’s breakfast… or a guest reception.…
It’s hard to serve those who cause you heartache. (Pause with me a moment as we each consider who that is for us.) I’m going to guess we have one thing in common with our answers. It’s the reason why youth workers and pastors who are otherwise strangers can find immediate camaraderie with each other.…
The enemy of outreach… is outreach. It seems like every church has some advocate for its “outreach.” This could be a person in an official ministry role, be it paid or volunteer. In some situations, the pastor is the primary advocate (especially if he/she has a spiritual gifting in this area).…
