A while back, our student ministry team met to plan out our winter retreat. I was a little hesitant to share what was really on my heart. Truth be told, I had been mulling over some different thematic approaches to teaching students some basic spiritual disciplines.…
January 20, 2009. A historical day for the nation as our first African American President took the oath of office. I love inauguration day. I’m always amazed at the spectacle that plays out when we witness the peaceful transfer of power.…
It’s a moment that challenges us all. Whether you’re new to youth ministry or a veteran. It’s the moment you begin a new ministry. We’ve heard it said, preached and taught that the relationships we build with our students is more important than the programs we develop.…
I suffered with it. I’ll admit it. Most youth workers do…or at least most that I know. Not real sure how I got it though. I think it’s just part of our society. The “bigger is better” mentality. I was only 5 years into youth ministry and I had already bought into the notion that my “goal” was to grow the biggest, flashiest youth ministry in town.…
“Let you light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” -Matthew 5:16 Jesus wanted us to be the light of the world and shine our light for the world to see, but it’s strange how we have distorted the light.…
It was 5 a.m. on a glaciated volcano in the Northwest. I had crampons strapped on my boots, each pointed tip digging for all its worth into the icy, steep slope notoriously called the Roman Wall. A few hundred feet below was a crevasse as deep as a football field.…
In the letter to the Ephesians the apostle Paul confidently wrote: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.…
Over the past year, our church has been talking about pursuing the call and passions that Jesus has laid on your heart with reckless abandon. I’m not sure that our pastor realized what a great job he was doing until we decided to take time away from our church to go to Africa and serve at The Living Hope Community Centre.…
Hundreds of years have passed in Narnia since the days of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and much has changed in the land since then. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy have been summoned back to help restore Narnia to its rightful state.…
