What I'm Reading:
Fiction:
Between our trip to Africa and my mission trip to Haiti, June was a SLOW month for fiction reading.
Book I couldn't put down: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I know, the...
As a youth pastor, as much as you might like to be the one who’s in charge of your church, you’re not. Whether it’s another person in the youth ministry or an associate or senior / lead pastor, you’ve got a boss who directly supervises you.
One of...
I've just returned from one mission trip and now my focus turns to the next one. This week is littered with several meetings related to our upcoming mission trip, one of which is our adult leader's meeting.
At this meeting, we'll cover logistics...
Worried first-time mission trip adult leaders often ask me, “What can I do to be a good adult leader?”
As someone who is not only a youth worker and a parent but also a former mission trip staffer, I have a unique perspective on this. I still...
A few days after returning exhausted from a week-long mission trip, I woke up to the worst kind of e-mail, a nastygram from a parent chewing me out for a comment made on the mission trip.
Upon reading it, my first thought was “Seriously? I spent a...
What the book's about: Mack & Leeann's Guide to Short-Term Missions is just that: A guide to short-term missions, written by two InterVarsity Campus Fellowship staff workers who have directed numerous mission trips to Kenya, the Middle East...
My new book, Unleashing the Hidden Potential of Your Student Leaders, is out! I'm convinced that when done well, student leadership has the ability to transform your youth ministry. With that in mind, over the next few weeks, we're going to be...
What I'm Reading:
Fiction:
Best chick lit: Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which reminded me a LOT of the musical If / Then.
Book I'm still thinking about: I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi
Best mystery: I See You by...
Less than 24-hours into our Peacemaking Trip, a student told me, “We've met ONE immigrant and I'm already changing my mind about this issue!”
Before our trip began, this student was in favor of Trump's campaign promise to build a bigger wall....
On the night of the 2016 election, I sat glued to my television, watching the Presidential returns come in. As the night wore on and Donald Trump’s lead grew, my heart sank.
That’s when my phone began dinging.
I received text after text from the...