Last spring, we saw a preview for Mom's Night Out . The preview had a few funny clips in it, so last night we rented it.
I'll admit, I was also curious as to why K-Love kept promoting this movie. To me, it looked far too mainstream (as in, it...
Over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve spent time visiting incoming freshmen and their families in their homes. During these visits, I ask teens to reflect on their experience in our junior high ministry. I also share information about our...
Tomorrow night, my adult leaders for the coming programming year will meet together for the first time.
My leaders won't be the only one's attending this gathering.
Instead, our confirmation (junior high) leaders will join us as well.
For years,...
Throughout the last week, I've been knee-deep in confirmation home visits. During these, I visit each soon-to-be-confirmed 9th grader in their home.
I used to do these visits myself.
A few years ago, I began bringing one of my student leaders...
This month, I began my 13th year in youth ministry. While I'm fairly good at what I do, I'm a strong believer that leaders are learners. To that end, you can almost always find me with my nose in a book, often one about youth ministry.
Recently,...
We in the church often spend a lot of time debating (or even fighting) one another over a variety of different issues. Among them?
Whether or not short-term mission trips are worth it.
Trust me, I know short-term trips are expensive. I just...
I snapped at my boss yesterday.
I realized it a few hours later and sent him an apology in which I also said, “I’m operating out of a place of depletion and stress right now.”
That’s not an excuse. It’s more a confession of my current reality.
At...
Long before it was cool, I gave to the ALS Association.
Those gifts had nothing to do with dumping ice water over my head... Or failing to do so.
I gave because to me, ALS is personal. It's not just a rare disease. It's the disease my...
What the book's about: Cross-Cultural Connections by Duane Elmer is a book designed to prepare people for cross-cultural experiences, and more specifically, for cross-cultural mission trips. While the book is really oriented to long-term...
The country of Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills.
As it turns out, this nickname is no joke.
I experienced these hills on a recent high school mission trip to Rwanda. While there, we traveled from one side of the country to the...