The man from Food for the Hungry walked onto the stage.

“Do you believe in hope?” he yelled.

The crowd of Christian concert goers replied with raucous cheers.

That’s when he said it - The line that made me sink down in my seat and cringe.

“...

How and what we say affects what we believe. I saw this in my research for The Jesus Gap, which found that 73% of the language used by high school students to answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” was creedal in origin. I was further convinced of...

When I finally decided to leave my old job – a job I loved and was very comfortable in – my new boss and I wrestled with my new title, eventually landing on Minister of Youth and Family. This role – one that was far more expansive than I’d had in...

In the church world, people talk about being “called” a lot. But what exactly does it mean to be called? Mark Labberton attempts to answer this very question in his book, Called: The Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today.

According to...

Adult leaders are the backbone of a healthy youth ministry. In order to effectively minister to teens, your ministry needs caring adult leaders. But what, precisely, should those caring adult leaders do?

Many youth ministries use adult leaders as...

My new book, A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm, is out! As a youth worker, I wholeheartedly believe that mission trips have the ability to impact teens in an incredibly transformative way. However,...

In the days following my miscarriage, several friends sent me links to people they’d found online who were writing about miscarriage. Adriel Booker was one of those people. Her words were like a lifeline to me. Not surprisingly, her book, Grace...

My new youth ministry met for the first time last week.

By all assessments, we had a great first night. The room was full and teens were engaged in our conversation about vocation.

Afterwards, I was chatting with one of my adult leaders. When I...

My new book, A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm, is out! As a youth worker, I wholeheartedly believe that mission trips have the ability to impact teens in an incredibly transformative way. However,...

Earlier this week, I hosted a leader’s training for our junior high and high school adult leaders. Our focus was equipping leaders to facilitate small groups.

During this crash course in leading small groups, we addressed basic tips and tricks for...

My high school youth ministry meets for this first time this school year this Wednesday and this fall, we’re talking about vocation. In preparation for this series, I’ve been doing a ton of reading on vocation, including Gordon T. Smith’s fabulous...

My new book, A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm, is out! As a youth worker, I wholeheartedly believe that mission trips have the ability to impact teens in an incredibly transformative way. However,...

Over a decade ago, I spoke on a panel at North Park University on ministering in multi-ethnic environments alongside Kathy Khang. I’ve been a fan of hers ever since. For that reason, I was excited to read her new book, Raise Your Voice: Why We...

My new book, A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm, is out! As a youth worker, I wholeheartedly believe that mission trips have the ability to impact teens in an incredibly transformative way. However,...

For the last year and a half, I’ve had the privilege of participating in Fuller Youth Institute's Youth Ministry Innovation Cohort. Part of this has meant creating a project to do in my youth ministry involving an ancient practice: Vocation. This...

Because mission trips are, by their very nature, short-term, it can be tempting to use them as an opportunity to try out new leaders.

Please don’t.

While mission trips are indeed short-term, their short-term nature makes them incredibly...

Today, I'm linking up with Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

This week's prompt: Anniversary.

I started college at a time when the future seemed bright, when I expected to...

In the movie, Stepmom, a mom, Jackie (Susan Serandon) is dying of cancer, leaving her young children behind in the care of her ex-husband (Ed Harris) and his new wife, Isabel (Julia Roberts). In a poignant scene near the end of the movie, Jackie...

As a youth pastor, I am a leader.

I lead students, adult and student leaders, parents, and in a variety of ways, colleagues.

As such, I constantly want to grow in my leadership skills. For that reason, I was excited to read Aubrey...

On the way home from a recent youth ministry trip, I sat next to my colleague, Joe, on the plane. We both knew that in many ways, this trip was the last significant thing I’d do as youth pastor in our congregation. I was transitioning out and Joe...