We kicked off our fall programming this year by wrestling with the question, “Does God exist?”, a question prompted – at least in part – by the fact that some of our freshmen are adamant about their belief that God does not exist.
Part of the...
Dear Todd and Margo -
I admit, I don't know if these are actually your real names. They're likely not. But when we had the misfortune of meeting you tonight at dinner, you reminded my husband and I an awful lot of Todd and Margo Chester – the...
What I'm Reading:
Fiction:
If there's one thing summer is NOT for me, it's relaxing. Summer is the season of mission trips... Which means life is chaotic and full. Nevertheless, I read 9 fiction books during the last two months.
...
I love Jesus.
That's probably not surprising to you. As a youth worker, I'm guessing you love Jesus, too. What's more, I'm guessing you want the teens in your congregation to love Jesus. But what happens when they don't?
Because let's face it,...
In a recent project for Arbor Research Group, a Bible teacher at a Christian school talked about the moment “when the lightbulb goes on” for the kids in his classes. In the weeks since, this phrase has echoed around my head.
As youth workers who...
What I'm Reading:
Fiction:
April was an INSANE month. Nevertheless, I still got some reading in.
Best mystery: What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan
Perfect beach read: Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny...
A professor once told me the most important decision he makes for each class is choosing what that class will read.
In a lot of ways, I feel the same way about my student leadership team. Each summer, we read a book together. Not only does this...
In a recent sermon, mega church pastor and evangelical Christian leader, Andy Stanley said, “We want churches to be large enough so that there are enough middle schoolers and high schoolers that we don't have one youth group with middle school and...
Last night, I mentioned to my husband in passing, "Tomorrow's the first day in weeks I feel like I have some breathing room in my schedule."
For me, January is always a sprint - one of the busiest months of my ministry year. To make matters...
Reading inspires me. So as part of my work on my next book – a devotional for teenagers about Jesus based on the research published in my first book, The Jesus Gap – I picked up Tony Jones' Did God Kill Jesus?: Searching for Love in History's...