My research into what high school teens believe about Jesus (published in The Jesus Gap) has made me particularly aware of how important it is to help people understand that ALL of Scripture points to Jesus. Knowing how important this is, I’m...
“She’s beautiful.”
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard someone say this about my newborn daughter, Kendall. It is, after all, what you say when you meet a new baby.
It’s also what my faith says about newborns. According to the ...
As another school year rapidly approaches, I’ve found myself thinking about two different pictures of youth ministry.
One comes from the first retreat I facilitated at a new congregation. During a meal where I was sitting with a group of...
One of the things that my teens most enjoy talking about is science and faith. Note that I said talking about; Not debating. Having facilitated this conversation a number of times in the past, I wanted to freshen up my approach with some fresh...
Recently, we took our newborn baby girl, Kendall, to worship for the first time. Several people stopped us on the way into worship, which meant that despite our best efforts, we didn’t actually make it into worship on time. Despite this, we went...
A pastor friend who read my book, A Mission That Matters, recently wondered, “When is the right time for me to go to ‘the ends of the earth’ and lead an international trip for my congregation?”
It’s a good question and one that’s not easy to...
My four-year-old daughter, Hope, LOVES taking pictures. I mean LOVES it. Spend a moment scrolling through our phones and you’ll typically see three types of photos:
1. Those obviously taken by my husband and I, typically featuring our family or...
After beginning my new role as the Minister of Youth and Family at my congregation last summer, I immediately examined the vision for the ministry I’d inherited. While I didn’t find it particularly compelling, I knew the best thing I could do was...
My daughter, Hope, has literally grown up in church. (That’s what you get when your mom works for one…)
When Hope turned two, she began asking questions about communion, which wasn’t surprising since she’d gone forward to the communion rail with...
After finishing Alia Joy’s Glorious Weakness, I Instagramed a photo of the book with the caption, “Hands down the best Christian book I’ve read in a long time.”
That’s not a statement I make lightly.
I read a lot of Christian books – some for...