"Better luck next time." Those words are forever seared into my consciousness. It was a phone call no one ever wishes to make. My wife, Beth, and I had come home after receiving confirmation our worst fears ...

The amount of things you want to change, that need to change in your youth ministry can be overwhelming. After every book you read, after every training you receive or conference you attend, you come home fille...

In ministry, everything does not always go the way we would like. Sometimes things break down and go so wrong, and we can’t fix them. I recently was on a trip that bombed, and I don’t handle failure well. A...

It is a ministry situation like none other. It involves moving trucks, rollaway carts, sound systems on wheels, renting space at a local school or movie theatre, and a newborn vision of what God could do with...

I was raised in a conservative home, worshiped in a conservative youth ministry at church, and attended a conservative seminary. I'm thankful for my conservative roots. They are part of what shapes me. Inter...

Leadership in general is tough, but leadership in a church or ministry setting even more so. We’re not just expected to lead people; we’re expected to lead them like Jesus would have. We lead by serving, by...

At 2 a.m., the lights in my bedroom switched on, and my 17-year-old daughter cried, “Mom, I swallowed a lot of pills.” It had been a rough autumn, and I knew we were all stressed; but I was not prepared ...

I think everyone knows the simple story of the “ugly ducking”. It is the story of a little lost egg that hatches into a family of ducks, only to realize that it does not look like any of them.  The story f...

Online adventure game The Aetherlight takes kids on a quest to learn scriptural truths in a steampunk world Today’s kids have grown in a world of digital media, video games, and smartphones. A new online r...

  Pilgrimages are essential to our spiritual health and to the health of our students. Here are five simple pilgrimage ideas you can use. With two or three students, visit the four corners of your ...