Don’t Freak Out! That’s what I was telling myself when my middle school daughter stood at my bedroom door asking for a condom. Yes. My daughter was asking for a  c. o. n. d. o. m. I pretended to be calm ...

"If those two are allowed to keep coming, then my boys will not be coming to youth group anymore." This father's words were as hard as rock, and I knew it wasn't an idle threat. The anger that seeped through h...

Looking for a Bible Study / Discussion Starter on the Super Bowl? Try this! Ask: How many different animal-themed teams can you name? (Bears, Lions, Bengals, Ravens, Colts, Jaguars, Panthers, Falcons, Dolphin...

  In youth ministry, there’s no shortage of rough patches. You think you’ve got the lock-in planned, scheduled and effectively organized, and the location calls at the last minute and cancels your res...

Several years ago, I learned a lesson.  It's a hard lesson, and like most hard lessons, it hurt to learn, and it's a valuable lesson, and like most of the good lessons, I sometimes need to re-learn it.  So, i...

God works through small groups. At least that’s what we hope, don’t we? There’s a joy that comes with seeing students come together to dig into God’s word and each other’s lives. When small groups fu...

If you’re like me, small group ministry with students has been a bit of a challenge. In at least one of the ministries I’ve lead, my entire youth group would have been considered a small group. (ha!). Mor...

Small groups are one of the best ways for students to belong to your youth ministry. They make a large ministry feel smaller and a smaller ministry feel more personal. Among so many other things, small groups ...

  I offered to just buy the coffee table from the host home family. Why, you ask? Because one of the small group members managed to discreetly carve his initials in it during our short stay in their hom...

I grew up in Minneapolis, MN. Minnesota winters are bad. Just imagine walking outside in the middle of January with - 15 degrees and 3 feet of snow. I had to learn how to successfully drive in snow and ice sto...