Mission Trip Rules that Transform
When we think about mission trips, rules are not one of the first things that come to mind. Rules in youth ministry often are treated as a necessary evil instead of an opportunity. Believe it or not, in the cas...
The Encouraging Word for Youth Workers
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" (Philippians 4:...
Greater
Steve FurtickMultnomah, 2012, 224 pp., $19.99Steven Furtick's second book, Greater, is a simple, yet powerful reminder that God's dreams for our lives are usually a whole lot bigger than our own meager assessme...
Changing the Post-Mission Trip Conversation
About a month or two after returning from a summer mission trip, I typically hear mission trip participants say these things:"I don't feel God here like I did there.""I'm forgetting things.""It's starting to fa...
10 Jordanian Young People Meet Summer Camp American Style
Call it jet-ski diplomacy. This summer, 10 Muslim young people from Jordan and Christian teens from across the United States shared two weeks at Camp KIVU in the mountains and lakes near Durango, Colo., to...
Meet Simon Baz: An Arabic/Muslim Comic Superhero
A Lebanese American from Dearborn, Mich., Baz is the latest superhero from publishing giant DC Comics. As he grows up in a post-9/11 America, Baz must fight more than bad guys. He also must fight stereotypes an...
Love vs. Wedding Bells: What If God Is Less Worked up About Marriage than We Are?
Yes, the rumors are true. The two of us dated, broke up, and then wrote a book about marriage and love, together. Yes, it was crazy. No, we don't recommend it.Our book, Altared, isn't really about marriage, tho...
Youth Culture Update: The Zombies Are Coming!
Earthquake? Floods? Fire? Meh. What you really need to prepare for, says the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the zombie apocalypse. No, really. FEMA recently hosted a webinar telling folks what they sho...
Youth Culture Update: Teens Drinking Because of Parental Pressure?
Binge drinking is a growing problem, many experts say—an opinion borne out by many studies on teen alcohol abuse. Some believe that stress—and indirectly, parents—may unintentionally feed the ...
Youth Culture Update: TMI on Internet
The Internet is great. The people on it could behave a bit better, though. That's the consensus of folks polled by Intel and Ipsos as part of a comprehensive "Internet Etiquette" survey conducted in eight count...