I am not an emotional person. That doesn't mean I am emotionless, that I feel nothing and exude a tough-guy persona that screams, "I'll mock you, then take your candy if you cry in front of me." I just mean tha...

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...

"Kara, we want to meet with you because we don't think you're teaching the Bible enough to our kids." This was John and Patty's greeting one Sunday morning as I was getting ready to speak to our students. Not o...

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 ...

Even if your bags are barely unpacked from this summer's trip, it's time to start planning your next mission trip. Before you zoom in on the specifics of your next mission trip, zoom out. Spend time with you...

Have you ever noticed how we're constantly looking toward the next stage of life? It seems to start about fifth or sixth grade, because it's then when we start to notice middle school. Of course, as soon as we ...

Tools: None (As the leader, you may want to prepare some questions in advance.) Season/Theme: Summer/Swimming Pool Games The Game: Have the group members stand on the edge with their heels just barely on th...

Every now and then we're fortunate to gather wise youth ministry minds together and ask them to reflect on a REALLY BIG QUESTION. Recently, we tossed a couple big questions about student leadership at for youth...

A band named the Byrds in 1965 had a huge hit called "Turn! Turn! Turn!" The lyrics began: "To everything, turn, turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn" was based on the passage from Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, "To...

It was all over in a matter of hours... Gone were the conversations revolving around poverty, hunger and injustice during our mission trip. They were replaced by the purchasing of our wants that had become n...