As my children grow older and my direction in ministry evolves, friends ask me whether I still like middle schoolers. Others want to know if I still want to be a middle school ministry guy. Some ask me if I eve...

Maybe you've seen the change.Teens long have picked from a smorgasbord of worldview isms (i.e., atheism, naturalism, etc.), but today's isms no longer sit back waiting for teens to pick. They are creatively and...

Sometimes the best ideas can come from a plate of bland Mexican food. Eli Martin* is proof."I lived in Texas, so to me Mexican food isn't Mexican food without jalapeños," said Martin, who lives in a small ...

Adventure AwaitsIn the glory days of exploration, men forged new paths across the world under the sails of wooden ships. They embarked on daring adventures, fixing their gazes on the horizon, the pursuit of the...

Jeff Van Gundy admits he wasn't thinking…at least not about what he should have been thinking about.At the time, Van Gundy was the coach of basketball's New York Knicks. Driving home after a game, he was ...

Isms abound. They're everywhere. According to the website Phrontistery.info (Gk, "a thinking place"), there are hundreds of isms in the English language. Most of us probably never have heard of pyrrhonism ...

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6). Changing the Context of Culture We all know the impact culture has on our students. We implore t...

Their stories are hauntingly familiar. An HIV-infected Indian widow turns to prostitution to feed her small children. Because "business is slow," a young Chinese mother considers offering sexual services in the...

As I have looked back through the years, the definition of success has been a little clouded in regard to youth ministry. I remember reading Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry by Doug Fields and wishin...

By utilizing your web browser and any Internet connection, you now can access Shelby Systems' Arena Select church management software in the "cloud" from virtually anywhere. The word cloud is a simple way to de...