Category: youth ministry

  • Youth Pastors in the News

    Youth Pastors in the News

    Here’s a list of headlines from the month of November for the Google News search term, “Youth Pastor.” I’ve deleted multiple links to the same instance. 11/6/2015 – Making a Pitch for youth ministry program – Wicked Local – Scituate, MA 11/7/2015 – Former Lake Forest Youth Pastor Accused of Rape After Multiple Victims Come Forward – KTLA –…

  • Movie Reviews that Don’t Suck

    Movie Reviews that Don’t Suck

    I don’t pretend to know much about film or movies. Fundamentally, I’m far too cheap to go to the movies very often. A few weeks ago Paul and I went to see The Martian while on our trip to Seattle: Two tickets: $25.60 Parking: $6 Seeing The Martian with my son: Priceless NO. It was…

  • That booth life

    That booth life

    My feet, ankles, and knees are tired in that “I just stood on concrete for 3 days” kind of way. It’d been about 8 years since I’d last run a booth at the National Youth Workers Convention. Generally speaking, I’m not convinced that something like that is really our sweet spot at the Cartel… but with…

  • Youth Pastors in the News

    Youth Pastors in the News

    Here’s a list of headlines from the month of September for the Google News search term, “Youth Pastor.” I’ve deleted multiple links to the same instance. 9/1/2015 – Trial Opens for Fannin County Youth Pastor – Bonham, TX – KXII 9/2/2015 – Mistrial Declared for Former Youth Pastor Accused of Sexual Assault – Bonham, TX – KTEN 9/3/2015…

  • Solus Christus is Not Popular

    Solus Christus is Not Popular

    Solus Christus – Our salvation is accomplished by the mediatorial work of the historical Christ alone. It’s one of the “Five Solas” that are core to what makes Protestants… protestant. These are what the Reformation was protesting. But I have to point this out: Solus Christus sure isn’t popular today.  Not in American Protestant churches, anyway.…

  • We Eat Our Young

    We Eat Our Young

    Hamster cannibalism is not uncommon. When a hamster gives birth, she may feel pushed to eat some or all of the new pups. This may be a response to lack of resources (like food, space, or protein), fear of a perceived threat, or some type of confusion. Source Humans eat their young, too.  Two stories…

  • Let High School be about High School

    Today my oldest child, Megan, starts high school. While it’s really easy for me to get self-reflective and think about my own high school experience and how having a high school aged child makes me feel old, none of that really matters to her. I want to share one thing that I shared with her…

  • The Cost of Thriving

    The Cost of Thriving

    As youth workers we are people in transition. The teenagers we serve are often in transition The churches where we work are often in transition Therefore we become people engulfed by transition A net result of this tribal transitionalism among youth workers is that there always seems to be more people looking for jobs in youth ministry…

  • Teenagers Need More Sleep

    Teenagers Need More Sleep

    Adolescents who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight; not engage in daily physical activity; suffer from depressive symptoms; engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as drinking, smoking tobacco, and using illicit drugs; and perform poorly in school. However, insufficient sleep is common among high school students, with less than one…

  • Long-Range View of Leading Small Groups

    Long-Range View of Leading Small Groups

    I just completed my fourth season of helping to lead a small group of high school guys at my church. (Love being a volunteer and greatly enjoy not being in charge.) A couple years back I wrote a post, This Better be Worth It, about the mental game of carving out space to chose investing in…