There’s a Post-It note that sits on my desk right now that has the names of seven churches on it. These churches are all very different: they’re from different parts of the country, different denominations and different church sizes from mega church to normative size. Yet, there is one thing they have in common. […]
I spent 13 years of my life in student ministry and I loved every single one of those years. As a student pastor, you get a front row seat to watch the Holy Spirit work in magnificent and sweeping ways in the lives of your students. Yet, it wasn’t just the students that God was […]
A couple of weeks ago Forbes Magazine polled workers from over 400 different careers and asked these workers if they felt that their work provided meaning in their lives and if they felt their job changed the world. The survey data was collected and used to created a metric for the world’s most meaningful jobs. […]
I’m a guy who loves to read in my spare time (whenever that happens to come in ministry life). This year I have come across a few duds when it comes to quality books, but there have also been quite a few great books that I would highly recommend. So take a look at my Top […]
Lately a weight has been sitting on my heart. The weight has been my role as teacher of the students that God has placed me over and how careless I had become in teaching them. Obviously, it was not a carelessness that was intentional but it had crept into my life over time. As I […]
I am often asked about the reliability of Scripture from my students in the ministry of Collide. While it is certainly a complex answer, the short answer is yes. While the answer to this question is too involved to type in a blog, I thought I’d share a recent sermon that I preached. I spoke […]
Generally, the mark of disciples and the church as a whole is love. We are called to love our husbands and wives. To love orphans and widows. To love our enemies. In fact, the mark of the disciple is their love for other believers (John 13:35) which is something typically flesh out well in the […]
School is out and summer is here!! If any of you are involved in Youth Ministry in any way, you know that this is a busy time of year. Last Wednesday was no different for us. That morning, a student came by the house for an hour to talk and hang out with my wife […]
Youth ministry can, at times, be physically, emotionally and spiritually draining. Weird hours, low pay, constant pressure to keep up with a changing student world can leave one asking, “Why do I do this?” Obviously being called by God is “why I do this” but there are also those times when a student takes an […]
“You do what?” “That must be nice to play all day.” “So you only work like 4 hours a week?” “You went to college for that?” “But you’re going to become a real pastor in a few years, right?” These are some of the responses people give me when I tell them, “I’m a youth […]
