Youthworkers And Everyone Else. . . Hope For Your Troubled Soul. . .
In the year since my dad went to be with Christ, I’ve been converting a large library of his sermons from analog to digital. There was a sermon he preached in August of 1986 that really grabbed me due to…
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What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences? . . . And A Helpful Infographic. . .
A kid is a kid is a kid. . . or so I thought when I first got started in youth ministry. Somehow and some way, I missed the fact that each and every one of these precious image-bearers had…
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A Little Primer On Kids Who Cut. . . And Some Helpful Resources. . .
As a culture-watcher, I sometimes like to “rewind” as a way to gain perspective on just how much and how fast youth culture has changed. The practice serves to wake me up at times when familiarity with what was once…
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Purity Culture. . . What Do You Think? . . .
When you’ve been in the world of youth ministry as long as I have, it’s easy to look into the rearview mirror and notice that there are several things you’d do the same way all over again, and then there…
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Youth Worker. . . Did You Ever Get Picked Last? . . .
All of us have things from our childhood that we think are better left forgotten. . . flushed from our memories. . . washed away forever. For me, it’s that seemingly never-ending chunk of my childhood where I was a…
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Christianity and Politics. . . A Warning From C.S. Lewis. . .
He’s almost 60 years removed from life on this earth, but C.S. Lewis still speaks with a relevance that can’t be ignored. One of his most insightful books is The Screwtape Letters, which is a kind of instructional guide on how to…
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Modeling Grace When A Child Comes Out. . . And Dies. . .
The constant parade of reminders that physical death awaits us all came knocking on my door again last evening. My college friend, Dr. Gayle Copeland, posted these words on our class Facebook page: “Dr. Norman Carson passed into his eternal…
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How Can This Be?!?. . . Amazing Love. . .
As you ponder the events of the Passion of Christ this weekend. . . consider these words from Mark 15:23. . . “And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.” As Jesus was in…
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Prayers For These Times. . .
Sometimes it all gets so overwhelming. We watch the news and we see that the world is horribly broken. The time we spend on social media reveals to us the reality that all creation is groaning. . . including God’s…
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Christians. . . Always Judging. . .
I’ve heard it said a few times and in a few different ways just over the course of this last week. Someone preceded an observation about someone else with the words “Now I’m not judging. . .” Another person said,…
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Deepfakes, Teens, and Pornography. . . Raising Awareness. . .
A little less than a year ago, the word “deepfake” was added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The term surged to popularity as deepfake videos and technology were reportedly threatening to manipulate elections. If you aren’t familiar with deepfakes, the dictionary…
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From C.S. Lewis To Our Teens. . . Good Advice. . .
Do you listen to dead people? I do. And I do it for the simple fact that there is so much wisdom to be had from those who have gone before us. C.S. Lewis is one of those dead guys…
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