Happiness From Self-Sovereignty? Nope. It Just Doesn’t Work.
While cleaning up my desk this week, one of the many buried treasures I stumbled upon was my print-out of the cover from the December 21-28, 1963 edition of The Saturday Evening Post. Two things struck me. . . two…
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Christmas. . . And Piling On The Stuff
These are the days when we really ramp up our thoughts and desires regarding stuff. I can’t point to any hard and fast data, but I can tell you about the seemingly endless parade of trucks from UPS, FedEx, USPS,…
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For Your Thanksgiving Table
The older we get, the more we tend to lean into the nostalgia that comes with remembering holidays past. That’s certainly the case for me. Memories of my early Christian nurture in a home where my dad was at the…
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Youth Ministry: Preaching The Word In Our Kids’ World
Personal confession: I’ve made way too many mistakes over the course of my time in youth ministry. Early on, there were way too many foolish decisions. Most of those had to do with stuff that we thought was fun. Those…
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Walk Carefully On Social Media This Week
I’m throwing this out there as something to think about – as I am – on this, the day before. That which rattles us to the core must be discussed and acted upon. The Gospel demands it. But it’s wise to choose where we…
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Make Life Hard For Your Kids
There’s a parenting memory that makes my heart ache whenever it pops into my head. We were brand new to the neighborhood and all my 5-year-old son wanted to do was hop into the game of backyard football that was…
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Youth Sports: Perspective Needed!
There’s a fire in her belly. . . and it comes from being an athlete, being a coach, and being a parent who kept an aggressive schedule of sports activities for her own kids. And the fire in her belly…
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When Kids Ask “Who Am I?”
I just finished up a Zoom call with a classroom full of high school students in Minnesota. As I looked at them on the screen, I was reminded of just how change-filled their young adolescent lives are as they look…
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Tua, Youth Sports, & The Brain
Google the name Tua Tagovailoa today and you’ll have a front row seat to the online debate that’s unfolding regarding the Miami Dolphin Quarterback, the concussion he suffered in last night’s game against the Bills, and whether or not this…
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Cheer Them On! – A Youth Min Metaphor
Last Monday I drove down to Philadelphia to meet three friends who were part of my own high school youth group experience back in the early 1970s. While we’ve stayed in touch over the years, we last year began what…
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Youth Min & Culture Cohort: Come Learn With Us!
We’re starting something new for youth workers. . . and we’re inviting you to join us! Over the years it’s been my great joy to get into the undergrad and graduate classroom on hundreds of occasions, teaching youth workers how…
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A Back-To-School Prayer For Our Kids
School is starting. This year, some of our kids are heading to a building. Others are going to school online. Still others are being home-schooled out of necessity or by choice. I love looking at all the first-day-of-school pictures that…
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