Youth ministry summers are notoriously busy, gobbled up weeks at a time by events such as missions trips, camps, retreats and denominational conventions. The tasks of a youth worker are defined more by travel logistics and medical release detail than by ministry. It can be spiritually draining. But, there is one word that can … [Read more...]
Teens and Bible Habits
The American Bible Society and the Barna Group recently teamed up to put a finger on the pulse of the relationship between teens and their Bibles. The good news: we have a pulse. And to mix our metaphors, we have lots of low hanging fruit. The stats are fascinating. The percentages noted are of Protestant teens who … [Read more...]
Tis The Season: Do Teens and Politics Mix?
It’s 2016. It’s February. The countdown to the November general (and presidential) election has begun with the Iowa Caucus officially kicking off the election season. It has all the makings of a season described as “the most important election of our lifetime,” which is how most presidential elections are described these … [Read more...]
Bacon Grace
The bacon phenomenon is a perfect storm of internet memes. Bacon meme experts say there is no single point of origination, but in tracking the popularity one is led along a path that includes things like: The Bacon Explosion recipe (a checkerboard of bacon used as a wrapping for sausage and, more bacon); the Atkins diet, which … [Read more...]
9 Reasons to Teach Hope
Hope is underrated and under-utilized. Its middle-child billing in 1 Corinthians 13 (faith, hope, and love) seems to makes it easier to ignore since, well, it’s not love, which we’re told, is the greatest of the three. Yet, hope is the driver of faith and the inspiration to persevere, which is something we need to do every day. … [Read more...]
School-Year Prayers
You’d think that key prayers and teachings in Scripture were prayed and delivered with the American school year in mind. And, well, they might have been, given God’s omniscience. The child and teen years are years of significant spiritual formation. And in the course of a school year students spend a big chunk of their waking … [Read more...]