There Are No Guarantees

  There is no guarantee that “that kid” who needs to hear your message you designed around them will show up. There is no guarantee that camp or your missions trip will create the the spiritual growth you are looking for. There is no guarantee that kids will be more committed to the program after…

Solving For X in Youth Ministry

  I have been going back to school for the past two years to get my 2 year degree and eventually my four year degree. Part of this journey is taking Algebra. I hate algebra. I am a right brain kind of guy so numbers scare me. I tried to make the argument, to myself,…

Facing the Fear Of Trying Something New

Trying something new can be scary. It might fail, worse, it might succeed and then you have to keep succeeding. Recently I started doing announcements via Facebook (example above). Although I do not shy away from the spot light, it was still scary because I knew I would be judged on it. My fear was,…

The Sting of Confomity

  When I was a young youth pastor, I thought it was my job, neigh, my obligation to change the church for the glory of God. I thought it was my job to be the radical all the time and to drag these spiritual neanderthals out of the 19th Century (or earlier) and into the…