Since my retirement from full time youth pastoring and trying to make a career of speaking, coaching and writing; I’ve been trying to keep my youth ministry skills fresh. One way I’ve chosen to do that is through substitute teaching at a middle school. Let me begin by saying, teachers do not get paid enough.…
Fear of the unknown can create panic attacks, but I’d rather have trust than knowledge. We’d all like to know what God will do and how he will do it. To have such knowledge would diminish our trust in God or even make trusting God irrelevant. I’m glad I can’t make God do what I…
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. – Leo Buscaglia Some might say I cared too much in youth ministry and I probably did. I…
I attended the TRIBE conference a few months ago and one of the speakers, Alli Worthington I believe, spoke about happiness and defining what happiness looks like to us. I would say that I’m, generally, a happy person, but traditionally unhappy when thinking about where I am in life. This is a running theme though…
There’s a reason everyone doesn’t jump out of a boat like Peter did, the fear of drowning. We fear jumping from what is comfortable and safe to something dangerous. Yes, Jesus is on the water, but we wonder if we can make it all the way to him without almost drowning. The answer is no,…
“My 30 minutes of writing is where I join hands with the millions of others (authors) who came before me, to put my work into the world like those who came before them” – Tim Grahl I heard Tim say this at a conference. It brought such a sense of solidarity to my effort and…
Unacceptable. That’s it. Is whatever you want to quit unacceptable? Is it: your weight a bad habit like smoking or dipping an addiction a practice a mindset your words Ask yourself: Why is it unacceptable? If you really want to quit, you have to have a foundation of why. This reason can be grounded in…
I attended the TRIBE conference this past weekend, hosted by Jeff Goins, and a speaker used an illustration I had heard before. He began with, “What is the the most valuable land in the world?” Several possible answers included the oil rich lands of Saudi Arabia, the gold mines of South Africa, the real estate…
I was listening to Jeff Goins’ podcast The Portfolio Life and he asked cookbook author Sonja Overhiser about how she writes here cook books, she said, ” I try to think about the kitchen the other person is cooking in and their range of experience (rookie to veteran) I am writing to” This is such…
I hate this question, because I have to choose between the truth or a lie or a half truth, which is also a lie. Since leaving my full time youth pastor gig to travel and speak more, I had a great summer run. I did some coaching, speaking at camp, and speaking at youth groups.…
Would you like to find out how deep your youth ministry is when it comes to disciple making? Submerged Sessions are meant to show you and your students where everyone is at tin the pool. It will show you who's in the shallow end, waist deep, neck deep and submerged/ More importantly, it lays out a process for how to get you kids from the kiddie pool to the deep end of faith.
Lessons include
