Before Reading On: If you’re thinking about quitting, don’t let this article be the deciding factor. These are reasons based on my experiences, some I acted on and some I did not. Most of my decisions to stay or leave a church were bathed in prayer and struggle. I write this to you because I…
I was recently talking to a young man who desperately would like to be a full time youth pastor, and I told him, “You might want to rethink that.” Here are a few of the reasons I gave him for pursuing the full time opportunity. If it would diminish your influence n the community As…
First, big thanks to Amy Landino for this simple tweet that pushed me to finally write this post, If it’s worth it, it‘s hard.— Amy Landino (@Schmittastic) May 21, 2019 That’s the question isn’t it? We’ll never know until we try. I left my youth ministry job of eight year last year and it’s coming…
My wife introduced me to a new show on Netflix called Seven Days Out. The show follows the journey of big events seven days before they happen. They feature episodes ranging from the Westminster Dog Show to A League of Legends World tournament. In between, there’s an episode about the revamping of the greatest restaurant…
For Lent this year I gave up watching videos. I avoided watching videos on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. On day one I broke my commitment because a friend went live and I immediately clicked on it and then suddenly realized what I had done. Why does Lent have to be hard? It has to be…
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,…
