It’s Time To Bench Virginity Pledges

You can find the first article in our current series on sexuality here. You’ll have a hard time finding a more passionate advocate for sexual abstinence than I. Beyond the biblical parameters that confine sex within marriage, the…

Meghan Trainor, “That Bass,” and Gospel Beauty

Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass,” for all its efforts to rebuff the singularly-defined beauty ideal, doesn’t solve any problems. Trainor, tired of an unrealistic standard, claims that “every inch of you is perfect,” and, besides, “boys like…

Dad-vertising at the Super Bowl

I’ve always hated those commercials that show dads as the buffoons of the family. You know what I’m talking about. Dad can’t cook. He can’t change a diaper. He’s a dunce, and he can’t do anything right. Usually,…

Essential Practices of Good Youth Ministry

In this series, “What Acts Teaches Us About Youth Ministry,” we are considering the way the apostles did ministry as described in the Book of Acts. Of course, the apostles were not doing youth ministry per say, but we can…

Youth Ministry and the Tyranny of the Urgent

In this series, “What Acts Teaches Us About Youth Ministry,” we are considering the way the apostles did ministry as described in the Book of Acts. Of course, the apostles were not doing youth ministry per say, but we can…

Youth Ministry in the Power of the Spirit

A youth ministry without the power of the Holy Spirit presents a neutered God. Nothing in the book of Acts leads me to believe that the Holy Spirit has stopped working among us. So, it may be a…

HTH: Teen Doubt Study

This article from the Center for Youth Ministry Training features a qualitative study on the experience of teenage doubt. The article offers valuable insight into the value of pastoral care and listening in ministering to kids who are doubting.