Takeaways on Parenting and Ministry from the Massive College Cheating Scandal

If you haven’t heard (aka you are a hermit in a cave) there are over 50 people who are charged in a massive cheating scandal to leverage their money and influence to subvert the system and get their children into prestigious universities. Among them are Lori Loughlin (Aunt Becky from Full House) and Felicity Huffman …

National Conference on Youth Ministries – Final Reflections

I have had little time to process all of the lessons, classes and discussions.  I thought I would relay some meanderings here that might help participants of NCYM, fellow youth ministers, church members and everyone else. I wish to do this in a sort of "lessons learned" format. For Youth Ministers, there is much to …

National Conference on Youth Ministries – Day 3

I am writing this from the Denver airport as my time to fly is upon me. I will give a few highlights from Day 3. Wednesday Morning Mike Cope “Community in Lars and the Real Girl” - Hebrews It’s a movie about church, it begins in church and ends in church. Hebrews Imagining a world …

National Conference on Youth Ministries – Day 2

Great day I experienced with classes, super-sessions and keynote messages from some of the finest people in Christianity. I typed 10 pages of notes yesterday so I cannot include everything here but I want to give you some highlights that stood out to me. Tuesday Morning, Mike Cope “Spiritual Intubation: How Community Keeps Us Alive” …

National Conference on Youth Ministries – Day 1

Yesterday the sessions started with an per-registration meeting with Patrick Mead that I missed (boo) but I decided to go to Agia Sophia's coffee shop (see yesterday's post). After that I did a little detour to visit a couple of places... Manitou Springs This is home of Pike's Peak Cog Railway which was, much to …

National Conference on Youth Ministries – Day 0

Technically the conference starts today but I flew in early yesterday rented a car and had a day for myself. That sounds pretty selfish but with a wife and four kids, a student ministry of 30 kids, a part-time job and other things on my plate I rarely take a day just for me.... so …

The Controversial Blogpost/Sermon/Class/Article/Email

Some things just get a person in trouble. Many of us have been guilty of writing that scathing e-mail where we use ALL CAPS to get our point across and later regretted we even sent that e-mail. Or maybe you wrote that blog post with every intention of settling the score once-and-for-all only to have …

Handling what Annoys You

If you follow my posts then you probably know that I have a tendency of getting annoyed. We all get annoyed of various things for various reasons. I will give you a few things that annoy me... Parents who fall into the comparison trap. Men who pee on the toilet seat. You women thought you …

Almost Perfect Vision is still not Perfect Vision

I need corrective lenses to see well but if I do not have them I can get by. I have pretty good vision but with my contacts I have perfect vision. This past week on vacation one of my lenses broke and I failed to bring an extra pair so I was left without perfect …

A Gay Response

I know I am a little late but I was intrigued by the recent "coming out" of news correspondent Anderson Cooper who is a prolific journalist/reporter for CNN. Cooper is just another individual in a long string of people who have announced to the world that they are gay. I thought about blogging then but …