Blog
Cries in the Wilderness: When Generations Emerge
“Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.” – Isaiah 43:19, The Message A generation of prophets cries out. They are, in appearance, humble; in sustenance, meager; in approach, gruff. Do you…
Read MoreHouse of Second Chances: Fast Company Profiles Homeboy Industries
Love it when unlikely sources celebrate unconventional urban youth ministries. I bought the May 2012 issue of Fast Company magazine because Steve Jobs was on the cover. I’m keeping it because of the 4,000+ word article celebrating the life and legacy of Father Gregory Boyle’s redemptive work with former Los Angeles gang members. (The cover…
Read More31 Flavors
Ice cream is by far one of my favorite desserts. There are such a wide variety of toppings and flavors, that each person can literally create their own confectionary masterpiece. Years ago when I discovered Baskin Robbins, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Here was a store that specialized in inventing dozens…
Read MorePlay Ball: Pitching your Best Ideas
Pitch Like a Closer With the start of baseball season I was reminded of a youth worker who was preparing to pitch her most impassioned ministry idea to her pastor. She asked for help organizing her thoughts and anticipating the pastor’s questions and concerns. We framed the presentation as a story, and like every good…
Read MoreBeyond Passion: Living a Crucified Life
It wasn’t that long ago that the evangelical world eagerly awaited the release of what was being lauded as “the greatest evangelistic tool of our time.” The anticipation built as a brilliant marketing campaign invited pastors and church leaders to pre-screen Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ movie, and its trailer spread virally online. An…
Read MoreDeveloping Quality Youth Workers
Every youth leader understands the value of quality youth workers. We are constantly on the hunt for them, trying to weed them out from the crowds of church attendees we interact with every day. But the truth of the matter is quality leaders aren’t just found, they are developed. And it is our job as…
Read MoreThings we don’t talk about (like incest)
“Mama, I never meant to hurt you, I never meant to make you cry, but tonight I’m cleanin’ out my closet.” – Eminem, in Cleanin’ out My Closet He trusted her. That’s what little brothers do, so when his eight year old sister and her friend called him into a field, four year old Malik…
Read MoreBeyond the Noise: Worship and Justice?
Those Old Testament prophets sure know how to jab us where we’re comfortable. Every time I read this passage, for example, I can’t help but wonder whether Jesus would sing a different tune if he physically showed up to a stylized evangelical worship experience—a tune that sounds more like what his Spirit inspired Amos to…
Read MoreThink Small
Many of you might look at the title of this article and say, “Think small? Don’t you mean think big?” In our culture today, even in the culture of the church, it is more common to think big than to think small. Many times when people hear the word small, they cast it in a…
Read MoreOpEd: The Constitution is for everyone. Education should be too.
Our city has a crisis that goes far beyond where congregations gather on weekends. Let’s redirect the city’s energies into partnerships that advance our children. By Fernando Cabrera and Jeremy Del Rio Our city has a crisis that goes far beyond where congregations gather on weekends. Forty percent of New York City high school students…
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