From Why Is Marko: "Yes, adolescence has lengthened on the lower end. But the much more dramatic shift in the last decade is the lengthening on the other end of adolescence, with adolescence stretching, on a...

This past summer, I had the totally cool opportunity to baptize my son. Because I live in San Diego and it's pretty much warm year-round (and because we have that big thing near us called the Pacific Ocean), my...

Everyone who works with middle schoolers knows this unique and wonderful age is all about transition. Everything in their lives is being up-ended, remixed, re-sorted and super-sized. It's nuts, really—a b...

You take a picture on your camera or phone, and you see the result instantly. You hear a song on the radio, and you can instantly download it. You want to buy something? Browse instantly online, click "Purchase...

I recently did some reflecting about the uniqueness of culture today for young teens. Here are some things I came up with:A Culture of InformationWe all live in a culture of information; so in a sense, this is ...

If you teach a second-grade Sunday School class, you can tell by kids’ participation how you’re doing. If you volunteer in the parking lot ministry of your church, the cars either get parked or they...

I’m thinking today about the “span”—the difference between incoming sixth graders and graduating eighth graders.Last June, I said goodbye to my small group of six middle-school guys, wi...

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking (and writing, and a bit of speaking) in the last few years about needed change in youth ministry. For the first two of those years, I felt I was able to articulate the ne...

I’ve been working with young teens in the church for about 25 years. These days, it feels as if I spent about 22 or 23 of those years building my knowledge, experience and expertise—and I’ve ...

Nutty About Neurons: Youth Ministry Workers Are Champions of Neural Pathways!My brain has been excited lately, and the reason is neurons—those connections in the brain that serve as its wiring system. Re...