In the YS Convention handbook, the 10 p.m. forums carried the title "Help! I'm Over 40 and Still in Youth Ministry!" I didn't expect a crowd, considering the late hour and the convention's more exotic offerings...

The last day of 1999, we had a curve ball thrown at us: We were going to have a baby. Medical specialists had told us years before that we'd probably never have any more kids after our first and only child, Rac...

As a young Christian attending seminary, I once heard a sermon in chapel that explained God’s goal for us is to become mature. The message was good, but the messenger never explained what maturity is and ...

We’ve heard it said that God loves us as we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us as we are.God is more concerned with our character than our comfort, but we often resist the deep growth necessar...

My wife and I saw the newest Batman movie, The Dark Knight. I love Batman. I can relate to him. He’s human, and he does extraordinary things. He has a few secrets. (He also looks good in a cape. My wife s...

Every spring, I remind my students at Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear, Del., that I experience severe allergies that yield ample sneezing, bloodshot eyes and an extravagant use of tissue.That being said, one...

One of the great perks my university offers is a paid sabbatical. Every three and a half years full-time faculty may take a semester off. This past fall I took one.Some days my big decision was, “Do I dri...

During one of my son’s Christmas parties, my chest started to hurt. It lasted all day. Then while watching a college football game on TV that evening, my chest started to tighten. And it wasn’t beca...

This article first appeared in the print journal May/June 1996.Sherry attended our youth retreat and spent the entire weekend hearing about God's desire for her. On Saturday evening she became a Christian. She ...

Scenario 1 As I traveled by plane to speak at a mega-church’s youth ministry weekend bash, I daydreamed of what I expected would happen. The hosts would pick me up and take me out to eat. We would pray...