Few understand how busy youth pastors are. One rehearsal takes up three of our precious hours. We are very busy, often more than than many other pastors. Why are we so busy? Where does our time go? For many ...

Commencements are wonderful, but they're just too long. We sit at yet another one, knowing that this is good ministry, constantly thinking about the more productive ministries we could be doing while the speake...

It's summer, you stop by the church office when the pastor is on vacation.A senior member of the congregation remarks that Pastor Jim works so hard and that it's good for him to go on vacation.He does work hard...

Our kids seem so smart. Juniors especially plow into academics beginning in the fall, knowing their junior year means so much in applying for college.Some of us are youth ministers not because of our SATs, but ...

I'm an interviewer for the University of Pennsylvania and a high school senior asked me, "What do I have to do to get in? I have a friend who has the same grades and SATs as me, and she got in." On College...

I'm a chaplain in a hospital, and it was years ago when I walked into the room of a 58-year-old man. I introduced myself as the chaplain, the minister of the hospital. The man was sitting up in his bed, looking...

I interview perspective freshmen for the University of Pennsylvania, and for the past two months I have been interviewing dozens of highly motivated high school seniors who have applied to Penn. Encompassing mo...

Your youth wouldn't get in a car with the driver drunk, and your youth would say something should they encounter a friend who is over the legal limit, which for them is zero. Your youth never would drive reckle...

Theme:Youth tend to grow up too fast, dismissing the Christmas story as routine. Also, teens tend to stress more about school, which contributes to the trivialization of the Christmas story. This drama brings o...

We urge our youth to pray more, but we can't push that agenda too far as we don't pray enough ourselves. Not that we're lazy or unfocused, but ministry and life take up too much of our time. We know the importa...