I have a garden in my backyard because I enjoy seeing something move from seed to seedling to growing plant to fruit (or vegetable, as the case may be). It’s a process that fascinates me and draws me back every year to see what I can grow—but it isn’t easy, and I think that’s part of the beauty. I ...
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Healthy Boundaries for Leaders
I will never forget the moment at camp when one of my leaders turned our camp into a military style boot camp complete with single file lines, drill sergeant sounding voices, and precision instructions for guards standing their posts. Our camp was up in the mountains and there began to be rumors of ...
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5 Ways Counseling Changed Me
I go to counseling.
It’s a phrase that I never thought I would utter, especially in such a public way, but there it is. For a long time, I bought into the lie that as a pastor it was something I just couldn’t do—that if I needed counseling, it must mean that I was unfit to lead where God ...
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The Dangers of Isolation in Ministry
As humans, we have an automatic tendency toward isolation. But isolation in youth (or any) ministry is especially dangerous. Isolation leaves an opportunity for sin to take root, for selfishness to be harbored, and it halts your spiritual growth. In this episode, Ben talks about the importance of ...
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4 Event Non-Negotiables
I love a good event. There’s just something about seeing a plan come together after months of work that is both exciting and exhausting in the best way. There’s also not much worse than putting in months of work only to have an event fall flat on it’s face in failure. I know that sounds a little ...
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Delegation or Laziness?
There is a fine line between being a leader who delegates well and one who is lazy. The one who delegates well (entrusts a task or responsibility to another person, Oxford Dictionary), does it so that they open up more capacity while the lazy leader delegates so they can remove things from their ...
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Avoiding Ineffectiveness and Burnout
Want to be an effective student pastor? Bring a team around you! In this week's episode of Student Ministry That Matters, Ben talks about the key element that contributes to burnout: doing all the ministry yourself. Leaders help multiply your ability to take advantage of "posture moments" by moving ...
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Knowing When to Disciple a Teenager
Knowing when, what, and how to discuss things with teenagers is critical to actaully getting through to them. In this episode, Ben talks about evaluating students posture, speaking into their life circumstances, and finding the most opportune moments for critical ...
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Your Calling to Know the Culture
To be a student pastor is to be a student of teenagers and their culture. Understanding teenagers, knowing their world, and being able to critically interpret it for the purpose of effective discipleship is linked to the calling of student pastor. This goes beyond knowing the latest phrases, memes, ...
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Choosing the Right Curriculum
Choosing the right curriculum can be a daunting task. It’s one of the topics I’m frequently asked to talk about and my approach to choosing the right curriculum is a surprise to people at times. Most assume that I am going to immediately begin selling LifeWay curriculum and talk about the features ...
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