One of the most memorable wedding ceremonies I’ve ever been to took place within the Cathedral of Stormwind, a location within the popular video game World of Warcraft. The bride and groom met while playing online together, eventually met outside of the game, and were married in what we would all ...
Read More

I love being a coach. Granted, I’ve never actually been one full-time, but I’ve always thought being a school athletics coach was a career that was very much like a that of a youth pastor. Coaches tend to move around a good bit, their success is judged by tangible metrics, they can be heavily ...
Read More

Have you ever seen a teenager dive headfirst into a baby pool filled with 75 pounds of wet spaghetti noodles while trying to find a raw hot dog? This was the first stop in a hot-dog-themed relay race featuring the previously mentioned hot dog as the baton, renamed “Wienerthon,” for obvious reasons. ...
Read More

https://youtu.be/sWfRFe313sg It's hard to believe that this shift in the way we do ministry (and all of life, really) started almost four months ago in the spring. I think we probably all imagined we would be on the other side of it by the time the season changed. I've been so encouraged by ...
Read More

I’ve had an interesting relationship with rest throughout my time in ministry. I’ve heard, as I’m sure you have, people talk about both the importance of rest and the need for ministry to take place in nothing short of 50+ hour work weeks. I interpreted this message as, “run until you can’t run ...
Read More

Ben Trueblood, Director of LifeWay Students As I've thought about recent events, I've realized that it is not enough to simply apologize and express our sadness and anger over the loss of Black lives. As Christians, we are to recognize that all people are created in the image of God and therefore ...
Read More

Student ministry has always been about relationships. Well...to be clear, the real ministry of student ministry has always been about relationships. It’s through relationships that students are reached with the gospel, are taught to follow Him, and the church becomes a vital part of a teenagers walk ...
Read More

Your calling demands community—it’s a phrase I began to consider much later in ministry than I’d like to admit. Acknowledging this phrase demands that I come to the reality that it is dangerous to be in ministry without deep friendships. I’m not going to be one of those people that says, “You can’t ...
Read More

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 ...
Read More

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 ...
Read More