Shameless Self Promotion- Mission Trip Edition

My latest article, "Mission Trip High: Keeping it Going or Leaving it There" is up on Ministry Matters.

In it, I question the idea of "bringing it home" from a mission trip or conference experience and argue that pastors and youth leaders need to adjust the expectations we put on youth for when they come back  from these experiences.

Feel free to post comments on the article page itself or here on the blog.

Shameless Self Promotion- Independence Day Edition

I have a new article up on Ministry Matters, "Praising America More Than God", discussing the place of patriotism in the church in light of the July 4 holiday (Independence Day, not Jessica's birthday). A sermon referenced in the article is attached.

Comments are always appreciated!

Further Shameless Self Pomotion

I just published an article on Youth Ministry Today. It's a piece I wrote a few years back for my Seminary Field Ed class, and we were asked to pick a guiding metaphor for the ministry context in which we were working.

I was a youth pastor, and I chose "shepherd", specifically a shepherd herding cats. Enjoy.

Herding Cats: The Unexpected Surprises of Ministering to Young People

A Blast from the Past

Imagine my surprise when I checked my email and saw an update from Youth Ministry Today that said this week's featured article was written by me!

It turns out they published an article I wrote for Youthworker Journal back in 2003, when they were still affiliated with Youth Specialties.

It was originally called "An Introduction to Postmodernism for Youth Ministers", but the folks at YM Today have retitled it "Using the 'P' Word: Why Postmodernism Isn't Really A Dirty Word".

I wrote it during my first year of seminary, and if I wrote the article today I would probably do it a little bit differently. But overall I think it holds up pretty well. It was the first feature article I ever got to write, and being only 22 at the time I was really excited to get published.

Here's the link to the article, if you're so inclined. 

I wonder if YM Today owes me some money...

Further Shameless Self Promotion

Worship Connection, an online worship resource by Cokesbury, published an article I wrote on collaborative preaching. Check it out if you have a few minutes. Comments are always appreciated, of course.

For those who can't access the link above, copy the following into your browser:

http://www.worshipconnection.cokesbury.com/content.aspx?dyn=1604