Doctrine is under attack. You initial response might be, “Of course it is, heretics have been challenging the foundations of the church since its inception!” But there is a powerful difference regarding the challenges of today: not only are particular doctrines under attack (e.g. the Trinity, the incarnation, Hell, the inerrancy of Scriptures), but the idea of doctrine itself is increasingly being considered antiquated, irrelevant, and downright divisive. And these challenges are not only from outside the church, but from inside as well.

It can be difficult, a challenge at the very least, to reprioritize our approach to youth ministry away from attractional to missional.

At the risk of oversimplification, attractional youth ministries are largely focused on getting students in the door, and missional youth ministries are largely focused on sending students out the door. While some attractional mantras might echo, “If we could just get them in the door, we could convince them of who Jesus is and their need for Jesus in their lives.” But a missional mantra might be heard stated more like, “If we could just get them out the door with the passion for being and doing God’s work and accomplishing God’s mission, we could help them convince others of their need for Jesus.”

A few weeks ago four middle school girls came up to me and said they wanted to be baptized. We did some Bible study, talked about what baptism means, and came to the realiza- tion that what they were really signing up for was a lifetime commitment to Jesus. They still wanted to do it. Excellent.

One of them went rogue and got baptized with her parents the Sunday before the other three were immersed. But on the appointed weekend I found myself standing backstage in our church with the remaining three girls who were about to commit their lives to following Jesus.

Last week I asked my students to write down the most difficult question they could imagine about God. While there were some great questions about evil, other religions, and reincarnation, the question that most caught my attention was about the historical Jesus. "In our age of science," one girl asked, "Can we really believe that Jesus died 2,000 years ago, was buried for three days, and then came back to life? And if so, what does it matter?" I told her that if she is an open-minded person who wants to follow the evidence, then she would likely find the evidence both compelling and hopeful.

This past Thanksgiving dinner my cousin Connor, who has autism, was able to sit at the table with us during mealtime for the first time. It was a very special moment for all of us. Typically Connor runs around the backyard during our family gatherings and my aunt and uncle spend most of their time following him. Not so this yea

“Luke” was a youth pastor at the largest and most influential church in his community. He had a huge budget, exciting programs, and tons of students who genuinely loved him.

Turn off the water when you brush your teeth. Ride your bike to school. Take reusable bags to the grocery store. Recycle. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Shortly after Israel’s loud “amens” in response to Joshua’s public confession of his surrendered life and the admonishment to serve the Lord (Joshua 24:14-28), we arrive at the chilling reality of Judges 2:10: “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.”

Hello…my name is (your name here). I’m a youth pastor, and I’m unbalanced.

In ministry, unbalanced lives tend to be the norm more than the exception. It seems that ministry has a way of subtly drawing us into a life that, in the end, is more hurtful to us and to others than many of us would like to admit. 

If you ask me, living a balanced life is overrated.

Don’t get me wrong. Balance is something that we, in our 21st-century American culture, emphasize a lot. Yet I can’t help but wonder if we overemphasize the importance of balance in our lives.