Congregations are told all the time that families are looking for “vibrant, healthy, exciting” youth programs. Far too often, however, what passes as “vibrant” and “healthy” and “exciting” is not what should take the place of highest priority. Before I go on, let me make two statements. First, I have been a youth minister, so this is not an article to bash these faithful workers. For about 2 years, I was the part-time youth minister in Somerville, Tennessee and for about 7 years, I was the youth minister at the 9th Avenue Church of Christ in Haleyville. Since then, I have done my best to work with young people and…

The Lord’s Supper is sacred time. While the moments pass quickly, those few minutes are the centerpiece of the Christian’s week. It can be a struggle to do what we often pray about, and “remove all worldly thoughts from our minds,” but if and when we do, those few minutes are utterly soul-changing. To spend even a handful of minutes with our minds focused on nothing other than what Jesus has done and our hope in Him because of it should be what we look forward to the most each week. It is true that the Lord’s Supper is an individual act. I can’t eat this meal for anyone else,…

How would you feel if you knew your preacher had cheated on his wife over 100 times in the previous week and then presented a sermon on sexual purity on Sunday morning? What would you think of a Bible class teacher who posted on Facebook that she had had over 100 drinks on Saturday night, then taught a young ladies’ class about the dangers and sin of consuming alcohol? Would you be okay with a dad who smoked over 100 marijuana joints during a week sitting his kids down and having a family devotional on the evils of drugs? I think we know the answer to those questions. They are…

I happen to live where there are a good number of medical providers, services, etc. Our town is not a huge metropolitan area, but there are two hospitals and more than a few clinics, labs, doctors’ offices, etc. There are also other health providers in nearby communities. As one might expect in a situation like this, the multiplicity of choices means, among other things, some competition among these various services. That, in turn, leads some of these places and people to advertise in order to make people aware of what is offered. Currently, one of the imaging centers in our area is advertising a service and some equipment that will provide an extremely…

The greatest evangelists in the church might very well be children. One child can get another child to agree to or at least try almost anything. This may include something like a visit to their home congregation. Children are also bold and opinionated and say things adults stopped saying when it became too socially awkward to do so. Kids ask straightforward questions. One of the most humbling questions a child may ask at home is, “Daddy, why don’t we go to church?” Let’s face it, if you are a daddy you have no good answer to that question. Receiving an inquiry like that is similar to the out of service church…

Not long ago, I was introduced to a new (at least for me) acronym – KGOY. I learned that those letters now mean, in some circles, Kids Growing Older Younger.  One variation of this is Kids Getting Older Younger. I found the following information online at cruxresearch.com. The article was entitled “Are Kids Getting Older Younger?” The first two paragraphs state that: There is a lot of talk today about kids getting older younger. You hear this described as “Developmental Compression” by academics. The concept is so ingrained in youth marketing that it is often referred to as an acronym – KGOY (this is not a west coast radio station!). Like many presumptions,…