Dear Pastor,

I know you’re busy. If you’re anything like me, you’re considering moving on to smething else before you finish reading this. Please resist that temptation for just a moment, and read on!

Is your budget tight this year? Are you looking at fall retreat options for the teenagers in your church, but finding they fail to address the spiritual needs your teens have? Do you have parents who need some direction and encouragement? Could your families benefit from a shared spiritual experi… Continue

Two weeks ago, Brian Frost preached a great message to fathers. I would highly recommend it to you.

Our student ministry just finished an incredible week at summer camp. We felt so blessed to have God's grace revealed to so many in different ways.

Finny Matthews was our camp speaker, and Carl Cartee led our worship. Our students were blessed by both the messages and the worship times. At the end of the week, Finny mentioned that over 35 students had prayed to receive Christ during camp. Praise the Lord!

Pastor George from Providence spoke on Friday night, and many of our students responded t… Continue

The Wrights are very excited today. Our friends from Belize will arrive in a few hours. I hope many will be able to meet Marcos and Jacklyn while they are here in the states for the month.

Our student ministry has traveled to Belize for the past 10 years, and their ministry to children like these has born much fruit. I am VERY proud of our students for their kingdom mindset!

Each year we invite the parents of our 7th graders to journal to their children and then present this journal to their children on their passage trip. Many of our parents have mentioned through the years that this experience has made an impact on them and their children.

Here is what I wrote in Tyler's journal on Friday:

June 12th,

You can tell a lot about people from the words they write. For example, David wrote much about his high view of God throughout the Psalms. If you read through his… Continue

Dear friends and family,

It is with a heavy heart that I ask you to pray for my dear Mondae and Sharrif.

Mondae is an amazing boy and someone that has always been heavy on my
heart, he is a street child of about... 9 years old or so. Yesterday
we were walking around downtown when he and a couple of other street
kids saw us and came running up to tag along. Mondae of course was
hanging on me when I noticed that his one fingernail was painted
bright red. In Kampala, not always but often pimps pa… Continue

We have all read stats on the fatherless society and its negative effects.

In a sad article I came across today it seems more is on the way.

"Becoming a father is supposed to be one of the happiest times of a man's life. And until now, they haven't dared say… Continue

This past weekend I was at the ballfield with my youngest son and heard a story about one of our teammates' high school aged brother that I thought I would pass along.

Some of you might recall hearing me rant this time last year about a show on CBS called Swingtown. CBS was criticized by conservatives and liberals alike over the immoral nature of this show. To put it mildly, this show was horrible and didn't last long even though CBS stood behind it all the way.

The young man that I am so impr… Continue

Dr. Randy Stinson has pointed to the following as clear markers for the Family Equipping Model. Churches have for many years claimed to focus on families and equip families but today a greater emphasis is being placed on intentional training of parents for their role in their children’s discipleship. Randy explains, “If we believe the church should be understood as a family of believers, then we should structure the ministries in our church to cultivate this, to encourage this, to promote this:… Continue