I have been in youth ministry long enough to know that arguing with your senior pastor in a public setting does not bode well for personal job security.  Yet, for a mind boggling thirty minutes I was doing just that at a recent staff retreat.  Oblivious to the obvious discomfort of the other staff, I plowed ahead as if the fate of the free world hinged on me winning this argument...

American young people are, theoretically, fine with religious faith—but it does not concern them very much, and it is not durable enough to survive on after they graduate high school. One more thing: we’re responsible.

David says in Psalm 27 that he believes that he will look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  David’s words ring true in multiple ways during the course of each week.  If we take the time to notice then we can all see the goodness of the Lord on display before us.  Perhaps the clearest example in our lives of His goodness comes when the Lord is gracious enough to answer a prayer that we have been praying.

I have encouraged, cajoled and even bribed students to bring their Bibles to BIBLE STUDY but this summer when I looked out among our senior high group and realized that only 2 students had Bibles, I decided it was time to throw in the towel and buy Bibles to hand out each week... I have to admit that I headed into the Youth Excelling in Leadership (YXL) conference at Covenant College this summer feeling a little defeated and pessimistic from my red pew Bible experience.

A denominational leader asked me recently why I thought that so many parents act as if God’s covenant blessings to their children give them as parents license to sin against those who work with their children in the church. I wanted to tread lightly with my answer because I know that all too often youth workers secretly harbor the opinion that parents are the great road block to successful youth ministry.

YXL is a leadership conference for high school students that emphasizes the development of a reformed world and life view and application of our world view to everyday life. We ask churches to nominate and approve select students to attend YXL for one week each summer.

With the explosion in popularity of fiction books targeted at young adults, one might think that teenagers today are turning the current trend toward not wanting to read anything longer than text messages or tweets around.  However, it seems like once you move away from teenage wizards named Harry and angst ridden, love fueled vampires named Edward that young people have a tendency to stop reading...

This past July over 110 high school students and adults representing 43 churches from 14 states gathered at Covenant College for the Youth Excelling in Leadership conference sponsored by CEP. YXL 2009 was a great week spent exploring the theme “LIVE FREE” through Paul’s letter to the Galatians... Next year's dates are already set for July 5-10! Visit www.pcacep.org/yxl...

I read once that faith is sometimes best understood by looking backwards. Now, on the surface that statement feels a lot like the inside of a Christian greeting card or one of those posters with cute animals and trite sayings that we hang on our walls to inspire us to do great things. However, in this case, I think instead of motivational drivel, this statement is actually biblically correct and has application for youth ministry.

Perhaps the next time your church has a significant prayer need, you should move your teenagers out of the "future of the church" holding pen and into the ministry of your church by asking them to lead the prayer meeting. Based on my YXL experiences this summer, I have a sneaking suspicion that the adults of your church may be encouraged and challenged