You know you're a success when you've been in one place long enough to have "remember when" stories.Persistence is the greatest revenge on hell. In our dysfunctional society, where complete family uni...  Read More

Gossip isn’t the only dangerous enemy in our youth groups. It has an ugly cousin that I call sarcasm or “scar-casm.” Because our youth culture so loves humor, it is often viewed as a friend rather tha...  Read More

Late one night my phone rang and before I could finish saying, "Hello," the voice on the other end frantically spoke."I'm so sorry to call you late. I don't know what to do. I love where I'm at. I jus...  Read More

Being a broken youth pastor, keeps us connected to our kids, but understand in a moment what is perceived as one of your strengths can soon become one of your greatest weaknesses. Daily our hearts rea...  Read More

The last group in the leader's "Friendship Trinity" is your COMRADES.These people are not for YOU, nor are they for WHAT YOU ARE FOR. Instead, they are simply AGAINST WHAT YOU ARE AGAINST. Thus, they'...  Read More

Second in the "Friendship Trinity," you have CONSTITUENTS.They are FOR WHAT YOU ARE FOR. And as long as you are "for what they are for," they will walk with you. They will stay in the ministry trenche...  Read More

As I write this, we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This significant event has brought the entire world to its knees. I remember so well where I was 19 years ago, when America was in shock ...  Read More

Navigating Your Friendships In MinistryThere are 3 basic categories of people that you'll interact with if you are a leader.First in your leadership "Friendship Trinity," there are CONFIDANTS.They are...  Read More

In the world of ministry, the path you travel consistently provides you with the opportunity to build one of two kingdoms: Yours or God's. When you start to build your own, you become the hero and any...  Read More

It's that time of year! Schools are back in session and life in youth ministry will be in full swing! That means the quiet halls of the summer will now be full of the life and energy. As a youth pasto...  Read More

If you've never read Jim Collins' bestselling leadership book, Good To Great, I highly recommend it. In his book, he tells a story that is very profound and gives us wisdom as we look at our current t...  Read More

Sometimes going through some of life's "dark tunnels" with God can feel like one of those creepy amusement park rides…the further you go in the tunnel the darker it gets and you just want to say, "let...  Read More

I still remember...we had just come off of our 3rd Year Intern Advance and getting ready to leave on Thursday for our 2nd Year Advance… in between we did a huge outreach night. During such times, as I...  Read More

I can hardly believe it's been almost 8 years ago that Sam and I left our roles as senior pastors and came on staff at Victory Church in Atlanta. And there I was once again, after 40+ years in ministr...  Read More

In his book, Geeks and Geezers, Warren Bennis made a scientific study of leaders and what characterized them. He found, "The ability to find meaning and strength in adversity distinguishes leaders fro...  Read More

We are trying to reach a generation that has seen very little commitment to standards and morals from their parents. So we should not be surprised that the word "commitment" is a nice word on a spelli...  Read More

If you're in ministry, remember, God doesn't call you to be His business associate, He calls you to be His son or His daughter. It is still agonizing to me how many people are in the ministry and don'...  Read More

In Cadre emails, I'm frequently asked to share some of my tips on developing a great leadership team. I thought you might enjoy hearing a few too. While some of the points may not sound too "glamorous...  Read More

My mind reeled with an entire list of things that needed to be done before 6 pm, and the day was flying away from me. Two phone appointments, a brief game plan meeting, a lunch appointment with an eag...  Read More