It’s got to be the way I’m wired, because I know that many people just aren’t this way. But this is how God made me, so I embrace it. What never ever ever gets old for me is meeting new people at church. Mt Vernon is a thriving, growing congregation of several hundred people. In the fourteen months since I’ve been here, I’ve met hundreds of families, many of whom are good friends now. Every single week, without fail, God... Read more
Growing up in California, my knowledge of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was spotty at best. Cesar Chavez gained more traction with California’s migrant worker population. All I knew was that every town seemed to have an obligatory street named after Martin Luther King, Jr. (always seemingly in the ‘roughest’ part of town). And then in 2001, I moved to the Deep South and have been here ever since. The legacy of MLK is much more tangible here. Living in... Read more
If your goal in parenting is to raise ‘good’ kids, then your bar is way too low. The world wants ‘good’ kids. As a Christian parent, what makes you any different? I had too many conversations as a youth pastor with parents of teenagers, where they would describe their goal in parenting: they wanted their kids to be ‘good’ kids. By ‘good’ kids, they meant that they wanted their teens to be well behaved, get good grades, get a college... Read more
If your goal in parenting is to raise ‘good’ kids, then your bar is way too low. The world wants ‘good’ kids. As a Christian parent, what makes you any different? I had too many conversations as a youth pastor with parents of teenagers, where they would describe their goal in parenting: they wanted their kids to be ‘good’ kids. By ‘good’ kids, they meant that they wanted their teens to be well behaved, get good grades, get a college... Read more
Today’s guest post is by Brandon Yopp, Student Pastor at Mt Vernon Church. You can find him on Twitter here: While I was out of town visiting family, I decided to visit a local “contemporary” church that I had heard a lot about, but had never attended. Bethany and I went to church and left the kids at home with their grandmother, unsure of the quality of childcare and just excited to be a part of a worship service where... Read more
You never want to have THAT teenager. You know, the one with the attitude, the permanent scowl, the complete disrespect for all authority (I know I just described around 68% of all teenagers). I’m not just talking about an occasional bad attitude. I’m talking about ‘punk’ kids (that’s the technical term). I worked with punk kids as a youth pastor. I know I’m supposed to like everyone, but I didn’t like them. They were punks. I was happy to see... Read more
You never want to have THAT teenager. You know, the one with the attitude, the permanent scowl, the complete disrespect for all authority (I know I just described around 68% of all teenagers). I’m not just talking about an occasional bad attitude. I’m talking about ‘punk’ kids (that’s the technical term). I worked with punk kids as a youth pastor. I know I’m supposed to like everyone, but I didn’t like them. They were punks. I was happy to see... Read more
Here’s how you can easily kill your child’s spirit, their sense of adventure. It’s real simple: just overprotect your child. Shield them from anything potentially harmful. Don’t let them try anything new, they might fail. Don’t let them do anything remotely dangerous, they may get hurt. Don’t let them do anything on their own, that’s your job. Don’t believe this is happening? Here’s what research is showing about today’s teenagers: A large percentage struggle with obesity. A large percentage... Read more
Here’s how you can easily kill your child’s spirit, their sense of adventure. It’s real simple: just overprotect your child. Shield them from anything potentially harmful. Don’t let them try anything new, they might fail. Don’t let them do anything remotely dangerous, they may get hurt. Don’t let them do anything on their own, that’s your job. Don’t believe this is happening? Here’s what research is showing about today’s teenagers: A large percentage struggle with obesity. A large percentage... Read more
Over the years I’ve had the privilege of working with hundreds of youth as a youth pastor. In that time, I saw everything: from teens you’d want your kids to be to teens who were a train wreck waiting to happen. Church attendance wasn’t the deciding factor, because they all were active in church. While there are many aspects of parenting, two aspects always come to the top for me. Here are the two best ways to raise amazing... Read more
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