Is sex before marriage a sin? At some point, every youth worker hears a version of that question. Teens and young adults often struggle with issues of mental and physical purity. And when they sin by having premarital sex, they need help dealing with heartbreak and forgiveness.

Read on to consider how you’ll answer kids who ask, “Is sex before marriage a sin?” Plus, ponder how you’ll respond to someone who’s heartbroken after having premarital sex. Read More

Last November, I chaperoned a group of Champion Christian School youth leaders to the ACSI re:CONNECT Student Leadership Conference. I expected speakers to talk about trade publication biblical models of leadership geared for teenagers, and specifically I expected the focus to be on traits, or behaviors of leaders. I guessed that there might be sessions on self-awareness similar to Manz’s (2001) reflections on Matthew 7:1-6 that emphasized self-reflection before judgement. Instead, with our group of highschool students, I sat through session after session about biblical values. I think I heard the term leadership used once during the whole conference. The design of the conference was to consider, define, and defend biblical values in a post-Christian world. Read More

Every year at the end of January school choice becomes a topic of yellow scarves and celebrating the ability of parents and students to choose which kind of education best meets their needs. Many people around the country find it exhilarating, but for most, they just miss the whole issue. It is a shame, but it happens with hundreds of issues each day in our media-driven culture. However, one of the voices that continues to be generally absent in this conversation is the evangelical protestant church. Now, I am not naive.... Read More