Since 1900, the average life span of an American has increased by 33 years. 33 years. Why does this matter in ministry? More specifically how does this matter to family ministry? I heard this interesting fact this week at D6 Conference in Dallas (where,...
Today, as we were listening to the sermon at church, my 6-year-old son heard the speaker say the word “sin.” I whispered in his ear and asked him if he knew what sin was. Now we’ve had many discussions about the basics of the gospel, including sin, but I wanted to...
The other day, my son and I were at a community center that had, as part of the building, a small room called the “Children’s Chapel.” Inside the room were a few instruments (mostly drums), a number of boxes that had Bible stories inside of them, and several benches...
The other day I sat down and wrote out a list of all the things that “needed” to be done. The list felt immeasurably long and I quickly felt overwhelmed. I couldn’t even figure out where to start because the needs all felt pressing and demanding of my attention. I...
Imagine the entire church family coming together to worship God. Both young and old, standing shoulder to shoulder with the same teaching and shared experience. Creating a family service that appeals to all generations is possible. With a little planning and a lot of...
A few weeks ago, I (Pat) posted a review of The DNA of D6 by Ron Hunter. I tagged Ron Hunter on Twitter, but I didn't think he'd see it... let alone respond. Imagine my surprise (... and shock ... and fear) when he contacted us about wanting to follow up. So, after a...
We need to disciple our kids, but effective discipleship is not going to happen from a stage or in a large group setting. Relationships are the key to discipling our kids and training them up to be godly men and women. Are we surrounding our kids with the right...
Recently I asked a group of almost 300 youth workers from across the country who primarily work with students ages 12-18 this question: “What is your biggest challenge in partnering with parents?” This was a cross section of those who are paid and unpaid from a...
“If you could eat dinner with anyone, who would you pick?” Before you keep reading, take a moment and answer the question. Where did your mind go? Someone famous? Someone from the Bible? A hero or a friend? I recently saw a commercial from Australia where this...
Church attendance. Yup, we’re gonna go there. First the good news, because we need the good news. Jesus is Lord. Nothing can change that. And the church is the body of Christ, and nothing can change that. So that alone should stir an undying hope within our...
I’m sure there are many people who can give an unbiased report and review about the D6 Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. I am not one of those people. I was going to apologize for my bias but I am not sorry for it. If I were to give my opinion of the conference I’d...
Faith-based films continue to be an ever present genre in the movie making business. More so, there seems to be even more faith-based films being produced and released year after year with even longer theater runs, overall shelf life, and validity in ministry...