Equipping Parents for The Journey
We see this in our ministry to teens and families more than you would think. We meet a family in crisis because the husband is having an affair, or the wife is emotionally disconnected. We meet teens who have watched hours and hours of porn to the extent that they are isolated, scared, and...
In part one of our Parenting Pathway Podcast series Raising Children in a Modern World, Family Ministry Pastor Dave Carl has a conversation with Linda Wylie, Ministry Leader of Student Ministries, and Chrissy Smith, Pastoral Leader of Stonebriar Women. There is a growing trend with young people today, especially those raised in church: they...
In part three of our Parenting Pathway Podcast: Raising Boys to be Christian Men, Family Ministry Pastor Dave Carl continues his conversation with Associate Pastors Nathan Kocurek and David Ake about raising boys to be men in a culture where boys are seldom taught about manhood, using John Eldredge’s book The Way of the Wild...
In Part 2 of our Parenting Pathway Podcast: Raising Boys to be Christian Men, Family Ministry Pastor Dave Carl continues his conversation with Associate Pastors Nathan Kocurek and David Ake about raising boys to be men in a culture where boys are seldom taught about manhood. Using John Eldredge’s book The Way of the...
Being handy around the house sometimes involves things that go beyond the broken faucet or the leaking toilet. As a Christian husband and father, I sometimes have to do some heart repair, as well. For a DIY blog, this will be a little off-topic . . . but is it really? Recently, I had...
Shared by Nathan Kocurek, Associate Pastor Student Ministries at Stonebriar Community Church, the true story of Michaela, one of his former students. The Gap Year is typically an academic year taken by a student as a break between high school and college. For Christian kids, the idea becomes a missional Gap Year. It can include...
“You’re off to great places!” Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so… Get on your way! —Dr. Suess When I first began as a student ministry pastor, I quickly encountered the problem we have all come to recognize as “graduating from church.” Statistics varied wildly, but everyone seemed to agree there was...
I was standing by the door of an SUV, a new middle school minister, trying to reassure a dad twice my age that he did not have to worry, his precious daughter/princess would not be in any danger. You see, in our small junior high youth group, we had decided to go clean up...
Life was over. I had lost all purpose. As I crossed Lake Ray Hubbard on I-30, I saw the opportunity to exit, drive across the overpass, and drive my SUV down the hill in front of Bass Pro Shop into Lake Ray Hubbard and end it all. The date was July 18, 2008. I...
Written by Insight for Living Ministries staff members. Shattered. Your dreams of your children growing up to be godly Christians now lay like splinters of glass on the marble floor. “Mom, I’m gay,” your son announces. Your daughter reveals, “Dad, I’ve moved in with my boyfriend.” These words take your breath away. Your adult...
There is a biblical foundation for our conversation about dating and sexuality. Looking at 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, we see that Paul’s letter to Corinth is about living differently in a fallen world. Paul explains that believers are to have different attitudes toward lawsuits, sex, and other controversial topics. Historically the attitudes toward sex in Corinth...
Like most Americans, my family has a hard time getting everyone to the table on the same night, at the same time to have dinner together. And when we do get there, it is not uncommon to hear grumbling about the no phone rule, or the big salad instead of spaghetti, or the awkward...
