Someone has said that a rut is just a grave with the ends knocked out. My take-away from this statement is that whether you are in a grave or in a rut, your horizons are limited. It is so easy to become comfortable with the routine and familiar. One of my greatest challenges is to keep growing and learning. The…
Posts By mikecalhoun
I spoke at a church Sunday to honor a dear friend of mine who is retiring. I met Tom Hammett more than 35 years ago and have had the privilege of watching him Pastor the same church for 33 years. I was moved by the people who shared about various aspects of Tom's life and ministry. I listened with an…
Have you ever heard any of the following "Christian Maxims?" "If you are going to talk the talk then you need to walk the walk." "Do as I do is more powerful than simply do as I say." "If you want to have followers then you need to be a leader." Or my favorite: "Your life is so loud; I…
Youth Ministry 101: Balancing Family and Ministry One of the things I enjoy the most about my ministry is teaching college students. I teach a course each fall at Word of Life Bible Institute entitled, "Developing a Biblical Philosophy of Youth Ministry." I think it is imperative that we help students to think through their "principle centered" philosophy before they…
Back When the World Was BIG! When I was young I would visit my Grandmother and stay with her for days on end. I loved being there because she made me pound cake with chocolate syrup for breakfast. (Yeah, I have always been into health food.) She played the role of grandparent very well in that I got away with…
So you've read The Greenhouse Project. Maybe you even loaned it out to a friend (why not be a real friend, and buy them a copy...) Perhaps you find yourself wondering how you are going to transfer the truths from these sixteen chapters to your student leadership. Let's be honest: It's a big book. The Greenhouse Project has sixteen different…
A practical plan for family devotions can be very elusive. I believe most parents really desire to influence their children spiritually but simply do not know how. I recently wrote an article for MTL Magazine entitled A Parent's Guide to Family Devotions. It contains some practical advice and creative ideas about how to institute a tradition of family devotions in…
Book Review: Building Your Leadership Resume - Dr. Johnny Hunt I really enjoy reading and I make sure that leadership books are a part of my yearly reading repertoire. Recently I completed Dr. Johnny Hunt's book on Building Your Leadership Resume and I enthusiastically recommend that you purchase a copy and that you make notes as you read it. Dr.…
Student Youth Ministry Conference I had a stimulating time with a group of youth pastors today in Atlanta. My friends Larry Lawrence and Roger Allen of First Baptist, Jonesboro, GA hosts a youth pastor's conference each year as a ministry of their church. Brent Crowe of Student Leadership University began the conference dealing with "Five Myths that Cause Ministry Syndication."…
Autonomous (capable of independent function) Youth Ministry - Part 4 Highly-effective youth ministries also have a parent ministry focus. The home should be the primary resource for spiritual training; however, we all know there are many spiritually-deficient homes. Is it our responsibility to be surrogate parents and take the place of their parents or are we to work in tandem?…