Authentically leading and empowering others to flourishing life in Christ
People will let you down. People you respect. People you look up to. People you lean on. People who have been there for you at one point. People that have encouraged you. People who have invested in you. People will let you down. But that doesn’t mean that they are inherently evil. It means that people are inherently human.
I was recently made aware of a streamer who has made some new waves through the youth culture space. Let me tell you about a new kid on the social media block, The Sketch Real. You might be thinking that because he is a streamer that your kids don’t know who this guy is, but the reality is that his videos and clips of his videos are beginning to go viral and move from the Twitch and TikTok spaces over to YouTube and Instagram.
If we want to see generation gaps bridged we have to start moving through the awkward and the uncomfortable to the place of collective collaboration. The place where we share our stories and we welcome the work of finding understanding and growth.
60 years ago, Danny Cocanower and Bonnie Constable said “I do” and committed their lives together until death do they part. Like most couples who say “I do,” they had no clue what the next 60 years would look like, let alone the next 60 days. Happiest of Anniversaries on this very special one. You are a shining example of consistent and constant devotion to being there.
April 14th always brings with It a wave of texts, posts, and messages that always overwhelm me with gratitude for the many people that I have been so blessed to have in my life. To all those that sent those messages - thank you. You are a blessing to me and I’m so grateful for you.
365 days ago, I was sitting at my parents house after a day of visiting with friends and community members who had known my grandpa. I was thinking, praying, and processing what I would say to eulogize him; all that he had influenced in my life, the memories that our family had shared with him, and the life that he had lived in his 80 years.
Have you ever stopped to notice what you spend your time doing? I think we could learn far more about what we believe and the priorities we have put in place simply by examining the things that we give our minutes to each day and each week.
Man's best laid plans often pale in comparison to the promises of God’s providence in our lives. The pain of our paralysis can be the very thing that God will use to push us forward. Ultimately, it is God’s purposes that will come to fruition and will bring the best possible fruit in our lives.
2023 is coming to an end and we have had much to celebrate, commemorate, and catalog as we enter into 2024 together. Here’s the Cocanower update for 2023! Happy Christmas and a blessed New Year!
If God has gifted you, appointed you, and called you, then be faithful to do that. No doubt it will look different in different seasons. For sure it will get altered by a pandemic, but that doesn’t mean that it has changed because of a pandemic.
As they roll out vaccines and the light at the end of the tunnel comes more and more into view, there are some things are becoming increasingly clear that were realities in the middle of the pandemic. But one group that has taken a toll is parents. Here are three observations for parents as we exit a global pandemic.
For most of my adult life (Geoff), I was the thorn in my mom’s side when it came to contributing to the annual Christmas Card. Eventually, she just started writing one with what she knows took place in my life. It was easier that way and better for everyone involved. BUT, it’s a good idea. So, consider this the inaugural Tara and Geoff Christmas…. we'll call it a note, to commemorate the previous year.
If there was anything that the events and happenings of 2020 proved it is that volunteers and leaders are the lifeblood of any ministry that is going to effectively and efficiently engage students with hope, care, and discipleship. If 2020 confirmed anything for me it was this: Leaders need to be empowered, equipped, and encouraged to be the lifeblood of ministry to students; not just the youth pastor.
If anything was obvious throughout 2020, it was division, selfishness, and pride—the ever-present sins in the heart of humankind. After reflecting on the past year and the things that transpired in our community, our country, and our conversations, I’ve come down to one aim: Love Others Well
2021 marks 13 years in student ministry and, in so many ways, the last year has made me feel like I’m in year one all over again! Regardless of what 2020 altered or forced into your student ministry, I hope that you learned from it. I hope that you gained perspective from it. For me, there was one main theme of learning for me. There was one strand that kept permeating the surface and it’s quite simple: Normal isn’t worth going back to if New is better going forward.
As a youth pastor, the coronavirus pandemic is proving to make my job a bit more challenging. In the midst of students having everything they want to do cancelled, everything I want to do to gather them and encourage, empower and engage them is cancelled too!
Let’s be savvy. Let’s be wise. Let’s trust smart people. But above all, let’s be confident that this too shall pass and we will be better because of it and there isn’t a storm that is going to cause the truth of the gospel to somehow become untrue.
After years of trying to figure out what was going to work for raising up leaders, we dedicated to three shared things that would aim to help form and forge our student leadership team. These three elements, contoured for your context will help you start a Student Leadership Team of your own.
There are a whole slew of resources, books, podcasts and conferences directly intended to address leadership questions, tensions, and issues from the front seat of the organization. But what about the backseat? What about the perspective from the person who isn’t driving the organization? That and other questions inform why we are starting a podcast.
This week was completely different from other wednesday gatherings. We didn’t do any “fun” in particular. Instead, we dove right into worship and then straight into the stations.
