I could hear my heart beating in my ears. The oxygen in my lungs felt like concrete, dragging me down. I could barely breathe. Everything was riding on this, and I had only one shot. But I missed. Again. In the sun and sweat of the playground, it felt like the 40th time I’d whiffed at kickball (reality check—maybe it was really only the second or third time).…
Summer is over, students are back in school, and weekends are filled with football. Oh, how I love the fall. Having been in my current role less than two years, I am still in the early stages of the “figuring out the culture of our group” learning curve.…
One thing that I think youth workers are really good at is embracing change. We are trained to watch trends in culture, and we’re always attempting to adapt. Look at how quickly we embraced social media, and began using it to better our communication with our students.…
Serving in youth ministry is both rewarding and challenging. As a leader, you’re a catalyst for helping teenagers grow as disciples of Jesus, a ...
In the often-chaotic cloud that is everyday youth ministry, one goal always rises to the surface—growing disciples who follow Jesus with an all-...
Fortnite, 13 Reasons Why, Snapchat… The shifting currents of culture all play a role in shaping the teenagers you serve, and give you unique opp...
I could hear my heart beating in my ears. The oxygen in my lungs felt like concrete, dragging me down. I could barely breathe. Everything was riding on this, and I had only one shot. But I missed. Again. In the sun and sweat of the playground, it felt like the 40th time I’d whiffed at kickball (reality check—maybe it was really only the second or third time).…
Summer is over, students are back in school, and weekends are filled with football. Oh, how I love the fall. Having been in my current role less than two years, I am still in the early stages of the “figuring out the culture of our group” learning curve.…
It’s easy to see teenagers like caterpillars that are wrestling free from the numbing rhythms of their everyday life and into their butterfly life—where they figure out who they really are and what they really have to give to the world.…
Teenagers have no greater—or scarier—mission field than their own schools. Encourage your students to be a light for the gospel this school year by ramping up your efforts to train and equip them in the areas where they might be nervous to live for Jesus.…
For the third week in a row, I watched a junior higher struggle to complete the conditioning course before track practice. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed before, but his clothes were three times too big. The baggy wardrobe was slowing him down.…
Recently I was in a meeting of the youth ministry minds where this question was asked: “How often does your group, your youth or your church think of missions?” The answers ranged from weekly to monthly to an honest, “never.” It was a great question that I felt was poised around “opportunities” to “go and serve” both locally and abroad.…
How can you help teens fall in love when they’ve known about God their whole life? Here’s one leader’s experience! I was born on the front pew of a church during a Sunday night worship service. Before I could say momma, I said Jesus.…
A mission trip is like the Olympic steeplechase—you’re running as fast as you can over, around, and through every imaginable obstacle to get to the finish line. Maybe it’s the girl who shows up with a piece of luggage the size of a small horse casket, or the guy who forgot to study the packing list and brought clothes that won’t work well in your context.…
This has never happened to me before in ministry… It’s summer, and at least half of the adult leaders I serve with are unplugging from their roles until the fall. And a large chunk of our youth group also won’t be around because they’ll be “at the cabin” for most of the summer.…
