Kurt Johnston

Discipleship

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2 mins

Helping Teenagers Identify Their Village

Hillary was right. It takes a village. Kara Powell and the research she has helped lead at the Fuller Youth Institute has confirmed in recent years that one of the primary factors in limiting the risk of faith abandonment (or as I like to call it, “faith fade” since very few people intentionally abandon their faith) is the presence of about five caring, Christ-following adults involved in the life of a teenager; a Christian village might be another way of saying it.…

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Discipleship

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2 mins

How to be a Small Group Guru, Part 1: Starting Right

Let’s spend this month talking about small groups! Small groups are nothing new, but many youth groups are just about to kick off a new season for the school year. And the beginning of a new small group run is a great time to remind yourself of some basic principles that may help get things off and running on the right foot.…

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Discipleship

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2 mins

Ministering to Senior Slackers

You suffer through it every year with a sense of guilt, frustration, and pressure. May is notorious for what I like to call the “Senior Slump”. The senior slump is the presence, or lack thereof, of seniors who are slacking off on their commitment to just about every aspect of youth group.…

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Discipleship

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2 mins

Small Thinking Can Make A Big Difference!

Small Thinking Can Make A Big Difference! Any time youth workers get together one question emerges: “So, how many you running these days?”  As a species, youth workers are infatuated with numbers.  We talk about how many students went to camp, how many first-time visitors we’ve had, how many percentage points our average attendance increased.…

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Leadership

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2 mins

A Vote for Women!

Note:  You might want to watch this episode of Let’s Talk Youth Ministry before or after reading today’s post to get a broader sense of the context. Whether or not I’ll cast a vote to put the first female in the oval office in a few months remains to be seen, but when it comes to creating a youth ministry culture that is female-friendly…I vote YES!…

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Trending in Culture

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2 mins

Christian Gossip

Christian gossip. “Did you hear what Andy Stanley said about small churches? Oh, I know he apologized but that isn’t enough; his statements revealed his true heart. Let’s write an open letter!” “Did you know that Rick Warren is the founder of Chrislam, a new religion aimed at combining Christianity and Islam?…

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Discipleship

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2 mins

Student-driven Weekend Service

Our high school ministry is in the middle of what has become the highlight of their youth group calendar every year. We call it “You Own The Weekend (YOTW)”, a six-week “series” in which the students from six different local high schools run the entire weekend service.…

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Discipleship

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3 mins

Quitting Big Events is the Ultimate Program Strengthener

I’m an evangelist at heart. I like planting seeds. And while I’m not the guy who is eagerly looking for an opportunity to share the Romans Road with my barista or hang out at the skate parking looking for the chance to drop a spiritual law or two on unsuspecting hoodlums, I do have an innate desire to expose as many teenagers as possible to the good news of Jesus.…

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Discipleship

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2 mins

Three Themes to Rotate Your Lessons Around

Youth Ministry 101: Let’s Talk About What We Should Talk About Pretend a junior higher comes to youth group every week without fail. In two years she will sit through about 100 lessons.  A committed high schooler will get about 200. …

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Leadership

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1 min

An Impossibly Large List of Youth Ministry Resolutions

“Shoot for the moon, and you just might hit the street light!” I’m not sure where I first heard it, but that pithy little quote has served me well over the years. I think it’s a  perfect reminder for all of us as we head into a new year of ministry. …

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