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-in commitment. You’re after life-changing, inside-out transformation—driven by a passion for Jesus that spills out onto the lives of others.
What You’ll Find
The Discipleship section offers practical ideas and insights about effective discipleship in youth ministry. We explore the method and models and strategies your ministry can use to help “seed” a generation of teenagers who are all-in for Jesus.
A couple of mornings every week, I walk my middle-school daughter and my cabin-fever dog to the bus stop on the corner before I head off to work. We live in Denver, and during the winter months it’s as cold as you think it’s supposed to be in the “Mountain” time zone.…
Discipleship is the endgame for youth ministry. So how do we help teenagers break free from the gravitational pull of a conventional life? How do we “achieve orbit” in a life defined by a passion for Jesus? Well, I know from three decades of youth ministry experience, and from in-depth research projects, that nothing in our ministry toolbox has more “rocket power” than a mission trip.…
Living a life dedicated to following Jesus includes pain. In fact, pain is expected. What’s often unexpected, however, is Jesus’ response to that pain. Join us as we continue a month-long series examining the tender aspects of Jesus by revisiting our most popular podcast of the year so far.…
We all have ugly inside whether we want to admit it or not. Anger, greed, lust, jealousy, and a host of other qualities plague us all. While admitting our ugly to others often initially triggers hurt feelings, acknowledging our ugly to Jesus leads to a very different response.…
We all have ugly inside whether we want to admit it or not. Anger, greed, lust, jealousy, and a host of other qualities plague us all. While admitting our ugly to others often initially triggers hurt feelings, acknowledging our ugly to Jesus leads to a very different response.…
As Christians, we’re probably most familiar with the loving and grace-filled side of Jesus. And we’ve heard about the angry, flipping tables in the temple side of Jesus. But what about the bothered, miffed, or the downright annoyed side of Jesus?…
Profanity. It has the ability to shock, disrespect, and hurt people. Your mom would wash out your mouth for using it, and the Bible gives warnings about speaking it. So why did Jesus use it? Join Rick and special guest Stephanie Hillberry as they continue a month-long series looking at tough aspects of Jesus by examining what’s behind Jesus’ use of seemingly profane words.…
Hell. It’s the theme of TV shows, books, and Halloween costumes, but it’s rarely brought up in church, let alone in everyday conversations. Surprisingly, it was a subject Jesus focused on a lot. Join Rick and special guest Tom Melton (a longtime pastor and now leadership consultant) as they continue a month-long series examining tough aspects of Jesus by zooming in on what he says about Hell, particularly the parable of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16.…
If you’ve ever taken a personality test and then followed it up with a lively conversation about how you compare with others, then you know how affirming it is for people to get you, and to get them in return. Naturally we want this same experience with Jesus, but just when we think we’ve got him figured out, he seems to contradict himself.…
Knowing what to expect and when to expect it can make life easier, which is why daily routines are comforting. But could the familiarity of a daily routine also make you become less dependent on Jesus and more dependent on the routine itself?…
