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.
Apparently you’re not supposed to put tabs in your Bible to mark the location of books. The first senior pastor I worked with told me that myth, arguing that being an effective youth worker means knowing the books from memory. I countered with a seemingly better-sounding myth that “the only names really worth knowing” (beyond the name of Jesus, of course) are the names of teenagers in our church.…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we explore three ideas to help you maximize travel moments with teenagers this summer—turning “gap time” into “transformation time.” Can two minutes change a person’s life? We know from our own experience that the answer is…of course!…
Season 2, Episode 23: Overcoming a Culture of “Try Harder to Get Better” Continuing our month-long primer on “self-discipline” (and how we’ve turned it into both an idol and a prison), we give lots of practical help for tapping into our TRUE source of life.…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we explore a surprising way to “measure” and promote discipleship—or spiritual maturity—in teenagers. Do you know how to measure spiritual maturity in your teenagers? It’s usually one of those “know it when you see it” things.…
Season 2, Episode 22: How to Put Discipline In Its Place In the Jesus-Centered Life, Rick Lawrence offers a path into a life free from all the “shoulds” we like to promote in the church. Join us this week as we dive into Paul’s message—to two different audiences spaced five years apart—regarding the role of discipline in our lives.…
Season 2, Episode 21: 600 Days of 24/7 Moments With Jesus What if your relationship with Jesus were a 24/7 event where he’s invited into every moment, not just a set period of time? What would that look like? Would you laugh with Jesus more?…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we remember that Jesus’ primary “teaching” method involves improvised responses amid intentional conversations. Then we’ll learn the basics of teaching in an “improv” way. I was never in a garage band, but whenever I hear a phrase that sounds like the name of a garage band (for example, the other day my daughter said the phrase “dissected squid juice”), I tell people it was actually the name of my band when I was in high school.…
In 2005, a 14-year-old in Florida named Lindsay discovered that it wasn’t God’s will for local teenagers to be treated as outcasts because they couldn’t afford to replace their worn-out shoes. It couldn’t possibly be his plan for kids to be threatened by bullies because of their hand-me-downs and thrift-shop attire.…
In high school, one of my favorite topics to discuss with my youth leader was Finding God’s Will, particularly how it related to finding a date for prom. I memorized Romans 12:1-2, where Paul encourages Christ-followers to offer themselves as living sacrifices in order to “prove” or “discern” what is God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will.…
Like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie, we pull our dusty hat down, clutch our whip, and head into the dark cave that hides the elusive Will of God. It’s a mysterious treasure, so we have only vague clues pointing us in the right direction.…
 Overcoming a Culture of “Try Harder to Get Better”){kind=link}
 How to Put Discipline In Its Place){kind=link}
 600 Days of 24/7 Moments With Jesus){kind=link}
