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.
What if you think a teenager might be possessed? I had to wrestle with that real-life issue recently. By request, I was teaching about spiritual warfare. My students had a growing interest in exploring who the devil is, how he works, and what he’s capable of doing—and not capable of doing—in our lives.…
Season 2, Episode 15: Partnering With Jesus to Set People Free This month on Paying Ridiculous Attention to Jesus Podcast, we’re focusing on identity and who does Jesus say I am? Last week we talked about what it looks like to be set free from the shackles that are burdening us and tripping us up.…
Our culture values doing over being. Business cards reveal what we do, not who we are. College applications ask what students have accomplished, not who they’ve become. Even churches and youth groups sometimes unwittingly encourage right actions before faithful hearts. It’s an easy trap to fall into, for sure.…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we take a surprising plunge into authenticity, and what it looks like to create a ministry environment that invites vulnerability and a sense of relaxed honesty. Teenagers growing up in a “curated” and plastic world are starved for authentic relationships—we explore the way Jesus feeds people who hunger for deeper connections in their life.…
Season 2, Episode 014: Freedom with Sarah Bessey What is Jesus hoping to set you free from? If you’ve grown up in Christianity, you probably know all about conviction and sin. But what if there’s more to the story? If Jesus came to set captives free, what does that really look like in our life?…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we upend the way we frame our relationship with Jesus—from a serious slog through principles and disciplines to an adventure on the playground. Here’s how you can help your teenagers re-imagine their life as a disciple in the childlike way that Jesus, over and over, urged us to embrace.…
Season 2, Episode 013: When Jesus Names You Who does Jesus say I am? When I first met Rick, he talked a lot about this question. He said it was the second most important question in life. That question scared me, because I’ve been raised in a world of broken mirrors.…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we explore the “mechanics” of a dependent relationship with Jesus—where the reality of his presence is not confined to the pages of the Bible. Jesus made it clear that the gift of the Spirit means we have an ongoing, real-time, experiential relationship with him.…
Season 2, Episode 012: Are We Heading Toward a “Bibleless” Christianity? When you picture someone who has devoted his entire life to the passion of getting people to read the Bible, you might think of a person who’s a bit rigid and judgmental.…
In Matthew 18:20 (NIV), Jesus says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” If you start or stop there and stay there, you can easily miss what Jesus is saying. By these words alone, you might easily reach three different conclusions: Jesus isn’t present when we’re alone.…
 Partnering With Jesus to Set People Free){kind=link}
 Freedom with Sarah Bessey){kind=link}
 When Jesus Names You){kind=link}
 Are We Heading Toward a “Bibleless” Christianity?){kind=link}
