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.
Imagine four God-loving teenagers suddenly being abducted, dragged to a foreign country, and immersed headfirst into the dark arts. Despite the captors’ attempts to brainwash the young people, they not only retain their faith but grow in it—and even lead their captors to believe in God.…
As a teenager I saw the movie Firestarter, starring Drew Barrymore as Charlie, a girl who could start fires with her mind. The plot was simple: Secret government agents tracked her down with nefarious intent. But Charlie surprised them—and ensured her freedom with her ultra-pyro powers.…
Every fall, youth groups all over the planet refocus for the new ministry year with kickoffs, events, retreats, and messy games. Youth workers with high hopes are eager to communicate the gospel to young people in their care. When all the activities are stripped away, however, our definitions of “gospel” often remain abstract.…
Once, while teaching a group of toddlers, my wife used an old blue suitcase to talk about Abram’s call from God to move to a new country. She talked about how Abram had to get his belongings together quickly and go where God was leading him.…
In this excerpt from Rick Lawrence’s revised book Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry, our conventional understand-and-apply approach to spurring spiritual growth in students is skewered, in favor of a revolutionary rewriting of our job description. I was invited to have lunch with six youth pastors who’d been singled out by a seminary professor as men and women who’d managed to build long-term thriving youth ministries.…
Charlie Chaplin, the legendary silent-film actor, once entered a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest at a crowded vaudeville theater in San Francisco. Apparently the competition was fierce, because the real Chaplin lost. In fact, he didn’t even place among the finalists. Charlie’s own fans didn’t recognize him in their midst—even those who were trying to imitate him.…
Sherlock Holmes is a lot like Batman. Yes, they both wear an iconic “costume,” but that’s trivial. Here’s their crucial sameness: Lacking a “superpower,” they both practice an eccentric commitment to a skill-set that, in their own disparate ways, “sets captives free.”…
Too many times, too many youth leaders vastly underestimate the typical Christian teenager’s capacity to understand, embrace, and apply significant Christian theology. Perhaps this is due to the caliber and “depth” of many curriculum. Most lessons are running low on theology.…
Near the beginning of the 21st century, respected Christian pollster and cultural commentator George Barna dropped a big rock in the youth ministry pond. New research, he said, proves that just 4% of all Christians “take the plunge” when they’re teenagers.…
It was a crazy night in the mosh pit. Fists and limbs swinging through the air—kids colliding, shoving, and rolling off each other. And, like Moses standing before the Red Sea, I needed these roiling waters to part so I could get through to the other side.…
