Seizing Your Red-Light Moments
We were at a red light when my life changed forever. I was on my way to Walmart with my youth pastor—he’d invited me to tag along on a shopping trip for an upcoming lock-in. We needed to buy chips and Hula-Hoops.…
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5 Ways to Strengthen A Growing Ministry
Well, you’re not going to brag about it, but things are going great in your ministry. Your fall kick-off went better than expected, and you’re finally seeing breakthroughs in teenagers who’ve left the sidelines to get in the game with Jesus.…
Unlocking the Invitation to Your Youth Ministry
We all want every kid in our community to feel welcome to make our youth ministry their home. Our doors are open and all are welcome. The love of Jesus extends to every teen. If we can reach even one more teen and introduce them to the love of Jesus, we sure want to.…
To Fall Retreat or Not To Fall Retreat?
Summer is over, students are back in school, and weekends are filled with football. Oh, how I love the fall. Having been in my current role less than two years, I am still in the early stages of the “figuring out the culture of our group” learning curve.…
Youth Group For Everyone: Including Students With Disabilities
The funny thing about growing up with a disabled sibling is that you forget to see the disability. Of course you see the wheelchair that helps them get around, or the cane that aids them when they can’t see. However, they are just your sibling, simple and true.…
The Plight of the Parent Volunteer
I once had an interesting opportunity to be one of the parent volunteers for a trip for “another” youth group my kids were involved in. It was not one in which I was a leader in any capacity. In this setting, I was a mom and a volunteer.…
(PODCAST) THE WAYS OF JESUS: The Enemy
Join Rick and the Becky-nator for Episode 8 of Season 11 – “The Enemy” – a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Here Rick and Becky explore themes drawn from his just-released book Editing Jesus. In this episode they continue “reverse-engineering” back from Jesus—that means we have to account for His relationship with the supernatural, and what He says our relationship with the supernatural will be like, even if that makes us uncomfortable.…
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How to Support Parents Back to School
Recently I read a hysterical article comparing back-to-school from the 80’s to back-to-school circa 2016. It joked about the simplicity of an era that involved lunches with processed bologna, metal lunch boxes, and the need to only supply a pencil and pen for the first day of school.…
Sometimes We Take 1 Timothy 4:12 Too Far!
If you want to be in youth ministry for the long haul, you must learn to have fun with students. I get the fact that you have administrative tasks to get done and program stuff to get done, but taking a break to have fun keeps it all in perspective.…
(PODCAST) THE WAYS OF JESUS: What Maturity Is, and Isn’t.
Join Rick and the Becky-nator for Episode 8 of Season 10 – “What Maturity Is, and Isn’t” – a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Here Rick and Becky explore themes drawn from his just-released book titled Editing Jesus.…
 THE WAYS OF JESUS: What Maturity Is, and Isn’t.){kind=link}