In today’s hyper-connected world, teenagers live much of their social and emotional lives online. While the internet offers opportunity and creativity, it also exposes young people to unseen risks. From social media pressure to explicit content, the virtual world often feels more real to teens than what happens offline.…
This is a topic that freaked me out my first year in youth ministry. As a young parent myself, it’s not easy telling grown ups how to deal with their children. So it took me a while to really get to a place where I was comfortable with talking to parents.…
You have an ally in your youth ministry; one that most youth workers fail to recognize or leverage. It’s an ally that shows up unexpectedly at some times and has to be created at others. And fall seems to be it’s favorite season.…
Join Rick and the Becky-nator for Episode 8 of Season 8 – “Losing Our Chaff” – a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Here Rick and Becky explore themes drawn from his just-released book titled Editing Jesus. In this episode they continue their deep dive into the “core” of Jesus’s mission—it’s not to plant a new religious movement, or to reset our moral compass, or to warn us of the consequences of rejecting a relationship with God.…
Where to start? That’s a question most of us feel the tension of on a semi-regular basis, whether we’re youth ministry rookies, veterans or something in between. Check out these three questions that all lead to the same actions steps: “What does it mean to recruit passionate volunteers and ignite passion in current volunteers?”…
In youth ministry we often settle for small wins (ANY wins) when Jesus said his followers will do “even greater things” than he did (John 14:12). Can I be honest? In some ministry settings, if I didn’t celebrate the small wins, I wouldn’t have any wins to celebrate.…
Teenagers have no greater—or scarier—mission field than their own schools. Encourage your students to be a light for the gospel this school year by ramping up your efforts to train and equip them in the areas where they might be nervous to live for Jesus.…
Join Rick and the Becky-nator for Episode 7 of Season 8 – “Peculiar People” – a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Rick and Becky will be exploring themes drawn from his just-released book titled Editing Jesus. In this episode we explore why Peter calls the followers of Jesus “peculiar people”—of course, we translate that as… odd people.…
In a ministry context, summer is a serial liar. I mean, summer is NOT a slower time for youth ministry, and it’s NOT chock-full of margin. We won’t have a more relaxed schedule, and we won’t have time to catch our breath.…
It’s quarter to midnight. I have to be at church at 5:30 a.m. to make sure last-minute logistics are covered and someone is available to meet the bus drivers when they arrive. Fortunately, this ain’t my first rodeo… A carefully (and perpetually) packed toiletries bag stands watch in my bathroom, with duplicates of everything I use in my daily routine.…
 THE WAYS OF JESUS: Losing Our Chaff){kind=link}
 THE WAYS OF JESUS: Peculiar People){kind=link}
