My home-based youth group (called Pursuing the Heart, Not the Recipes) meets every Tuesday night—20-ish teenagers from six churches and five schools, and from freshmen to seniors. When the college students are on break, it balloons up to 25 or so.…
What do you stand for? It’s a question that cuts to your identity, and displays the true story of your heart. The answer often becomes clearer as you develop spiritual grit. Join Rick and his very special guest host as they continue a month-long sampling of the newly released book, ‘Spiritual Grit’.…
My youth office used to be in a building where only a few of us worked. Then, one day I was relocated to a place closer to other pastors and leaders. I liked being secluded for some reasons. And I like being included for even more reasons.…
I’ve been in youth ministry a pretty long time… Since back when handing out tickets to pizza parties was a thing. I remember a long-ago encounter that changed my outlook on ministry forever. I had spent the day creating our youth group’s four-page newsletter using three font wheels, two ink colors, and one very fancy typewriter.…
You know that feeling when your workday is complete? It’s time to relax, hang with friends, or just grab some “me” time. My day was over, and I wanted to go home and unwind. The Spirit had other plans for me… But as I drove home, I felt a burden to go visit Amy, a teenager in our ministry who was living in a crisis-pregnancy care center.…
“We count people because people count.” That mantra was our church’s lifeline. Nothing happened without counting, and without a count, something might as well not have happened. During my seven years as youth director there, that statement echoed at every Thursday-morning staff meeting.…
Based on our exclusive national research, Christian teenagers are watching and listening to a lot of profane entertainment, but their youth groups aren’t doing as much as they could to help them think critically and biblically about what they’re taking in.…
“Nick” belongs to my church and attends the middle school Christian club where I speak every Tuesday. His younger brother is my son’s best friend. But Nick doesn’t have a best friend; in fact, he doesn’t have any friends. Determined to change that, this honor-roll student recently snuck an over-the-counter medicine onto campus and tried to make the concoction known as Lean.…
Confession time… I once auditioned for a national commercial. The tagline of the product? “Never let them see you sweat.” These commercials were famous. The spokesperson would offer an additional summary at the end of the ad, such as “Everyone feels pressure.…
