Sexting. You can talk about this until you’re blue in the face. Still, a large majority of teens and adults see nothing wrong with it: “Our only way of being alone was to do it over the phone.” – one teen, about why she began sexting It doesn’t help that people students look up to find a reason to justify such pictures, even in the midst of public embarrassment.…
You likely have an opinion about the poor. You may have even served the poor. Do you have an understanding of the poor, though? “When you are broke, you can’t plan ahead or shop sales or buy in bulk. Poor people wait to buy something until they absolutely need it, so they have to pay whatever the going price is at that moment.…
Yesterday I posted a letter that I shared with students before a big youth conference. Part of the takeaway (I hoped) was to give you a template to use on your trips. The other takeaway is how I see that letter now, fourteen years after I wrote it; It had at least one huge blind spot in it.…
It’s always fun to sort through old computer files. I found two letters this week from a teen trip I led from afar years ago. My challenge at the time was that I couldn’t be in two places simultaneously, as I was a part of the leadership team organizing the convention for thousands of teens and leaders within our denomination.…
I’ll admit it. I’m feeling edgy as I write this post. I just finished reading an article via Relevant Magazine’s website entitled “5 Things I Wish Christians Would Admit About the Bible.” It has layers and layers of comments with all the diversity that you might expect.…
Saturday Night Live doesn’t always nail it. This time I think they did. Check out this promotional video for an annual Christmas church service: So… can we laugh at ourselves? In my opinion, the humor isn’t found in just one side of this.…
These videos offer some Christmas fun in themselves… but can also be the ingredients for a great youth group lesson. http://youtu.be/KeaehxEdpgo (Here’s a fun non-Christmas option) What if you show these to your students, get some general reactions, and then probe around with them on a few takeaways?…
It’s just two words long. “Spreading ideas.” That’s the new mission statement for TED, a unique organization known for its thought-instilling conferences and powerful, mini-presentations on Technology, Entertainment and Design. The company’s former mission statement was “Ideas worth spreading.” Still, TED does have a more comprehensive understanding of what that means.…
Use my free coach’s playbook for youth ministry volunteers: I first started working on this about 10 years ago and have added more based on what I’ve learned along the way. If you want to help give your youth ministry volunteers a little more guidance as they get started working with teenagers in your youth group, [tweet_dis]use this Coach’s Playbook for Youth Ministry Volunteers[/tweet_dis].…
What if finding Christ in Christmas doesn’t have to be an uphill battle? I saw something recently via a friend of a friend that you’ll now be able to see in our church building. It’s called a “CROSS-mas Tree.” When I saw it, I thought, “That’s awesome… one more way to remind us what Christmas is all about.…
