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.…
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.…
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.…
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.…
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.…
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.…
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.…
I once did a lesson series with our students entitled “LOVE YOU: Learning to Love Who God Made You to Be.” Our study focused in on what a Christ-centered self-image looks like, and how the way we see ourselves affects our relationship to God and others. …
I’m taking a week off from youth ministry. It’s not because I’m going on vacation. It’s not because I have too many things in my schedule. It’s not because I no longer love students. I’m just about ready to rip some of their heads off… that’s all.…
The death and resurrection of Jesus was and is for every student and every parent. During Holy Week, we remind our students that Jesus was a living sacrifice with a vision and a plan for each of us. To be loved and to love.…