Category: youth ministry
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Understanding & Reaching Wireless Students
Whether you are a high school teacher, a high school pastor, or the parent of a high schooler we all have the same problem. How do we understand and reach the teenagers in front of us with messages that matter? I’ve found that this lead in question is often the problem. We are a generation…
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Desert Man Trip
I’ve been around a few types of “manly men” in my lifetime. Dude’s who hang out at country clubs, play sophisticated sports, and have sophisticated tastes. Dude’s who smoke big cigars, enjoy fine beverages, and gamble big bucks. (Either gambling or on business deals) Dude’s who shot guns, kill things, and could live for months…
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Inside out youth ministry
A couple Sunday’s ago our senior pastor, Ed Noble, was talking about the inside out revolution underway at Journey. He gave an example about an area of the property where the church used to meet weekly for a big, family dinner. Now that space is used to run a food pantry for families in our…
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Free their minds…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaoSSVQz37A Free their minds… and their hearts will follow. (Sorry En Vogure, I changed it.) Is the primary task of my ministry to cram as much of what I know into their heads or is it to teach them how to think? Rhetorical, right? Wrong. My actions say the former while my brain says the…
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California Dreaming
The American dream was affirmed yesterday– at least for some California residents. For tens of thousands of children, brought here illegally as children by their parents, Jerry Brown’s signing of the California Dream Act, was a symbol of hope that their state cares about them. Qualifying students, regardless of their immigration status, can now apply…
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What the &%#$? When did cussing become OK at youth group?
Observation is one of my core skills in life. I notice things. Subtle and not-so-subtle shifts catch my attention. Then when I see them in several contexts over a period of time my brain starts to categorize them as emerging trends. So here is an emerging trend I’m seeing: It’s now OK to use the occasional cuss…
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The Solid Rock, The Sinking Sand
What do I see happening in youth ministry? I think this song sums up the conversations I’ve had with youth workers of the last 2-3 years. On Christ the Solid Rock, I Stand All other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking sand Things that have always worked, successes that we could always…
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3 Books Youth Workers Need to Buy this Fall
Of all the books that are new this fall, here are three that I’m recommending you buy: Parents Sticky Faith: Everyday ideas to build lasting faith in your kids – Put together a 6-week parents discussion group with the parents in your youth group and work your way through Sticky Faith together. You don’t want…
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@mclanea vs. @dougfields
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5 Minute Strategy Session: Define Your Ministry Goal
Discussion questions: Do you agree with the assumption that ministry programs have relational capacities? Do you agree with the assumption that you need to grow or risk losing your job? What are other strategies you could employ in the next 30 days which would impact adolescents in other spheres? Here’s the link to download my…