Category: youth ministry
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Clips, the newest app for youth ministry
One direction I think youth ministry resources need to go is mobile In the latest edition of Immerse Journal I have an article called “Technology Swiss Army Knives” that’s all about apps that help you spend less time in your office and more time with students. I’d actually like to see apps for youth ministry get…
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Which Sasha is the new High School Pastor?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX29XW5H850& My friend and co-worker, Sasha Morgan, is joining the student ministries team at Irving Bible Church in Dallas. (Hooray for a conservative church hiring a female high school pastor!) David Grant [her boss and an amazing dude I’ve grown to know, love, and respect greatly] asked Sasha to shoot a quick video introducing herself…
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Behind the Veil of Calling
I’m not a psychologist. Nor am I a sociologist. But I know my profession pretty well. And I know a ton of people in my profession. Why do we do what we do? It’s an important question. In many ways it is the only question that our students want to know the answer to. My…
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The Big Picture of Parenting
Thinking about this– I know I have two huge handicaps. I didn’t grow up under “ideal circumstances” but I still turned out just fine. My own kids are only ten, almost eight, and five months. I’m not a parenting expert by any means. In fact, because I didn’t grow up with a strong relationship with…
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Viva la Cartel!
After three amazing years of working at Youth Specialties, it’s with a crazy concoction of sadness and excitement, that I’m sharing today that I’m leaving Youth Specialties to start a new venture. It’s impossible to put into words the emotions I felt just now as I wrote, then again as I rewrote, and over the…
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4 Ways We Hold High School Students Back
In reading Robert Epstein’s book, Teen 2.0, the one thing that fundamentally shifted my thinking is that adults lament about childish behavior while simultaneously funding and celebrating it. Politely, Epstein says we have infantalized our youth. Maybe we need to take it a step further? We treat our young like pets. 4 Quick Examples to…
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Swinging at the right guy
In 7th grade I ended up in the principle’s office because I got into a fight. Technically, I was trying to break it up and got punched. But, apparently to a 7th grade science teacher, getting punched meant I was in a fight and deserved to be suspended. Within 5 minutes the three of us…
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Behind the Scenes on this Year’s Top 20 List
Today I published the YS list of top 20 bloggers in youth ministry. It’s the second year for publishing it (third year I’ve done it) and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I thought it’d be cool to pass along some notes from the process: Overall, there was exceptional growth this year. In…
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The Sky is (not) Falling!
I don’t know about you. But I’ve just about had it with people telling me that youth ministry is over. It’s not over. But it is changing. A brief look back at the history of youth ministry Examining youth ministry with a historical lens will allow you to see more clearly where we are and…
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The Parent Gap
As a kid, my parents weren’t that involved in church. There was a time when half of my family had some friends in church and did some stuff around the church. But by and large I was the church-e-est of the bunch from about 5th grade until now. I think my reality as a high…