Category: youth ministry
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Looking for a Bible for your middle schooler?
The Ignite Bible from Thomas Nelson was designed specifically for the needs of middle schoolers.
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Luke 18:1-8 Teaching Notes
I enjoyed teaching in Encounter, the high school ministry of my church, yesterday morning. I’ve taught a few times and this was really the first time I felt comfortable to teach fully in my style. That’s hard to explain… but I only mean I was comfortable to just be me. There’s no scripted version of…
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She Keeps Me Warm
Macklemore’s song, Same Love, offers an incredible exegesis of the cultural dialog taking place in every corner of society.
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The Persistent Teenager
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my…
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Tribes of Youth Workers I Want to Learn From: Coaches
On August 1st, tens of thousands of whistles will blow on tens of thousands of practice fields on tens of thousands of American high school campuses. Two-a-days. In many states August 1st is the first day of fall practice for football. Beyond football, it marks the officially beginning for tons of other coaches of fall…
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NSA, Online Privacy, and Youth Group
Like a lot of people, I’ve been following the news about NSA leaks. And I’ve enjoyed a fair amount of banter on the topic, which leaves me full of contradiction. I don’t like that the NSA may be keeping a database on me, who I call, do business with, connect with, etc. I do like…
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The Chick-fil-A Effect
The Set-Up I’ve been busy lately. Between traveling a lot and catching up from traveling a lot I’ve missed many important details. On Tuesday afternoon guys from my high school small group started texting me, “What are we doing tomorrow night?” Then I got text from my co-leaders, “What are we doing tomorrow night?” I…
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The Process of Creativity
Ah Creativity. You Ruse. I totally identified with this talk. Creating + efficiency aren’t always best friends. I’m surprised that in my own process sometimes things come quickly while other times they tend to drag on forever.
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Tribes of Youth Workers I Want to Learn From: Counselors & Therapists
I know enough to know when I need to refer. That’s my standard line when dealing with psychological issues in youth ministry. As simple as that sounds it’s probably a line that has served me well over the years. I am quick to listen, assess, and refer when something is beyond my reach. My desire…
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Tribes of Youth Workers I Want to Learn From: Teachers
“Our church can’t get access to that school. It’s closed to the church.” I’ve heard this phrase my entire career in youth ministry. In a lot of youth worker networks it’s a phrase you say at a network meeting which gets an instant nod of agreement. But it’s never actually been true on two counts.…