“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight This multi-layered statement has been rolling around my brain like a pair of sneakers in a dryer. I recently heard the news of Pastor Tony Evans, 74, stepping down from his church due to an…
Kevin Costner, In reference to his movies Tin Cup and Bull Durham, made some comments about the protagonists in these movies not getting what they wanted, “We don’t have to win in order to be respected. We have to stay true to ourselves. We have to find the relevance in who we are and not…
“Today. Today… At the edge of our hope, at the end of our time, we have chosen not only to believe in ourselves, but in each other. Today there is not a man nor woman in here that shall stand alone. Not today. Today we face the monsters that are at our door and bring…
I was wondering one day, “I wonder how much it cost to do car crash tests?” My mind is an ocean of meandering questions like this. I was thinking of this because I was thinking of doing a short term program change in our youth ministry where I saw our students leading small groups. You…
This is not message to every pastor, just to the ones who confuse vision with entitlement. Pastors, a vision is not a program, an ideology or a philosophy. It’s not a statement. A vision is the ability to see what could be if the investment of prayer, hard work and resources (time, people, etc.) are…
Being a youth pastor is a rewarding but demanding role. While the focus is often placed on developing positive habits for success, it’s equally important to identify and avoid behaviors that can hinder your ministry. This article explores 13 common pitfalls that can hold anyone back, but allow me to share why these habits, in…
Reaching young people and fostering their spiritual growth is a delicate art and for youth pastors, it’s more like walking a tight rope between what we ought to say and what we have permission to say. Confrontational tactics like preaching AT students about what the Bible says, without depth of relationship and permission, it will…
In a world overflowing with information, our attention spans are shrinking faster than ever. Our students are overwhelmed with emails, social media posts, texts and advertisements – all vying for a sliver of their precious time. This begs the question: how do we get students to notice our events and care about what we have…
It’s that time of year and I know youth pastor and parents are looking for the perfect graduation song to send their students off into the world. Here are 15 thoughtful, fun and rocking song suggestions to create a graduation soundtrack for that slide show or video. If you’re a youth worker I have labelled…
British-Greek automotive designer, Alec Issigoris, who designed the mini automobile once said that a camel is a horse designed by committee. He’s not lying. Hey youth pastor Paul Turner here from thediscipleproject.net and I have been serving students for over 30 year and I want to help you build a successful youth ministry. Today, I want…
