I spend my days writing for and training youth workers JUST LIKE YOU.
There’s A Last Day For Everything
There's a long list of last days, last times, That restaurant you love. That book your reading. Your child not needing you anymore. The last day you're on the earth. Even the world will have it's last one day Last night was my last night as full...
Advice To Young Youth Workers On Choosing A “Winning” Church Part One
It's the middle of summer and I’m missing football. This got me thinking about the churches I’ve served at and I feel like I needed to equate them to NFL teams. In no particular order, on purpose, One church I compare to the Chargers, They were...
Youth Ministry Round Up #13
Welcome! If you're new here, and are not a subscriber, subscribe here and get the Youth Ministry Round Up in your inbox. I just got back from a camp and I'm wore out. This was my last youth camp as a full time youth pastor. It was an amazing camp...
Is The Remote Mindset Killing Your Team?
Just because you have a team, doesn't mean you have teamwork. I've been struggling with this idea of team work lately, especially in regards to ministry in the local church. I've built a few teams and I have felt the euphoric blessing of synergy,...
To The Very End
I think I found the quote I want on my tombstone "To the very end" What do you do, consistently? Is it important? Valuable? Generous? Does it bless others? Does it encourage? Most importantly, is it worth doing all the way the end? I want to Love...
How To Get The Youth Ministry Job You Want
I can remember wanting to be a youth pastor so bad, I would have taken any job, and I did. They were my fever dream decisions. If I had read the job description better and put on my thinking hat instead of my heart hat, I could have avoided a few...
Youth Ministry Round Up #12
Welcome! If you're new here and are not a subscriber, subscribe here and get the Youth Ministry Round Up in your inbox. Hey all! I hope your summer is just the way you like it! Here's your youth ministry round up!! Quotes a youth ministry without...
10 Important Youth Ministry Practices That Could Prevent A Teen Suicide
Suicides by entrepreneur Kate Spade and chef/tv star Anthony Bordaine, remind me that if money, power, influence, tons friends and excitement can't hold back depression and suicidal thoughts, what's keeping a kid in my youth group from ending...
Let’s Talk About A New Way To Disciple Teens
For those who do not know, I have a Youtube channel dedicated to quipping youth workers and I have started doing Wednesday @ 1 Livestreams. In this episode I talk about my new book and how it came about. You can grab a free chapter, The...
10 Weird Feelings After A Mission Trip
I recently came back from the country of Panama. This is my 4th trip to a South or Central American country and every time I get back I feel so many weird feelings. Here are my top ten weirdest feelings after coming back from a mission trip....
You Don’t Need New Lipstick, You Need A New “Pig”
Have you heard the saying, "You can put lipstick on a pigs snout, but it's still a pig?" This phrase is in reference to dressing up an ugly situation hoping you can disguise it, hiding all it's flaws. Let's be honest, when it comes to some youth...
Is This My Last Mission Trip?
I'm sitting in a motel room in Montgomery, Al. waiting to go to sleep before my trip to Panama tomorrow. Since I am retiring from full time youth pastoring, I started to wonder if this would be my last mission trip. I think this might be my last...
400 Gone. Just. Like. That.
It was like Thanos had snapped his fingers and 400 subscribers vanished. In my earlier post I shared how I had lost over 100 subscribers, but I had no idea I had lost that many. Here's what really happen and why I think it happened. After some...
A New and Engaging Way To Facilitate Small Group Discussion
Is this your small group? You: I ask an important question Them: Awkward silence You: C'mon guys (in whiny voice) No more! The Elevate Sessions are an interactive way to get your students talking about where their life is going: Up, Down, or...
How I lost 100 Subscribers In One Day (And What I’m Doing About It)
I broke my newsletter the other day. I sent out my usual weekly Youth Ministry Round Up and received notice, from Mailchimp, that I had a very high rate of unsubscribes. Boy, did I. Over 100! Here's how I think it happened. I was late on last weeks...
The Disciple Project OUTREACH MANUAL
HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR DECAYING YOUTH MEETING INTO A FLOURISHING CITY-WIDE MOVEMENT