I spend my days writing for and training youth workers JUST LIKE YOU.
Choosing To Be “Remarkable”
This is a comment I posted in response to Ryan Handley's post on being remarkable and thought I'd share it as a personal point of frustration with my own view of the youth ministry world. I think I used to think remarkable was being flashy...
Helping Kids Discover Their Spiritual Gifts For Christmas
I can be a bit of a humbug when it comes to the commercial side of Christmas. I just don't care about Black Friday, or what gifts I get. Something that's giving a lift in my my soul this season is helping kids discover how God has gifted them. This...
What Kind Of Christian A Toxic “Church” Community Produces
I was awake at 1:30 a.m. last night and thought I'd get caught up on my recorded shows. In addition to watching the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special, I watched my normal Marvel: Agents of Shield. This was a unique episode in that it included...
My 6 Awesome Moments From The National Youth Workers Conference
Once a year I try to get to a conference or training to hone my skills an refresh my soul and this year I went to the National Youth Workers Conference in Nashville, Tn. have been to about 8-10 of the NYWC over the bast 23...
What Does A Talent Night Look Like At A Pentecostal Youth Group?
We have Talent Night tonight at our youth group and I bet there are some people who think they know what this look like in a Pentecostal Church, let me get the jokes out of the way early We'll be handing out awards for Best tongue talker...
Lyric Inspiration For Rebels, Warriors, and The Discontented
sunlight breaking through dark trees by: Adrian van Leen Have you ever had a line from song get stuck in you head? I'm not talking about cheesy yet catchy lyrics like Don't Worry Be Happy but lines with weight and substance. I am...
5 Steps To Planning A Killer Youth Program
Yesterday I did a Google Hangout (I actually hung out with myself LOL) and the Hangout did not record well and both the video and audio (not synced up) are both sketchy. If you want to download the audio of the Hangout you can click HERE “If you...
Youth Ministry Game: King of the Ring
Last night was wild. The kids were hyper and kind off in their own little world. I had no ideas they were going to be that way but I'm glad I had this game planned. King of the Ring is a game I had planned as part of our...
Youth Ministry Programming Tip: Taking Clues Not Cues From Popular Culture
Taking everything popular culture offers and trying to translate it into spiritual terms is an example of a youth ministry taking it's cues from pop culture. Just because we see a You Tube Video or a popular teen movie doesn't mean we need...
3 Reasons Why I Kinda Care About The YouTube Music Awards
As a YouTube content creator, I care about what this new awards show means for the medium. As a Youth Pastor I care even more because it may give me some insight into my my students because of what they are watching or voting for....
Secrets To A Successful Youth Ministry: Secret #7 Celebrate the Wins
This is the last post in my series on my secrets to a successful youth ministry, but it is one of the most critical for me. I am a driven individual. It's hard for me to relax and I am my harshest critic. Over the years I've had to make myself...
Secrets To A Successful Youth Ministry: Secret #6 Experiment Often
I am a bit of a mad scientist. I like to mix and match and test things. My favorite question is "What would happen if...". I think I get this, partially, from a quote my old camp director Dick Stevens who used to describe his camp as "laboratory of...
Secrets To A Successful Youth Ministry: Secret #5 Integration
I've learned a lot of things the hard way. These "secrets" I am sharing with you were secrets to me at the time I discovered them and required a generous amount of butt kicking for me to embrace them. Somehow I got it in my head that my job was to...
Secrets To A Successful Youth Ministry: Secret #4 Community Building
Reaching the lost is important but so is reaching the church kid. We don't always think this way but church kids have as much need to be reached as the lost. Both kids are in isolated worlds. There have been times where having a single focus on...
Secrets To A Successful Youth Ministry: Secret # 3 Develop An Outreach Strategy
This is my third post in my Secrets to A Successful Youth Ministry, you can read post #2 here Outreach is in my blood. Before I was a full time youth pastor I had shared Christ on the streets during Mardi Gra., on the Orlando OBT strip, and on the...
The Disciple Project OUTREACH MANUAL
HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR DECAYING YOUTH MEETING INTO A FLOURISHING CITY-WIDE MOVEMENT