I spend my days writing for and training youth workers JUST LIKE YOU.
Is Youth Ministry A Competitive Sport? Part III
You should be competitive but not in competition with other churches or youth ministries. Competitiveness is good. Competition is bad. The difference, I believe, is in the heart. I never wished any harm on any other churches in my area, in fact, I...
Is Youth Ministry A Competitive Sport? Part II
I'll say it again. I never believed in competing with my brothers and sisters in Christ. It was never my group vs theirs or my calling vs their calling. We are not called to be competitors but rather to be competitive. You have to ask yourself why...
Is Youth Ministry A Competitive Sport? Part I
"Where is everyone tonight?" "I think a lot of them went over at First Church to their outreach." "Man, what is going on?!" Ever have this conversation before or after a youth meeting? I know youth workers like to say they are not in competition...
Ten Skills Student Leaders Must Learn Now
What kind of skills do your student leaders have? How do they help make ministry happen at your church? Are they like Napoleon Dynamite and have skills that are cool but are useless like bo staff skills, nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills,...
The Best Story Wins
Seen any good commercials lately? Any stick with you? I bet the the ones that did told the best story. One commercial I saw was for Pizza Hut and strangely I cannot find the video anywhere. The commercial has real Pizza Hut employees doing the...
3 Tips For Youth Workers Who Take On Substitute Teaching
So, I am writing this post from a middle school class today. I am sub teaching a math class today. Currently it is a pre-AP class so discipline problems are minimal. I have been subbing for about 3 years now. So, why should you consider subbing? It...
14 Ways To Spice Up Your Youth Meeting
I was eating today at a Japanese restaurant. I hadn't planned on eating at the grill for one simple reason: I had seen all the chefs tricks before. It made me think, how often do students say the same thing about your program : "I've see this trick...
Risk Taking Youth Ministry Part II
This is Part II of my interview with Youth Pastor and Risk Taker Mark Cox. You can read part I here How did the students, leaders, parents, and pastor respond to your wanting to change things? Right off the bat, there were mixed reviews. Don’t get...
Risk Taking Youth Ministry Part 1
Our gigantic youth ministry experiment commences tomorrow night. Can't wait to see what happens!- Tweet from Mark Cox 9:11 PM Aug 24th via web This is the tweet that was that catalyst for the following interview. I love it when youth pastors...
Oh No You Didn’t! Staying Out Of Trouble With Your Teens
Teenagers can be about as stable as Homer Simpson running a nuclear reactor. The little red light could go off at any time accompanied by wailing sirens. Here a a few tips for staying out of trouble with your teens. 1. Keep your promises Promises...
A Youth Pastor’s Guide To Avoiding The Pastor Disaster
In my naive days, I thought the youth ministry was my world, my silo, separate from other ministries. In reality, the only reason you have this full time, professional, role is because your boss, your pastor, signs those checks. So, try your...
5 Ways Youth Pastors Can Avoid Self-Inflicted Conflict With Parents
Conflict was, sadly, something I was well aquatinted with. In my younger days I felt it necessary to have my way in the youth ministry because, well, that's what you paid me for, right? Oh, those days, I'm glad they're over. If you are a breathing...
What is The “Anywhere, Anytime, Anyone” Ministry Syndrome?
I used to think I could work anywhere, anytime, and for anybody. I thought I was the youth ministry swiss army knife that was good for all occasions. Like the army knife pictured, I had 85 gadgets good for any denom, para church, or non-denom...
My Top Five Foundation Builders For Youth Ministry
It's simple, you can't build a 2200 sq. ft house on a 100 sq. ft foundation and yet we have all tried. You've tried to build your youth ministry on hype but hype is short lived. Those who want to build their youth ministry large, must build the...
Worship: Pardon The Interruption
I was in a prayer meeting with six or seven students. One of the leaders brought an IPhone to play worship music on. I do this often as well but tonight the inevitable happened; in the middle of a song the phone rang, later you could hear an email...
The Disciple Project OUTREACH MANUAL
HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR DECAYING YOUTH MEETING INTO A FLOURISHING CITY-WIDE MOVEMENT