Here’s the link to the list of the 30 best podcasts on the planet. There are a lot of great podcasts on this list and I am humbled to be on it at all let alone number one. Thank you for the honor of serving you.
My friend Chad Higgins who is one of the hosts of the Youth Ministry Booster podcast and he was the first to let me know I was the number one podcast. He could have kept that a secret and I would have never known. So, thanks Chad.
You mean there are people who are afraid to be great? Yes, I was one of them. I grew up with the mentality, even in Christian circles, that one should be humble and the pursuit of greatness was prideful. This mindset caused made me to almost be fearful to be successful because I thought success would change me, make be arrogant and take all the credit from God, but there was always something in me that fought against this, and I’m glad it did.
All I ever wanted was to be the best youth worker I could be but, early in my ministry, I thought that meant having large crowds and busy youth ministries. Only God and time could bring me to reality.
Being great or pursuing greatness in the field of youth work any work, has more to do with patience than power and persistence than popularity.
Longevity, sustainability and faithfulness in youth ministry are better than big nights and bragging rights.
Being great, at anything, is subjective. You set the bar for what is great. If being a great youth worker is having 12 students and a lot of love in the room, so be it. If great is 100 students with tremendous outreach in the community, awesome!
What is not great, is the fear of pursuing greatness. If you think all you are created to do or be is a lesser version of yourself, I would disagree.
Pursuing greatness or being number one isn’t wrong until that’s all it is, a pursuit to glorify yourself or to prove others wrong.
The disciple argued about who would be the greatest in heaven, and Jesus has to set the record straight
“But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus does not condemn the pursuit of greatness, he defines it. Whatever you are pursuing to be great at, do it with a servants heart. Do it help others. Motive matters.
You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness. – Zig Ziglar
You can have a great youth ministry but it’s better to have a great marriage but you can also have both. Being great at something requires time. Anyone who ever became great any thing, from sports to speaking, had do go through little league or start by being a tree in the school play.
Being a great youth worker starts with 12 kids and a vision. In the parable of the Shrewd manager, Jesus said,
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”
Jesus doesn’t say much is bad, but much, or greater things, must be based on faithfulness. Be faithful with little and God will add to it.
I started his podcast July 31st 2015 and some days it was just hard to make an episode, but I knew someone one the other side of this mic would be listening, needing some help and some encouragement and that is what drives me today.
Determined by someone’s measurement or algorithm, we are the number one youth ministry podcast on the planet and I am not afraid of that, in fact, I embrace it, clearly, by the new podcast intro. Which I struggled with even doing, thinking “oh that’s over the top, that’s too much”
I’m the guy who, literally and metaphorically speaking, would choose a car based on reliability versus flash. My best car as a teenager was a Mazda GLC with pioneer speakers. After a lifetime of choosing he beige sedan, so to speak, it as time to walk past all those safe cars and choose the Ferrari for once. I don’t get to be number one very often, so I am going to ride this train as long as I can.
But I know that it’s because of you, who listen faithfully or maybe this is your first time, has made this podcast what it is.
I’m not on the list “voted the best podcast” but I want to earn that number one spot by equipping all of you to be great youth workers and build successful youth ministries so teenagers can find Christ and grow to be lifetime disciples of Jesus.
I wanted to be a great youth worker and, by the testimony of those I’ve served over the past 30 years, I was to, the glory of God, a great, not perfect, youth worker.
Now, I want to be the best equipper of youth workers I can be, so that means being faithful to jump on this mic twice a month and bring you some knowledge or challenge your thinking about youth work.
Don’t be afraid of greatness. Don’t be afraid of being number one in your field or profession. Don’t be a afraid of having a large youth ministry if that is what the Lord has planned. Don’t be a afraid to start a podcast or a youtube channel or write a books about what you know or love.
God is not against your pursuit of greatness, He just wants to take the trip with you.
Here are some youth ministry resources I recommend if you are wanting to have a great 2020 in youth ministry.