I have been going back to school for the past two years to get my 2 year degree and eventually my four year degree. Part of this journey is taking Algebra. I hate algebra. I am a right brain kind of guy so numbers scare me. I tried to make the argument, to myself,…
Failed Job Desciptions Schools teach Math, History, etc. The military teaches discipline, leadership, and job skills Sports teams teach sportsmanship and how to pay the game Churches run programs to keep people busy and not sin as much These are organization with a list of activities with no clear goals. What if they said, School’s…
When I was a young youth pastor, I thought it was my job, neigh, my obligation to change the church for the glory of God. I thought it was my job to be the radical all the time and to drag these spiritual neanderthals out of the 19th Century (or earlier) and into the…
Happy New Year Everyone! Are you glad last year is gone and the new year is here? Me too. One of the way to start your new year off right is by touching base with your students’ parents. I recently sent out my first of the year e-mail to my parents and thought you might…
If you have read though many of my posts, you know I am a big proponent of student-led ministry. This is good in theory, but it requires, if they are new to the concept, hard work to retrain their mindset and the mindset of the church who might have certain expectations for you. In…
I have been reading a book by Simon Sinek called Start With Why. It is a marketing/leadership book for businesses but it really challenges the reasons why we don’t ask why and why we should be asking why more. The premise is simple: People are not attracted to what we do or how…
Convoy of Hope and Samaritan’s Purse are just a few of the amazing ministries that have converged on Pleasant Grove and all over Alabama to help out. They supply much needed with relief with food, water, and meals. As with all relief ministries, they commit about 2-3 weeks to an area and then move on…
The old deodorant commercial says, “Never let them see you sweat” , but they didn’t work with teenagers. If the makers of that commercial knew how little time our kids spent practicing the basic disciplines of the Christian faith; they would know it was the youth workers who were sweating . Pew Research say that Millennial’s…
As of May 2021 the United States unemployment rate is 5.8. It’s not huge until you think that 5.8 percent of 350 millions people is a little over 20 million people. That is a lot of people out of work. Just like our nation, our youth ministry has a spiritual and physical economy. In the…
When I was in youth group (a very long time ago), I remember my youth pastor doing a contest called L.I.F.E.. He broke down the youth group into four teams and we would have weekly contests between team members, etc. and at the end the winning team received X. This is still a viable tool…
