There have been a few times in my career that I went to youth group without being prepared.  “What”? You say.  “Hypocrite! You just posted on always being prepared.”  No.  It was a rare time and I did have a plan. the idea came from a close friend and mentor in youth ministry – one…

Each new school year when our programs start again, I think about what it means to be a professional youth minister. The term professional in this context is simply a designation for those paid to serve rather than those who are volunteers heading up a youth group. Professional youth ministers face a unique set of…

Found a helpful article over at Morf that gives five good ideas for making a youth ministry more intergenerational. They include: 1. Invite parents and grandparents to join us in service opportunities.2. Set up events designed to speak to all generations.3. Sharing life experiences.4. All-play events.5. Weekly emails to our parents letting them know what…

I saw on Facebook a recent photo of one of the students in the youth group I led at the first church I worked for. It brought back a great memory. One Sunday morning, as I was checking in with the other teacher who also had a high school Sunday School class at our church,…

It amazes me how often I’ve been contacted by people who found this audio file online and listened to it.  I never had listened to it myself – but then again I don’t like the sound of my own voice recorded (odd quirk I have). Anyway the audio is of the workshop (or seminar) I…

If you enjoy subtle British humor, this is a great interview of the author of a useful book. The interviewer (voice off screen) is Nate Morgan Locke who is speaking at our middle school weekend in October.

I really appreciate the preaching of Alistair Begg and this clip is both hilarious and true in many ways. Sadly, some might mistake his passion for anger and miss the general point that he is making. If you have not heard him preach before, this could be misunderstood as the rant of an angry man.…

An excellent post over on The Gospel Coalition blog where my friend Cameron Cole shares some great thoughts on sustainable faith. (Note also at the bottom of the post, the bit about the Rooted Conference coming up in October.) As I listen to and observe the faith journeys of former students and young adults, I…

I love what this girl is getting at!  Another case for dropping “youth talks” and really digging into scripture.  Do we want another generation of moralistic therapeutic deists?  Let’s instead create a generation of biblically faithful students.