I recently attended the premiere of When God Left the Building. It was a movie documentary based on the book Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore written by Thom & Joani Schultz. First of all, I have to give lots of credit to Thom and Joani for their boldness to tackle on such […]![]()
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E.V.A.L.U.A.T.E.
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Which Person in the Photo are You?
Do you know your role? Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have been in the news this week. We can all empathize with how difficult it must be for them to sort out normal events in the public eye. While this young couple navigates the exciting news of their pregnancy with the […]![]()
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The Plight of the Parent Volunteer
This past weekend I had an interesting opportunity to chaperone a trip for “another” youth group my kids are involved in. It is not one in which I am a leader in any capacity. In this setting I am a mom and a volunteer. My eyes were opened at just HOW hard it is to […]![]()
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Facebook = Data Hog
Have you noticed that recently the videos that are popping up in your Facebook timeline are playing as you scroll? If you haven’t, that might be a good thing. A “feature” in the iPhone app in that videos can auto-play without prompt in Facebook. This is okay if you are on wifi or have unlimited data but […]![]()
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$0.99 Back-to-School Books + Matty’s 90′s Phone
We have all the slick new stuff you need for the fall season in youth ministry. Sure, they don’t open your garage door or remind you to feed the cat…but these books WILL help enhance what you’re really passionate about: youth ministry! Three of our best sellers are only $0.99 right now! 99 Thoughts for […]![]()
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School Debt: Investment or Burden?
I have written a bit about the issue of school debt and how detrimental I believe it can be for people. But it’s not just me, there is more and more research about the negative long term effects of school debt. More on that in a minute. I just know many people who wish they would’ve handled […]![]()
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How Young Can a Kid Become a Christian?
I’d love your perspective… How young do you think a child can be to legitimately become a Christian? We can certainly have some fun with this, and definitely get off on some tangents… but I’m genuinely asking. Please share your thoughts. As you do, here’s something to complement our conversation from the late Rich Mullins. […]![]()
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LTYM: 3 Tips On Small Groups/Dealing With Parents
We are back this week with our Let’s Talk Youth Ministry video blog after taking some time off for the summer. We discuss how to keep the momentum of your small group launch rolling, and also how we handle parents concerning life groups. If you have any questions or topics you would love for us to talk about just […]![]()
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5 Ways To Lose Your Best Students
In this day and age we live in, ministry is a challenge. We have students who are hurting deeply coming to the same group as students who are just average oblivious teens. Church and unchurched students are attending the same group and desiring God the same way. Navigating everyone in the same room at the […]![]()
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The Bad Taste “Good Ideas” Leave
Too busy to visit a loved one who’s passed on? No worries. Try the drive-thru window at the Paradise Funeral Chapel in Saginaw, Michigan. They’ve installed a window for your convenience to display the deceased body inside the building. Curtains over the window automatically open when a car pulls up, and mourners get three minutes to […]![]()
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One Day Really Can Make a Difference
An emphasis on service does not have to stop with the close of summer. There are opportunities to impact communities near you in only one day of service. To catch a glimpse of this, I chatted with Tony Myles, who is the site leader for The Big Day of Serving in Akron, Ohio. Keep reading […]![]()
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Random Randomness: Stuff I’m Learning
It seems like I’m in a bit of a learning season…or perhaps a relearning season. - Learning that clear is always better than cute. A few times recently in my never-ending desire to be clever, cute and creative in my lesson writing or other areas of communication I’ve been embarrassingly un-clear. As a result, things […]![]()
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Everyday Parables: Fight Church
“The thing that attracted me to this project in the first place was the idea of Christianity and fighting, two things that seemingly don’t fit, being paired together.” This quote comes from director Bryan Storkel regarding his project “Fight Church.” This film offers an intriguing synopsis: Fight Church follows several cage fighting pastors in a […]![]()
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4 Christian Artists You May Not Know About, But Should!
Yesterday I picked up a rental car (see right) that was, well, small. It was quite humorous actually. I brought Jared with me, he is one of the pastors on my staff. We were in this car for over 5 hours yesterday, and although it was quite uncomfortable it was also a source of much laughter. […]![]()
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Talk About Anything…And Keep ‘Em Talking!
Andy Stanley recently said something to the effect of, “The church should be the safest place to talk about anything.” I’m no Andy Stanley, but the other day while talking to one of our interns I said something that I thought was equally brilliant: “Always make extending the conversation one of your goals.”. Now, if […]![]()
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Top 5 Tips To Choosing A Youth Group Name
A few days ago I wrote a post on the pros and cons of having a youth group name. Check it out here. If you are thinking about giving your youth group a name, here are a few things I would think through before naming my group: Think about the purpose or mission of your youth group. – […]![]()
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On Fitting In
In the past two weeks, I feel like I have talked about the topic of “not fitting in” a bazillion times. It keeps coming up at home, in my JH small group and even with my good friend who lives in another country. I sat with a young woman this week with tears brimming over […]![]()
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Two Sides to Gay Teens Coming Out
In what it becoming a popular trend these days, another “live-coming-out” video has been posted on Youtube. These stories will temporarily trend in social media feeds, including one in particular that Facebook highlighted this week: It features a teenager who hid a camera with just the right line of sight to capture his mom’s reaction […]![]()
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Tie a Thread from Your Fall Festival to Christmas Eve
Every church in their right mind wants to reach more people, right? And every small church talks about increasing their Good News output, right again? Plus, small churches wouldn’t mind growing a little in numbers, correct? (Though I swear some churches act like none of these are anywhere near their missional radar, but I digress.) […]![]()
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NEW! 7th Grade: A 30-Day Devotional
Saying goodbye to 6th grade and hello to 7th grade is a huge transition. Help seventh graders make a positive jump with this brand new 30-day devotional written just for them! Lars Rood delivers faith-growing tidbits that cover the most essential topics for seventh graders like media, physical changes, and making good decisions. Youth workers […]![]()
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More Pages to Explore .....
