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Youth Ministry Hero: Rick Williams
I was a 22-year-old college senior who had just been handed the part-time keys to our church’s junior high kingdom. Rick wasn’t a lot older…maybe 26. He had been leading the junior high ministry as a...
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Mental Health Stigma: Is it a reality for your youth group?
For some reason reaching out and getting necessary help is seen as a negative. There’s like this unwritten law and it looks like this: DON’T struggle > DO struggle. It causes many students to feel...
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Top 10 Reasons to Serve in Cuba
You’ve probably heard in recent news that restrictions are loosening on American travel to Cuba. It’s an important historical step in our decades long relationship with our neighbor to the south. What...
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Bible App Entering New Territory Again…
The Bible app, which recently celebrated 200 million downloads, is the best thing to happen to smart phones and a tremendous tool for Bible readers. When people get upset that I am reading or teaching...
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My Youth Ministry Heroes
I was very blessed in my life with awesome youth ministry role models. Growing up in church my parents were the volunteer leaders in our youth group and our senior pastor was our study leader. Growing...
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Networking: The League of Extraordinary Youth Workers
Ministry is so, so busy. Your life likely is, too. The last thing you need is another meeting, right? So why in the world would you want to take part in a local youth ministry network? (Don’t worry –...
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Mix It Up This Christmas!
December is here which means Christmas lessons and Christmas parties of some sort are probably in your youth group’s immediate future. A common youth ministry temptation is to mistakenly lump our...
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Helping Each Student Feel Special During the Holidays
December is busy. The entire church schedule goes bonkers with Cantatas, kids musicals, and youth group gift exchanges. Your youth ministry cup will runneth over and before you know it, it’ll be 2016!...
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Discussion Starter: Mass Shooting Leads to ‘Prayer Shaming’
Mass Shooting Leads to ‘Prayer Shaming’ In the News San Bernardino, Calif.—Following yet another mass shooting—on what the BBC called “just another day in the United States of America”—people who...
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5 Keys to Healthy Youth Ministry Networks
5 Keys to Healthy Youth Ministry Networks There is a phrase that gets a bad wrap and that is being a Lone Ranger. We equate being a Lone Ranger with going it alone. But we forget that the Lone Ranger...
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Family Members With Mental Illness: What You Need to Know
Family Members With Mental Illness: What You Need to Know Christmas always comes with sort of mixed emotions for me. On one hand, I know it’s all about the birth of our Savior and the ultimate promise...
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LAST CHANCE: $5 Simple Truth Bible
Last Chance: $5 Simple Truth Bible Group’s Annual Clearance Sale is ending on December 11, 2015. So today is your last chance of the year to stock up on $5 Simple Truth Bibles! These daily devotional...
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A Long Time Ago in a Creator Far, Far Away…
Once upon a time, George Lucas was the creator of Star Wars. Some would argue he still is. Unfortunately, most of us know better…sort of like how it is in any kind of church ministry. Depending upon...
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Help Your Spouse Survive Your Christmas Ministry Schedule
How Fruitcake Can Help Your Spouse Survive Your Christmas Ministry Schedule Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also be the busiest. Helping your spouse survive your ministry...
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Exciting Changes for Simply Youth Ministry!
Today brings exciting changes for Simply Youth Ministry! SimplyYouthMinistry.com is joining forces with Group.com to provide an innovative customer experience that’s the best thing since flavor packets...
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2015 Techie Gift Guide
Fuse Chicken: iPhone Cable The Titan it called the toughest cable on earth. $35 iOS and $25 Android cable might sound a little pricy but it is a pretty great tool. I throw it in my bag knowing it will...
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Discussion Starter: Americans Debate Trump’s Call for Muslim Ban
In the News Washington, D.C.—Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said last week that Muslims should be banned from the United States, playing on Americans’ terrorism-related fears and...
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Youth Ministry Fails
One of My First Youth Ministry Fails It was my first event as a youth pastor. I had just taken over as the volunteer lead youth pastor at the church that was literally across the street from my house....
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More Rest. Less Stress!
More Rest. Less Stress! For the past decade, our family has had a Christmas vacation tradition. Before dawn on the morning after Christmas, we hop into an RV and join some of our closest friends for a...
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Guiding teens to focus on Jesus this Christmas
The teens we work with are are tempted just like us to make money to spend money (ON THEMSELVES). Spending habits start early. According to staticbrain.com, the average teen spending in a year for and...
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