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Leadership
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Instagram Will Kill Your Youth Ministry

Daniel Beckworth Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Social media has swept across this great nation like wildfire. Facebook is on its way out. If you still use Myspace you’re most likely a stalker—or very lonely. Twitter is still rocking along quite steadily and has yet to be completely infiltrated by preteens...
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Leadership

Think Small When You’re Big

Kurt and Josh Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Yesterday we helped the little guys think bigger, and today we want to help the big guys think smaller! No matter the size of your ministry, always fight to make it smaller! The smaller you think and the more intimate environments you create, the more community and connectedness will show up. Here... read more
Culture

Mass Effect 3 [Review]

Scott Firestone Tuesday, April 24, 2012
A galaxy-spanning tale, five years in the making, has finally come to an end. The original Mass Effect game came out in 2007 to rave reviews and a spot at the top of many Game of the Year lists. Mass Effect 2 continued the story in 2010, and Mass Effect 3 brought it to a close last month—selling a... read more
Leadership

Think Big When You’re Small

Kurt and Josh Tuesday, April 24, 2012
There is a tension most youth workers face in a smaller ministry setting: They want their group to be bigger! Ironically most youth workers in a large setting face a similar tension: They want to be (or at least feel) smaller! This week we’re hoping to help you think big when you’re small and think... read more
Leadership

3 great non-ministry related books…

Chris Schaffner Thursday, April 19, 2012
Book 1: I’m Down by Mishna Wolff This is such a fun memoir. Mishna is an intellecutally gifted white girl growing up in the ghetto with her single white father who worked hard at making his and his children’s identity black. This is a story of race, diversity, struggle and coming of age written in... read more
Culture

(More) Trouble with Texting

Jonathan McKee Monday, April 16, 2012
The Misuse of Tech Still Plagues Teens An article from Jonathan McKee and David R. Smith at TheSource4YM.com For years, parents and teachers have wondered if texting was negatively affecting teenagers’ grammar. According to several recent studies, that particular worry might be the least of their... read more
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Culture

What’s a Christian to Do on the Day of Silence?

Lane Palmer Monday, April 16, 2012
By Lane Palmer at Dare 2 Share “Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that... read more
Leadership, Culture

Networking When You're Not Wired as a Networker

Justin Herman Thursday, April 12, 2012
This is me being honest: I feel I was born to network. I remember one summer I was all about collecting bottles and going to the convenience store to turn them in and get candy. Those were some of my best memories. But I started to see something: I was only getting a small number of bottles and a... read more
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Leadership

The One Myth I Abhor

Rick Lawrence Wednesday, April 11, 2012
I’ll get right to the point. As I talk to youth pastors, listen to conference speakers, and read youth ministry books and resources, I hear a prevalent myth about discipleship and spiritual growth bubble to the surface over and over. And I don’t like it. It goes like this: “You’ll grow in your... read more
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Leadership, Middle School

So, a Jr. Higher Walks Into a Bar…

Kurt Johnston Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Bars are a common conversation topic among junior high youth workers. No, not because working with young teenagers drive us to drink. The bars we discuss are different: They’re the “bars” of spiritual growth and Christian experience we set in our ministries, hoping kids will see the challenges... read more
Leadership, Culture, Small Groups, Programming

KJ-52: Dangerous [Review and Discussion Starter]

Scott Firestone Tuesday, April 10, 2012
SONG: “Superhero” (from Dangerous) TOPIC: Jesus’ sacrifice THEME: Jesus is our superhero. BACKGROUND: Hip-hop artist KJ-52 kicks off his latest album with a head-bopping party track called “It’s Goin’ Down.” A stark contrast to other party anthems from, say, LMFAO, this party is thrown to thank... read more