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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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Families, Leadership, Drama, Culture, Outreach

Guilty!

Matthew McNutt Monday, May 7, 2012
My brother agreed to plead guilty in exchange for lessening and dropping some of the charges. We were naively hopeful. What we thought would be a quick appearance before a federal judge, most likely some sort of suspended sentence and a celebration afterwards turned into something else as the... read more
2
Leadership

A Ministry Addiction.

samrmerriman Friday, May 4, 2012
Youth pastors all over the country claim to be victims. Our complaint is that we do too much, more often than we can handle. We believe there's no escape from the cycle and that we need someone to come break it for us. The reality is that our cries for help are misguided. The problem for a lot of... read more
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Leadership, Discipleship

Ten Marks of a Successful Youth Ministry

allpraiseJC Thursday, May 3, 2012
I recently spent the weekend at Impact Student Ministries of First Baptist Church of Vandalia, Ohio. I had the honor of being their guest speaker for a DiscipleNOW weekend they call “Morphis.” Dale and Christa Puckett have led the youth there for three years and what I saw in my time with them was... read more
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Leadership

Leaving a Ministry Successfully...A Response

Andrew Disher Thursday, May 3, 2012
I’ve never been down this road before—not yet. I honestly love where I am. I felt I needed to make that disclaimer before moving forward. Even though I haven’t experienced the transition of leaving a ministry I know people who have. Some have done it well, and I’ve also heard some stories that just... read more
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Families, Leadership, Volunteers, Programming

How to Tell Students You’re Leaving

Kurt and Josh Wednesday, May 2, 2012
This one is tough: How do you tell students you’re leaving the church? There’s no easy way to break the news, but here are a few ideas to consider when you’re in this situation. Tell your inner circle first. Gather up your key volunteers and break the news to them first; no doubt some of them... read more
College

Effective Spiritual Leadership

Chuck Bomar Monday, April 30, 2012
We can talk all day about how we lead or what good leaders do. But the most important thing about leaders in the church is who they are. Nothing replaces character. Giftedness might get us places, but character keeps us there. For me, one of the most influential leaders is the apostle Paul. I often... read more
Families, Leadership, Discipleship

A Deathbed Confession

Rick Lawrence Monday, April 30, 2012
The other day I met my senior pastor and friend Tom Melton for breakfast—every week he has a new “all-time favorite book” to tell me about. Tom chews through books like a starved teenager locked inside a Cheetos factory. This week he told me about a book that explored the power of “life metaphors”—... read more
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Families, Culture

Graduation Tips for Youth Leaders

Reza Monday, April 30, 2012
Well, its spring! Time for baseball, patio dining, and high school graduations. Spring is an interesting time for youth leaders. There's the bittersweet end to the school year, which brings a myriad of emotions. For some youth leaders Spring involves planning mission trips and summer camps for... read more
1
Leadership

Think Big/Think Small...A Response

Tony Martinez Thursday, April 26, 2012
THINK Before You Think Taking the time to think about the nuts and bolts of your youth ministry is one of the best things that you can do for yourself, your staff and your students! But how do you get the ball rolling? Here are some ways to help yourself as you aim to improve in any size of... read more
1
Leadership

Suit Up!

Ronald Long Wednesday, April 25, 2012
"Are you serious!?" "No way!" "I think I own one..." These are all comments I hear when I tell my youth ministry friends that yes, indeed, I wear a suit on Sundays. Morning and night. Yup, it's true. It's 2012 and I wear a suit every Sunday. You know what else? I wear khakis on... read more