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Why you need peers

November 30, 2012 Ignite

Yesterday, I hung out with a dozen or so youth workers for a half day spiritual retreat. It was a great day. I left personally refreshed and thankful to Brian and Danny for putting it together. As we debriefed our time together several of the people in the circle shared how much they needed that [...]

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You are needed in youth sports

March 13, 2012 Ignite

The attack occurred Friday night at Holy Name School in Springfield, Mass., according to local TV station WWLP. After his son’s team lost in the Catholic Youth Organization finals, Timothy Lee Forbes punched the winning coach, then bit off part of his ear, said Hampden assistant district attorney Marie Angers. Several of the 10-12 year old kids, who had [...]

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Follow The Leader Bible Study

February 6, 2012 Ignite

To engage my middle school students to explore what it means to follow Jesus, I designed a simple Bible study where they had to read a pre-selected scripture passage and then use the questions provided to discuss what that passage may or may not be saying about what it means to follow Jesus. But, of [...]

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The Battle for ADD

January 11, 2012 Ignite

As an outsider, I would guess that the annual conference for the American Psychiatric Association is pretty benign. Therapists present papers, take a few questions, and attend meetings to review the latest research. In the evening, in the conference late night activity guide in my imagination, I can see a few thousand therapists spend the [...]

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End Child Trafficking at Son of God Orphanage

October 19, 2011 Ignite

Recent developments in an orphanage outside of Port-au-Prince have gotten very personal. In 2010, shortly after the devastating earthquake which killed hundreds of thousands of Haitians, Marko and I lead teams of youth workers and pastors to Port-au-Prince to help activate the Christian community to respond. One of the early connections was the Son of [...]

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Anonymous Letter from a Female Youth Worker

September 27, 2011 Ignite

I have been with my church for 10 years. I can’t help but feel like I’ve not done a good job, nor does anyone want to “thank” me. Again, I don’t (well, maybe I do!) expect any “goods or services” from people, but when you find yourself in dozens of various conversations with youth pastors [...]

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Fast Food Youth Ministry

September 7, 2011 Ignite

Perhaps it’s not surprising that our fast food restaurants long ago discovered that the quickest way to a teen’s heart is not through her stomach but through her brain. We can just chalk it up to good business and savvy marketing. But I sometimes wonder if the Church uses these same tactics in a way [...]

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